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Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 21:07:52 EDT
From: Orangejazz@aol.com
Subject: Re: Hermetic Theater
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I really don't think it's fair to demean the works on this album without some
explanation with what's wrong with them. i definitely can't compare it to
Matmos, Gescom, or Autetchre at all. and I think it's the lack of musical
reference points that is turning people off. I give Zorn a considerable
amount of credit for not just hopping the IDM ship or turning out some
derrivitive piece of Musique Concrete. I think the main dissapointment for
me, as a computer-based musician, is the lack of tonal and timbral palette
zorn implements. While I wouldn't say the pieces don't go "anywhere", i would
say they don't go very far. I'd definitely be curious to hear some more
in-depth discussion of this release, considering what a serious departure it
is..
from,
matt
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>I really don't think it's fair to demean the works on this album without some
<BR>explanation with what's wrong with them. i definitely can't compare it to
<BR>Matmos, Gescom, or Autetchre at all. and I think it's the lack of musical
<BR>reference points that is turning people off. I give Zorn a considerable
<BR>amount of credit for not just hopping the IDM ship or turning out some
<BR>derrivitive piece of Musique Concrete. I think the main dissapointment for
<BR>me, as a computer-based musician, is the lack of tonal and timbral palette
<BR>zorn implements. While I wouldn't say the pieces don't go "anywhere", i would
<BR>say they don't go very far. I'd definitely be curious to hear some more
<BR>in-depth discussion of this release, considering what a serious departure it
<BR>is..
<BR>from,
<BR>matt</FONT></HTML>
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Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 21:06:36 EDT
From: JonAbbey2@aol.com
Subject: Re: Fushitsusha
I have a soft spot for the Victo one, because I was there, but I think the
Tokuma material and the double on Blast First are my picks. I never was a big
fan of either of the PSF doubles, and I thought the recent double on
Paratactile was pretty wanky. the Tzadik one sounds a little enervated for my
tastes compared to the other material from that period.
that being said, Fushitsusha isn't a band that lends itself to a lot of
head-to-head comparison, which is I think why most people's lists seem pretty
subjective. have you checked the Opprobrium site? I'm sure they've thoroughly
explored the topic.
www.info.net.nz/opprobrium
Jon
www.erstwhilerecords.com
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Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 20:46:09 -0500 (CDT)
From: Charles Gillett <gill0042@tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: Stuff that's been spinnin'
Hi -
I was flipping through the used CDs at a local store today, and I
ran across _We Are The Romans_ by the recently-mentioned Botch. I
picked it up, even though I knew nothing about it other than what Mr.
Smith and Mr. York have said. I'm about ten minutes away from the
end now. I only have a few discs in the general genre-area of Botch
in my collection--Dazzling Killmen, maybe Craw--but this disc seems
a bit more varied than the Dazzling Killmen, while being more
consistently brutal than Craw.
Other things I've been enjoying lately, new and old:
Deltron 3030 Del tha Funkee Homosapien's turn on the recent Gorillaz
single reminded me that I'd always meant to check him out, so I picked
up this disc from last year, a collaboration between Del, Dan The
Automator, and Kid Koala (with many guests). They shoot for a very
"cinematic" feel, and they get it. "3030" is particularly memorable,
and the several "skits" aren't as intrusive/annoying as they usually
are to me.
Matt Turner - Crushed Smoke If you liked Turner's Meniscus disc (_The
Mouse That Roared_) well enough but thought "what's with all the
tunes?", don't hesitate to grab this one. These are mostly shorter
tracks which concentrate on one or two extended techniques per track.
Somewhat comparable to Fred Lonberg-Holm's _Personal Scratch_. This
is on Tautology.
Bill Dixon - Odyssey I'm only partway through this six-disc set,
though I had heard the Cadence "boot" of the first two discs before.
I enjoy Dixon solo more so than in any of the group works I've heard.
When he's with other musicians, the fact that he's playing in a
different acoustic world than everyone else (thanks to the delay/echo)
irritates me. On the spoken word disc, Dixon says that the effects
are there to make whispering sounds audible, but I don't buy that.
Greg Kelley and Axel Doerner don't need effects to make their
whispering sounds audible. In any case, when Dixon is playing solo
I can appreciate the effects as part of the music.
I would have liked to have been in the audience when he played the
longest track in the collection, "Jerusalem" (~27 minutes). Usually
I don't think of sounds produced by extended techniques as being
funny, but here Dixon introduces the piece by saying "I'd like to
dedicate this performance to all the people of Jerusalem," and then
launches into a series of fart-and-burp sounds. I can only imagine
what the Dixon-newcomers in the audience were thinking (most of the
rest of the track is more elegaic and line-oriented).
Music aside, _Odyssey_ gets the Golden Turkey award from me for the
packaging. The box and booklets are very nice, but the CDs themselves
are held in sleeves which are glued to the box--yuck. I immediately
removed the discs and put them in regular jewel cases. Disc 3 had
glue all over it.
Albert Ayler - New Grass A used copy of the Japanese reissue from a
few years back. I actually like this a lot--as a novelty, sure, but
the songs are actually catchy (in my mind). Recommended for fans of
Sagittarius, The Millennium, etc., who want something with more of an
R&B feeling.
James Coleman - Zuihitsu Boston-area Thereminist's first album under
his own name, I believe. Concise tracks featuring Coleman with
various colleagues--Greg Kelley, Vic Rawlings, Bhob Rainey, Tatsuya
Nakatani, Liz Tonne--in various combinations. On Sedimental. See
<URL:http://www.zuihitsu.net/> for more information.
John Cale - Paris 1919 Actually, I've been listening to many Cale
albums lately, but _Paris 1919_ has emerged as my favorite. While
I think the Island albums are okay, I just don't find Cale all that
convincing when he's trying to rock out.
And then there are the discs that haven't impressed me much:
Fred Frith - Clearing I really like _Guitar Solos_, which was one of
my first improv purchases, but this album just doesn't affect me.
Even when the sounds are discordant, there's a smooth sheen there to
keep everything pleasant. It feels like an ECM production to me.
Dachte Musik - s/t Wow, I was really disappointed by this one. After
listening to disc one, I didn't even want to bother with disc two (I
did, a couple days later). Agonizingly dull guitar work (why, Stangl,
why!), and I never want to hear another tongue in a mouthpiece.
I'll give it another try when the bitter taste has worn off a bit.
Misere et Cordes - Au Ni Kita This has its moments, and I wouldn't
tell people to stay away, but overall I found it unimpressive. It's
a quartet of guitarists, including Pascal Battus (namechecked by
Keith Rowe in the recent Wire article). The fact that the track
times in the liner notes bear no resemblance to the actual track
lengths is a minor annoyance.
All just my opinions, of course.
- -- Charles
NP: _We Are The Romans_, Botch (again)
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Date: 18 Jul 2001 18:47:44 -0700
From: Dan Given <dlgiven@altavista.com>
Subject: Re: recent frequent plays
> From: "Arthur Gadney" <a_gadney@hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: recent frequent plays
>
> >Chadbourne/Bennink -- 21 Years Later (probably would have been an amazing
> >concert; as a recording, it is...intriguing)
>
> Tell us more, please! Is it kind of the usual mix of songs and free impro?
yep, you hit it right on the nail. Recorded last September on their tour of the US. Free improvs that segue into jazz standards, country tunes, and something that may be a Motorhead song? and then drift back into the netherworld... I think Bennink handles this situation better than Paul Lovens (based on hearing the Chad/Lovens disc on Leo), because he seems more comfortable playing a traditional drummer role on the songs. There's a bit of rake, some electric and acoustic guitar, banjo -- pretty much what you would expect.
I admit I had big reservations about this one, because I think both musicians, though capable of brilliance, are very hit and miss (as per several discussions here recently about Bennink the showman versus Bennink the musician).
Dan
Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping!
http://www.shopping.altavista.com
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Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 21:09:47 -0500
From: sergio luque <sergioluque@mac.com>
Subject: Re: Songs from the Hermetic Theatre (& acoustic feedback)
el 18/7/01 16:09, Rob Allaert en Rob@llaert.NU escribi=F3:
> is it as boring as the one for the wind machines on MFChildren ?
doh!, the windy piece, & the songs played by prelapse, are the tracks that =
i
like the most from that cd. and, in spite of that, i like them a lot! ;->
btw, what is an acoustic feedback system?, i only know that i want one, but
i don't know if i can put one in my bedroom. in the guest bathroom?
i remember a letter derek bailey sent to _the wire_ , explaining that the
feedback of his acoustic guitar was acoustic "as in acoustic". what is he
talking about?
- --=20
sergio
sergioluque@mac.com
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Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 23:21:08 -0400
From: "Michael Berman" <mberman@his.com>
Subject: Re: recent frequent plays
> > Subject: Re: recent frequent plays
> >=20
what da hay, before this passes by.... mostly from recent ebay =
trollings. upon review, id say i look a little old school compared to =
recent postings. =20
.zorn-tremblin' g-d. =20
While I'm liking this, I'm itching for more instrumentation in these =
tunes, its pretty sparse for my tastes. thus my favorite cuts are the =
two w/ baptista. also is this the premiere of singing zorn? just =
curious
.blood ulmer-live at the bayerischer hof =20
.thomas chapin-night bird songs
.eric kloss-in the land of giants / one two free / to hear is to see / =
consciousness
a friend has dumped 4 cd-r's of this guy in my lap forcing me to hear =
the "great" unheard blind white alto sax guy of the late 60's. i admit, =
i hadn't heard of him. mostly, i was sorta impressed, but also he never =
really sounds original. at times trying like trane, one album in =
particular (consciousness, i think) sounding like he stole miles =
electric back up band to do new arrangements of silent way (and it was =
too - chick corea, dave holland and jack dejohnette but the added =
exception of pat martino on guitar). actually pat martino sounds great =
and it made me revisit some Muse vinyl of his. (how about a recent =
plays of peoples vinyl next??)
I was half really pissed, half enjoying his transitions from intense =
electric miles jams to (interesting) covers of folkys Carol King and =
Donovan!! Almost every album has at least one, Sunshine Superman, It's =
too Late, Songs for aging children, etc.. fun, I admit, and maybe the =
right time, but hes no Steve Marcus either, because he plays them like =
he really likes these tunes or trying for a crossover hit. anyone have =
thoughts on this guy? like what happened to him? =20
