Amon Tobin

Anyone a fan of Amon Tobin?

Brief description of his sound…

I don’t think labeling his sound will do it much justice, but it’s usually along the lines of DnB, jungle, hip hop, and ambient soundscapes. For a good amount of his career he has utilized samples and synth as his main "instruments," and he is now using samples, synth, strings, piano, horns, various types of drums, guitar, bass guitar, and random sounds he has recorded (including motorcycles, burps, growling, water sounds, etc.). He is also active within the scoring of video games (Infamous and Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory).

I think he is one of the best artists of our time. Permutation, Supermodified, and Foley Room are my favorite albums by him.

Here are a few examples of his work…

"Bloodstone"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW3eDx_yCHY

"The Clean Up"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwUyxW5jl_0

"4 Ton Mantis"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlYBPuHeZxw

"At The End of The Day"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jY-TZ9WXZg

"Sordid"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm-ElWKYnVU

"Always"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdJpK5jY_jA

"Big Furry Head"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLmw3k7S0Vo

"Verbal"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUyxJ-2yPgA

I was exposed to this guy by Toonami of all things, which began spinning his stuff like mad starting in 2004 when "Easy Muffin" was used for the original Toonami intro for Gundam SEED (which you can hear/watch here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxa9RQHU0II)). His music also makes up a ridiculous amount of the IGPX soundtrack.

Supermodified is love. Always. The drums have never sounded more authentic, the mix of genres never so crazy but stylish. "Get Your Snack On" sounds like a lost Cowboy Bebop track, and "Four Ton Mantis" has one of the grooviest rhythms I have ever heard. And that’s just the start of the album. He does practically everything here, from acoustic guitars on Deo to breakbeat assault on "Golfer vs. Boxer", to the sultry jazz of "Natureland", this album sounds like a movie soundtrack that never got made.

However, I have been disappointed by his last two proper albums. "Out From Out Where" is an odd album that sounds nothing like his usual work or like anyone else, for that matter, but there’s nothing memorable other than "Verbal". "Foley Room" is often too cacophonic, it lacks the melodies of his top work, though there are standout tracks such as "Always" and "Bloodstone". But it’s just too noisy without any real structure or melody.

Yee. Tracks from Supermodified probably get the most plays on my comp. Every song on it is a freaking masterpiece. I agree with you about Out From Out Where; however I’m gonna have to disagree with you about Foley Room. Yes, it’s sort of a venture from his previous work, there are hardly any samples, and the overall sound isn’t quite what you’d expect from him. I think he executes very well in grabbing quite possibly the most obscure tone color from his surroundings rather than samples and making rhythms and melodies out of it. I will say the melodic and rhythmic complexity is a tad bit lighter on Foley Room, but I think the focus he puts on this new tone color makes it just as memorable as the focus on taking samples and melding it into his own (which very few hip hop producers do) while tweaking breakbeats to the farthest they’ve ever been tweaked (probably farther than most DnB and jungle artists) which he has perfected.

I liked his Splinter Cell Chaos theory score

The first couple of tracks on Foley Room still wins my heart. <3
But at the same time Amon Tobin’s still one of many artists I should check out more, meaning simply checking his earlier work!

The first couple of tracks on Foley Room still wins my heart. <3
But at the same time Amon Tobin’s still one of many artists I should check out more, meaning simply checking his earlier work!

Check out the, "4 Ton Mantis," track I posted in my original post. It’s one of his pre-Foley Room tracks.

Also..He recently came out with a new track..check it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JCZCYB0df0

The new track sounds absolutely insane. Like dubstep, more more futuristic/space-like than typical dubstep. Definitely a change of sound for Tobin again and should be quite interesting to see where this goes. Will this track be a "Verbal" among non-memorable work or a taste of what awaits us on his next album?

As for all of Tobin’s albums, they all have flaws. No album’s ever been perfect by any artist.

Bricolage-Sounds a bit dated now and has some repetitive tracks.

Permutation-The whiplash-like mood of the tracks (a slow jazz number THEN WHOA BREAKBEAT, for example) gets unnerving, but that flaw is extremely tiny.

Supermodified-"Rhino Jockey" is two minutes too long. That’s it.

Out From Out Where-My grievances have already been aired.

Chaos Theory-Repetitiveness, that’s it.

Foley Room-My grievances have already been aired.

inFAMOUS-Frankly, Tobin’s involvement made this OST a lot better than it should have been. His work managed to force Jim Dooley and JD Mayer of Remote Control Productions to try to compose as his level, and they very nearly succeed. Tobin continues his "Foley Room" style here, but it sounds cleaner and more organized here, more of a professional sound, and he very skillfully uses a wide variety of samples from orchestral to electric guitar to SFX to get the job done. Most of the flaws come from the RCP end, not Tobin’s.

Amon Tobin is amazing! If you haven’t heard the game-rip version of the soundtrack for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, then you’re missing out. The official version is balls. "Battery" is an amazingly powerful and disturbing piece of music, but it’s completely wasted in the official release.

Of course the music from the game will sound a bit repetitive, since it’s supposed to be incidental music. You’re going to listen the same motif in several different intensities, because that’s what the game used for synchronous tension cues. Doesn’t really bother me, though. I’m a fan of loops.

In fact, I do agree he usually repeats himself too much on his work, with small variations, but it’s just a style of composition, I think. To me, it’s almost a bit hypnotic, and can be both stimulating and relaxing at the same time. Good music to listen to during work.

I also love how he mixes exotic traditional sounds with industrial ones, usually bending them beyond any recognition. Also, musicians with their own original samples always get a plus in my book, especially if they’re picked carefully and used subtly. Pierre Henry would be proud.

He recently collaborated on the Splinter Cell Conviction score. Updates soon to come at his site…

http://amontobin.com/news/amon-contributes-score-splinter-cell-conviction

The complete in-game music of SCCT by Amon Tobin is available in my new topic:
http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?p=1448949#post1448949

noice

Nercoing for a good reason:

Has anyone listened to Tobin’s Two Fingers project? It has some of the most unique rhythms I’ve ever heard out of R&B/hip-hop, and those are just for the vocal tracks. The instrumental cuts are even better. The rapper Sway was so enthralled that he risked his new major-label contract to record 7 tracks with Tobin and Doubleclick (Tobin’s partner).

Exs: Kenan Rhythm (an instrumental cut) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WESNkFp4Vk).

Straw Men (which features Sway) (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=XoSHwN62_m8&feature=related).

I likey.

Here is some more newer stuff from Tobin; a collabo with Eskmo entitled Eskamon

http://www.eskamon.com/

sweet
amon tobin rocks
good thread guys

Amon Tobin – Esther’s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5huW4P13qCk)

badass video

Amon Tobin, is a Brazilian musician, DJ, and producer of electronic music.He is best known for his use of sampling. He has released seven major studio albums since 1996 under the London-based Ninja Tune record label.Tobin is best known for his use of sampling, if a small part of a previous recording is designed to produce a new sound. His use of this technique has changed during his career. During his singles Ninebar original and first three albums achieved Tobin all trying to produce music from his personal collection of vinyl records.

Amon Tobin is the guy who walks into the kitchen and says "…i need to record this" lol. Very innovative and creative with his percussion. I’d like to thank Pandora for introducing me to him back before ads existed. Chaos Theory is badass. I’d say one of my favorite songs has to be At the end of the day.

Theres a song called Chocolate Lovely (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07GxPjLllY)that if they ever get done with Rounders 2, that would have to be the opening song for me (or atleast in the movie somewhere)

Creative and innovative indeed. I can’t wait for his new album… He seems to be taking on some dubstep. I’m looking forward t to see his take on that genre.

Oh thats awesome news! I’ve been itching for some new Tobin