Skyrider

From its opening salvo — the crushing sub-bass-and-glitch monster "Diamonds" — Skyrider's The Tower explores some deep, dark corners in the halls of electronic beatcraft. Seamlessly melding hip-hop, dubstep, industrial, glitch and various bass-heavy subgenres, the instrumental mixtape pairs a steadily throbbing low end with intricately layered samples and brighter synth lines that drift in and out of the frame. Each track is constructed to flow into the next; pounding grooves decay into dissonant breakdowns that in turn are lifted by ethereal interludes back into relentless, driving percussion. Alongside tweaked versions of now-familiar beats like "Assad Is Dead" and remixes of tunes like "Battlefields," you'll find plenty of new and previously unreleased material from the veteran beatsmith. "Do Something" is a standout. This is the most recent in a string of projects by Skyrider over the past few months; let's hope there's more on the way.