Zomby – “Dedication” – [4AD / Beggars Group]

incognito   10/9/2013   12-inch, A Library

Zomby’s third album, dedication has been referred to as his “most dance friendly” although I’m not sure the title fits. There is a lot of 2step and grime influence on some of the tracks, while others drift toward the ambient and spacey-trancey while generally staying in the 128-140 bpm breakbeat format most easily identified with dubstep, uk garage and grime. There are a few instrumental tunes here as well, like the piano track”Basquait” or the organ drones of “Vanquish,” with a foray into Squarepusher-esque idm in “Florence.” The first half is decidedly more dance-friendly, with Natalia’s Song (of the famous Reark controversy) and the square bass notes of “Riding With Death.” It’s a good album, albeit relatively short with a lot of very short songs that feel almost unfinished, but for Zomby’s fans as well as fans of Hyperdub, Kode9 and the like, this is a very good listen.