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Amon Tobin

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Amon Tobin

Amon Tobin is a musician, DJ, and producer known for his massive sound walls of sampled jazz fused with drum and bass, intelligent dance music and samba.

Biography

Amon Adonai Santos de Araujo Tobin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He acquired the surname Tobin from his Irish stepfather. He relocated to England at an early age, where hip hop, blues and jazz caught his interest. He released four EPs and an album, Adventures in Foam, under the name Cujo which he borrowed from a Stephen King novel, before he signed with Ninja Tune in late 1996. He has since released five critically acclaimed albums under his own name. He is well known for his song "Saboteur", which was featured as the main theme for the 2003 movie The Italian Job. After a three-year hiatus from releasing any major original work, he was contracted by video game company Ubisoft to compose the soundtrack for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, released in 2005.[1] He currently lives in Montréal, Canada.

Techniques and Releases

Tobin is perhaps best known for his creative use of sampling. He uses everything from old recordings to motorcycles (Supermodified) and even the acoustics of buildings (Out From Out Where) and stretches and skews them often beyond recognition. Resonances, delays, reverbs and a wide variety of sound effects also contribute to transform what was once familiar into something grotesque and unnatural. Psychedelic ambiences are frequently blended with retro-jazz beats, creating a barrier of apparently incoherent sound layers. This uniqueness and complexity make the task of categorizing his music a difficult one. Each of his albums introduces new polyrhythms and soundscapes. In his live shows, Tobin uses vinyl emulation software, Final Scratch, in order to access all of his altered samples quickly and efficiently.[2]

Aside from his albums and collaborations, Amon Tobin has also produced the composition to the Hungarian film, Taxidermia. Amon Tobin's music has also been used in other movies as well as advertisements. A three-track single "Bloodstone" was released in January 2007. On February 20, 2007, the iTunes Music Store released an exclusive pre-release for the "Foley Room" album.

Live Shows

In his live shows, Tobin is mostly concerned about the sonic experience rather than the stage performance. Thus he uses a 7.1 surround system, which works only indoors. By layering different textures to the respective channels, he makes his records sound superior to the ones on the albums. His typical set list, apart from the enhanced versions of his album tracks, involves remixed third-party tracks that were the source of inspiration for the newest album. He in fond of Boxcutter, Spankrock, Noisia, Mayhem and Upbeats. Also the latest unreleased tracks can be presented on special occasions.


Discography

Albums

Amon Tobin at the 2006 Ososphère festival, in Strasbourg

Collaborations & Live Recordings

Singles & EPs

  • Curfew (1995) (as Cujo)
  • The Remixes (1996) (as Cujo)
  • Creatures (1996)
  • Chomp Samba (1997)
  • Mission (1997)
  • Pirahna Breaks (1997)
  • Like Regular Chickens (Danny Breaks & Dillinja Remixes) (1998)
  • 4 Ton Mantis (2000)
  • Slowly (2000)
  • East To West (2002)
  • Verbal (2002)
  • Angel Of Theft (2004) (as Player)
  • The Lighthouse (2005)
  • Bloodstone EP (2007)
  • Kitchen Sink Remixes (2007)

B-Sides/Other Tracks

  • Shiny Things (From Creatures)
  • Daytrip (From Creatures)
  • Tabukula Beach Resort (From Mission)
  • Piranha Breaks (From Piranha Breaks)
  • Sub Tropic (From Piranha Breaks)
  • Hot Pursuit (From Piranha Breaks)
  • Melody Infringement (From Ninja Cuts: Funkungfusion compilation)
  • Yards (From 4 Ton Mantis)
  • Bad Sex (From Slowly)
  • Down & To The Left (From Xen Cuts compilation)
  • East To West (From East To West)
  • Sirens (From East To West)
  • Cougar Merkin (From Verbal)
  • The Whole Nine (From Verbal)
  • El Chimi (From Verbal)
  • The Last Minute (From The Last Minute Soundtrack)
  • Here Comes The Moon Man (From Bloodstone)

Trivia

The following trivia comes form various interviews and the answers posted by Amon Tobin himself in "ask amon" section on the official forum. The are no actual references as the forum has been shut down.

  • Music had been his passion since early childhood. He would make his top-list on a school radio every Monday by recording the Sunday TOP40s on cassettes and rearranging the best parts to his likeliness.
  • In his youth worked as a street tout.
  • Owned a Casio keyboard.
  • The names of his tracks are sometimes secret messages to his friends, otherwise they may point to the source of the sampled material.
  • Has a girlfriend and a dog.
  • Lives in an industrial area of Montreal in order to avoid noise complaints from neighbors.
  • He is a chain smoker.
  • Although he lived most of his life in England, he definitely regards himself as Brazilian.
  • His stepfather is a PhD of linguistics.
  • He performed in front of more than sixty thousand people.

References

  1. ^ http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/release.php?id=934
  2. ^ http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/16777/
  3. ^ 2twofingers myspace page
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