[Rush Hour Recordings]

The music of New York based producer Drew Lustman, best known as Falty DL, could lazily be described as dubstep, in part because his records have found homes on Planet Mu and Ramp Recordings, two labels that have pushed a sound which could also be imprecisely termed dubstep. So does his appearance on Rush Hour, an old house standby, mean he’s gone and made a house record? No, the All In The Place EP still contains his characteristically fragmented two-step seen through a kaleidoscope of sounds.

First up are the square waves and warped organ lines of the title track, anchored by a shattered beat that occasionally slips into 4/4 from time to time. Lustman’s music sounds like the work of a producer who might have made New York garage had he not listened to far too many Aphex Twin records to keep the beat terribly steady. Case in point, “St. Marks” contains a mish-mash of styles akin to the similarly diverse NYC street St. Marks Place and maintains an unmistakably New York air. “Discoko” concocts a slow groove that really takes off with rough phased synths and bubbling bass while “Groove”‘s swinging hats, cascading pads and old-school 303 bass line inject plenty of funk in between disparate and scattered beats. Lately the Rush Hour camp receives the most plaudits for its exceptional reissues, but All In The Place exhibits they still have their finger on the pulse of dance music in 2010. As for Falty DL, this record sees him consolidate his skills to provide perhaps his best release to date.