If Amon Tobin has not had the critical attention of some of his contemporaries, it's perhaps something to do with his slightly unclear identity in the late-'90s beginning of his career. Existing somewhere between scenes, he was weirder than drum'n'bass, less wilfully awkward than Squarepusher-style avant-garde rave, more cerebral than the breakbeat sound of Adam Freeland, Tipper et al — yet incorporated elements of all of these into his productions. Not that he was likely to be bothered about categorisation: He was quickly signed to Ninja Tune, a haven for mavericks, and indeed quickly became one of the most popular artists on the label.

More recently, though, he's truly come into his own. With every release, particularly since his 2005 Splinter Cell game soundtrack, he's seemed less and less hewn to the breaks of '90s rave and moved more into ultra-high definition sound design — although still with a club DJ's sense of the need for immediacy. So with ISAM it really seems he's as much avant-garde composer as he is electronica producer. There are beats here that an adventurous DJ could make use of, certainly — "Morning Ms Candis" has a swing-jazz rhythm, "Bedtime Stories" is something in… read more »