Amon Tobin, 15 Years Later

Before Ableton Live there were guys like Amon Tobin, mastering clunkier tools to produce music for smaller audiences. For those unfamiliar with his name, Amon (formerly “Cujo”) has been one of the most influential producers in the world of IDM dating back to his first release in 1996. An Amon Tobin track can be listened to several times over without hearing every nuance. Much like other artists who produce such masterful output, Tobin’s works are at worst interesting, and are often on the vanguard of industry trends. But the industry has changed, and while the visibility for production specialists like Amon has increased, so has the competition. With the release of his newest album earlier this spring we wondered if a producer from the 90s could remain stylistically relevant in an age of renaissance for electronic music. Thanks in part to an expressed interest in new styles, it’s easy to argue that he’s succeeded.

Artist Background

Amon’s early music was heavy on breaks but mellow in spirit. Amon’s trend toward more aggressive sounds showed most noticeably on his fifth release, Out from Out Where a cosmic journey through a collection of masterfully woven samples. Venturing into the commercial sector, Tobin next provided the soundtrack for a video game, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Albeit a paid gig, the assignment wasn’t too far out of the comfort zone of an artist whose productions often bear a theatrical sense of dark and light motifs. It’s easy to imagine the gristly hero of the game prowling though warehouses while this dark and wondrous score plays; a 6 channel version was produced as well, which makes for a transcendent listening experience. The album received favorable reviews and helped generate some overdue recognition for Tobin.

Foley Room, his last release, delves into the cacophonic world of foley artists, providing ample creative flexibility for an artist known for his detail-oriented production. Tobin himself recorded most of the samples used, and the results elude classification even further than his previous work. The samples take center stage in mostly fast-paced instrumental compositions that befit an action-packed or otherwise suspenseful film sequence.

ISAM (2011)

Amon Tobin’s seventh studio album, ISAM, is a sample-heavy showcase of expertly-produced headphone music that, like many (good) electronic albums in recent memory, is difficult to pin to a single genre. Amon, perhaps influenced by his recent interest in heavy-hitters Noisia, Excision, and Eskmo, forays into the world of snarling bass and glitchy industrial beats throughout ISAM’s 13-track catalog. These descriptions , by history’s account, would fail to accurately describe Tobin’s style, whose works have transformed from hyperactive electronic jazz into something more likely to evoke images of mechanized, industrial soundscapes.

With the release of ISAM, Tobin seems to cast aside theme and narrative in order to explore purposeful dissonance, with screeching bass and electronic blips alongside cooing female voices. Tobin’s music is often—and jokingly—lumped in with the nearly descriptionless “IDM” (intelligent dance music), which perhaps fits after all, as the jarring sounds and glitchy vocals ensure that no one will be dancing to ISAM. While this may be his most testing release, this is an experiment in sound not to be missed.

Great Scot!

Good beer, bagpipes, and large men in kilts. That’s what was expected, anyway, of the 2010 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games.

Upon admission, the sight that presented itself was that of a common fairground: food, beverage, and novelty vendors strewn about a large field, wrapping around the various event areas.  Scottish goods were abound: kilts (of course), weaponry, pottery, and even energy drinks called out to the curious passerby. At a stage setup in the very rear, a band played what could best be described as Scottish grunge rock, complete with bagpipes and kilts.

Overall, while the Highland Games had its letdowns, large men in kilts tossing heavy objects is worth $15 any day of the week.

The presence of beer was evidenced by numerous drunken fair-goers, and so it was sought. A cornucopia of Scottish beer wasn’t found, however, as Dunedin Brewery had monopolized this year’s event. As such, they’d coerced attendees into purchasing $25 pitchers of a meager selection of brews. Nonplussed, the beer was passed up.

After some rather unsatisfying barbecue  was choked down, the next draw was feats of strength by men in kilts. While being egged on and heckled by packs of gregarious frat guys,  about a dozen men attempted to toss a 56 lb. weight over a bar that was fifteen feet at its highest. Spectators cringed as the car battery-sized weight came down perilously close to the competitors’ heads. As a foot was added each round, everyone grew a bit weary of this event, and all were glad when the last attempt of at fifteen feet succeeded, and was drawn to a close.

On the other end of the field, the caber toss was just beginning. This event entailed attempting to flip a sixteen foot, 150 pd. rod that’s essentially a small tree. Competitors carry the rod perpendicular to the ground, from the bottom, then throw it. They’re scored by the maximum angle the rod reaches once one end hits the ground, hopefully flipping it entirely.  Attesting to the difficulty of this event, none of the mesomorphs in kilts could pull off a flip. A picture is needed to impart just how impressive this was:

Concluding the ceremony for the day, three large marching bagpipe bands came out onto the center field to play and march in unison. This turned out to be the most entertaining part, as the arrangements were well-executed, and the size of the combined bands (200+ members) was enough to awe.

Brasky gives the Highland Games a thumbs-up.