Dedication

Despite emerging from the UK dubstep scene, the elusive Zomby has never been the kind of artist to fall squarely into tidy genre categorizations. Indeed, the London-based producer's initial sides for the much-vaunted Hyperdub imprint broke free from dubstep's slavish fetishization of the low-end; instead, he explored ambient textures and zippy 8-bit videogame sounds that were as gleefully restless as his scene-peers' lurching syncopations were monolithic and solemn. Not surprisingly, the producer's refreshingly playful approach continued on 2009's Where Were U In '92, a rush of retro breakbeats and rave sirens that, true to its title, harked back to early-'90s 'ardcore techno. On his second album (and first for storied UK indie 4AD), Zomby does little to change his mercurial tendencies. Dedicated to Zomby's late father, the album has a generally elegiac tone but otherwise features little in the way of concept album-like cohesion. Slinky 808-inflected grooves are painstakingly constructed, only to be cut-off abruptly or faded into the next beat or sketch of a song. With many tracks straining to pass the two-minute mark, whatever impressions are made are fleeting at best, giving the album a hurried, frenzied pace in spite of its downbeat half-step rhythms. Dedication is unimpeachable as roadmap of ideas and inspiration, and provides plenty of evidence of Zomby's finely honed skills as a maker of subtle yet oddly seductive beats, but its deliberate lack of focus may make it tough going for some listeners.