I had the rather unique opportunity of catching Zomby perform at Decibel Festival in Seattle this past September, which was somewhat of a surprise in and of itself, considering the British dubstep producer has a history of just not showing up for scheduled live events. But he showed up for this one, and boy was it… something. After a fairly enthusiastic first half of gamut-running electronic music, the mysterious man in the Guy Fawkes mask seemed to lose energy in a manner similar to a cigarette-smoking Solid Snake. Only those weren’t fags Zomby was smoking. Possibly discouraged by the obvious technical issues that seemed to increase as time went on, he spent the latter portion of his set toking up, sitting backstage, and occasionally returning to touch his laptop once or twice. He ended the show with possibly the most I-don’t-give-a-shit V sign I’ve ever seen.
I dare say Zomby’s general attitude toward life may be the inspiration for the title of his upcoming EP Nothing, to be released November 28 in the UK and December 6 in the US. Details are scant, but when a release is only 22 minutes in length, I’m not sure how much detail you really need. The EP, according to a press release, is being billed as, “both a companion piece and ‘something of a bridge’” between it and the slightly longer LP Dedication (TMT Review), which was released in July, also via 4AD. If this is what an indifferent Zomby sounds like, I’d love to see what an energetic and aspirational Zomby could accomplish.
Nothing tracklisting:
01. Labyrinth
02. Digital Fractal
03. Equinox
04. Sens
05. It Was All a Dream
06. Trapdoor
07. Ecstasy Versions
• Zomby: http://www.myspace.com/zombyproductions
• 4AD: http://www.4ad.com
