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Amon Tobin Foley Room Released in 2007 8.9/10 Styles Drum 'n' Bass Experimental Electronica Ambient Electronica Song Highlights Bloodstone Horsefish At the End of the Day |
When quizzed about his intentions for his latest release, Foley Room, Amon Tobin stated "I wanted to bridge the gap between music that was based purely on sound design and tunes that were written to physically move people." It's an admirable goal, and while Foley Room doesn't necessarily break any major new ground in the field of electronica in general, you can certainly tell that Tobin took on an ambitious mindset when he went about creating his latest work. The result is a broader, more overtly experimental album than we've heard from him before. The great news is that it's also an album which is most definitely on par with his best work, and over time I might just be convinced that this is the best thing he's ever done. Stylistically, Foley Room features the same sort of moods and textures that have characterised Tobin's recent work - the music is alternatingly murky and sleek, giving the entire album that sinister, "science fiction" feel that ran so strongly through (and was so striking on) his last album proper, 2003's Out From Out Where. One could even say that Foley Room might act as a companion piece to that album - with the tone being so similar to Out From Out Where, the generally slower tempo and heavy focus on experimentation result in an album that feels very complementary, rather than a rehash. With the focus on "danceability" being dropped away almost completely, Tobin finds himself in very unfamiliar territory, allowing him to stretch his creative muscles. There's a strong focus on atmospherics, with the whole album taking on a "cyberpunk soundtrack" feeling. The songs themselves are rife with numerous found sounds, and are deepened with several very interesting choices of additional instrumentation. This all makes for a very fascinating album of "sit down and listen" electronica. As much as "IDM" seems like a dirty word (or, I suppose, acronym - it stands for "Intelligent Dance Music", for those not in the know), it could be heralded as a semi-return to those experimental-electronica hey-days of the mid-90s. The key difference is that Foley Room is much more concerned with being sleek and coolly atmospheric, rather than self-consciously challenging, making for a much more trim, streamlined, accessible album, with a distinctly "modern" feel. The "found sounds" and additional instrumentation I mentioned earlier make for Tobin's biggest leap forward into the unknown. While his previous albums have contained songs primarily made up of your standard elements of drum 'n' bass (with a strong tilt towards swing music on his first three), Foley Room features a great deal more. The difference is evident from the album's opening moments, with see-sawing violins and haunted-house organ featuring prominently in the intro to "Bloodstone". Second track "Esther's", has a sample of a motorcycle engine being started, which is well suited to the aggressive, "driving" style which follows. The percussion on "Keep Your Distance" has a heavy tribal influence, which adds greatly to its dangerous tone. There are metallic creaks and scrapes on "Kitchen Sink", while "Horsefish" features harp, slowly-paced electric guitar (unusual for Tobin, at least), vocal samples and drifting synths that are so warped they sound positively seasick. "Big Furry Head" even uses what sounds an awful lot like samples of insects buzzing about! Tobin also does a brilliant job of closing the album, with the appropriately named "At the End of the Day". It's sweeping, dramatic synths (ever so slightly reminiscient of Rob D's "Clubbed to Death") and chilling string samples are the perfect choice to round things out, providing the album with its breathtaking, thrilling finale. One of the greatest delights about this album is its consistency. Tobin's past albums have been excellent, but picking a trifecta of highlight tracks from them has never been difficult - there are always a small handful of tracks that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. Picking highlights from Foley Room proves ridiculously hard, and certainly not for any lack of great music. After a few years of inactivity other than the odd video game soundtrack, it's great to see Tobin making such a strong return to the scene. Foley Room is a brilliant album of electronica which expertly treads the line between experimentation and instantly enjoyable songcraft, and it's easily one of the best things to come out in 2007. |