I was a big fan fifteen years ago. I'd love to hear from other fans of Amon Tobin back in the day, what are you listening to these days? What contemporary music should I check out if I was an amon tobin fan 15 years ago?
Plaid. Every album so far has been on the edge of the music landscape as it released. The last album, among other things, combining real and physical modelled instruments in electronic soundscapes against a AI/generative backdrop, The previous one incorporating gamalan structures and rythems among advances in sound design. Back in the day they where also using generative rytems, virtual voices, all kind of digital sythesis techniques when they just became aviable.
It's one of the few artist in the electronic frontier that imho manages to consistently make musical songs with state of the art tech. In contract to newer stuff from for example Clark or Amon Tobin where it feels the intresting sounds are the song instead of intresting sounds making the song.
Love that someone signed up for this comment :).
Seeing them performing the polymer album at a small venue (where some instrumental parts where performed live) right after Nils Frahm is a fond memory of mine, and I agree that there is not really much out there that compares to their unique sound.
Next to their usual stuff/albums there is a plethora of remixes out there. Can recommend this fan-driven youtube channel for an overview:
Forest Swords is the artist that comes to my mind for newer stuff besides the old Warp artists although I wouldn't call that IDM at all. I am not even sure what I would call Forest Swords.
I might even put Forest Swords up there with all the old Warp artists but its like he came to play the chill out room at 8am and everyone had already left the party.
Have a listen to Hidden Orchestra. They do (did?) a great live show with sequenced tracks plus live cello and twin drumkits. Night Walks is a wonderful album.
Interesting question. I only recently went back to listening to stuff like that during work and am struggling to find stuff from post 2010 or so. I think I've kind of used things like https://open.spotify.com/album/2bu7BrEuunURavjRY9qkyR?si=caf... as a replacement, wholly instrumental or foreign-language albums that won't distract me from flow state.
I'm still really enjoying most of his recent work, check out all the aliases on Nomark Records if you haven't yet.
Through his DJ mixes I discovered Tipper, Noisia, Frank Riggio.
+1 to Hidden Orchestra which someone else mentioned. I also really love what Stimming is doing.
Besides electronic music, I listen to a lot of jazz these days, and jam bands like Vulfpeck. I mention this because Amon Tobin's early records are what originally got me into jazz.
There is music like this that is an experience. Listening to them in the 90s, along with Aphex Twin, Amon Tobin, FSOL, were the sounds of hacker spaces. Soundscapes doesn't cover it, they're compositions.
What's so strange is that when I listen to this music now, I get nostalgia, but it's not for anything that was shared. It was a frame of mind in a moment, and not a memory of people. This music was a weirdly private experience.
It's one of the few artist in the electronic frontier that imho manages to consistently make musical songs with state of the art tech. In contract to newer stuff from for example Clark or Amon Tobin where it feels the intresting sounds are the song instead of intresting sounds making the song.