Browse by Artist: DEADBEAT

Artist:	DEADBEAT
Title:	Journeyman's Annual
Label:	SCAPE (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	SCAPE 046CD

This is Montreal-based Deadbeat aka Scott Monteith's fourth full-length release on the ~scape label. Since the release of his previous outing, New World Observer in March 2005, Monteith has spent the vast majority of his time on the road, honing his skills as a master craftsman of genre defying electronic dance music. Though fans of Monteith's previous ~scape full lengths might find it difficult to envision his music as the soundtrack to a rollicking dance floor, Journeyman's Annual is the first to showcase an updated version of the Deadbeat sound that has quietly been overtaking his more meditative work over the last year and-a-half. This is modern bass music of an entirely unique sort, crafted with the intention of moving asses as much as stimulating minds. Easily the closest stylistically to his previous work for ~scape, the opening two tracks employ minimal techno's careful ruminations on endlessly repeating groove structures, while sitting comfortably in dubstep's doom-filled, 140 bpm pocket. For the album opener, Monteith enlists the aid of violinist and fellow Montrealer Sophie Trudeau (ex-GY!BE, A Silver Mount Zion) to craft what is potentially the darkest song in his entire catalog. "Melbourne Round Midnight" combines a lurching funeral organ line with vaporous horns and a thunderous one note bass drop to create a chugging dub monster. Along with Trudeau's string arrangements, Monteith also calls upon vocalists to expand the album's sonic palette. This record also features Bristol-based Bubbz, who spits a fiery tale on "Refund Me." "Deep In Country" marks the triumphant return of Moral Undulations, whose bad man vocal stylings provide a rhythmic assault. "Gimme A Little Slack" features Montreal's DJ Jah Cutta, and the dynamic duo craft a piece of pure heavyweight bashment, filled with searing percussion, impossibly low bass, and a vocal hook that will stay in your head for days. Finally, as a bonus to this already fine set, this record includes Deadbeat's much sought-after remix of Saul Williams' "Black Stacey" from 2005. Previously only available on an incredibly rare promo-only 12", the track has been a trademark finisher of Deadbeat live sets and has driven the floor into a frenzy each and every time. Easily his most diverse album to date, Journeyman's Annual is a far reaching account of new creative connections and rhythmic inspirations drawn from the four corners of the globe, and a spectacular sign of things to come from one of electronic music's premier low-end prophets.

Artist:	DEADBEAT
Title:	Versionist Carmot
Label:	WAGON REPAIR (CANADA)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	WAG 039EP

This is Deadbeat's second Wagon Repair release in quick succession. Versionist Carmot blends dubstep and house in a pulsating techno workout. "Boil" progresses sharply with off-beat rhythmic melody and probing percussion. "Freeze" soothes with icy-cool looped dub guitar and reverberating percussion. "Evaporate" is a deeper house number, with cymbals riding high alongside sampled machinery and a throbbing synth melody. "Incinerate" closes procedures with a combustive climax -- a fiery mix of percussion and bubbling melody.

Artist:	DEADBEAT
Title:	Roots And Wire
Label:	WAGON REPAIR (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	WAG 046CD

Deadbeat is Scott Monteith, a long-time Montrealer and recent Berlin ex-pat who has been releasing his own special blend of dub-laden, minimal electronics since 2000 for labels such as Cynosure, Musique Risquée, ~scape, and Spectral, to name but a few. This is his first full-length release for Wagon Repair. The album is aesthetically informed by his long term collaborative friendship with Robert Henke (Monolake), the creative relationship with Wagon Repair, the close proximity of his fellow artists in Berlin and the opportunity to collaborate with Paul St. Hilaire. It is no surprise that an album of such vast scope be largely inspired by the artist's own transition from Montreal-based producer releasing on Berlin label ~scape for 5 years, to Berlin-based producer releasing on a Canadian label. An uncanny logic is present throughout, weaving a fluid narrative from disparate influences and styles. Opener "Rise Again" is the first of two collaborations with St. Hilaire, whose beautiful rasta lament is supported by a huge bass sound. In recording all of the virtual instruments through mic'd speakers as one would do with a real band, he's given the track a distinctly "live" feel that is a thematic element of all the tracks on the album. The title track transcends the 140 bpm dubstep standard, and closely resembles some of Deadbeat's earlier releases on ~scape. "Grounation (Berghain Drum Jack)" is a dramatic percussive onslaught that draws parallels between ritualistic rasta drumming and Berghain's own pummeling percussive endurance tests. "Xberg Ghosts" explores a distinctly Berliner Basic Channel/Chain Reaction sound that's been a big influence for Scott over the years, while "Deep Structure" employs a truly roots production style using spring reverb, bucket brigade delays and heavy compression -- applying these older tools to a more modern house groove and exploring the ties between modern dance music and its roots in dub. The late night jam of "Night Stepping" and lazy afternoon dub of "Sun People (Dub Divisionaire)" lay a path for closing track "Babylon Correction," which again features St. Hilaire. Frustrated that the recent renewed interest in dub seems to mostly encompass "minor key, sad, dark shit," this is Deadbeat's attempt to capture the righteous and uplifting side to the style that is the key to his favorite classic dub cuts, with St. Hilaire contributing vocals so massive, they might just knock you off your seat.

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