amon tobin - recorded live (aka solid steel presents... vol 4)
fourth in the commercially available solid steel series to help those of us who can't listen to the shows online, and this one is very different to the previous instalments. those involved herbaliser, dj food and hexstatic mixing up their hip hop classics with all sorts of well known classics and underground leftfield sounds, as the interesting fact that should be pointed out is that volumes one to three were put together in the studio over several months with care and attention whereas this mix has been recorded live.
live.
live in melbourne december 2003 to be precise, using a new techno gadget called final scratch, which allows amon to mix sounds and records using a computer encoded record on his special decks which then mashes up various sound files on his computer. so it is a dj scratch set but accessing files on a computer... nerdy rubbish if you ask me, and not really relevant to us listeners by the third listen other than it explains the presence of the crowd noise that is dropped in from time to time.
so what are the results like?
well it's not a hip hop mixtape with coldcut-esque found extras nah like the previous releases. this is a far more upbeat, imposing, techno, bass noir, style set. incorporating large sections of hard edged dubbed up beats, filled out percussion drum fills, distorted midi sequenced synths and severe aural intensity in the sonic depth that amon is well known for. over the hour we are treated to manipulated versions of many of amons classics (verbal, chronic tronic, escape, night life etc), as well as tracks from dj food, tipper, t power, even dizzee rascal makes an excellent appearance in the final selection. not being a big fan of drum and bass extremes i did find certain sections of the mix heavy going, but for the first 45 minutes this mix is special. its dark and hard beats are matched with some amazing ambience that really do benefit from headphone listening where the bass booms and the subtle extras that amon layers over the top makes for a very rewarding mix. when the beat drops and amon's own tracks mid mix the relief is almost palpable, but be warned this is a calm before the oncoming d-n-b storm. for me though the sheer brilliance culminates in the last section which is drawn to a perfect end with the velvet underground classic venus in furs, where amon drags out this basic velvet underground track and places some perfect bass drum and strangeness into the left-right headspace bringing this weirdly addictive beat heavy mix to a fascinating conclusion.