FLUX PAVILION
Flux Pavilion - the 24-year-old producer, melody maker and mix-master magus (aka Josh Steele) - is the shiny new face of dubstep. Club purists decry his dance-hall heresy, deftly weaving pop hooks amid heavy metal beats and juddering bass. Yet Flux Pavilion has not merely adjusted to changes in the genre; his fusion of classic song-craft, captivating ska two-step and grimy Morse-code synths on "Blow the Roof" are the very changes that helped drag dubstep into the limelight. So poppy is Flux's tune "I Can't Stop" that Jay Z and Kanye West boosted it for their hip-hop hit "Who Gone Stop Me," the finest cut on their 2011 ode to aspiration and douchebaggery, Watch the Throne. A fan of David Bowie's conceptual finesse and Frank Zappa's compositional skills, Flux says he doesn't care if he's deemed a sell-out by the dance floor cognoscenti. On recent freebie "Standing on a Hill," Flux's unorthodoxy extends to incorporating rock band instruments into an electroclash throwback to Ladytron's buzzy melodies, plus the anthemic pop of '70s blue-eyed soulster Paul Carrack - all in pursuit of what Flux calls "a melodic tune that everyone can enjoy." $25. Oct. 18, 9 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-916-8970. www.livenation.com.