Customer Reviews

Foley Room

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I guess it always was going to happen. Amon Tobin's past releases basically took record sampling as far as it could go. With Foley Room he and a team took to the streets with high-sensitivity microphones to capture source sound to use as the main components to process into the 12 tracks here. They include actual instruments like strings, drums, piano but also lion roars, motorcycle engines, agitated wasps and on and on.

His last album proper (I am maybe wrongly hesitant to call the soundtrack he did for Splinter Cell a true album) 'Out From Out Where' sounded just as the title suggested, from outer space and very sci-fci. 'Foley Room' sounds much more organic, surely in large part to his molding sounds from actual instruments and our environment. But believe me, you would have a hard time placing all the sounds on this album to their actual source as he (as in past releases) molds these samples into sound that rarely has any similarity to that of the original.

'Bloodstone' opens slowly building on a subtle piano trill and strings courtesy the Kronos Quartet. It segues into 'Esther's' with the same piano theme before a monster of bass beats and manipulated motorcycle engine revs bludgeon the listener. Esther's become's Bloodstone's mean older brother on steroids and speed and the album really takes off. 'Keep Your Distance' is as disturbing as any of Tobin's past spook-fests. Play this on the headphones and you will catch yourself checking over your shoulder. 'The Killer's Vanilla'-another great track with a superb outro. 'Foley Room' includes the requisite scatter-breaks that are Tobin's signature. 'Big Furry Head' is titled as a reference to a lion, whose roars are sampled and manipulated to such extent they would probably send the actual animal backpeddaling in fear. As with all of Tobin's records, the final tracks bring the listener down from the chaos that preceded.

Thoroughly recommended.

I had great expectations for this CD but found myself disappointed.

Tobin has in the past constructed his music from sampled segments from other people's records, but this time set out with mike in hand to widen his sound palette by using 'found' sounds. Insects, motorcycles, tigers, robots, pots and pans all make the mix. However, Tobin has also thrown in some musicians, including the Kronos Quartet.

For me, this is a case of "more is less". I am more a fan of the beat-driven, rhythmic and melodic parts of Tobin's work. This CD is Tobin at his most abstract to date. Yes, there are beats, but they often dissolve into a landscape of sound. Tobin often manipulates his source material with distortions and tweaking, but I never found myself really being engaged by the end result.

Tobin's sound has often been innovative, and this album delivers plenty of atmospheric soundscapes, but doesn't measure up to other true 'found sound' classics such as Eno & Byrne's seminal My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

While continuing to elude many entrapments associated with serious, long-term electronic artistry, Tobin has also perhaps alienated some older supporters by constantly straying from his drum-and-bass bread and butter. No matter though. If FR is Tobin at his anti-melodic, uncompromising best, than it is only a testament to the dense production and sampling reverence that keeps him high on the A list.

Having been a fan of the Art of Noise in the 80's, it is a very high bar that reaches my ears these days, and Amon Tobin has done it. His incidental style, combined with crafty rhythms and a high degree of acoustic precision create something between acid jazz and techno, a very listenable, wordless play on the human spirit.

Foley Room is an industrial breakbeat / drum-n-bass symphony. Amon Tobin not only improves but he vastly raises the bar every single time he releases an album. You know this is the man who made Out from Outwhere and Permutation right away but what you cannot prepare for is the epic nature in which he rings in 2007 with music that is 2307.

I have a deep love for the album format and 'Foley Room' further defines this affection. It allows for structure and limitations to encourage discipline and creativity. The music here is like the intensity of a beautifully emotional 500 lb. beast trapped within a metal cage where he barely fits and has only one small air hole. He is angry and dents the structure while trying to free himself. He becomes hopeless realizing this is impossible. He ponders his life, becomes bitter and angry again. Somehow, we feel like he got himself into this.

Take that for what you will, but the only album I can compare this to is 'Endtroducing...' and that is a stretch because this is much more intense and the songs are mostly shorter in length (my only gripe because these songs could be of brilliantly epic length to match the mood). But the darkness and emotion is evident and delves deeper into actual human psyche than I'd say nearly ALL of, at least, electronic music.

Amon Tobin has officially been ordained into the vanguard of music's elite.

i had a problem with the first order that i made and amazon really kindly sent me another one, not damaged this time without any further cost...it arrived well, thanx again...it was not a packaging fault..there was a record damage from the original cutting

found sound or not, this one still holds its own compared to earlier releases, and that is a very high standard to live up to. It has a different feel and lots of new sounds and maybe has more variation than a couple of his other albums. On the contrary to what one reviewer wrote, the album is just as "musical" as any of his releases. Several standout tracks here--bloodstone, esthers, the killer's vanilla, big-furry head, at the end of the day. Indeed, if I was making a best of for him, I would take quite a few tracks from this record.

This is such an interesting album. I listen to it to try to catch all the little details Tobin has put in his music. I am addicted already. Enjoy!

I have all the Amon Tobin releases, and I have to say that this one is my favorite. At times it is raucous and hard (big furry head), at times it is beautiful and soft (at the end of the day), at times it is dark and haunting (bloodstone), and at times it makes you wonder how in the world the sounds are being generated... it is a great trip. I think some listeners might be a little caught up in the project concept, or are just unable to deal with a slightly different sound. Maybe others just don't like any of the softer stuff... probably the same ones that don't like Amon's jazzier tunes as well. It is a shame for them, cause they are missing out. Try to appreciate an artist taking risks and keeping his sound fresh, rather than lamenting that each recording doesn't sound the same. It would be easy for Amon to pump out the same sound every CD... but that wouldn't be very entertaining.

This is a great 5 star CD.

conceptual work combining manmade and natural found sounds with conventional music,if this project was just a experiment I hope that the artist was keeping notes,we need more !!