Zomby - Nothing

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  • Stately though Dedication was, its serious mien and careful composition made it an introduction to Zomby that made his work seem less appealingly messy than it oftentimes is. This seven-song, 23-minute EP remedies that. It's not a heavy-duty statement—simply a seven-track sampler platter of Zomby specialties, from rave manqué to 8-bit—but that's a good part of the appeal. The music isn't tossed off, but it's made to feel like music that was—invitingly so. There's plenty of chip flutter on "Digital Fractal" and "Equinox," but the framing of Nothing makes it tempting to hear as a mini-history of breakbeat-driven British rave, since it kicks off with the proto-breakbeat hardcore of "Labyrinth" and finishes with "Ecstasy Versions," which veers from rough-and-ready "Amen" snarl to drum & bass as loved-up as its title implies. In the middle comes the two-minute "Sens," which fades up and out like an excerpt from some unknown mid-'90s jungle mix. The track's edges are neater than on Where Were U in '92 ("Sens" is more like '94), but Zomby's recall of the fleeting, everlasting appeal of that music remains pointed and true.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Labyrinth A2 Digital Fractal A3 Equinox B1 Sens B2 It Was All A Dream B3 Trapdoor B4 Ecstasy Versions
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