Live Performances
Tobin began performing live shows in clubs with other Ninja Tune artists after releasing his second album, Bricolage. His shows generally contained music that he had produced during his career, mixed with modified songs from drum and bass, hip-hop, or other genres. Because his music was entirely produced in a studio with electronics, Tobin was not interested in adapting his music to suit a Live PA incorporating musicians. He instead used turntables which he felt had more in common with his approach to music production. He is known for building Dolby Digital 7.1 surround sound speaker systems for his performances.
In 2011 Tobin has developed a live show in support of the album ISAM fitting his criteria for a performance that is both live and purely electronic. He told Wired Magazine “The idea was to integrate myself, quite literally, into an audio and visual presentation of the album,”. It incorporates the use of new video mapping techniques that are projected onto a large cubic structure from which Tobin performs. The show has been met with international acclaim described by Vice Magazine's Creators Project as "revolutionizing the live music experience".
Tobin has performed individual shows in many countries including tours in Europe, Australia, Japan, and the United States. His 2003 live performance in Melbourne, Australia was used for the fourth album in Ninja Tune's Solid Steel series because Tobin was not available to record a studio mix at the time. Many songs from the original recording were omitted because of copyright issues with the original artists, including the R&B group Destiny's Child.
A second Solid Steel album called Foley Room Recorded Live In Brussels was recorded in Brussels at the Ancienne Belgique in 2007 and was released for free in November 2008. According to Tobin's official website, "After months of back and forth and despite everyone’s best efforts the mix was in danger of being edited into the ground to accommodate big labels and publishers. Rather than release a compromised version commercially, the decision was made to give it away for free instead."
Read more about this topic: Amon Tobin
Famous quotes containing the words live and/or performances:
“We live in an age where the artist is forgotten. He is a researcher. I see myself that way.”
—David Hockney (b. 1937)
“At one of the later performances you asked why they called it a miracle,
Since nothing ever happened. That, of course, was the miracle
But you wanted to know why so much action took on so much life
And still managed to remain itself, aloof, smiling and courteous.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)