Two Shell - "The Nightmare"

Mysterious London duo Two Shell want you to rage on the dancefloor with this Euro-trash/rave anthem "The Nightmare." It's brilliantly loopy. 

Jam of the Day: Stay Positive - "Shill"

London producer Matt Farthing, recording under the name Stay Positive, throws down this rave-inflected club track.

Album Review: Zomby - With Love

Zomby
With Love
Rating: Grrrr

Enigmatic UK producer Zomby rose to prominence off the basis of two records, his 2008 rave-influenced debut Where Were You In 92? and 2011's darker more intimate record Dedication. His latest record, the double-album With Love is a bit of a head scratcher. Over a sprawling 32 tracks, Zomby swings back and forth between rave, drum and bass, minimalist techno, UK bass, and his latest fixation trap music, sometimes flowing into each other breathlessly, other times making jarring transitions and stops that can be frustrating. After 80 minutes, it can be an exhausting experience, and one that doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense, however, somehow it works in an oblique way. With Love is Zomby playing for Zomby and no one else. Whether or not you come along for the ride is obviously not a concern for the producer, as his endless tweets suggest he likes the antagonism his views and music provide.

With Love is a very dark, somber affair, rarely touching the technicolor day-glow rush of his earlier work. Tracks rarely exceed the 3:00 minute mark, most seeming like mere sketches that get their point across then either merge into the next track, fade out, or abruptly end. These are contemplative moments, more suited for the after hours comedown than the euphoria of an evening out. It is difficult album to grab hold of and figure out and, ultimately, it is impossible to figure out. Zomby either refuses to or doesn't care to give you any signposts as to what to do. But this obfuscation actually makes the record a success, at least in my mind. As you listen to these seemingly disparate tracks, it forces your brain to obsess and evaluate these tracks over and over again, finding subtle motifs that pop up again and again, like moving through a vast series of rooms each playing their own theme, and grasping snippets here and there, the overflow washing over you.

Zomby's palate has remained relatively unchanged over his career, preferring to remain beholden to squeltchy analog synths and 8-bit sounds on his more rave inflected tracks, and keeping a fairly minimal tone throughout the record, preferring to stick to two or three elements, letting them rub against each other before moving on to the next moment. Over the first three tracks which blister through in under 6 minutes, Zomby basically addresses his themes succinctly, from the jungle-esque rumble of "As Darkness Falls," two-step anthem "Ascension," and trap influenced "Horrid," showing what interests him at the moment.

His best tracks find him working with subtle, gorgeous melodies that propel the tracks. "Memories" is a stunner, its shuffling beats playing along with the pull of a haunting piano melody as harsher analog synths play with texture and mood. "Overdose" blasts rave synths and lightning quick drum programming against the wall, with echoes of decaying hardware playing like a long lost SOS signal.



"This One" is slinky, bass heavy track that sounds right at home at a sleazy after hours party, while "Vanishment" retains an icy vibe throughout, the sounds of the city and nature attempting to intrude on the journey home.

As the album progresses it gets darker and darker and less uniform. Zomby's forays into trap-influenced tracks finds him shying away from the release found in traditional trap music and has him focusing on its more sinister aspects. From the ink black "Digital Smoke," the lurching ominous strains of "Entropy Sketch," the lonely piano motifs that flow against the clattering trill of "I Saw Golden Light," and the echoing, cavernous black hole of "Sphinx," suggest that in Zomby's world is one that to be lost in is a perilous place.

With Love is too unwieldy and chaotic to be considered a masterpiece, but most likely buried within this sprawl is a brilliant long player. Akin to Aphex Twin's hard drive dump Drukqs, there is a lot of material to sift through, but the sheer quality of most of these tracks makes it impossible to ignore. Perhaps in time, the view of this record will change and it will make more sense in retrospect. With Love is a difficult record to love, a difficult record to listen to at times, but shows Zomby is a producer that can never be trifled with.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Jam of the Day: Lone - "Crystal Caverns 1991"

More liquidy rave material from producer Lone; from his upcoming album Galaxy Gardens.

Zomby: Nothing EP - Album Review

Zomby
Nothing EP
Rating: Meh

Relatively mysterious UK producer Zomby moves easily between so many genres it is difficult if not impossible to peg him into any one camp. From the rave reminiscing of Where Were You In '92? or his 4AD label debut Dedication that spun densely layered beat explorations, Zomby doesn't sit still for long. Ever restless, Zomby has released Nothing, a 7 track EP made up of apparently unused tracks from the Dedication sessions, however, it mostly feels like a merging of his two most prevalent styles, the breakbeat rave compositions and his more beat intensive work. Unfortunately, Nothing comes across more like a hard drive dump than a truly cohesive collection. Many of the tracks end abruptly, harshly flow into each other, or feel like sketches that need to be fleshed out more. There are some good ideas here, but you can see why they were left off either album; they just don't fit correctly. Despite these flaws, if you listen to the tracks as just individual pieces and not part of a collective whole, you will derive a better experience.

I find I am more partial to the rave-influenced tracks. The dense beats and drum and bass breaks of "Ecstacy Versions" bring back the rush I felt when listening to Where Were You In '92? All I have to do is hear that diva wail and air raid siren to be pulled back into the hazy club atmosphere.



"Labyrinth" evokes the dreamy, ambient techno and rave of 808 State and Altern 8.



While "Sens" is all hyper break beats and skittering samples.



The more esoteric tracks would have had more impact if packaged separately. You can see their link to his work on Dedication; the more skeletal beats and programming, shimmeringly repetitive synths, and a mood less of exaltation, and more of introspection and loneliness. "Trapdoor" hypnotically weaves a pattern of modulated synths and atmospheric washes.



"Digital Fractal" builds off a stuttering 2-step beat, gently adding deep bass and layers of analog keyboards.



The two worlds semi-collide on the busy "Equinox," featuring whiplash programming, bloopy synths, and a tense feeling of paranoia.



Nothing is definitely a stopgap EP before the next full length from Zomby. It really doesn't showcase a new direction or feed off any one genre. It merely is a compilation of very disparate tracks that just never coalesce together into something unified. There is nothing wrong with this approach if the individual tracks can stand on their own. As such, these mostly sketches never really take off and bring the listener to a new place. While I can appreciate these tracks, they only make me long for a more definitive statement.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Rustie: Glass Swords - Album Review

Rustie
Glass Swords
Rating: Woof Daddy

Glasgow based producer Rustie's debut album Glass Swords doesn't care if you think it is the most cerebral album of the year. The motive is not the brain but the feet, and it succeeds wildly in creating its own universe of euphoric party music. Whether you want to call it rave, grime, two-step, garage, wonky, dubstep, aqua-crunk, etc., it doesn't really matter, as Rustie barely takes a breath through 13 tracks, whiplashing through every genre possible. What strikes one the most with this album is simply the exuberance of the music, the sheer joy that emanates from every pore. Every track is packed to the gills with ideas and sounds, and each time it threatens to get too cluttered, Rustie seems to instinctively know when to pull back. There is not a dull moment or weak track on this album, and is perhaps the most exciting electronic album of the year.

There are almost too many high-points of the album to comment on. Tracks like "Ultra Thizz," which throw whiplash snares and percussion at you along with giddily building synth squiggles and vocodered vocal samples, are tailored made late night party anthems.



"City Star" mines booming bass and an onslaught of video game inspired keyboard blasts.



Rustie is not afraid to be completely goofy, stealing the Seinfeld slap bass line for the tracks "Flash Back" and "Hover Traps," but having the sense to adapt it to the songs, which stutter along with rave siren keyboards and squeaky vocal blurts.





"Surph" is all funky blurts of bass and staccato keyboards, making for an endlessly head bopping track.



Truthfully, there really are no overtly weak moments on the album. The only track that doesn't do much for me is "Globes" which is more of a transitional track between the two halves of the record. The second half the record is as good if not stronger than the first half. The double salvo of the wonky "Death Mountain" and funky "Cry Flames" bring back the forceful propulsion of the record's first half.





"After Light" takes a step into dubstep territory bringing a wubby bass into the mix, tempering things with sparkling synths and what could even be a saxophone.



The album ends on the 80s funk pairing of "Crystal Echo" and "All Nite" with plenty of keytared melodies, sunny rave vocals, and stuttered percussion.



Glass Swords is so full of energy and amazing ideas, you have to immediately replay it once it's done in order to hear something you've missed or to play your favorite track over again. It's been a long time since I have heard a record that made me want to do that. While it may not be the most original sounding album of the year, he takes familiar, tried and true sounds and finds ways to make them feel fresh and new. This album is definitely on my list for albums of the year.

Rating Guide:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.