[Intro] the big AMON TOBIN thread

[Sebasty]

Hey! 🙂

Read the latest posts for new content!

As I see Amon is releasing a whole lot of music under his own name as well as some brand new projects, I decided to create a topic dedicated to his music. Updated whenever I remember to... : )

Basic introduction:

Amon Tobin is a renowned electronic music artist and producer. His earlier releases were sample-based jazzy beats with outstanding drums, and in later albums he has gone into sound manipulation (Foley Room, Chaos Theory) as well as synthesizing sounds (ISAM and following). Click to read more:

Spoiler

He was born in Brazil, but his musical career began in England where he got initially signed up in Ninebar as Cujo and later with is own name in Ninja Tune. He now runs his own label called Nomark, that's where the new music will be released under.

He has also done movie scores (Taxidermia is most notable) and game soundtracks (Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory, inFAMOUS). The latter ones' on Spotify.

This is him:

Amon Tobin in his studio

His list of major releases so far:

Spoiler

Adventures in Foam (1996, as Cujo)
Bricolage (1997)
Permutation (1998)

Supermodified (2000)
Out From Out Where (2002)

Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory ( 2005)

Foley Room (2007)
Two Fingers (2009, as Two Fingers; there's also Instrumentals)

ISAM (2011)
Stunt Rhythms (2012, as Two Fingers)

Fear in a Handful of Dust (2019)
Long Stories (2019)
Time to Run (2019, as Only Child Tyrant)

Fight! Fight! Fight! (2020, as Two Fingers)
The World as We Know It (2020, as Figueroa)
West Coast Love Stories (2021, as Stone Giants)
How Do You Live (upcoming...)

To begin off, Spotify has created a "This Is ___" playlist for Amon Tobin and it's a pretty nice mixture of his songs. The artist also has a full chronological discography playlist (oldest to newest):
spotify:user:spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DZ06evO1WZ17Z spotify:user:tricil:playlist:0yNiVxxg6RBO7ng2MyUZiX

I'll return soon with more stuff 🙂

Happy exploring!

[Sebasty]

There's been a slight delay with this post because I am honestly struck by this release.. I cannot even begin how much I love this new project Amon just pulled out of his chest pocket.

I am back with really exciting news - the FIGUEROA album has now been released (for a couple of days, actually) and it's featuring yet another side of what Amon loves and wanted to analyze it on a deeper level. This project is a little love letter to artists and culture of California, the state he's been living in for a while.

To describe what the genre of this album should be - electronic psyche-folk is fitting, but also digital flamenco and space country, latter two being attempts by Diplodocus and his friend on describing the sound.
I also found one of the tracks had a part that sounded a bit like Cardiacs. (RIP Tim Smith!)

This album features guitar playing and his fluttery gentle vocals. Yep, this project has him singing in it! I was psyched when I first heard of it!
...but wait there's more!

The guitar sounds I just mentioned, they are not produced by actual guitars! It's all programmed, and the sheer attention to detail and nuances on every single pluck is mind boggling. It's stunning! I can't...

Here is the album, which runs for 31 minutes.

There is a vinyl campaign running and as it has been with previous releases, listeners have 1 month to pledge for a copy and then the chance will be gone.

spotify:album:58RBjtk9H2O3LPPYEwvsMr 

One of the most beautiful releases I've laid my ears on. Godlike.

[Sebasty]

I completely forgot about my Amon Tobin thread. : )

So time for updates.

Three different Amons (Only Child Tyrant, Figueroa and Amon Tobin) released a 2-track EP called End of Summer.
The title track with Only Child Tyrant is quite a stunner, floating as Amon (Figueroa) sings his airy gentle lines, and then goes straight wicked with those drums and the (yes, not real) instruments.

The other track, "Put Me Under" is Amon's rework of Figueroa's track.

spotify:album:3xfqbct6JTVGIukRiRZwD2 

(it's getting difficult with all these projects, and there's two more yet to come lmao)

Also, Amon collaborated with Thys once more and released a 5-track EP called Ithaca. Those tracks were built over a period of time (almost 10 years). Some took time to be crafted, others were done straight in the spot, then forgotten.. and found again.
It's an audio journey:

spotify:album:3TMY5yQL8BsquN8GdeM5Cr 

: )

I am not sure if anyone even cares, but I still like to write about these things. A little output for me at least, unattended sandbox of being a neck-deep Amon Tobin fan.

[Sebasty]

I forgot about my Amon Tobin thread [2] : )
Anyway, I am back, there have been a few releases, and there is one upcoming release dropping very soon!

Stone Giants, Amon's 5th alias was revealed in July with its debut album "West Coast Love Stories"!
The slightly cheesy title is home to 10 songs, some heavy with sadness, grief, misunderstanding and more, others full of love, excitement, nostalgia and other emotions i forgot the names of. Much more stripped-back than his other music to give space for individual sounds and melodies.. and the world they build together.

This album has one song i absolutely adore (Fairweather), but can't really listen to unless i want to become a tear-soaked blob of big sad.

This is the album:

spotify:album:3Cbt36aq6cwrNCggqrRdw4 

Only Child Tyrant dropped a new single recently, extending the Summer of Love, the season this alias loves the most. Beautiful fluttery melodies interlaced with wild wild percussion, as you could expect when seeing a man hurling himself off the cliff and into the cooling sea down below. The Love Again!

spotify:track:3r5gZP9XifwvjO28k9gelT:small 

Two Fingers also dropped a single earlier this year, a bass-laden tune called Seesayer:

spotify:track:7GwfYq04b7XQLtwbDLRJEL:small 

And then there's this single, Rise to Ashes. The first single coming from the upcoming Amon Tobin album set to release in September. So just in a few weeks 👀
It's a bit like ISAM, but also completely not like ISAM or anything else he has done so far.
spotify:track:4sa0eKW5I08cYXuupNpLI1:small 

There will be another single titled Phaedra joining this one in September the 3rd. Phaedra will also be the 69th song released under Nomark... 😏

And the album itself? *draws a big fat circle around Sept 24th*
Yes.

[Sebasty]

And I am way overdue with introducing that album. Oh *sigh* ..god.

How Do You Live is out, has been out for some time, and it's a wonderful album also known as Honse Life among fans in the closely knit Nomark community. Mostly because the album cover features a partial portrait of a black horse. : )

The album's home to 10 songs and runs for 44 minutes, and it has some of the sweetest textures and sounds I could wish for. Particularly the song called Now Future, it's an incredible treat for all headphone users.
Here's the album in full:

spotify:album:0a48X39VME2QhWVEASztpm 

His alias Two Fingers joined forces with Muadeep, a LA-based electronic music producer, and the two recently released Blood Moon, a gnarly single synonymous with words like "fierce", "nasty" and "pure filth".
spotify:track:4NOSwJBGgNDpcuI3dc0zwp:small 

TF and Muadeep has also become a fruitful collaboration, so expect more coming down the line. 😏

*note to self* I should try to post here closer to release dates