#31 - Ryan & Steve

Zomes

Zomes

2008

This is a bit of an unusual selection and a record that unfortunately went unheard rather than underrated. Zomes is the solo moniker of Asa Osborne, guitarist for legendary Baltimore band Lungfish. Here we find him carefully constructing swaying and hypnotic melodic loops of rough electronics, organs and simple guitar lines. As a lo-fi bedroom recording, the self-editing and selection here is what should be triumphed. Many home-recordings turn into self-indulgent affairs where the artist never seems to know when to quit. They've fallen in love with their sound and their creation and they just simply can't cut any of it loose. The tunes on this self-titled debut may be immediate in their creation, but the culling and the selection of these 16 precise choices turn it into an otherworldly journey of the mind.

Drifting and floating around the crystal skull, this record is formless and chaotic while simultaneously being the practice of a looped and repeated precision. Asa has created something wholly unique and a record that comes closer to a religious meditative trance that anything I've heard from like minded contemporaries. Position that crystal skull and align your chakras and hearts to the stars - Zomes has an offering for you. -S.R.

This is a very unique artist. His songs consist of simple baselines that really don’t change much from start to finish. Luckily, Zomes is really smart about this; not only are his baselines really catchy, but none of the songs last more than about three minutes – so you never get bored or tired of them and are intrigued by what simple, catchy baseline you’ll find in your stocking on the next track. Great music to chill out to after you’ve had a long and stressful day. - Phil