Radio Rothko

The number of commercially released dub techno mixes can be counted on one, er, finger. While Scion’s Arrange and Process Basic Channel Tracks (2002) used less than a dozen 12” singles as its source material, Montreal’s Deadbeat gleans from the banks of vinyl indebted to those subgenre-creating releases. Within a matter of a few minutes, Radio Rothko will aggravate those who demand variety, clever juxtapositions, and obvious peaks in DJ mixes. For those who can listen to minor variations on a style rooted in low-level bass throb, percussive FX, and atmospheres slathered in echo — and care to know the difference between DeepChord, Echospace, and Echocord — it will stun. Deadbeat does incorporate some earlier dub techno, scattering Basic Channel's radiant “Quadrant Dub I” (1994), Maurizio’s cushiony “M06A” (1996), and Various Artists' spaced-out “No. 3 [Debit]” (1997), but recent releases — from labels like Modern Love, Meanwhile, and Echocord — dominate the mix. The full program is a clinic in discerning intra-style selecting and superb sequencing, with the locomotive friction from tracks six through 11, beginning and ending with Deadbeat exclusives, nothing short of astonishing.