Amon Tobin takes laser and light to the next level
By KERRI MASON October 20, 2011 6:36PM
.
AMON TOBIN
◆ 8 p.m. Friday
◆ Congress Theater,
2135 N. Milwaukee
◆ Sold out
VIDEO ONLINE
See ISAM in action at www.suntimes.com
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Updated: November 22, 2011 8:18AM
Nightclub lasers and lights are one thing. These days, electronic music visuals are on a whole other level. Artists have upped the production ante on their live shows, taking the DJ set out of the club and into the venue.
Deadmau5 travels with what he calls the “Expert Griefing Machine,” a splay of Rubik’s shapes, animation and video. Skrillex has the “Skrillex Cell,” which allows sky-high avatars of robots and skeletons to mimic his movements.
But perhaps the most ambitious of this year’s traveling visual circuses is Amon Tobin’s ISAM, a fully HD, 3-D mapping experience that brings Tobin’s experimental electronic album of the same name to subtly stunning life.
“Comparisons could be made to Deadmau5 and Daft Punk, who make electronic music and surround themselves with technology as they perform,” says Tobin, who brings the “ISAM Live” show to the Congress Theater on Friday. “But unlike that, ISAM doesn’t focus on making people dance. It’s not a DJ set where you’re raving; it’s a much more cinematic experience, and is more closely guided by a narrative, how the visuals and music work together.”
The show features a shape-shifting DJ booth/art installation. Washes of color, shapes and video images stream over the structure, triggered by Tobin in a storyboard mapped to the music in real time.
The show premiered at the Mutek Festival in Montreal in June and caused an instant sensation. “There have been a lot of people trying to hire my crew for a lot more money,” Tobin says with a laugh.
For him, the show is a means to his primary end.
“Whether people are into my stuff or not, they come to the show and have an awesome experience regardless,” he says. “And then the hope is that there’ll be some people who get more curious about the record itself.”
Billboard
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