Zebrabook - Intern

Hear The Track Here

I cheerfully admit I had to stifle a groan when I saw Zebrabook on this months review list. Not because the music is bad, far from it. Zebrabook is a solo venture by The Dead Company's Jon Bushaway and this would make four tracks I have reviewed so far. Now, knowing Jon of old, and being only too well aware of his predilection for obscure and devious musical byeways, his music has never worried me overly much - except in one simple respect. The man's tracks - whether Dead or Zeb - can be very, very long. The last Zebrabook track I reviewed was Apocryphal (September 2009) and that was a monster track (15 minutes and 28MB in size) so he's being a bit nicer with Intern because it's only nine minutes! Yippee and phew!! That was a close shave wasn't it? Now you know why I groan...


Experimental electronica always has that effect, although it has to be said that over the years I have come to understand it a lot more. Surprisingly enough Jon Bushaway is always responsible for that in large part. Soundclick's experimental community really came to my attention because I had developed a taste for TDC's variety on another site. See, always blame the other guy, works every time. Whenever I am faced with his work, I always settle in for the long run, and it's unfailingly proved worth it - even in the longer pieces. There is something in the way that he strings his soundscapes together that sounds like no-one else, and speaking of which, Intern could also be called accessible - not something I'd normally say about this artist.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've warned readers to approach work like this with caution, this is music you'd really have to like to keep playing. Intern is a surprisingly light piece of music, considering some of this musician's abyssal visions, and as I say an easy listen in a chill out kinda way. Zebrabook are considerably more electronica than Jon's normal mixed beat, but it all works together to give an incredible voyage through his aural vision. The best setting for this is a mind full of peace, a cup of tea and a biscuit and approximately eighteen minutes because if you hear it all through once, you will want to do it again. I had noticed that Zebrabook have now signed up to netlabel Neferiu and have an album - Satelle - on there. A bit surprising this track isn't on it.

Excellent electronica. Highly Recommended (long though...)