Customer Reviews

Permutation

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really haven't been much impressed by what I'd heard of Amon Tobin. I hadn't heard much, but to me, it didn't justify the hype I'd heard about the guy. (I think it was in the Xen Cuts set I have lying around somewhere). But, out of the blue, I picked up Permutation out of sheer boredom. I probably shouldn't have.
This is the kind of album that makes me want to punch the creator in the face. In an entirely good way, to be sure. This album shouldn't be possible, it's unnaturally good. Amon Tobin must have signed a deal with the devil. Insane (...).
It has all the precision and mutations of it's Warp cousins of the time, but damn this man's taste in grooves. Such technical music shouldn't make me want to dance this much. I've heard few artists with such skill at manipulating drum lines who can also have such skill with an instrumental track. Portishead and Aphex Twin were probably cleaning their drawers from "Like Regular Chickens" alone. Blood stains and back alley mayhem. Asskicking has rarely been this cerebral. And it unfolds, one twist after another. For 70 minutes of debauchery and technology. Along with Squarepusher, some of the most intense music ever recorded. I'm not lying either. Even the heaviest of metal is overload. It's dulling. Yeah, you can hammer your guitar and drums hard. Great. It sounds like crap. Seriously. Technical, yeah, but apply it with finesse. Most drum/drill and bass, jungle, and hardcore techno will scientifically make you retarded. Yeah, the beat's hard, but it's a 3 second loop repeated for 4 minutes. My 13 year old cousin can do that with Hammerhead. But, back to the CD. "Reanimator" is insane. F*cking belligerently insane. HARD. Yeah, the twinkly noises at the beginning are cute, but yeah, this track will beat you the hell up. Relentless. The tasteful thing, he's courteous enough to spend his time changing the music up. Tempo, mood, and key changes?! A sign of a most skilled artist. The fact I've seen NO movies with "Fast Eddie" playing during a car race/chase scene means either the general populace cannot stand music of Amon's caliber, or that filmmakers are generally retarded.
"Permutation" is a lot to handle. It's one of the most sonically dense albums I've ever heard. Every millisecond of time feels filled with sound. It's almost impossible to lost interest once you stop listen. And most people would be horrified to have it come out of their speakers. Therefore I must say this gets at least 20 stars, but I can only give five.

When I took a deeper listen to this in the record store, I immediately fell in love. It's now two years since I picked it up, and I can honestly say that this is a timeless work of art. Not every track grew on me immediately - "Nova" is a good example. However, like most classics, they took time to reveal themselves to me and I feel immensely blessed for my patience. Each song reeks of creativity and takes you to a different world. My absolute favourite track is "People Like Frank." It starts out innocently - but then the track gets WARPED with the hyper percussion and eerie soundscape. Everything Amon touches is pure gold, and like fine wine, Permutation gets better with age. I almost never use the words "timeless" or "classic" when I review discs; the fact that I used them in the same sentence (see title) should speak loudly of my adoration. If you're not initially impressed by every track, then take a deeper listen. Like Talvin Singh's "O.K.," you'll eventually understand Permutation's inner beauty. It just doesn't get any better than this...that is, until Amon's next album falls from Heaven.

I stumbled upon this CD as I prepped for my radio show this summer. After having heard some bossa nova rhythm ala Joao Gilberto, some trumpets from uncle Miles, and then hard-bop drumming from Art Blakey, I put this lil gem on the player -- and it blended right in.

Loads of listeners called in to ask about the album; Tobin makes jazz listeners of the 90's very very proud. He puts Blakey on speed and produces physcially impossible drumming solos that bop-lovers only've wet dreams about. Tunes're melodic, if not too catchy. It's consistently tasty throughout.

Although I'm a complete novice in electronic music, after listening to this, I found myself growing impatient with Plug and Photek's repetitiveness.

If you like jazz drums, are open-minded, and think -- as i used to -- that all electronic music has thumping uninspiring beats, give this candy a try.

First of all, I'm just using the kid review because it's easier(I'm 13, though). And second, I don't really think I have anything to say about this cd that hasn't already been said. It is just horrible that "Permutation" doesn't have a 5 star average yet. I only recently bought this, but I have had "Supermodified" and "Out from Out Where" for a while. (Both being very good, but the former blowing my mind.) I didn't think "Supermodified" could be topped. I had already kind of set it in my "Favorite cd" spot. Then I got this. It's probably the only cd I have ever purchased where I truly enjoy every single track. If I had to pick favorites, I would say "Sordid", "Nightlife", "Escape", "People Like Frank", and "Toys" really, really do it for me. This is the most original piece of music I've ever heard, and if you aren't really familiar with Mr. Tobin, this is probably a good place to start. You're in for a treat. I'm going to get "Bricolage" as soon as I can, but until I do, I can't comment on it, having only listend to a few samples. I'll just say that "Out from Out Where" is much more....electronic, in a sense, than his other work, and I wouldn't recommend getting it as the first cd. Anyway, I better stop or else I'll go into excursive blather on subjects which everyone else has already covered. One last thing : An interesting thing that I noticed was that Amon is apparently a David Lynch fan or something. "Like Regular Chickens" is a part in one of his movies (Eraserhead), and the song actually has a sample from the film in it. "People Like Frank", although it has no sample, is also a line from a Lynch film, "Blue Velvet".
"Why are there people like Frank?"

I only manage to get hold of Permutations lately to feed a particular interest on the fusion of jazz and electronica, which has always seemed to be the holy grail of the jazz/house sub-genre. Now I really have to kick myself for knowing this crazy guy so late. Let me put it this way: This crazy guy by the name of Amon Tobin re-creates a whole gamut of sounds, messy or otherwise rhythmic, and arrange them in such terrific order that I can't believe I'm still listening to what is called music, despite a serious lack of emphasis on melodies, save for the orchestral and jazzy samples, and yet he seems to have attained a great sense of originality at the same time. So what sort of sounds does Permutations has? Swinging jazz + Roni Size's atmospheric D&B as heard in New Forms + Brazilian percussions + noirish orchestral movie soundtracks + Dimitri from Paris's 60s retro lounge (Sacred-Bleu) = Permutations. My favourite highpoint is the single Nightlife in which Amon incorporates a certain 'Hail Jesus' chorus and clarinet solo that could have come straight out of those big-budget studio, technicolor, Cecil B. DeMille-type of films into modern D&B. I swear the melody that starts off Sordid comes from Basic Instinct! What makes this album truly enjoyable is for the listeners to have good film/music knowledge for referencing...they will be surprised to hear familiar samples here and there. Ooohh man...6 out of 5 stars, in a league of its own, and serves as a great companion piece to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing as well.

Amon Tobim - what can you say about him? Whether it's his stuff on Ninja Tune that you're diggin' or his stuff under Cujo, one thing's obvious from the get-go - the guy can make one heck of a beat. This one, Permutation, has stood the test of time for me because I picked this one up around when it came out and after about 5 or 6 years, I can still pop it in and it sounds pretty fresh.

But those beats... they kick! From the begging track which displays some heavy beats and jazzed sax's mixed in you get a pretty good idea of what the vibe of this is going to be. Its definitely dark, sometimes eerie but the most eerie parts are the "lighter" sounding cuts like "Night Life" - which has an interesting crash to it - dig the flute in there! The way it speeds up is vintage Tobim. The pure Tobim fans might not have been so thrilled to hear "Sordid" on TV; it was on the BMW X3 commercial circa Jan 04. But there are so many good tunes here, that's only one of a few gems.

HIGHLY recommended. Can't believe it took this long to review it... good cd but it is sooooo heavy. And hey - the last track on this CD can be found with lyrics on Bebel Gilberto's album called Tanto Tempo as they redo a bossa nova classic: "Samba De Bencao". No doubt Tobim laid the groundwork and it was a perfect marriage of the new and old school sounds of Brasil. But be warned if you're more into Oakenfeld, Sasha sort of DJ's this is not in the same mold... not by a long shot. But if you dig this, you might (I emphasis might) also dig Buscemi's "Camino Real".

I coincidently downloaded Bridge from the Internet just out of boredom - it was love at first sight, that day alone I listened to it at least 10 times. The next day I was off to search for the album but none of the stores in Montreal had it available, finally I found it in some small music store that was barely visible from the street and had mostly vinyl records, I rushed home to plug it in my sound system and man... it's hard to explain the experience, this album is like legal drugs, it's better then drugs, each and even song fit perfectly together with a unique style, each have a meaning and each take me to a whole different world. I feel extremely lucky that I come across such art and I know that I will never have a similar experience with music ever again. I like Nightlife in particular, I made many people listen to it and they all went insane ;)

When I first bought this album (because of glowing reviews) I found it a little overwhelming. I was only immediately drawn to "Reanimator" and "Nightlife". But, as my appreciation of Jazz and Electronic music increased, so did my love of this album. Definitely one of my desert island discs. Amon deftly works together atmospherics, horn snippets, great basslines, and other jazz instrumentation into swirling epic soundscapes. Oh, and did I mention the drums? Amon cuts up beats like no one else around. He's soloing with his sampler, and the results are truly electrifying. This is the new jazz, and like the revolutionary artists of that genre, he's leaving everyone else in the dust. The greatness of his albums will only be fully realized by future generations. Thank god we get to here it now.

This is a fantastic album. Only occasionally dancable, you'll want to sit down with headphones and really listen for Tobin's rhythmic constructions. On top of it's structural brilliance, there are real harmonic ideas which develop nicely. He seems to love an A-B-C-B-A, symmetrical structure, which suits his beats beautifully. His new album's very good, but I think this one's the best so far. Bricolage is weak next to Permutations and Supermodified. Also well worth checking out is his part of the Ninjatune website. There's a fun online sequencer with 16 samples to play with. This guy is really inspiring.

this cd blew my mind. i have never heard anything this good, this original. I listen to mostly jazz and this is the most ingenius blend of electronic and jazz I have ever heard. i have been looking for an album like this for a long time. buy it yesterday