Deadbeat Wax Poetic For This Our Great Resolve BLKRTZ | The Electro Review

Deadbeat
Wax Poetic For This Our Great Resolve
BLKRTZ
TBR April 27th


Deadbeat is angry. Upon releasing this astounding long play record, Deadbeat released a statement which leaves its intent without any doubt. Referring to a racist and senile old man at the controls of a world power whose friends control the majority of wealth on the planet, we can only assume he's been watching the YouTube. Deadbeat makes it clear that although we are angry, and rightfully so, human rage is not the answer to this complex problem. Destructive anger only causes more problems, constructive anger on the other hand focusses our excess energy into something positive. This album is a way of standing up and saying “No More” to all of the powerful men and women who are playing dice with people's lives.


Deadbeat has titled the tracks of this album after his own friends, immortalising their relationships in sonic clarity. Martin begins the record with a warm and flowing distorted voice recording and synth combination. The French words spoken slowly and softly are then paired with another voice proclaiming and emoting. Ambient sound waves jostle on the undercurrent, bobbing the words upon their resting surface tensions. Experimenting with chord and effect, the track explores a deep and poetic message. It fades to allow the clicking of drums to grow from distant places into the foreground.


A selection of percussion instruments are tapped in an almost playful array which is matched with a chunky bass line. Extremely pessimistic lines ramble on in a self deluded mind meld accusing world governments of being some kind of sick machine. Thanks for the electricity for making this album with, but you suck. The angst is thick and gloopy, with an almost anarchic disdain for the gifts of civilisation Steve and Fatima delve into the immature side of problem solving. It's clear that these guys hate politicians, the people who made it their life mission to bring about change and progress. Of course, if after a different life with different events than you they don't agree with you exactly, then they're working against you. Sure. I guess we all have a right to an opinion, unless you're a politician of course. Droning notes mirror the droning complainant who with an American accent, bites the hand that feeds.


It's over, thank goodness, and a smooth click track with a warm echo begins to create something a little more like music. An ethnic twang reverberates from left to right in a sub melodic spongy mix. It's soon accompanied by a silky vocal, possibly German (Forgive a man for not knowing everything), and it brings about a dancing change to the pace. A beat progresses from the near chaotic garden of sounds the music has previously unveiled. Some catchy fills and a digital bass line with an attitude of the 90s hiding somewhere make this track feel like part two of the record. Piano attempts to formulate a dominant melody section but its over powered by metallic rhythmic cymbals. It drips with musical class, swerving on a slender pole, swaying from one side to another.


Argenis and Cristobal roll into view with a tribal drum-fest that revolves like a wobbling record on a funky coloured turn-table. A deep and woody African voice begins to talk about something, again, I'm not sure what. This album is meant for the whole world, and there's something for everyone it seems. For me, the music is good enough as it is and it's not important to know what the guy is saying. If I can go on what the English version was, I may be disappointed. It's got a delicious groove that's helped along by an oddly familiar wind instrument. Verging on the kazoo, but with a basis in accordion, the voice adds a fragrant colour to the beat centred composition.


We return to the French speaking realm for Chato and Avril. A synth beat pounds away on the tuneful loop that serves as a landing place for the volley of calmly spoken words that seem to drizzle like coulée. The melody matures and bass adds new directions to the pace and flow of sound. Looped vocals begin to form another layer of tempo making an interesting shift in energy once again. The album has picked up from where it began, the vibe is fresh and inviting. As it closes on a high, the final note draws out into a dimly lit horizon.


Next comes a wave of sonic tingles and light as a synthesiser pens a thick line of fluffy sonics. More instrumental voice work take a hold, a male vocal is looped and run in a peculiar repetition. Perhaps it's being played backwards. I like the unusual nature of the feeling it delivers, a flurry of drums in the background snaps my awareness to the other half of the track, making me pay attention to the evolving bass and synthesiser mix that takes control and begins to dance. Hebatallah and Bashar translates into a catchy and exciting track, it's got character that stands out. It makes a perfect intro track for what comes next, as a slinky and magnetic rhythm crawls from the remnants of before.


A digital saw with a wave that sways from one extreme to the other in subtle pitch bending begins to form a melody over a droning and breathy underlay. With an almost reggae vibe the melody explores the key its in and starts to turn in circles to find the best fit alongside the ever changing bass. The coming together of three or four melodies brings on an intense amalgam of sonic directions that pinpoint right in the middle of the head. Thomas takes the energy from before and pushes it further into technology before breaking down the sound to reveal a German soliloquy. It serves as a middle eight however as before we can settle into the story the music starts again bringing back the moving beats and plucky bass.


Me and Marco takes us straight into a living room as a strange instrument casts an atmosphere of eerie calm. Some drums begin to create a warped wall that builds into a wobbling plasticine of synth and drums of various pitch. English vocals in a Caribbean accent make an interesting change, this time the content is a little more mature. There's still a lot of emotion there, showing passion and headstrong integrity. Momo and Yuzo brings a hypnotic repetitive drum beat that could almost induce a trance. Vocals spill over like brandy over ice before a piano begins to jab funky notes in various tangents.


Eleven tracks in total, each one experimenting with vocal, spoken word, and rhythm, we're left with a fun and cultural album that leaves us a little bewildered. A plethora of inspirations have created the subtle differences between the tracks and the constant beat based formulation means we know where we're at even when it's doing something a bit different. It's an album that is worthy of a lot of interest, and I wonder how many of the Electro Review readers can understand every language here? There's a few.

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