***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
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