From Brad Shelton Sent Fri, Oct 30th 1998, 22:04
From Brad Shelton Sent Fri, Oct 30th 1998, 22:04
Some quick thoughts on a couple of recent sophomore releases.. Amon Tobin - Permutation 'Adventures in Foam' was a big hit with me. I was impressed by the way the music on that release stood apart from alot of the other mo'wax/ninjatune stuff being released then (and still)- Cujo didn't use samples that were merely 'jazzy', they were (at least sounded) authentically jazz-based. It reminded me alot of 'Throbbing Pouch' that way. Today there are still lots of records that use 'jazzy' samples (upright, vibes, whatever) but fail to use them in an authentically jazz-style. This is where Amon Tobin succeeds- he uses those sounds naturally. Others have already said the 'Permutation' follows on directly from 'Bricolage', and I agree. To me, both are above-average records. But both fail to be as good as I want them to be. Both feature a couple of standout tracks along with other generally good, but not excellent tracks. 'Bricolage' ended strong, 'Permutation' starts strong. 'Like Regular Chickens' is to my ears one of the single best examples of the style Amon Tobin has developed on his Ninja Tune recordings. IMO it's very, very accomplished. Tracks 2 and 3 follow suit, good examples of the style if not as exemplary as track 1. Track 4- the melody sounds as if it was lifted whole from some early-80's Spielberg movie and set to a beat. And.. seven minutes worth? Then track 5. Here the complete lifting of melody is even more apparent. I tried but can't place the tune here covered- one of those latin-jazz numbers, kind of like 'Caravan'. I know 'Land of 1000 Dances' was a cheezy 60's pop number, but wasn't there also an afro-cuban jazz tune by that name? Maybe that's it. Whatever it is, it's here overlayed by a drum-n-bass beat and renamed 'Nightlife'. (Also spot the less blatant but still clear reference to 'A Night in Tunisia at 3:14.) As for other highlights, 'People Like Frank' hearkens back to both 'Adventures...' and 'Bricolage'. Excellent! 'Nova' also is really great.. nice ending. The rest is fine too, don't get me wrong- but it doesn't compare in my opinion to the best of Tobin's work. Wagon Christ - Tally Ho! I've had alot of respect for Luke Vibert's music since 'Throbbing Pouch'. As impressive as the music is the humor- something that is still in evidence here on his latest. Great packaging, too, really fun. Musically there is less humor though.. it's not as unhinged as the elastic standup bass and *severely* swung beats of 'Throbbing Pouch'. 'Fly Swat' gets things started right- an exceptionally strong track, this is what you'd expect Wagon Christ to sound like 3 years later. Tracks 2 and 3 are also recognizable as 'Throbbing Pouch' successors, but begin to pull away from the limited instrumentation used on that earlier release. Nice! In parallel with 'Permutation', 'Memory Towel' brings us a latin-jazz influenced string melody over Vibert beats. Track 5 and all's well.. some of these tracks grab me more than others, but they are all really well executed with plenty of variation both between one another and within each track. That is, they don't simply set up a loop and repeat for 4:40; they evolve and change, keep things interesting. Track 6 is supposed to be funny. Tracks 7 and 8 get back to business- after the prerequisite intros things move along nicely. Even a bit of that Vibert swing, though again, not quite as deep-fried as his 'Throbbing Pouch' material. Track 9 is the only really drum-n-bass-y track. It doesn't do as much for me. Track 10 is 'Lovely', and yet not. Track 11 gets more points for the funk- possibly the closest thing yet to the style of 'Throbbing Pouch'. Solid enough, I like this one. 12 also, with it's conscious effort to use retro (sounding) musical boxes. Great progressions. That's what I'm talking about- these tracks never sound like they're on autopilot. They change, evolve, colors come in and out, chord changes do more than maintain a predictable holding pattern, etc. All in all a great release as hoped- "You've done it Luke." - Brad