Air Breaks (Mixed by Ali B)

Logically, breaks ought to be much more fun than house music: funky by definition, properly wielded breakbeats can turn any track into a party. But too many DJs and producers who put themselves in the breaks category settle for long strings of continuously mixed vanilla beats that end up being just as tedious as the most generic club-beat thumpathon. London DJ Ali B avoids that trap by selecting his mix album from a wide variety of sources, from DJ Love's hip-hoppy "Steez" to Tayo and the Sunz of Mecha Underground's nicely reggae-inflected "Reality Dub," and from DJ Deekline and Ed Solo's humorously salacious "One in the Front" to the Plump DJs' abrasive "Redshift." Unsurprisingly, the album's highlight track comes courtesy of the always-exquisite Bassnectar, a remix of "Everybody" that features cool samples, elegant cutting and scratching, and a hip-shaking segue into a dancehall beat. The program even ends with an actual song, or something like it anyway. Highly recommended.