Amon Tobin – Out From Out Where

If there's one thing I can say about Mr. Tobin, it's that his albums with Ninja Tune truly show artistic development. He started off with a solid jazz footing in Bricolage, but with Permutation, Supermodified, and now this fourth album, he's moved further and further away from that foundation. Heck, on this album, he pretty much abandons it.
When an album starts off like this one does, you know you're in for something good. "Back From Space" sets the tone, letting the world know that the master is back. Then "Verbal" (featuring MC Decimal R.) comes on, and proves to be the most straight-up fun tune that Tobin has put his hands on. Admittedly, the concept of cut-up vocals was previously done by Prefuse 73, but at least Amon admits it.
If you're wondering what would happen if "Get Your Snack On" and "Four Ton Mantis" got together and had a child, "Chronic Tronic" answers your question in style, baby. It's totally funked-up and danceable to boot. It segues into "Searchers, which is haunting to say the least. The mere thought of Tobin touching strings brings joy to my ears, so imagine how I feel when I hear the result.
Tobin then pulls a surprise from his hat with "Hey Blondie." It's like no Tobin tune I've ever heard; it actually sounds a fair bit like R.E.M.'s "Drive." "Rosies" comes next, and it's an album highlight; it starts off all innocent, but then it shows its true colours and compels you to bob your head along with it.
The next tune, "Cosmo Retro Intro Outro," is straight out of left field. A casual listener might think that this is an underproduced tune by The Chemical Brothers or Fatboy Slim. As it stands, it's quite a nice surprise to hear Tobin doing an overtly dancefloor-friendly tune. But that's where the friendliness ends...
"Triple Science" could have come straight from a horror movie - the part where you're in a haunted house and you're opening a creaky door which is hiding some pretty nasty stuff behind it. The effects and the drums give a sese of urgency, like something is about to happen. That something is "El Wraith," the nastiest track on this whole album. It's dark from beginning to end; if you previewed the first two minutes of this at the Ninja Tune website, you have no idea what you're in for.
"Proper Hoodidge" starts to bring a close to the madness, but it's no less eerie. It vaguely reminds me of "Saboteur," but without the clinking bottles. Finally, "Mighty Micro People" serves its purpose well as "ending credits" music; it's calmer than the preceding nightmare, but definitely not wimpy.
There aren't too many artists who can put out one brilliant album in the space of their careers. Witness an artist who, with "Out From Out Where," has put out FOUR (I haven't heard "Adventures In Foam" so I can't comment on that). I always worry that Amon won't be able to step up his game when he puts his next album out. I mean, when you set the bar so high with each release, to set it even higher is pretty much the equivalent of Jesus walking on water again. However, it's safe to say that Amon's got wet feet, 'cause with "Out From Out Where," that bar has been raised yet again. Simply put, no one does it better.