July 13, 2004

{ Amon Tobin - Solid Steel Presents (Ninja Tune) }

Amongst all the swill otherwise known as mix CDs, there is a series known as Solid Steel, and with the Steel comes quality. The lastest installment of the series is a release from everyone's beloved Silent Brazilian, Amon Tobin, and the story goes a little like this... Amon had been on tour for ages, playing with Final Scratch and fine tuning his skills in front of cheering crowds, doing a lot of wackass drugs and drinking like a fool. Now, Final Scratch is a setup consisting of two unique records which are spun on the decks while being connected to a laptop. Using the laptop, you can assign samples and loops to the records and then manipulate them by hand. Time-stretching, warping, scratching, and just generally fucking up digital tracks and samples. Very nice. So, one night he's in Australia, he's way fucked up on some unknown druggery, and he's just rockin' it. The mood was right, the buzz was righter, and the stars fell in line, even the kangaroos knew it was special. This stellar night is what has now been released the only way it deserves, a straight Solid Steel issue. Listen children, the tracks are dark, the beats are fast, and the d'n'b rhythm damn near hurts. It's harsh. But it's good. His skills are mad, the tracks are old and new, there are some priceless samples, and even a little bit of Velvet Underground. All in all, another outstanding installment in what has become one of the precious few mix series to still matter. Ninja gives it the best description on their site with this: "...in those rare moments when there isn't multiple parts flying around in the mix you can almost visualize Amon patting down his pockets doing the 'lighter shuffle'. Rumours that if you listen carefully you can hear a Koala bear on PCP bogling and lifting her top to show Mr Tobin two fine lines of teats are unfounded." Whatever, it made me laugh. Last thing to mention is this: Inside the booklet you will find something you need to enter into a secret pocket of the Ninja Tune site where you can get some extra Tobin swag and even enter in a contest to win your own Final Scratch setup.

     » Check it on Ninja
     » Go to the official Amon site
     » Learn about Final Scratch

By Garrett in Music