Permutation

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Amon Tobin's mixing of jazz noir with breakbeats on Permutation resulted in one of the most infectious electronica discs of 1998. Using hard-bop drum samples, extended horn passages, and a constant groove, Tobin succeeded where others have fallen short: he captured the essence of jazz and made it ready for the dance floor. Thoroughly enjoyable and swinging. --Jason Verlinde

Amazon.com
With its lush strings; its deep, snaking bass tremors; and its odd patches of percussive irritants, Amon Tobin's latest album sounds at times like the kind of noir-ish drum & bass that Luke Vibert (a.k.a. Wagon Christ) has left behind. Such torch passing seems fitting since Permutation's focus on jazz sample sources grew out of Tobin's own career switch: dropping, if only for now, the Brazilian percussion and pop flavors that have long infused his home-brewed electronica. A languorous dollop of bossa nova closes this album, but otherwise it almost exclusively explores jazz: hard-bop drum solos, luscious horn lines, and mellifluous fusoid guitar. Tobin programs all this expressly analog material into his small battery of synthesizers and produces one of the strongest albums of 1998. --Marc Weidenbaum

Tracks:

Like Regular Chickens
Bridge
Reanimator
Sordid
Nightlife
Escape
Switch
People Like Frank
Sultan Drops
Fast Eddie
Toys
Nova

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

Amon Tobin's mixing of jazz noir with breakbeats on Permutation resulted in one of the most infectious electronica discs of 1998. Using hard-bop drum samples, extended horn passages, and a constant groove, Tobin succeeded where others have fallen short: he captured the essence of jazz and made it ready for the dance floor. Thoroughly enjoyable and swinging. --Jason Verlinde

Amazon.com

With its lush strings; its deep, snaking bass tremors; and its odd patches of percussive irritants, Amon Tobin's latest album sounds at times like the kind of noir-ish drum & bass that Luke Vibert (a.k.a. Wagon Christ) has left behind. Such torch passing seems fitting since Permutation's focus on jazz sample sources grew out of Tobin's own career switch: dropping, if only for now, the Brazilian percussion and pop flavors that have long infused his home-brewed electronica. A languorous dollop of bossa nova closes this album, but otherwise it almost exclusively explores jazz: hard-bop drum solos, luscious horn lines, and mellifluous fusoid guitar. Tobin programs all this expressly analog material into his small battery of synthesizers and produces one of the strongest albums of 1998. --Marc Weidenbaum

Customer Reviews:

Top notch.......2007-03-14

Amon at his best, absolutely stonkin, great mix of heavy bass warped jazz and electronic fusion, mixed with more jazzy downtemp numbers, huge track is sordid, big nasty bass. Love it (i own all his albums, and am awaiting the delivery of my foley room CD)

Excellent (my favorite Amon Tobin album).......2006-06-09

I got this CD upon reccomendation of a friend who is really into Tobin's work. He said this would be the best one to get as a first-time Tobin buyer.

I really love this album. The songs are both lyrical and mechanical in a way that you don't often hear. You can tell that it is DJ Jazz, but it has some emotion to it as well. I liked almost all of the songs, but my only complaint is that they do tend to drag on at times, especially when he gets into using fast drumming sequences. This is my favorite album of his.

Nice work.......2005-08-29

This one is worlds better than Bricolage. This is a very nice blend of jazz and electronica. The first track is beautifully dark. I definitely recommend this CD.

How can you pick?.......2005-04-18

Out of Amon Tobin's first three albums, it is extremely tough to pick a best one. If I were pressed, I would name this a very close second to "Supermodified" and just barely ahead of "Bricolage". I'm talking two points separating the three albums. Having said that, "Permutation" is a different beast than his debut album. Released only a year after "Bricolage", this album continues in that one's veins, yet infused a darker jazz sensibility to create a dense headrush that leaves you breathless, and eager to start again. Some of Amon's best work is on this disc, and "Sordid" was featured in a Toyota commercial to great effect. This album is 70 minutes of non-stop brilliant sample cut-ups and melodies hidden underneath jerky drum-n-bass programming, a trip that takes you throughout endless permutations (sorry) of sound and space, and ends with "Nova", as close to a perfect chill song as any written. I cannot say enough good things about this album.

Breathtaking, this album makes me wanna cry........2005-03-15

I coincidently downloaded Bridge from the Internet just out of boredom - it was love at first sight, that day alone I listened to it at least 10 times. The next day I was off to search for the album but none of the stores in Montreal had it available, finally I found it in some small music store that was barely visible from the street and had mostly vinyl records, I rushed home to plug it in my sound system and man... it's hard to explain the experience, this album is like legal drugs, it's better then drugs, each and even song fit perfectly together with a unique style, each have a meaning and each take me to a whole different world. I feel extremely lucky that I come across such art and I know that I will never have a similar experience with music ever again. I like Nightlife in particular, I made many people listen to it and they all went insane ;)

Average customer rating:

cosmic meld of time & space
Classic Laswell
More music from Mister More Music

PERMUTATION
Bill Laswell
Manufacturer: ION
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004L8D0
Release Date: 1999-11-30

Tracks:

Encoded
Acid Test
Coma
Perimeter
Escape Clause
Iron Black
Scatter
Enhanced

Customer Reviews:

cosmic meld of time & space.......2006-02-20

permutation is the core release of the filmtracksmusic which was released on tzadik. encoded is oman, scatter is into the void, Oum El Bouaghi is acid test, perimiter is El-Oued. the rest of filmtracks if from ginger baker's album middle passage, opera zone & imaginary cuba.
but permutation gives you all these but in their entirity. plus other's not featured on anything else like coma, the edit of acid test which is about 40 seconds shorter than from filmtracks & the original ambience from the song Disks, Winds And Veiling Curtains from jah wobbles album deep space, escape clause which is verry electronic & in my opinion dosent really fit the album but, iron bars which is lance carter on drums with nicky skopelitis from the broken vessels sound track, this is praxis style rock funk dub, & enchanted, a verry ambient # with a psychodelic drum rythm. the art is also absolutelly amazing & 1 of a kind by innerythmic, probably john brown. this features regulars like nicky skopelitis, lance carter, robert musso, but new commers hassan ibn ali: samples, dark matter: samples
so if your ready for a complete dub experiencs take the trip with permutation.

Classic Laswell.......2004-06-11

Having almost every Laswell album released (it is tough to keep up though) this is one of my favorites. Moody pieces that evolve nicely, a lot of great basslines. And of course the production is top notch. Reminds me of the latter period Material albums. Definitley worth getting if your a laswell fan.

More music from Mister More Music.......2000-07-05

A very good album by the unstoppable Bill Laswell. This one reminds me of the early days of his Axiom label, notably Material's HALLUCINATION ENGINE. The atmosphere is as Burroughsian as ever, with tracks collaging Indian and North African sounds with electronically-generated beats. Lots of basses, of course. There is a rock track that doesn't quite fit with the rest, but PERMUTATION is still a recommended CD.