Zomby – “With Love” – [4AD / Beggars Group]

Belladonna   7/10/2013   A Library, CD

Zomby is a UK born and NY dwelling electronic artist with a strong cult following based on a notorious and elusive internet persona. The more I read about him, the more intriguing he seems. Zomby (real name please?) began releasing music in ’07 and this is his second release on 4AD. He has been compared to everyone from Spooky to Burial and in 2012 he was accused of plagiarism by UK producer Reark, taking a loop created in Reason. It was settled by giving Reark a producer credit. He is a huge sampler and this release features Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy is Mine” among many others.
His influences seem to be the UK Garage and Rave scenes along with Breakbeat, dubstep, techno, drum n’ Bass and even goth. Disc 1 is definitely more my style with lots of dubby breakbeat awesomeness and cray samples. Disc 2 is more goth style with HEAVY bass. it reminds me of seeing your friends death rock/industrial band at an underground club where the performance relied heavily on a very strong bass beat. Tracks that just end abruptly, like your friends synth track abruptly ending and your friends all clapping anyway. There is a “homemade” studio quality that invokes images of a black clad dude hiding in his garage. Regardless Its super addictive and enjoyable for many reasons.

FCC: Disc 1/Track #6: audible “Fucking”