Bloodstone

For me to say that I was NOT a fan of this song when I first heard it and you would be hard pressed to find truer words ever written or spoken. I’ve heard some of Amon Tobin’s stuff before and I thought it interesting in a good way, his stuff usually hits you right away and you know almost instantly if you like it or hate it. “Bloodstone” took quite a few listens, okay honestly it took more than a few listens but one day I gave it a shot to make the playlist one more time and it did not let me down. This song is discordant and seemingly all over the place but really that’s what adds to the charm of this song and if there’s one thing you can say about this song, it damn sure has its own personality.

Hailing from Brazil, Amon Tobin moved around a lot as a child and eventually settled in Brighton, England and you can’t help but think that all that moving played a major hand in his musical development. He’s a world class DJ and even did the score to the popular video game “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell” and “Sucker Punch” as well as contributing music to such popular films as “The Italian Job” and “21”. He’s released a number of albums and his last release, 2007’s Foley Room included the track “Bloodstone”. Sounding like something out of a twisted and dark carnival, “Bloodstone” doesn’t so much play for you as it churns for you. Again this is a big boy speaker song so don’t cheapen the experience of listening to this song or some ear buds because you’ll miss out. Trust me.

Initially this song sounds like it seriously lacks structure but as it churns on for you, you can hear it start to take shape and the best thing to focus on is the deepest melody that kicks in when the drums do (I can’t really call it a bassline). Everything plays off that long deep note and you can finally see the song take shape. Once I figured out what to pay attention to in this song I became a real fan of it and what I once thought was aural nonsense became intense aural fun for my ears. Take a listen (on the big boy speakers mind you) and see if you agree with me.