ISAM (album)


ISAM is the seventh full-length studio album by Brazilian electronic musician Amon Tobin. It was initially slated to be released in both physical and digital media on 23 May 2011, however following the leak of a promotional copy the previous month the digital release was moved forward to 19 April.
Physical releases can include a limited edition CD artbook featuring images from Control Over Nature, an installation conceived by Amon Tobin and Saatchi collection artist Tessa Farmer, which is thematically related to the music of ISAM. Farmer's work also features on the cover of the album.

Style

This album marks a significant evolution in Amon Tobin's sound due to the absence of vinyl samples and trademark jazz-oriented breaks. As with 2007's Foley Room, a prominent element of the sound is heavily-processed field recordings obtained from a variety of unexpected sources. However ISAM goes a step further in that it features a much more unorthodox palette of sounds than before, with these sounds being arranged in close, intricately edited patterns.
Tobin has described the album as a "sound sculpture" and said that his intent is to move forward from the aesthetics of his previous work. A 50-minute mix of tracks from ISAM featuring track-by-track commentary by Amon Tobin can be heard on Soundcloud.
Several tracks features female-like vocals, computer-processed, credited to Tobin himself.

Track listing

All tracks written by Amon Tobin.