[Ramp Recordings]

Built entirely using an Atari synthesizer, a vintage drum machine, a handful of rhythmic themes, and few effects, “One Foot Ahead Of The Other” is Zomby’s crisp new nine track EP for Ramp Recordings. At times samey and formulaic, it makes heavy use of arpeggios and triplets, and is generally more playful than the producer’s previous weeded up material. One might hear this and think “video game music,” but like Quarta 330’s remix of Kode9’s “9 Samurai” it plays like a statement of what’s possible despite such limiting retro tools. The title track, for example, combines pleasant 8-bit sounds with a great 2-step beat a la USL’s “Making Love.” The understated sub-bass is a bit of a letdown, but allows the musical ideas their primacy.

A few tracks seem to recycle others, which might arguably be an attempt at variations on a theme. But hearing that same 2-step beat on three of the nine tracks left me wanting greater variation. The two half-step entries, “Helter Skelter” with it’s more pronounced low end sextuplets, and “Godzilla,” which adds a bit of reverb and filter sweeping, however, break up the potential monotony of 8-bit instruments while staying true to the theme. Another simple but effective trick is the Wiley-esque quantization switching on “Bubble Bubble” and “Mescaline Cola.” Still, with such short run times and so many common elements, “One Foot Ahead Of The Other” might have worked better with fewer tracks. In any case, there are enough slightly different flavors to choose from here and Zomby’s growing catalog will undoubtedly provide more.