ALBUM REVIEW: TWO FINGERS: INSTRUMENTALS

Format: CD / vinyl
Label: Big Dada
Released: September 7

Any list of the most underrated electronic producers about must include Amon Tobin fairly near the top. His sound might take in influences from drum & bass, dubstep, hip-hop and leftfield electronics, but he never apes any genre, taking very much his own path. His latest sonic exploit, together with partner Joe Chapman as Two Fingers, saw him sound tracking the rhymes of various hip-hop MCs including Sway.



Even though this bonus track-packed instrumental version may be more a home rather than dancefloor listen that doesn’t stop it from being downright confrontational and aggressive in parts - a ‘Ministry Chill Out’ session it most certainly isn’t.


There are individual musical touches like twanging surf guitars, weeping violins and unnerving incidental found sound samples which all help to lend Two Fingers their own identity, but the wall of uniquely assembled beats still dominates tracks like ’Not Perfect’ and current single ’That Girl’.

From the strummed Spanish guitars to the layers of Latin-styled percussion and almost Bhangra-like flourishes of ’Keman Rhythm’, there’s a global feel to the different flavours on offer, always rooted in the sturdy beats of hip-hop culture but never afraid to experiment.

Stick Two Fingers up to everything else around and hear this instead.
9/10
Ben Willmott

www.myspace.com/2wofingers