REZZ, Kid Froopy and more combine on the epic first Deadbeats compilation

The first compilation from Zeds Dead's recently-founded label includes some of electronic's best and most exciting.

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Electronic artists curating their own labels seem to be the ‘thing’ at the moment, with esteemed Canadian duo Zeds Dead being one of the more recents – debuting their Deadbeats label back in March last year. After releasing Zeds Dead’s genre-crossing Northern Lights album in October and a few other treats later on in the year, the label have just dropped Deadbeats Compilation 1 – a nine-track accumulation of work containing some of electronic’s most exciting stars, from Kid Froopy, to Rezz, to PUSHER and Zeds Dead themselves.

After emerging in 2016 with his addictive Moving Castle debut BB (Four Missed Texts), Kid Froopy opens the compilation with another refined single, this time heading for a more instrumental route with Show Me – a brass-injected track that is relatively heavy as opposed to BB, yet easy on the ears. Quickly-rising Canadian producer REZZ follows this up, channelling Soulwax-like synth riffs on a building instrumental track that she pumps with power and dominance, especially on the spiralling, experimental break-downs. Fellow Canadian PUSHER – responsible for some of 2016’s best singles – gives the compilation a hip-hop edge with the grimey and raw Mayweather, which glitches with a feel similar to his anthemic Shake Down last year. Also included on the compilation is the label heads themselves (who return to their drum and bass roots for Woman Wine), dubstep producer Megalodon (and the heavy-as-hell single Watch This Bounce) and smle, a chilled out future-bass act who is tipped to be one of 2017’s break-outs.

The ability to curate a compilation that is exciting and genre-diverse is something I think is lacking from a lot of electronic music compilations these days. However, filled with plenty of genre-varying, impressive tracks, the debut Deadbeats compilation defies this, showcasing Zeds Dead’s knack for finding who’s hot in electronic music – no matter what genre or style they have (which is pretty bloody great to see).