Texture is by definition a somewhat mysterious thing in music. Ideally when many layers intertwine
on record it can be difficult to sort them out as individual voices, and that's exactly where the many
become the one. How many? Which? You decide.
Texture has always been a strength of Amon Tobin, Brazilian expatriate and electronic music
artist. His music tends to groove along a rich course, making use of accents and changes in
instrumentation to fuel forward motion. On Remixes/Collaborations we get to hear those
layers broken up and reassembled, both in the "Collaborations" part (the first five tunes)
and in "Remixes" (the last four, available on CD but not the 12" EP version of the
record).
With Tobin's seamless fusions broken up, you can tell how he puts the pieces together. The
Bonobo collaboration ("I'll Have the
Waldorf Salad") gradually brings in a heavy drum-n-bass
influence, rippling cascades of snare and cymbal hits supporting alternating cycles, broken
occasionally by moody interludes. Tobin seems to come through in the thickly reverberant cushion
upon which the beat resides, effortless harmonies coloring the flow, and the simplified orchstration
of the interludes. Bonobo, as is his custom of late, digs the jam. A nice synergy.
Rounding out the collaborations, P-Love brings a heavy hip-hop element (in the form of
abundant scratching and a heavy backbeat) to Tobin's dark, mysterious soundscapes. Steinski
focuses on echo as a tool to reinforce the beat, which collapses into odd vocal samples and hard
core drum-n-bass. And so on.
"Verbal" was the best track on
Out From Out Where , Amon Tobin's
last release. Its wacky
synth rap twisted outer sound into a strangely funky hip hop fusion. And so it's only appropriate for
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to convolute and fracture it into scratchy bits and pieces on his "Dipped Escalade Mix."
Kid 606 takes a break from his usual incessant aural frustration to hit the beat heavy and create a
tossed salad to ride on top. Topo Giglo assembles a somewhat dull house feel (take that to the
clubs, please) and Boom Bip goes atmospheric with reverberant effects.
Like any multiple-artist collaboration, this one has its high and low points. Those tend to reflect
the interests and expectations of the listener, so it's hard to say exactly which and where. For me,
the dance-oriented pieces (for example, Topo Giglo's remix) fall flat into repetition. But others would
probably disagree, which is just fine. All in all, Remixes/Collaborations does have a lot to
offer both in terms of straight-up listening pleasure and a more intellectual understanding of how
Amon Tobin works. Add a "Verbal" video and outer space liner art and you're all set.
Visit www.ninjatune.net and
www.amontobin.com for more information
and sound
samples.
~ Nils Jacobson
