Reviews
Amon Tobin
Amon Tobin has been for years – 15, give or take a few – one of the most exciting talents in electronic music. It’s always been hard, nay impossible, to pin his biennially-produced albums down which further highlights him as a true pioneer and creator of ineffable sonic richness. ‘Isam’ epitomises this and feels like it’s been in slow gestation since his auspicious early works. In spite of Tobin’s frequent experimentation – or more fittingly exploration – more recent Tobin works have become slightly more accessible. Then, along comes this LP to wrong foot you good and proper. Not that footing seems an altogether appropriate concept in this most freakish of surroundings. Relying on the sounds Tobin has recorded and then re-coded, it’s an album of Huxleyan scale and enough to distance less persistent listeners. It’s expansive while taking up a position as one of the strangest albums I’ve listened to in a while and – having made the mistake of drifting off to sleep listening – it scared the shit out of my subconscious. Achtung.
From its mescaline-fuelled nascency – via the buzzing craft of ‘Journeyman’ and spinning top brutality of ‘Piece of Paper’ – ‘Isam’ feels like a synthetic life form imitating nature. As much a replicant interpreting the natural life that exists around him into music, Tobin uses field recordings to make sounds that are otherworldly. Explorative sci-fi segued sounds come naturally in this environment.
‘Surge’ is an incredible track mixing artificial whirls with organic flute noises to bridge the synapses. The cocktail of ‘Lost & Found’ is truly staggering and showcases this LP at its strongest – Far Eastern strings and elusive gender-reversed vocals are surrounded by robotic bass howls; three parts dread to one part melancholy. ‘Wooden Toy’ presents a dreamlike state for the exploration of ‘Isam”s budding automaton before the terrifying creep of ‘Mass & Spring’ kicks in.
In many ways, ‘Isam’ seems to mark a cyclical spiritual journey (‘Dropped from the Sky’ could easily feed back into the original track completing the album’s mandala form) and ‘Calculate’ marks its chrysalis stage as the brooding strings awaken the creature once more. The surrealist ‘Kitty Cat’ is displaced by (the antithesis of twilight-Jackanory) ‘Bedtime Stories’. This begins nice as pie before descending into nightmarish territory. When the bass lacerates at the 2:10 minute mark, Tobin goes to show he can unleash some of the grimiest, most nerve-shattering and downright sodomitic sounds to rival the best of them.
At the end of the day – after all my ruminations above – do I like it? Well, that’s not exactly straightforward to articulate. I love the fact that Tobin continues to push the boundaries and ‘Isam”s ebb and flow is fascinating and engrossing with its ability to take on so many forms another demonstration of riches. But, in as much as this can be viewed as a plus and a very reluctant negative, it is deeply complex and any listener has to take into account the murkiness of its depths and its marked intensity. The reward isn’t obvious or familiar – but it’s there, hidden, yet within reach.
Words: Ben Nicholas
‘Isam’ is out now on Ninja Tune.
http://ninjatune.net/artist/amon-tobin
‘ISAM’ – Full album with track-by-track commentary from Amon Tobin by Amon Tobin
