Shackleton - Deadman

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Brett on Thu 17 Feb, 2011.

You can stick a five on a Shackleton before you've even put the needle on it at the moment.. The lad knows what he's doing. Immediately you know this is him from the subtle processing of the 'Everyone starts from point one' sample which kicks the track off without needing the concrete confirmation of the nimble middle-Eastern percussion and bassy uber-throbs. What I'm particularly liking about this one is the way he slowly ratchets up the intensity 'til you almost can't bear it before pulling it back at just the right moment. As with much of his stuff you could argue that he's not doing anything massively new for himself but when someone's got such a unique sound and they utilise it so consistently awesomely it's hard to care. King Midas Sound contribute a fine reworking on the flip, Hitomi vocals and all, which I reckon comes off a little like Mezzanine-era Massive Attack with Beth Gibbons on the mic. Open up that top drawer and make some space for this bad boy.

Sam Shackleton stalks deeper into the sub-loaded unknown, with two Valentine's Day releases for Honest Jon's, loaded with spectacular remixes by Kevin Martin, T++ and Baron Mordant, all stunningly mastered by Rashad Becker, and presented with startling artwork by Zeke Clough.

Retrieved from his celebrated Fabric mix-CD, Deadman is signature Shackleton, turning paradox and paranoia into dancefloor fire. It comes straight at you: rolling, dread techno of breathtaking heat and humidity, spurred by hectoring congas and thick-set subs, amidst a teeming soundscape of drones, field recordings and oblique vocal textures, like missed messages and garbled warnings. Nimble yet drop-forge-heavy, sensuous yet punitive, wide-open yet occluded, on the move yet unnervingly rooted.

Kevin Martin adopts his King Midas Sound guise for an expansive remix which reveals his lineage in noise, industrial and isolationist ambient. He fillets and cools Shackleton's production, building a corona of crackle, with stirring strings. Hitomi's singing taps the melancholy latent in the mischief and menace of the original. A muffled bass and tripping syncopation nods to Rhythm & Sound — but Death Dub is its own beast, fully realized, daring and affecting.

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