Eight

With 2011's Drawn and Quartered, Berlin-by-way-of-Montreal techno producer Scott Montieth aka Deadbeat dove into a dense, almost impenetrably thick world of minimal dub ambience, with an hour of foggy sounds sifted out over the course of just five epic tracks. The mood was heavy and plodding, almost suffocating in its woolly layers. With Eight, Deadbeat thins out the mood somewhat, but the darkness and minimal approach are refined and stretched out over a variety of different styles. The album opens strong with the immaculate and straightforward dubstep-informed clatter of "The Elephant in the Pool," moving into the equally strong subdued vocoder pop of "Lazy Jane [Steppers Dub]." The hypnotic pulse of "Wolves and Angels" relies on sequenced analog synths and slowly rolling stereo-panned percussion. "My Rotten Roots" draws closer to deep house with scattered vocal samples and scratchy, understated organ hits. By the slightly Latin-tinged album closer, "Horns of Jericho," Eight lands in a completely different place than it began, and feels almost like the work of a different artist. ~ Fred Thomas