Electronic music artist Amon Tobin shared this video preview of his live show, ISAM, which launched on June 1st.
Performances for ISAM are scheduled for:
- 9th June – Astra, Berlin
- 10th June – AB, Brussels
- 11th June – Bataclan, Paris
- 15th June – Melkweg, Amsterdam
- 17th June – Roundhouse, London
Again, Iowa seems to have been left off of the list.
Tobin’s ISAM is a large scale live audio/visual experience, designed in conjunction with Blasthaus, VSquared Labs, Vita Motus Design, Leviathan and others.
Check out the behind the scenes look at the creation of ISAM below:
Oh man I seriously need to see that.
Amon Tobin is like the synth/sampler equivalent of Steve Vai or Jordan Rudress… just pure technical wankery, magnified to the umpteenth
not to say that its bad or anything.. actually most of it is pretty impressive
the xenophobic policies we have here at the US borders doesn't really encourage anybody to want to tour here
musically it is pretty bad/boring. I've been trying to like Amon Tobin for years with no luck. The light show is nice, but seems like more wankery to support the music wankery.
Im going to see this tomorrow in Brussels. A perfect mix of perfect music with a perfect visual translation
beautiful visuals, very nice, fluid implementation of concepts. audio is bombastic, movie like but not my cup of tea anymore. too many breaks not enough music….chapeau Amon!
I'll give props to the fabricators, electricians and those who constructed the set. But the visuals look like screen-saver level random algorithms, and the music sounds pretty pedestrian glitch-fiddly. I wouldn't say it sucked, but there's nothing there for me to really like either.
I agree with the "wankery" part 100%. (especially that wanker way he does the robot voice for the interview) But I wouldn't compare him to Vai or Rudess… those guys are really excellent musicians, even if we may not like their style. I'm not sure Tobin could even pick one key to stay in for a whole tune. Also, it takes years of practice to "wank off" like Vai, but Tobin's music could be recreated almost at random by virtually anyone with a synthesizer.
hmm im doubtful on the "virtually anyone" thing.. he may not have traditional musical chops like those other guys, but he does have alot of talent and skill in sound design and assembling all those pieces to form something musically impressive in a very unconventional way, the way all the sounds are layered and so forth
but yeh, its total wank wank wank
another issue is that his overall "sound" has not matured at all – even though it may be more technically complex – its still just big nasty bass, heavy beats and some bells or chromatic perc sounds
"Ever"? I've seen Amon Tobin in the US. I wish this show was happening near me, though.
I have to respectfully disagree. There's a pretty fascinating video on the making of his album The Foley Room that I watched which made me gain a lot of respect for his work. The guy is phenomenal at taking 'found sounds' and tweaking them into a very musical context. He seems to be a very thoughtful and talented dude.
I went to a live show of his a few years back, where he mixed in all in 5.1 surround, in a smallish venue. I felt like I was swimming in a sea of ear candy. It was extraordinarily entertaining. I can understand if you aren't into his style of music, but I don't get a 'wankery' vibe from him at all. If I were forced to see Jordan Rudess live, I'd probably slit my own throat. My reaction to Tobin's show was quite the opposite.
To each his own, I suppose.
yes but we arent discussing issues of taste but rather the style of work produced
if you think amon tobin's music is emotionally evocative and spiritually moving and conceptually enlightening and so forth and so on, thats your business but what im saying is that i suspect that is not his intent (consciously or otherwise).. and that his intent aligns with the intent of other technical wizards such as rudess and so forth
i'm not really into glitch-stuff, but this guy can craft nice sounds and yes, the visual is incredible. all the spitters should think a little bit how to put fragments of this performance together and state anything after that.
huge work, amazing results. hats off. don't be jelaous 😉
I understand both points of view. this new album wants to embrace a scene on a more 'pop'ular level in terms of using glitch in a stylized, trendy way and in terms of sounding more dance oriented. That's my 1st impression.
Personally, and I need to listen more in order to be fair, but I prefer the styles he used on Foley Room. That to me was a much more interesting direction, mostly because it didn't seem so clean in the perfected sense, and much of it had sporadic rhythmic sections. It was music that was filled with imagery, perfect for avant-garde film.
This new album has some very impressive sounds, and it certainly has a very crafted sound…that was clearly put together by someone who is very intelligent. But, if one is going to use 'glitch' or push the Glitch element into the forefront, then I prefer that it doesn't sound so perfect and crafted. It seems like such a stylized idea of Glitch. Geez…I guess what I'm saying is that Glitch should often sound like a mistake, or a piece of equipment going ballistic, but this music sounds too intentional to let that happen. "Everything has its right place", and that's the problem for me with this. But, he does often have more than 1 moment of genius. Again, I want to listen more but so far Foley Room wins out. This sounds like more of a promo for Razor than anything. They'd love to get their hands on this.
The visual installation is fantastic.
His new album is highly stylized, for sure. I find it enjoyable to listen to, but it's not my favorite thing in the whole entire world, either. You make it sound like it gives me some kind of spiritual orgasm or something. I just think it sounds pretty good. If I really wanted to get the proverbial party started, I'd probably choose something else.
Seems like many here disagree, but I wouldn't put him in the same 'wankery class' as Vai or Rudess. People like Oakenfold and Tiesto and Deadmau5 fall into that category more for me. I guess we can agree to disagree?
I'd go see it if he brought it to Ausland. Maybe one of the festivals will hook us up towards the end of the year.
I've really been enjoying this series of artists that have really gone the extra mile to make a visual performance to go along with the music. I dig it. I like the direction this is all going for live electronic performance.
I can seriously say that was one of the best visual show I ever saw! dammm
I have loved electronic music since I was a child, like 5 years old, sought after new electronic music, all through the years, but I have not heard of this guy!
The set looked great, but I have seen more impressive use of these real world shapes with superimposed projection thingys elsewhere.
As for the music…each to his own etc…its not my taste but I appreciate the talent still required to create this kind of music. I am amazed Amon makes enough money from it to create a set like this to be honest. There is hope for me yet! 🙂
Give him a break, the guy scores video games & like most video games its as emotionally vacuous as it is technically skillful…
I think many video games are designed to be "games" which are fun to play, either against the computer or with other people. I don't think the primary intention is to make us mourn Mario's death as he is horribly burned, eaten by carnivorous plants, or dropped into a bottomless chasm.
Then again, I think I do feel sad whenever the happy theme music turns into the sad "you just died" music. ;-(
Amon is a very talented man, his sound is versatile and has changed accordingly with each release… he has always had the ability to recognise nice sounds and successfully cut them up and morph them into something else very interesting, whether it's slow, relaxed and melodic or more geared towards sound scape. Maybe not everyone's taste, but still has to be given credit for the amount of work and skill required for his results… being head hunted by Ubisoft speaks for something at least 🙂 His show at the roundhouse is one of the best performances I have seen for a long time… sick sounds and exceptionally nice guy!
This is cutting edge electronic music production. What Amon is doing is melding cutting edge sound design and production techniques with a freeform style with roots in pretty much every EDM genre, and breathing new life and an unconventional yet beautiful/brutal musicality to the art form. For me that’s what electronic music has always been about. Pushing the boundaries, utilizing the latest techniques and gear to constantly create new and fresh sounds, breaking the rules, and drawing from everything as inspiration. This music has always inspired it creators and audience to dwell upon the future, which has proven prophetic and shall most certainly continue to do so, and which Tobin’s project embodies. I definitely feel emotion in Tobin’s music, articulated with both surgical precision and scarcely definable shards of chaos. I’d love to see anyone on here come remotely near matching this level of skill and artistry. I feel bad for anyone that is unable to be inspired by these revolutionary sounds and visuals, you have lost your ability to stand in awe of anything…that is a sad place to be in. As children, we all would have appreciated this, before cynicism’s dark roots took hold of our spirits and robbed us of true freedom and wonderment. Can’t wait to see this show in Denver on the 19th!