He might be just one man, but this esteemed Bay Area turntablist's music zaps you back to a time somewhere around the early '90s, when groups like US3 and Digable Planets were combining hip-hop beats and lyrics with an uninhibited confluence of jazz, soul and worldbeat. That said, DJ Zeph is no amiable biddy biddy bopper. While he consistently revels in all of those sounds, his beats have sharper teeth; they're as current as anything on Ninja Tune and never as decadently hokey as a group like Arrested Development, thank goodness. Sunset Scavenger, Zeph's second full-length, makes good on the word-of-mouth hype that has bounced his live show up to can't-miss status in certain Left Coast circles. Like the best of its genre, it succeeds on both an academic and dancefloor level.

Already released as a teaser 12" in 2003, the single "Floorwax" is reason enough to plunk down your dollars. It's an ebullient, gleeful throwback to hula-hoops, roller-discos and wavy hair via Studio 54-sent wah guitar, funk bass and old school live percussion. It'd slay as an instrumental, but it also boasts the album's most jaw-dropping rap spot. Rashaan Ahmed evokes Kurtis Blow and outperforms newer MCs like Busdriver with his word-drunk stream-of-awesomeness; there may never be a dull microsecond. Even though both Ahmed and Zeph are playing with old forms here, "Floorwax"'s joyful execution makes it sound newly minted.

Some of the other tracks pale next to the album's standout; neither Boots (from The Coup) nor Lyrics Born's contributions ("Go Back" and "Hands Up") excuse the rather monotonous beats Zeph hands them, and so two promising opportunities are squandered. However, most of Sunset Scavenger rides the same compelling crest. "Unsubtractable"'s gentle flange and understated breaks jolt its mixture of acoustic and software-assisted elements into right now. "Midnight Crewsade"'s horns and sunny guitars recall the Kool-Aid high of DJ Jazzy Jeff's "Summertime", but Zeph's doubling and tripling of the low-end thumps give it wallop as well.

Zeph's inclusion of a dizzying tabla interlude by Asian breaks group Dhamaal further emphasizes his unisolated appreciation for rhythm. Like most of the album's guest spots, it's less a halting cameo than another logical piece in this worshipful paean to everything boom-bap.