The press release relates that Something Borrowed,
Something Blue is “... a chronicle of the
nine months leading up to [Deadbeat’s] marriage
in June 2003...” A voice observes on the first
brief track: “When I was young I used to love
the sound of crickets...”
Instead of crickets the sound appears too much closer
to that of razor shells being rubbed together. This
sonic association accordingly initiates a maritime rather
than an amorous voyage. Music – particularly instrumental
music - is after all an open book: we may be guided
by its titles and graphics, but ultimately we’re
blessed with the freedom to negotiate our own relationship
to it...
Head Over Heels is all dubby spaciousness,
percussive cascades sprinkled with delicate piano notes
played as if treading daintily upon sharp rocks. As
the track progresses there’s a sense of being
spun round deliciously in slow motion. White Out‘s
faster-paced percussion remodels the sound of footfalls
skittering down a pebble shore to the sea’s edge
into an attractive up-tempo house rhythm. An additional
rhythmic clocking sound cannot be anything but the sound
of rocks being knocked together in a seaside cave. This
is dub as immersive experience: we’re moving through
deep, dark seas - encountering silver shoals of sound
floating out of the darkness, other glints of light
visible from above originate from where the tides wash
against shores now left far behind. The oceanic experience
of this music is further underlined by the length of
tracks which are mostly between seven and almost ten
minutes in length.
Requiem swims deeper and after a few minutes
offers up firm bass figures around which Deadbeat’s
beats and minimal melodies ebb and swell. Steady
As A Rock puts the rich, full and heavy bass higher
still in the mix, where it sits just as the title indicates.
It’s used sparingly, appearing and disappearing
so that its presence can really be appreciated. Just
as the precise edge between oceans, say, Oceana and
the Indian Ocean is invisible to the eye so Deadbeat’s
tracks merge without pause. A Joyful Noise
brings back a beach worth’s of seashells tumbling
in varieties of white noise.
Where Pole’s 1-3
integrated dub with glitch, Deadbeat integrates techno
with dub, often producing driving rhythms. The music
is accordingly less pockmarked by glitches and given
more space to stretch out. At times it approaches ambient
and recalls Porter Ricks’s BioKinetics,
though with a more varied rhythmic chassis (Biokinetics’s
oceanic references were made clear in track titles such
as Port Gentil, Nautical Dub, etc.) Dive deep
down into Deadbeat’s rich and tactile, organic
and fluid music. You’ll soon grow gills.
Colin Buttimer
4/5 |
