- The above stream is sourced from
Pitchfork Advance
It’s sometimes obscured by his outrageous and amusing , but Zomby is actually quite a musician. And if you’re one of the people who subscribe to his feed of links to old grime tunes, anecdotes about buying luxury couture, and tales of traveling “through the stargate” after smoking too much sour diesel, you could hardly have missed the barrage of retweets and bragging to celebrate the first third of his new album With Love streaming on Pitchfork.
First third? Yep. With Love is three discs and 33 tracks—virtually an eternity in an age when many of us can barely get through ten minutes without checking Instagram. But Zomby has made a reputation out of confounding expectations and living up to the “mysterious producer” archetype. He rarely appears publicly, usually no-showing booked gigs and turning up to others unannounced. When he does appear, his face is obscured by a mask—even when that appearance is modelling for a CAVEMPT catwalk show . His production style ranges from sub-rattling dubstep to airhorn-heavy jungle, from loving recreations of retro rave sounds to . And then of course there’s his Twitter feed, where his taste for high fashion sits alongside posts like “NEWSFLASH: i’m fuckin ballin”.
With Love, immense length aside, could be considered Zomby’ s first “proper” album. His debut, Where Were U In ’92? was an explicit (and successful) attempt to recreate the sound of UK hardcore raves in the early 90s, while Dedication was a subdued and sombre follow-up, allegedly a tribute to a deceased friend. There are no gimmicks or restrictions on With Love ‘s first disc—this is purely the sound of an electronic music future, straight from the mind of one of its weirdest and most intriguing curators. Booming bass drops sit alongside ghostly vocals, echoing synth arpeggios wash over shuffling hi-hats, and a hectic drum break parts to reveal a sample: “IT’S TIME TO GET FUCKING MENTAL!” Disc 2 starts streaming next week and I can’t wait.
WORDS BY Matt Nielson
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