Amon Tobin's jazz-jungle fusions as Cujo (for upstart label Ninebar) earned him many props, but that began to change with his debut for Ninja Tune. Blurring the already vague line that separates jungle's rhythmic meditations from those of the hottest jazz (Elvin Jones, say, or Jaco Pastorius), Bricolage manages a difficult hybrid of heart, soul, atmosphere, and brain-bending plunderphonics that loses neither perspective nor direction over the course of the albums. Like his preceding EPs Creatures and Chomp Samba (from which a few of Bricolage's cuts derive), the album mixes fast and slow but maintains a solid focus on innovation without sacrificing a sense of purpose. Somehow, Bricolage manages to be both consistent and consistently engaging, a feat few drum'n'bass LPs seem able to manage. 

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Released in the spring of 1997, Bricolage was Amon Tobin's debut album for Ninja Tune which followed audio excursions for the now-legendary London imprint Ninebar. While his work became increasingly cinematic, this earlier material has more of a sense of fidget about it--with Bricolage actually defined as "something constructed by using whatever comes to hand". Whether reigning in "Easy Muffins" crunching low-end through touches of woodwind or attempting to calm the double-speed beats of "Yasawa" with sun drenched, Hawaiian guitar--juxtaposition is the key. The raging drum and bass which slipped into this album offers the ultimate extreme--amphetamine-raddled percussionists guided by a drunken Miles Davis playing for all they're worth before collapsing into a pile of swaying, half-speed jazz orchestration. It's an enjoyable fusion of down-tempo lounging and terrifying beat throw-downs. --Kingsley Marshall