I'm sad that it took me so long to stumble across Amon Tobin's music, but I'm happy I heard the first track from his most recent album, "ISAM," after he played at
Moogfest at the end of October. Tobin is perhaps best known for pioneering and expanding the realm of sound manipulation. Originally, he sampled and manipulated sounds from his own record collection by using audio hardware and software, focussing mainly on jazz and blues. Eventually, though, he branched out to include his own field recordings and instruments. His accolades are numerous and impressive, and he is considered to be, among other things, one of the most influential electronic musicians in the world. His experimentation with sound (including an album created by manipulating field recordings, contributions to film, anime, and video game soundtracks), makes him incredibly versatile and eclectic. And while I find his most recent album a bit more fragmented than the music I've been listening to lately, the sheer engineering, level of detail, and sound quality is incredible, and it seems on the whole to be something entirely otherworldly. It's as if the album is a soundtrack to some epic sci-fi film that's yet to be made (and will probably take place in space. In the future.). I'm excited to check out more of his discography, some of which I hope to include in future posts. For those looking for a good place to start, I'm told that "Out of Out Where," Tobin's fifth album from 2002, is one of the best and most accessible. In the meantime, stream "ISAM" in its entirety below. I recommend headphones and volume. Lots of volume:
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