Deadbeat - Roots and Wire

Roots and Wire is a wide-scope ambient dub excursion by Montreal/Berlin based artist Deadbeat.

Infused with the sticky, saturated atmosphere of an equatorial chill-out session, you’d be forgiven for assuming the ‘ambient’ part of the tag implies a sleepy listen.  But you’d be wrong – a cornucopia of propulsive beats will get even the most lackadaisical set of hips shaking when the volume is set at a proper level.  This is an album residing happily on a dance floor or your headphones.  It’s the perfect soundtrack for a long drive at night.

Bookended by two tracks featuring wistful reggae vocals of Tikiman, the space between contains all manner of touchstones from dancehall to minimal techno laid upon a deeply dub underpining.  The standout track for me is a an all-out percussion assault named Grounation (Berghain Drum Jack) which reminds me of Gas remixing a Boredoms banger – an exciting revelation.  With a structured flow and unified aesthetic, this is made for album listening.  Once the last track fades out for the first time, the pervasive impression left is of a massive jewel of dub mastery, each track a different facet shot through with the same brilliant light.

[pick this up at amazon and make sure to check out Wagon Repair and Deadbeat's myspace]