This week in Seattle clubs, it’s going to feel like the late
’90s/early ’00s, as two of the most talented producers from IDM’s
halcyon period, Amon Tobin and Jega, make appearances. (By the way,
IDM ≠ Intentionally Dithering Music, contrary to what you may have
heard.)
Brazilian-Anglo Amon Tobin has built a stellar rep over seven
albums (including the triphop classic Adventures in Foam as
Cujo) for darkly surreal electronic music that threads drum ‘n’
bass, samba, hiphop, exotica, and ambient into distinctive,
disorienting fusions. His tracks can shift from friskily festive to
damned disturbing in the tap of an MPC pad. He later, inevitably,
delved into video-game-, soundtrack-, and field-recording-oriented
works with Chaos Theory – Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack and
Foley Room. Tobin’s most recent project, Two Fingers,
finds him working with Joe “Doubleclick” Chapman and
rapid-cadenced MC Sway to forge a ruggedly skewed take on grime
and dubstep.
Tobin’s performances typically involve him DJing his own tracks and
a smattering of psych rock, metal, darkstep d&b, and rap, all
diabolically manipulated with FinalScratch technology. Past Tobin
shows have proved to be frenetic, exciting, and full of surprising
segues. He’s one of the rare musicians who seem to be improving with
age.
Jega (L.A.-based/Manchester-bred Dylan Nathan) has
largely been out of music-nerd consciousness for about a decade. But
from 1996 till 2000’s Geometry, Jega dwelled near the top
echelon of producers who favored trigonometric rhythms and ear-baffling
textures. Yeah, this music is intelligent—Mensa-level,
even—but you need at least six double-jointed limbs to
properly dance to it.
After a nine-year absence, Jega returns with Variance (Planet
µ), a two-disc opus that reveals new facets to his production
style. First cut on disc one, “SoulFlute,” is an absolutely gorgeous
melodic fantasia that eases into some askew midtempo funk featuring the
titular instrument. “Cascade Decoherence” melds microscopic, complex
percussion with lush, blissful yet haunting ambience, a nice
paradoxical combination that works. “Moment” oozes dreamy, bleepy
downtempo funk that bears none of the jagged tension of past Jega
works. Orchestral smears and recorder-like arabesques festoon the
track, lending it a Boards of Canada–esque aura. In fact,
much of Variance exudes a distinctly chilled BOC vibe and tonal
palette, although Jega’s beatmaking concatenates more complicatedly
than the revered Scottish duo’s does.
Over the last nine years, Jega has mellowed slightly, but he’s done
so without sacrificing his advanced compositional skills. The tracks on
Variance are as fascinating, if not as turbulently flaunted
(save for the album’s amazing final five pieces), as their predecessors
were a decade ago. 
Amon Tobin, Pitch Black, Dirty and Grym perform Fri Aug 7,
Neumos, 8 pm, $15, 21+; Jega, Obelus, ndCv perform Wed Aug 12, Chop
Suey, 9 pm, $7, 21+.
