DEADBEAT Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Scott Monteith is the Berlin-based but Canadian-born artist best known as Deadbeat, stepping out with new alias Ark Welders Guild. It is an audio-visual performance and recording project with Italian singer and curator Letizia Trussi, whom he met in winter 2021 and has since formed a strong creative bond. They work in Trussi's Rooms of Kairos studio and have already cooked up two album length pieces that come on Monteith's BLKRTZ imprint. Mons Clepsydra is the first and is an epic drone in four parts with string recordings permeating the moody, grainy, heavy atmospheres.

Review: Deadbeat, the Montreal-based dub techno maestro, returns to Echocord with a trio of immersive and hypnotic tracks. 'Pressure Double Down' showcases Deadbeat's signature sound, a blend of dub-infused techno and minimal aesthetics that has captivated listeners for over two decades. 'Too Much Pressure' is a 15-minute odyssey through intricate percussion, dubbed-out stabs and psychedelic vocals, its subtly unfurling layers and nuanced dynamism creating a captivating sonic experience. 'Double Bubble' follows with a delicate interplay of chord melodies, sub-bass tones and a crunchy analogue rhythm section, its hypnotic groove drawing the listener into a world of sonic exploration. 'Rattle The Roof Down' closes out the EP with a heavy dose of dub reggae bass, its spacey delays and murky swells adding a layer of hypnotic depth.

Review: Scott Monteith returns with his first solo Deadbeat album in five years having recently collaborated with the likes of Sa Pa, Om Unit and The Mole. As ever, Monteith's long-standing dedication to dubwise experimentation drives his music forward on this new set, and there are some welcome threads that run further back in his career. 'Brick Stick Blick Blade (Anger II)' features a vocal flow from Black Noble Oluokun, who first collaborated with Monteith on the 2007 album Journeyman's Annual. That's but one standout element in an album rich with soundsystem immersion and techno propulsion delivered with the meditative poise that we always expect from Deadbeat.

Review: Some 24 years into his career, we know exactly what to expect from Scott Monteith AKA Deadbeat - namely trippy, off-kilter techno heavily informed by dub, underpinned by rhythms that frequently eschew the obvious. Inspired dually by the "five stages of grief" and "the act of speaking one's thoughts aloud alone by oneself", Kubler-Ross Soliloquies - his first solo set in five years - has a defined structure and purpose, within which Monteith giddily goes in all manner of different but loosely connected directions. Compare and contrast, for example, the moody, twisted steppers-techno of 'With Grand Trepidation (Acceptance I)', the hypnotic, spoken word-sporting deep dub techno of 'Huey Lewis Voters Dub (Negotiation)', the skittish headiness of 'Tough Love (Anger I)', and the polyrhythmic, Livity Sound-esque 'The Double Bong Cloud (Denial I)'.

Review: Techno doesn't often come on 7" but do not let that put you off this superb new drop from Bump'n'Grind. It features dub techno legend Deadbeat in fine form across two devastating cuts. A-side 'Ark Welders Dub' is a menacing and prowling track with a picked bassline and smeared chords to add real depth and weight. It's one to foster a heads down mood on the dancefloor, while emotional release comes in the form of the flip side. 'This Bitter Dub' is a more sparse sounds with hissing hi-hats skating over the drums while bittersweet synths and an aching blues vocal ring out up top.