Zarko

To celebrate the opening review/discussion by yours truly, the album I decided to first review was the first album that came up via Foobar of albums from the year 2000, and then sorted by artist name. So without further ado…

Whilst not being overly surprising due to his name that he would pop up first, it is fitting perhaps that the first album review belongs to one of my favourite artists whose majority of work comes from this decade. Unfortunate that he happens to produce the type of music that is hardest to review personally, but we will work though it either way. Despite being one of the more recognised artists from the 2000’s that will probably find its way in here, it’s still a name worth knowing.

Tobin’s first foray into the music scene was under the guise of ‘Cujo’ up until 1997 when he decided to work under his name. Signing with the now-prominent London independent record label Ninja Tune in 1996, he released Bricolage and Permutation in 1997 and 1998 respectively. These records carried a distinct down-tempo trip hop style with jazzy samples and just an all around friendly sound, with a spice of jungle electronics. Supermodified marked a change though. He carried a bit of the trip-hop style and jungle resonance, but injected some bigger beats that make Supermodified more accessible to the wider community.

The album kicks off with a collage of sounds in Get Your Snack On, filled with samples ranging from old school jazz and brass, which cut into synthed out beats with guitar riffs make the occasional entrance. The song simply spits out groovy beats, all the while the catchy drum’n’bass rhythm wallops you in the mouth. Four Ton Mantis doesn’t miss a beat, which always reminded me of following the footsteps of a plodding monster, Godzilla-style before he is about to wreck havoc in an album favourite. The drumming is intense, letting up slightly intermittently, but at the same time it’s just a funky tune.


The laid back vibes of the first two albums aren’t totally forgotten, as shown in Slowly. Introduced by a foreboding assortment of noises, the track is carried by a slow trotting beat, the best work done by a very nice brass section and some remarkable drumming. Melancholic and vague, Marine Machines has as many faces as one can recall, each more obscured than the last. A horn section blasts out before being muddled by a haunting quietness which subtlety turns into a soundscape of flutes, drumming and synths before disappearing in a puff of air. Golfer Vrs Boxer is another darker track, bastardising the rev of motorcycles into the harshest breakbeats on the album. The pace is frenetic, yet manages to maintain interest throughout.


The slow-picking dark folk stylings of Deo opens up into a quiet, minimalist track that sits at a lower level, whilst threatening to detonate occasionally, still content it simply be what it is to begin with. In Precursor, Tobin teams up with aggressive beatbox artist, Quadraceptor in an electric performance. Featuring an assortment of quirky sounds and oddities, Precursor is one of the more fun tracks on the album. Possibly the grooviest track on the album comes with Saboteur however. Dirty bass lines and latin-esque percussion manage proceedings as elements such as disguised vocals and guitar picking, with the vexing DnB rhythm threatening to break down the wall and come crashing through.


Chocolate Lovely is a cinematic track of wonder, lush and wonderful in its warm fuzziness, yet ever straddling the line of falling off the edge. Some harsh beats break out at times, but they don’t break the stride – Rather they offer an interesting balance to the song to save it from becoming stagnant. On the other hand is its follow up, Rhino Jockey. The sound of callous electrical sounds slowly comes into fruition as an antagonistic streak presents itself, the track becoming a domineering wall of sound that manages to stave off the brink of all out violence. All the while, however, remains a sense of mystique, quiet periods that stick out as abnormal and the occasional sound used that raise the eyebrow in comparison to the surrounding noise.

Keepin’ It Steel summons an assortment of samples that would be common place in various metal works and fuses it with a heavy handed dose of some Brazilian-styled jazz beats, as well as some occasional slow and seductive jazz lines. Tobin reaches back to some old ballroom styled jazz sounds too, all the while the track remains at its deliberate rate. The album comes to completion with Natureland, the title referring amply to the style adopted for the finale. Calm and whimsical, the track leaves a bit wanting, though perhaps this is how Tobin intended, to continue the tracks through to his next album.

Supermodified manages to simply become another stepping stone in Tobin’s amazing repertoire. Symbolic of the experimentation that a lot of electronic genres need (In my opinion) to hold up against time, Tobin manages to spit out an album that is aggressive with its approach, yet remains all the more infections because of it. Though it isn’t perfect (The album tends to tail off at times, struggling through nearly 70 minutes of music) it is still an essential listen. The album stands up, and with a swagger embraces its differences, rather than attempts to shy away back into its predecessors style.