Zomby: Dedication

Label: 4AD

At last, a dubstep album that flings the sound back to its sci-fi/underground roots. Dedication, Zomby's second album and first for 4AD -- the affiliation should catapult him to the top of contemporary dubsteppers (if he isn't already there) -- is low on club-bangers but long on nocturnal vibe and the sort of detailing that dubstep was built on; with 16 tracks but a manageable 36-minutes runtime, the album is clearly not aimed at the dancefloor. That doesn't mean you won't shimmy around your living room to the bizarrely infectious "Natalia's Song," with a shadow-beat that seems only partly there and a cryptic vocal sample that sounds like it was yanked out of a Top 40 disco tune. "Alothea" reaches back to what I liked to call "thinker's step," with a sharp mid-tempo beat piercing tones that are pensive to the point of approaching ominous. "Vortex" is similar but somehow both brighter and more menacing, while "Things Fall Apart" boots a vocal from Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox (Animal Collective booked Zomby for an ATP festival this past spring, but apparently he didn't show for his set). A plethora of dark tastes here -- try some!