U.K. producer Dylan Nathan, who records as Jega, gets little of the credit he deserves for helping establish the quasi-genre of intelligent dance music. His 1996 debut album, Spectrum, blended frenetic drum 'n' bass beats with severely avant-garde electronic tendencies, inspiring Mike Paradinas (µ-ZIQ) to start his Planet Mu label, an IDM institution. Although the first disc of Jega's new album, Variance (his first in nine years), treads bright and chill territory, he also enters into some jagged and opaque chaos on disc two — for which the wonderfully dank basement of the Li Po Lounge should provide a perfect setting.
