Disparation opens with a snappy tune, "Antibiosys". It sounds a bit like the bass backing of the chorus from the Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", with the words "We/You are superior" looped throughout. "Antibiosys" creates certain expectations for the rest of the album: you anticipate attitude, edginess, alienation and general skeeviness. It's a grab for your throat and your attention that (mercifully) slows down later in the album as the artist, Jason Crosse, relents in his assault on your ears and examines other styles. A laid back, more ethereal and dark urban feel overtakes Disparation by the third track, and a listener would be more inclined to recline than dance for most of the tracks that follow.

Disparation encompasses acid, electro and drum n' bass styles. Certain moments, such as "Leftgain", sound ambient. Crosse cites Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada as influences, and you might hear some Underworld threaded through as well; bits of all of their sounds come floating through Disparation. Aphex Twin is channeled most strongly during "Finding the Way", which, although not as minimalistic as Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2, clearly draws on that album in terms of the soaring and then gently undulating soundscape. Crosse tries his hand at breakbeats in the jungly "Meinthety", and you immediately hear why he's friends with LTJ Bukem: they share a knack for kinetic turntable acrobatics.

If it sounds as though I'm having a bit of difficulty putting my finger on Biowire's sound, you're reading correctly. Crosse differs from most other electronic artists (and shares a talent with the most adept DJs) in that he cannot be pigeonholed, and draws on a variety of styles to give Disparation a single, flowing mood. The tracks become faster, then calmer, without any noticeable jerks in style; finding the transitions becomes an exercise, and a bit of a game as well. Only the better DJs can create such skillful transitions, I've noticed, because they know what they're doing well enough to take time out to follow the floor crowd's mood. Disparation is definitely more European in flair; the music feels silkier and more synthesizer-oriented, as opposed to the guitar and percussion-heavy sound of most American DJs. It's difficult to find any complaint with this album, beyond the fact that much of it isn't danceable, and the few danceable bits are too thoroughly interlaced with the ambient bits to be easily separable. Still, for pure listening pleasure -- beyond the first track, at least -- Disparation is hard to beat.