Piranha Breaks [EP]

Amon Tobin

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 1997)
• Original Release Date: October 28, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Ninja Tune
• ASIN: B000003S8R
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,583 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Piranha Breaks

2. Fast Eddie

3. Sub Tropic

4. Hot Pursuit

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

How does a record like Piranha Breaks avoid novelty status? It seems as though its conceit--adapting the ensemble drum-corps pyrotechnics of Tobin's native Brazil to the experimental computer sequencing of British drum & bass--should be little more than a conceit, a jokey cross-cultural hook to hang an EP on. But Tobin finds such expressive common ground between ritual drumming and fashionable electronica that the results aren't simply great music--they suggest a kind of eerie alternate history. Jelly Roll Morton spoke of jazz's Spanish tinge generations before Dizzy Gillespie invented Cubop, his blending of Cuban music and jazz. With Piranha Breaks, Tobin puts electronic music under a spell from which it may never entirely wake. --Marc Weidenbaum

Product Description

New single in support of the debut full-length 'Bricolage'. Has gained a large following in the trip-hop & abstrac beat crowd. Also recorded under the moniker Cujo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Piranha Breaks is wild and unordered, April 14, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

I was asked to be the first reviewer of Amon Tobin's Piranha Breaks CD since no one else has yet to review this title. In a way I can understand why no one has attempted to write a review since, at first, it was very hard for me to get my hands around this CD to give it justice (that at first was after listening to the CD 5 or 6 times).

After playing Piranha Breaks cuts mixed in randomly with Amon Tobin's Permutation CD it became clear that Piranha Breaks is wild and unordered much in the way I view the Piranha as wild (I can't say that the animal is really unordered though). I see chaos and the jungle as I sit here listening to "Hot Pursuit" and especially the title cut "Piranha Breaks." And "Sub Tropic"...well it conjures up the Florida Everglades and the jungles of the Yucatan.

This contrasts with my perception that Permutation, a mathematical and ordered concept, is a CD of order. Listen to the cuts "Bridge", "Night Life", "Switch" and "Toys". That's order, the beat is consistant! compare those with the cuts on Piranha Breaks. "Fast Eddie", found on both CDs, doesn't quite fit the mold of the other 3 cuts on Piranha Breaks.

Were Amon Tobin to read this review I dare say he would make a face, walk away and shake his head thinking, "this guy's got it all wrong..." And maybe rightly so since I'm most likely complicating a very simple and direct (not to say Amon Tobin's work is simple-it's not) thought process that Tobin seems to have in his mind, when creating his works. Either way we can be happy this talented man continues to produce CDs for our enjoyment.

PS. Last Summer Tobin did an interview with Patti Schmidt of CBC Radio Two's nightly "Brave New Waves" program. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of that interview to understand more of this young man and his thoughts in regards to the music he creates.

Richard Mercurio

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good stuffs, May 22, 2002

By	"theschuss" (Durham, NH) - See all my reviews

A very good CD that is easy to relax too, Tobin's mix of jazz and techno will have you in his vibe. Despite being choppy at times, this album is definitely worth the price of admission.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an espresso, a hurricane, and latin jazz all swept up, November 6, 2001

By	risa g rice (bryn mawr, pa United States) - See all my reviews

into one. If this was a food it would be cut like origami and as bright as crayons, smell sweet and run off your lips in sugary rivers. It's like the heart beating when you find yourself love and you are a hummingbird but your heart can still beat faster. Dig it. Nothing else like it. Anywhere.