From Chris Fahey Sent Sun, Jun 7th 1998, 21:10
***REVIEW: Amon Tobin - "Permutation" For me, drum and bass usually comes in two categories - the pure genre with its scores of mediocre practicioners (Goldie, Bukem, etc), and artists of a different type altogether whose music is heavily *flavored* by drum and bass (i.e., the IDM pantheon) but somehow just doesn't fit into the d'n'b family. Amon Tobin's first full-length, "Bricolage", rode that thin line between "fits-nicely-into-the-genre" drum and bass and "break the rules completely" IDM. His newest, "Permutation", was described by the Other Music staff as "Drum and Bass album of the year", which made me immediately very suspicious... "Uh-oh, he's being marketed," I thought, and I had visions of inevitable Roni Size style hype surrounding him everywhere I look. But upon listening I realized that yes, this *is* Drum and Bass, but unlike the rest of the pure genre it's actually a really good album. Every genre has a few shining stars, a few innovators who define and redefine the form, even if the majority of the genre is crap. Like on "Bricolage" he favors driving beats, dark moods, vibes, jazz basslines, lots of live drum sounds and even extended live jazz drum solos. But where he breaks new ground here is his use of what sounds like broadway show tunes or movie soundtracks (from samples usually) and for the first time a palpable connection between drum and bass and Afro-Cuban jazz and bebop. (People have credited this sound in his music to his being Brazilian, but I'm not going there except to say that if you've ever seen the film Black Orpheus, which you should, you'll get the idea as to how frenzied, driving, dark, and urgent Brazilian music can be) He does favor the sound of the traditional instrumentation of a jazz quartet or big band to the electronic sounds of most dance music and drum and bass. Very infrequently will you find the alien sounds of electronic equipment, and where they are used it is sparing and eerie. To get a little postmodern here, I'd like to note that a lot has been said about appropriation in DJ- and sample-based music, both positive and negative. The sampling detractors/purists have their own opinions and I generally dismiss them, but those who love sampling too much might miss out on something about this album. The samples are integrated into the music thoroughly and seamlessly. The line between what is sampled and what is not is blurry here. The fact that there are tons and tons of samples is pretty obvious, but somehow a lot of the album sounds like it could easily be performed by a skilled jazz band, a la Acid Brass. The music seems to have spontaneously generated itself from throwing a formidable 50's jazz and show tune record collection (stolen from a haunted house) into the Infinite Improbability Drive. The fact that it's also kinda Drum and Bass is simply a coincidence of fate. Where Squarepusher is Ornette Coleman, Amon Tobin is Dizzy Gillespie - he is both innovative and a damn lot of fun to listen to. This album is definately suitable for getting down. The moniker "Drum and Bass" is losing its narrow definition these days, but if there is such a genre anymore at all Amon Tobin is definatley leading it in a new direction with this album. -Cf ' - . _ . - ' ^ ' - . _ . - ' ^ ' - . _ . - c h r i s t ø p h e r f ª h e y . _ . - ' ^ ' - . _ . - ' ^ ' - . _ . - ' ^ xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx 2 1 2 - 6 3 4 - 6 9 5 0 x 2 5 8 http://www.raremedium.com - ' ^ ' - . _ . - ' ^ ' - . _ . - ' ^ ' - .