Warning: this review will be extremely biased as I think Amon Tobin is dope as hell.
Coming back from my dad’s during my younger years entailed many long bus trips on the 76 towards Waterloo station. To help pass the time, Dad would lend me his old iPod, and give me albums to fill my ears with as I gazed out of the window at the swarming traffic and bleak winter grays. It was in this way that I met Amon Tobin.
The Brazilian-born DJ has, for the last twenty or so years, operated on the fringes of electronic music. A master tinkerer, he is known for spinning musical constructions out of whatever he can get his hands on to sample, resulting in one of the most interesting bodies of work in recent memory. His early breakbeat work with the Ninja Tune label, Bricolage, Supermodified, Out From Out Where and especially Permutation are ingrained hard in my memory.In recent years he has broken new territory with the gut-punching electronic swirlscapes started in Foley Room, perfected in ISAM and evolving still in his latest work. Amon comes in several flavours, so if you fancy digging into a more beat-driven album you can check out Two Fingers (originally a collab, now an alias) for some of the headiest bass music on the market; or if that’s not you, then the chaotic Only Child Tyrant persona might strike your fancy.
His latest album, How Do You Live, is a continuation of the elusive sounds of Fear In A Handful Of Dust combined with some of the more intense moments of ISAM. The title track presents us with some traditional breakbeat dipped in dreamy, hazelike distortions and ghostly ephemera. Leading on from that comes “Rise To Ashes”, a menacing onslaught of pulses that’ll set your teeth on edge. “Sweet Inertia” is an experiment for Amon and not by any means a failed one. The vocoder action from Figueroa gives the track a sense of the vaporwave which I am entirely here for. Next up, “Phaedra”: an homage to other electronic giants Tangerine Dream? Either way, it’s singularly Amon and the bass is enough to make a grown man weep for joy.The spooky interlude of “In A Valley Stood The Sun” transitions us to “This Living Hand”, a track tumbling over itself in a cascade of pellucid ichor. “Button Down Fashion Bow” melts into a throbbing beat and a collection of strange echoes and grinding noises. “Now Future” harks back to the Permutation school of killer computer-generated drum composition with some Aphex-esque vocal wobbles. “Black As The Sun” — when this track gets going, you will notice.
Finally comes “All Things Burn”. It is a nice way to finish the piece — a memento mori reminiscent of the heat death of the universe in its slow and trancelike nature. I have always liked the titles that Amon gives his songs for the images that they conjure up in your mind. I would very much like to know what goes on inside his head when he makes these things.Keep at it, Mr Tobin.
-Raul Solomons-
