About

Deadbeat and Om Unit combine forces to explore their shared love of dubbed-out electronics.

Starting a thread from Montreal to Bristol, this mini LP is rooted in the tradition of dub and techno, but with tinges of roots and acid as well as the etheric ambience they are both known for.

Root, Stalk, Leaf and Bloom is contemplative but heartfelt, with a sense of momentum and positive purpose. — (via Label)

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Deadbeat: Scott Monteith is a musician, sound artist and music technology educator best known for his work under the stage name Deadbeat. Having launched his production career at the turn of the millennium, the Canadian-born,​ Berlin-based producer's 22 Deadbeat albums, three-dozen singles, and countless remixes and collaborations represent one of the most prolific and consistently rewarding catalogues in the modern electronic music canon.

The city of Montreal played an outsized role in the sonic depths of his early works. Moving to the city in 1998, he secured a day job with local music software developer Applied Acoustics Systems and spent the late hours pursuing his own creative endeavours.
In the spring of 2006, Monteith would make the move to Berlin. The move proved fruitful as his creative focus shifted from the studio to the stage, resulting in performance invitations from the most respected clubs and festivals the world over.

As a DJ, Monteith is a dub archivist second to none, with a collection spanning the genre's early Jamaican roots,​ through the “steppers” versions of the 80s and 90s championed in the UK and Europe, to the current crop of global producers pushing the dub sounds into previously unheard directions and widely divergent rhythmic structures. This was most clearly highlighted with the release of his critically acclaimed DJ mix Radio Rothko in​ 2010, rated by various publications as one of the most genre-defining mix CDs of all time, highlighting both the founders and most progressive young producers of the Dub Techno sound at the time.

In addition to his production and performance activities, his abilities as an educational speaker and workshop leader have been regularly called upon by the world-renowned Red Bull Music Academy, as well as technology leaders such as Microsoft, Ableton, and Native Instruments among others. A tireless innovator of vast creative vision, 20-plus years on, Monteith's restless creative spirit shows no signs of being quieted for many years to come. — (via Resident Advisor)
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Om Unit: Jim Coles (born c. 1980), professionally known as Om Unit, is an English, Bristol-based electronic producer and DJ, known for his work in electronic music and drum and bass. 

Originally producing jungle as a teenager in the 1990s, he then turned to turntablism under the name 2tall and released several Albums under this moniker in the 2000s. It was not until 2009 that the Om Unit alias came about with his debut release on a compilation for Fabric entitled encoder, which was swiftly followed by a white-label remix of Joker's "Digidesign" and an EP called The Corridor EP on Plastician's label Terrorhythm.

In 2011 he found a more permanent home, with the record label Civil Music taking up release and management duties, releasing three EPs namely, The Timps, Transport and Aeolian, followed by an album Threads. During this time he worked on a one-off EP with Machinedrum entitled 'Reworkz' under the alias 'dream continuum' for Planet Mu. and arguably was one of the first people to fuse the style of Chicago footwork with classic jungle music under the alias 'Philip D Kick'.

Following on from the exploration of his Jungle roots with projects like Philip D Kick, Om Unit set about working with seminal Drum N Bass label Metalheadz and releasing one EP and a full-length LP in 2014 entitled Inversions which came about through a creative relationship with Goldie, who allowed him access to original DAT tapes containing samples from his personal archive. Alongside this he has also released three EPs with fellow Bristolian Sam Binga, the first of which was released on DBridge's label Exit Records. — (via Wiki)
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Deadbeat and Om Unit are among artists I listen to whenever they put something out, whatever it is. While very different in their sound, they share originality and curiosity, making their music unpredictable. Deadbeat is a vigorous experimental dub techno innovator (with an impressive 23 albums under his belt). While harder to categorize, Om Unit has his strength in what seems like an unquenchable appetite for exploring different electronic music styles.

This album spans just four long tracks that jointly make up the album title and describe the four central elements of a plant. Excellent conceptual work there. This concept is, even more interestingly, transferred to the musical characteristics of the album, too. Each track is unique and different, but with a symbiotic, common denominator that binds them together in a mightly elegant way.

‘Root,’ the opener, is an echo-laden dub track that is very true to its Jamaican musical roots with beautiful horns, lots of reverb and a long, beatless beginning. Only the baseline and drum programming later in the track reveals that this production comes out of the electronic music domain. You would probably categorize it as dub techno, but it’s unlike any dub techno I’ve heard before. The closest reference in sound I can think of is the mid-90s British trio Bandulu and their highly acclaimed New Foundation EP from 1997.

Next, ‘Stalk’ is a much darker, more experimental electronica track that starts slow before picking up a 4/4-kick drum and moving into the more danceable territory. It’s dubby — at least by the sheer amount of reverb and echo — but far from the kind of dub that opened the album.

‘Leaf’ introduces slowly evolving acid-basslines, which are so subtle that they almost aren’t acid-basslines. At least not by classical conventions. But the trained ear will quickly identify the 1983 Roland TB-303 bassline synth in the back (or some synth emulation). A slow burner of a track with an enticing melody.

Lastly, ‘Bloom’ takes us back into more conventional digital dub music. It’s vaguely reminiscent of Berlin’s Rhythm & Sound, as made by Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald back in the 90s — but with a quintessential uniqueness, signed by Deadbeat Om Unit.

All in all a real banger of an album on which the two very different and highly versatile artists have found a joint sound that unites their two signature styles in a highly potent cocktail. — (via Medium)

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Label: Midnight Shift Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Mini-Album
Released: 2021
Genre: Electronic
Style: Dub, Dub Techno, Acid

File under: Electronic // House/Electro/Techno
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