Noah Pred

LP number three from Noah Pred is one of the least "Berlin"-sounding albums to come out of that city's burgeoning electronic music scene. Moving to Germany in 2011, the former Toronto (as well as Montreal, Vancouver and Bay Area) denizen split his time between teaching Ableton Live and releasing singles through his budding imprint, Thoughtless. Sounding more assured, responsive and worldly, Third Culture nimbly combines Noah Pred's intersecting roles as an entertainer, teacher and boss. Utilizing his expert production skills, the 13-track album is an absorbing mix of headphone nootropics and dance floor ecstasy, best exemplified on the title track, as well as album highlight "Crystallography," where Noah cleanly merges microhouse's skeletal rhythms with electrofunk's warm grooves. Featuring select guest vocalists (many from his Thoughtless roster) appearing on a handful of tracks, Pred allows Anne Gallien's moan, Deepchild's growl and Rosina's (of Toronto's LAL) lullabies to shape each corresponding song's DNA. Keeping things classic and tempered, no part of Noah Pred's latest sounds like anything that's currently fuelling modern electronic music, making Third Culture a huge step forward for a young musician who relies on stylistic absorption rather than genre expectations.