daylies music: Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Two Fingers - Two Fingers (Inertia/Big Dada)

Posted: 10 May 2009 05:48 PM PDT

Amon Tobin has been gradually painting himself into a corner in recent years. The Brazilian expat's immaculate solo records have been increasingly gravitating towards the esoteric and inaccessible over the past decade. Two Fingers, however, is the sound of an artist desperately veering away from his own career arc. An ongoing collaboration with fellow producer Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman, Two Fingers finds Tobin eschewing his sophisticated and layered IDM for aggressive and innovative hip hop. Lead single 'What You Know' is a rumbling blend of tribal rhythms and elastic rhymes while 'That Girl' is a schizophrenic blast of start-stop dynamics and off-kilter choruses.

That said, Tobin hasn't completely indulged in re-invention. His densely layered production style and eclectic influences are all over the album – from the brooding soundscapes of opener 'Straw Men' to the worldly percussion of 'Keman Rhythm'. The drum'n'bass kingpin has, however, re-defined his pioneering aesthetic – whereas previous Tobin works subtle invited listeners into a textured and cerebral universe, Two Fingers drags its audience kicking and screaming into a harsh and unforgiving urban environment. It's an entirely different approach for the veteran producer but it nevertheless maintains the signal exhilaration that long been associated with his work.

Matt O’Neill