Next in my woeful series on artists I didn't know about in 2008 (regretfully so) is Zomby. I'm not exactly sure where I heard about Zomby really, but I think it's something to do with someone sending me his song "Spliff Dub (Rustie Rmx)", which I thoroughly enjoyed.
At first, it was kind of like "Okay, he's from London, he's a producer, he does dubstep, how many more of these do I need?" I'll give it to you that once I got a couple other songs from him (none of which were on the album I'm about to mention), I thought they were pretty damn good ("Liquid Dancehall" is an absolutely killer song) so I put him on a list of people to check out, but it wasn't until I got his album Where Were U In '92? that I really grew to love the tunes. I saw the album title and kind of groaned - are we at the point now where we can start naming albums after lyrics in songs that are barely just a few years old? I expected a good dubstep album and nothing much beyond that, but was surprised to discover it a throwback to the classic electronic of the early '90s. There's hints of jungle and rave wrapped up in a sheer layer of dubstep and grime that makes it perfect for an Anglophile like me, especially one like me who barely listened to music back then and missed the whole '90s electronica scene. You can't blame me, I couldn't even legally drive back then let alone rave.
Anyway, Zomby's productions aren't necessarily the most accessible to anybody who doesn't normally listen to electronic music, but you should at least know that you should give him more credit than being just another London dubstep producer - the guy seems to have real talent and diversity in his music. Next album/single he puts out, I won't be so late on discovering, I promise.
Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Rmx)
Zomby - Daft Punk Rave
Previously:
Artists I Did Not Discover in 2008: Flying Lotus
Artists I Did Not Discover in 2008: Tboacco
