Zomes - "Zomes" (LP Review)

Quietly working its way up my iTunes playlist is the 2008 self-titled LP "Zomes". Zomes isn't actually a band, but an alias for Asa Osbourne, the guitarist for the punk-band Lungfish. I'm not familiar with Osbourne, Lungfish, or some of the other various related projects, so I'm reviewing this LP without the context of Osbourne's prior work (two good reviews of the LP by someone familiar his oeuvre can be found at "dusted" and "hardcore for nerds").

This LP is a mesmerizing, minimalist, fuzzy, drone record that features a lot heavily processed guitar. Knowing what I now know about Osbourne, it makes sense to me that this is basically electronic music as envisioned and executed in a decidedly organic, DIY-punk aesthetic. If Kevin Shields, Brian Eno, and Phillip Glass listened to a bunch of Ramones and Iggy Pop LPs and then went on a weekend recording bender, it would sound like this. Butch turned me on to this LP, I love it, and I turned Herbert on to it. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you'll know that's a good indication of the breadth of interests to which this LP appeals.

Stand out songs: Although it has 16 tracks (owing to its punk roots, none stick around that long), this is not the kind of LP for which you have favorite tracks. Listen to the whole thing at grooveshark. Some representative songs include: "Crowning Orbs", "Clear Shapes", "Colored Matter".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10. Deceptively simple, you'll be surprised how often you replay this.