Amon Tobin
Amon Tobin is a musician, DJ, and producer known for his massive sound walls of sampled jazz fused with drum and bass and samba.
Amon Adonai Santos de Araujo Tobin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 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, before he signed with Ninja Tune in late 1996. He has since released four critically acclaimed albums under his own name. 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.
Tobin is renowned for his creative use of sampling, from old recordings to motorcycles (Supermodified) and even the acoustics of buildings (Out From Out Where) which are stretched and skewed often beyond recognition. Resonances, delays, reverbs and a wide variety of sound effects also contribute to transform what was once familiar into something grotesque, unnatural but nonetheless compelling.
His intense and complex compositions often evoke mystery, suspense and excitement in the listener. Psychedelic ambiences are frequently blended with retro-jazz beats, creating a unique barrier of apparently incoherent sound layers. Tobin manages, however, to extract order from this acoustic chaos. This uniqueness and complexity make the task of categorizing his music a difficult one. Each of his albums unchart a new realm of polyrhythms and soundscapes.
Albums
- Chaos Theory - Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack (Ninja Tune, 2005)
- Solid Steel Presents Amon Tobin: Recorded Live (Ninja Tune, 2004)
- Out From Out Where (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- Supermodified (Ninja Tune, 2000)
- Permutation (Ninja Tune, 1998)
- Bricolage (Ninja Tune, 1997)
- Adventures in Foam (Ninebar, 1996) (as Cujo) (Re-issue, Ninja Tune, 2002)
Collaborations & Live Recordings
- Peeping Tom (Ipecac, 2006) (An album by Mike Patton. Amon Tobin is featured on the track "Don't Even Trip".)
- Verbal Remixes & Collaborations (2003)
Singles & EPs
- The Lighthouse (2005)
- Angel Of Theft (2004) (as Player)
- Verbal (2002)
- East To West (2002)
- Slowly (2000)
- 4 Ton Mantis (2000)
- Like Regular Chickens (Danny Breaks & Dillinja Remixes) (1998)
- Pirahna Breaks (1997)
- Mission (1997)
- Chomp Samba (1997)
- Creatures (1996)
- The Remixes (1996) (as Cujo)
- Curfew (1995) (as Cujo)
External links
- Official Amon Tobin Website
- Official Amon Tobin at Ninja Tune
- Amon Tobin on Myspace
- Amon Tobin Official Mailing List
- Amon Tobin's Management Company / Envision Management + Production
- Unofficial Complete Amon Tobin / Cujo Discography at pe7er.com