Albums
John Luther Adams
Félicia Atkinson
Cardopusher
Matt Christensen
Enrico Coniglio
Coniglio / Under the Snow
Dakota Suite
Deadbeat
Deepchord
Vladislav Delay Quartet
DJ W!LD
Dreissk
Mark E
Marcus Fjellström
Fourcolor
Fovea Hex
Ákos Garai
Kreng
Lerosa
Machinedrum
Mem1 + Stephen Vitiello
Message to Bears
Novi_sad
Rick Reed
Alexander Rishaug
Jannick Schou
Secret Cinema
Seven Saturdays
Sleeps in Oysters
Sound People
Strom Noir
Ryan Teague
thisquietarmy
thisquietarmy + Yellow6
Amon Tobin
Alexander Turnquist
Damian Valles
Vetrix
Simon Whetham
Winterlight
Compilations / Mixes
Brownswood Electr*c 2
Laid Compilation
Prosumer
EPs
David Åhlén
Arkhonia
Bad Sector
Bengalfuel
Wil Bolton
Ed Cooke
Davis / Kleefstras
Detroit: DeepConstructed
d'incise
Final Cut
Gang Colours
Richard A Ingram
Pfirter / Dadub
Nils Quak
Rhythm Baboon
Rumpistol
Mark Templeton
Damian Valles
Josh Varnedore
Amon Tobin:
ISAM
Ninja Tune
Artists evolve and so they should. No one, then, should begrudge Amon Tobin's progressive gravitation away from the breakbeat-heavy style of earlier albums such as Permutation and Supermodified, crate-digging productions that appeared more than a decade ago. Whether the music on his seventh recording ISAM, which arrives four years after Foley Room, is as satisfying as a listening experience as those earlier albums is, however, a question that might certainly be posed. Whereas Tobin used samples of field-recorded elements for source material (instead of vinyl samples) on Foley Room, ISAM offers an even braver new world from Tobin in that he started with field recordings but then synthesized the sounds and built them into actual playable instruments that were then used to create the album. The breathy vocals that appear on “Wooden Toy” and elsewhere are Tobin's, though treatments have rendered them free of gender identification.
The album's dozen tracks are loaded with an incredible amount of detail, at times so much they become oppressive and claustrophobic (one would expect that a song titled “Bedtime Stories” might be presented as a sparsely arranged lullaby yet even here Tobin can't help but fill every moment with an excess of sound elements). The most satisfying moments are those that are less weighed down by clutter, but such moments are few and far between. The album succeeds best in those moments where melody overrides design, such as during “Kitty Cat,” whose playful vibe is enhanced by its sing-song melodies and relatively straightforward presentation. Beats are largely eschewed though echoes of Tobin's previous beat-based style are present in the heavy dubstep-styled trudge that acts as a rumbling foundation for the writhing figures of “Goto 10.” Exotic string instruments lend “Lost & Found” a dramatic Middle Eastern character, though once again a heavy beat wobble, slowed to a crawl, nudges the material towards dubstep's orbit.
ISAM is an audacious, adventurous, and resolutely experimental work that is inarguably the logical next step in his artistic evolution, and one marvels at the incredible range of sound design Tobin explores throughout the recording. But broached on purely listening terms, it's hardly the most enjoyable Tobin collection, and ISAM ends up being more a recording one appreciates than enjoys. It's fitting that the live show Tobin's planned for ISAM is intended to be as ambitious as the album (apparently a 3-D art installation enveloping Tobin and the audience is involved), as even the visual approach suggests Tobin's discarded the relative simplicity of a former DJ-centric approach for something more grandiose and bombastic.
June 2011