The Fiery Furnaces Widow City (2007)
I was so happy to hear a real drummer in the opening of the new Fiery Furnaces album. When I heard they had a new album coming out I was hoping to hear more of their rock sound like on Gallowbird’s Bark. The first song “Philadelphia Grand Jury” has some typical Fiery Furnaces piano playing, but also a section with some heavy guitar distortion. The ending section is a long instrumental segment that is a duo between the drums and guitar that sounds Deerhoof inspired to me (I wonder). The song “Duplexes of the Dead” has a cool psychedelic, slow rock feel, then it transitions into “Automatic Husband,” which starts out with a snyth beat and some pseudo-rapping from Eleanor (a more typical Fiery Furnaces sound) . But then, the chorus involves a heavy and dark guitar driven rock out, something I haven’t hear this band play before. From the first few tracks one can see how this band loves flawless, almost schizophrenic, transitions between songs. And also another thing this group seems to like now is heavy, progressive rock guitar playing. One of the best examples of this is in “Clear Signal From Cairo.” This also one of the best tracks on the album because of some its complex rhythmic patterns. The band even shows their punk rock character on tracks like “Uncle Charlie.” “Right By Conquest” is by far one of the most inventive songs in the album. Eleanor sings beautifully, and her voice blends wonderfully with the distorted bass that is playing along. In “Wicker Whatnots” the band plays some of the freest sounding music they’ve ever put out. By the end of this album you realize that all around this is a brilliant rock band. I highly recommend this record.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Nels Cline Singers Draw Breath (2007)
Nels Cline – Guitar
Devin Hoff – Double Bass
Scott Amendola- Drums, Live Electronics
Glenn Kotche – Percussion (On “Squirrel of God”)
When this trio comes together insane things happen. Throughout this whole album one can hear influences from jazz names like John Coltrane and Bill Frisell, and rock influences like Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth. I would call the sound a free jazz/noise rock fusion, because Cline has a knack for playing rock guitar with the musical complexity of jazz. The second track “Attempted” is the most jazz sounding tune on the album. The opening swings and bassist Devin Hoff plays a walking style bass line. Eventually the track turns into a very noisy rock sounding section, but when Hoff plays a solo it sounds like it could be taken from a straight ahead jazz tune. The track transitions into another very noise based section after heavy rock hits interrupt Hoff’s solo. “Confection” on the other hand starts out with blaring, cool, prog rock guitar from Cline, accompanied by somewhat surf style drumming from Amendola. When Hoff starts playing his bass with a bow in a very pretty section someone listening will be surprised, and come to realize how wide a range of music this group can play. The track ends with a rock feel, and is one of the coolest moments on the album. Fearing that his music maybe too catchy, I think that Cline includes tracks like “An Evening at Pops’” which is fairly standard noise jazz, but does contain some of the best soloing from Cline when the tune peaks. At the end of the track there is a very impressive, drudgingly slow yet heavy rock section, which cleverly precedes a pretty, quiet ambient portion that closes the track. Amendola is the only member of the trio that I don’t know much about, but his use of live electronics is really essential to this group’s impact. At one point in the tune “Mixed Message” Amendola drives the tempo without his drums, but a with his electronics which pan from left to right and bend pitch up and down. Another great moment in the album is on the track “Squirrel of God” where percussionist Glen Kotche plays some very dark, yet beautiful bells to accompany some more bow work by Hoff. Later on he adds to eeriness of the track by making all sorts of clicks and dings while Cline and Amendola make frightening ambiance with pedals and knobs. But oddly enough the album ends with a fairly uplifting sounding unison moment. This album, and group, is really fantastic and even though the noise is heavy at portions, I think it has something that everyone can like.
Points of Interest:
Nels Cline is in Wilco, and has also played with Sonic Youth and Mike Watt
Glenn Kotche is the drummer from Wilco
Devin Hoff recently rejoined the band Xiu Xiu
Nels Cline – Guitar
Devin Hoff – Double Bass
Scott Amendola- Drums, Live Electronics
Glenn Kotche – Percussion (On “Squirrel of God”)
When this trio comes together insane things happen. Throughout this whole album one can hear influences from jazz names like John Coltrane and Bill Frisell, and rock influences like Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth. I would call the sound a free jazz/noise rock fusion, because Cline has a knack for playing rock guitar with the musical complexity of jazz. The second track “Attempted” is the most jazz sounding tune on the album. The opening swings and bassist Devin Hoff plays a walking style bass line. Eventually the track turns into a very noisy rock sounding section, but when Hoff plays a solo it sounds like it could be taken from a straight ahead jazz tune. The track transitions into another very noise based section after heavy rock hits interrupt Hoff’s solo. “Confection” on the other hand starts out with blaring, cool, prog rock guitar from Cline, accompanied by somewhat surf style drumming from Amendola. When Hoff starts playing his bass with a bow in a very pretty section someone listening will be surprised, and come to realize how wide a range of music this group can play. The track ends with a rock feel, and is one of the coolest moments on the album. Fearing that his music maybe too catchy, I think that Cline includes tracks like “An Evening at Pops’” which is fairly standard noise jazz, but does contain some of the best soloing from Cline when the tune peaks. At the end of the track there is a very impressive, drudgingly slow yet heavy rock section, which cleverly precedes a pretty, quiet ambient portion that closes the track. Amendola is the only member of the trio that I don’t know much about, but his use of live electronics is really essential to this group’s impact. At one point in the tune “Mixed Message” Amendola drives the tempo without his drums, but a with his electronics which pan from left to right and bend pitch up and down. Another great moment in the album is on the track “Squirrel of God” where percussionist Glen Kotche plays some very dark, yet beautiful bells to accompany some more bow work by Hoff. Later on he adds to eeriness of the track by making all sorts of clicks and dings while Cline and Amendola make frightening ambiance with pedals and knobs. But oddly enough the album ends with a fairly uplifting sounding unison moment. This album, and group, is really fantastic and even though the noise is heavy at portions, I think it has something that everyone can like.
Points of Interest:
Nels Cline is in Wilco, and has also played with Sonic Youth and Mike Watt
Glenn Kotche is the drummer from Wilco
Devin Hoff recently rejoined the band Xiu Xiu
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Shellac Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007)
Within the first few minutes of the opening track “The End of Radio” one will know Shellac is definitely one of those post-rock bands. The opener sounds like something Slint would put out. Throughout the verses of the song the drummer and vocals don’t necessarily fall in tempo with the chords the bassist hits. The verses of this tune tend to get monotonous and when the band plays together on the chorus they sound very much like Slint. The second tune “Steady as She Goes” is more punk rock, but tends to get repetitive. The album starts to catch my interest with “Be Prepared,” the opening portion uses some cool intentional sloppiness and guitar tones and then transitions into a cool rock out portion. After a good, but not fantastic, drum solo there is a cool bridge where Albini uses some very cool guitar tones. One of the best tracks on the album is “Elephant” where Albini actually sings instead of screams. The drummer’s beat over a six feel is very interesting, and throughout the whole song it is difficult to determine if the tune has steady time signature. The longest track on the album is “Genuine Lulabelle” which opens with just vocals and guitar, and is actually quite melodic. The heavier portions of the tune serve as a bridge between each player soloing. When Albini sings for a long portion in the middle of the tune, it sounds more like a man singing to himself in the shower, than a rock album. The only times this sound is interrupted is when there are different vocal tracks thrown in randomly and at the end when the band does what it does best, rock loud. “Kittypants” is a short track that isn’t anything more than a rock song really. “Boycott” fits its name, being another very punk song on the album, although much better than “Steady as She Goes.” “Paco” has a very heavy opening, which goes into a guitar interlude that is probably on of my favorite moments on the album. The band joins in with the guitar the band plays a cool unison syncopated riff, which turns into a cool instrumental portion for the rest of the song. The closer “Spoke” has an upbeat, moderately funky, drumbeat over a lot of screaming. The song is a lot of fun and provides an unexpected wrap up of the album. As I listened through Excellent Italian Greyhound it caught my interest more and more. It isn’t great, but I didn’t mind listening.
Points of interest:
Steve Albini is in Big Black
Within the first few minutes of the opening track “The End of Radio” one will know Shellac is definitely one of those post-rock bands. The opener sounds like something Slint would put out. Throughout the verses of the song the drummer and vocals don’t necessarily fall in tempo with the chords the bassist hits. The verses of this tune tend to get monotonous and when the band plays together on the chorus they sound very much like Slint. The second tune “Steady as She Goes” is more punk rock, but tends to get repetitive. The album starts to catch my interest with “Be Prepared,” the opening portion uses some cool intentional sloppiness and guitar tones and then transitions into a cool rock out portion. After a good, but not fantastic, drum solo there is a cool bridge where Albini uses some very cool guitar tones. One of the best tracks on the album is “Elephant” where Albini actually sings instead of screams. The drummer’s beat over a six feel is very interesting, and throughout the whole song it is difficult to determine if the tune has steady time signature. The longest track on the album is “Genuine Lulabelle” which opens with just vocals and guitar, and is actually quite melodic. The heavier portions of the tune serve as a bridge between each player soloing. When Albini sings for a long portion in the middle of the tune, it sounds more like a man singing to himself in the shower, than a rock album. The only times this sound is interrupted is when there are different vocal tracks thrown in randomly and at the end when the band does what it does best, rock loud. “Kittypants” is a short track that isn’t anything more than a rock song really. “Boycott” fits its name, being another very punk song on the album, although much better than “Steady as She Goes.” “Paco” has a very heavy opening, which goes into a guitar interlude that is probably on of my favorite moments on the album. The band joins in with the guitar the band plays a cool unison syncopated riff, which turns into a cool instrumental portion for the rest of the song. The closer “Spoke” has an upbeat, moderately funky, drumbeat over a lot of screaming. The song is a lot of fun and provides an unexpected wrap up of the album. As I listened through Excellent Italian Greyhound it caught my interest more and more. It isn’t great, but I didn’t mind listening.
Points of interest:
Steve Albini is in Big Black
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Shearing Pinx
Shearing Pinx Poison Hands (2007 Gilgongo Records)
FIRST ROCK REVIEW!!!
From the first few seconds of this album one can already begin to gather that Shearing Pinx is not a typical punk band by the Sonic Youth-esque guitar tones. I feel that this group is very heavily influenced by Sonic Youth, considering the vocalist (while male) sounds like Kim Gordon. But instead of being influenced by the melodic structure like most bands, Shearing Pinx seems to be a child of Sonic Youth’s punk rock sound. With Poison Hands Shearing Pinx makes a pretty strong contribution to both punk and experimental music. The punk appeal comes in a lot of the guitar distortion, short songs, yelling vocals, and fast tempos. The experimental element is found in songs like “Blood Corridor” and “WhiteMud.” The group’s songwriting is also above the typical punk band, found in some of the syncopated guitar riffs in songs like “Cursed Love Matter.” One of the best tracks on the album is “Pumpknot” which has a great guitar drone bridge. One of the most intense tracks is the closer “WhiteMud” which has a very cool fast opening, which eventually dissolves into about nineteen minutes of very fast, loud, improvised noise. While this album is very cool, the band deserves more of a recommendation. They play a fantastic live show, and one can get a better sense of their musicianship live. Anyone interested in punk/hardcore music should check this band out, and I’m sure Moonchild fans will love it too.
FIRST ROCK REVIEW!!!
From the first few seconds of this album one can already begin to gather that Shearing Pinx is not a typical punk band by the Sonic Youth-esque guitar tones. I feel that this group is very heavily influenced by Sonic Youth, considering the vocalist (while male) sounds like Kim Gordon. But instead of being influenced by the melodic structure like most bands, Shearing Pinx seems to be a child of Sonic Youth’s punk rock sound. With Poison Hands Shearing Pinx makes a pretty strong contribution to both punk and experimental music. The punk appeal comes in a lot of the guitar distortion, short songs, yelling vocals, and fast tempos. The experimental element is found in songs like “Blood Corridor” and “WhiteMud.” The group’s songwriting is also above the typical punk band, found in some of the syncopated guitar riffs in songs like “Cursed Love Matter.” One of the best tracks on the album is “Pumpknot” which has a great guitar drone bridge. One of the most intense tracks is the closer “WhiteMud” which has a very cool fast opening, which eventually dissolves into about nineteen minutes of very fast, loud, improvised noise. While this album is very cool, the band deserves more of a recommendation. They play a fantastic live show, and one can get a better sense of their musicianship live. Anyone interested in punk/hardcore music should check this band out, and I’m sure Moonchild fans will love it too.
John Zorn
John Zorn Six Litanies For Helioglobus (2007 Tzadik)
John Zorn (Alto Sax, Composer)
Joey Baron (Drums)
Trevor Dunn (Bass)
Ikue Mori (Electronics)
Mike Patton: (Voice)
Jamie Saft (Organ)
Martha Cluver (Voice)
Abby Fischer (Voice)
Kirsten Soller (Voice)
In some ways I feel like this is the album I’ve been waiting to hear for so long. First of all it is indefinable. Zorn has somehow combined hardcore, free jazz, medieval music, and noise into one album. Even though this is the third album with the Moonchild band, Zorn added composer/laptop player Ikue Mori, organist Jamie Saft, a three-woman choir (Martha Cluver, Abbey Fischer, Kirsten Soller), and himself. The album starts out aggressively with distorted riffs, thunderous drums, and Mike Patton’s intense screaming. The first track also includes Mori’s wind chime-esque electronics and Saft’s organ, and also an ambient break featuring the choir. But towards the end of the track is when Zorn breaks out his big surprise, himself. He comes in playing the most insane sounding saxophone in history. “Litany II” is one of the best tracks on the album, starting out with Patton and Zorn battling to make the most intense noises. Then Saft drives the track while the choir, Mori, Dunn, and Barron follow his lead, which is probably some of the prettiest parts of the album. “Litany III” is probably one of the most unsettling tracks on the album. It starts with some of the fastest blasting and intense distortion. Then Saft takes over again, but this time playing darker chords over Patton’s demonic chanting. The track quickly breaks into a loud as possible free moment, then into another creepy ambient moment, this time featuring Mori and the choir. When this portion ends the tracks moves into a pretty funky breakdown, and ultimately closes with every member improvising, especially Zorn and Patton. “Litany IV” is probably one of the more interesting tracks on the album, considering it is Patton solo for eight minutes. I won’t really elaborate on it specifically, but this track is pretty mind blowing. I think “Litany V” is an attempt to put the most notes in the shortest track, because the intensity stays consistent for most of the tune. One of the first noticeable things about “Litany Six” is that it starts out slow, and surprisingly stays slow most of the time. Only at three points is the track really loud either. After one choir feature Dunn plays slow epic chords. And then after an ambient portion lead by Saft, Dunn comes back in with the epic chords. This segues into one final manic session, probably so Zorn can squeal to his hearts content. After a repetition of the choir part from the beginning the band has a quick loud moment that ends the album. The abruptness of the conclusion is similar to the sensation the listener gets after hearing the album. Many will be dumbstruck, some amazed, others probably frightened. If this album displays anything about Zorn, it is his incredible ability to neglect the concept of musical genres, and create music that is indefinable.
Points of Interest
John Zorn has done extensive work with member of Japanese noise group Boredoms
Ikue Mori has worked with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and has also played on stage with Sonic Youth.
Trevor Dunn and Mike Patton are in the experimental metal group Mr. Bungle
John Zorn (Alto Sax, Composer)
Joey Baron (Drums)
Trevor Dunn (Bass)
Ikue Mori (Electronics)
Mike Patton: (Voice)
Jamie Saft (Organ)
Martha Cluver (Voice)
Abby Fischer (Voice)
Kirsten Soller (Voice)
In some ways I feel like this is the album I’ve been waiting to hear for so long. First of all it is indefinable. Zorn has somehow combined hardcore, free jazz, medieval music, and noise into one album. Even though this is the third album with the Moonchild band, Zorn added composer/laptop player Ikue Mori, organist Jamie Saft, a three-woman choir (Martha Cluver, Abbey Fischer, Kirsten Soller), and himself. The album starts out aggressively with distorted riffs, thunderous drums, and Mike Patton’s intense screaming. The first track also includes Mori’s wind chime-esque electronics and Saft’s organ, and also an ambient break featuring the choir. But towards the end of the track is when Zorn breaks out his big surprise, himself. He comes in playing the most insane sounding saxophone in history. “Litany II” is one of the best tracks on the album, starting out with Patton and Zorn battling to make the most intense noises. Then Saft drives the track while the choir, Mori, Dunn, and Barron follow his lead, which is probably some of the prettiest parts of the album. “Litany III” is probably one of the most unsettling tracks on the album. It starts with some of the fastest blasting and intense distortion. Then Saft takes over again, but this time playing darker chords over Patton’s demonic chanting. The track quickly breaks into a loud as possible free moment, then into another creepy ambient moment, this time featuring Mori and the choir. When this portion ends the tracks moves into a pretty funky breakdown, and ultimately closes with every member improvising, especially Zorn and Patton. “Litany IV” is probably one of the more interesting tracks on the album, considering it is Patton solo for eight minutes. I won’t really elaborate on it specifically, but this track is pretty mind blowing. I think “Litany V” is an attempt to put the most notes in the shortest track, because the intensity stays consistent for most of the tune. One of the first noticeable things about “Litany Six” is that it starts out slow, and surprisingly stays slow most of the time. Only at three points is the track really loud either. After one choir feature Dunn plays slow epic chords. And then after an ambient portion lead by Saft, Dunn comes back in with the epic chords. This segues into one final manic session, probably so Zorn can squeal to his hearts content. After a repetition of the choir part from the beginning the band has a quick loud moment that ends the album. The abruptness of the conclusion is similar to the sensation the listener gets after hearing the album. Many will be dumbstruck, some amazed, others probably frightened. If this album displays anything about Zorn, it is his incredible ability to neglect the concept of musical genres, and create music that is indefinable.
Points of Interest
John Zorn has done extensive work with member of Japanese noise group Boredoms
Ikue Mori has worked with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and has also played on stage with Sonic Youth.
Trevor Dunn and Mike Patton are in the experimental metal group Mr. Bungle
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Powerhouse
Powerhouse Sound Oslo/Chicago Breaks (2007)
Oslo:
Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (Electric Bass)
Lasse Marhaug (Electronics)
Nate McBride (Electric Bass)
Paal Nilssen-Love (Drums)
Ken Vandermark (Tenor Sax)
Chicago
John Herndon (Drums)
Nate McBride (Electric Bass)
Jeff Parker (Guitar)
Ken Vandermark (Tenor Sax)
This double album features two Powerhouse Sound lineups lead by saxophonist Ken Vandermark. The first disc features a band based out of Oslo. The instrumentation for the first album is not typical, two electric basses, electronics, drums, and tenor sax. Whenever electronics are part of the instrumentation the listener has to expect noise, and this group delivers it on the first track “Shocklee.” As a whole I would call the sound atonal free fusion. On tunes like “2-1-75” the whole band will play all out to a consistent break beat, and then have a noise interlude while the drummer keeps a beat and throws in random accents, but then go back into the funk with noise blaring full force. Throughout the whole album Vandermark not only displays his compositional ability, but also his chops. He plays fast runs, complicated rhythms, and also some of the most out noises one can make with a sax. One trend that the group incorporates is having a repeating baseline in the background of free rants by the other players, it happens in multiple tracks like “Acid Scratch” and “ALP177,” I always tend to find these parts interesting. One track that I find intriguing is “New Dirt” which is apparently for the Stooges, and I assume named after the Stooges song “Dirt.” The song is definitely the heaviest on the Oslo disc, so perhaps Vandermark cannot deny the pre-punk drive the Stooges did as an influence. The Stooges definitely use the heavy baseline that Vandermark likes using.
In the second disk there is one immediately noticeable difference, Jeff Parker is a monster. The only track that is different from anything on the first disc is the opener “Old Dictionary” where Parker starts out making a variety of odd dissonant tones on his guitar. And also provides almost nonsensical rhythm guitar over Vandermark’s solo. Another thing that Parker brings is distortion, making the second disc heavier with the occasional metal riffs. Even though many of the tunes are repeated from the first disc, one can definitely tell that this is not the same group playing. Overall this double album is innovative, energetic, and most of all fun.
Points of Interest
Jeff Parker and John Herndon are members of Chicago post-rock band Tortoise
The Chicago version of Powerhouse Sound played at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Oslo:
Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (Electric Bass)
Lasse Marhaug (Electronics)
Nate McBride (Electric Bass)
Paal Nilssen-Love (Drums)
Ken Vandermark (Tenor Sax)
Chicago
John Herndon (Drums)
Nate McBride (Electric Bass)
Jeff Parker (Guitar)
Ken Vandermark (Tenor Sax)
This double album features two Powerhouse Sound lineups lead by saxophonist Ken Vandermark. The first disc features a band based out of Oslo. The instrumentation for the first album is not typical, two electric basses, electronics, drums, and tenor sax. Whenever electronics are part of the instrumentation the listener has to expect noise, and this group delivers it on the first track “Shocklee.” As a whole I would call the sound atonal free fusion. On tunes like “2-1-75” the whole band will play all out to a consistent break beat, and then have a noise interlude while the drummer keeps a beat and throws in random accents, but then go back into the funk with noise blaring full force. Throughout the whole album Vandermark not only displays his compositional ability, but also his chops. He plays fast runs, complicated rhythms, and also some of the most out noises one can make with a sax. One trend that the group incorporates is having a repeating baseline in the background of free rants by the other players, it happens in multiple tracks like “Acid Scratch” and “ALP177,” I always tend to find these parts interesting. One track that I find intriguing is “New Dirt” which is apparently for the Stooges, and I assume named after the Stooges song “Dirt.” The song is definitely the heaviest on the Oslo disc, so perhaps Vandermark cannot deny the pre-punk drive the Stooges did as an influence. The Stooges definitely use the heavy baseline that Vandermark likes using.
In the second disk there is one immediately noticeable difference, Jeff Parker is a monster. The only track that is different from anything on the first disc is the opener “Old Dictionary” where Parker starts out making a variety of odd dissonant tones on his guitar. And also provides almost nonsensical rhythm guitar over Vandermark’s solo. Another thing that Parker brings is distortion, making the second disc heavier with the occasional metal riffs. Even though many of the tunes are repeated from the first disc, one can definitely tell that this is not the same group playing. Overall this double album is innovative, energetic, and most of all fun.
Points of Interest
Jeff Parker and John Herndon are members of Chicago post-rock band Tortoise
The Chicago version of Powerhouse Sound played at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Thursday, July 12, 2007
David Torn Prezens
David Torn Prezens (2007)
David Torn (Guitars, live-sampling and manipulation)
Tim Berne (Alto saxophone)
Craig Taborn (Fender Rhodes, Hammond b3, mellotron, bent circuits)
Tom Rainey (Drums)
Review
This is a pretty unique album. One can hear influences of Bill Frisell, hard-core, and electronic music. A lot of the affect of the album I assume comes from Torn and Taborn, considering they are the ones using electronics. It’s vary interesting to see how jazz musicians are embracing technologies in their pursuit of noises. Some of the electronic elements stand out in tunes like “Them Buried Standing” (David Torn) which has a nice groove that Tortoise fans will love. Also Torn uses live sampling quite a bit on tracks like “Rest & Unrest” (Torn) and “Sink” (Torn, Berne, Taborn, Rainey) which include affected drum kits and even moments when what you make think is a mad playing skips. “Sink” uses this technique towards the beginning, but then erupts into every player being fast loud and abrasive. The track “Rest and Unrest” uses the sampling more like The Books, repeating a melody and including sound bits of people talking. Another influence present in the album is Indian music, found in the track “Miss Place, The Mist…” (Torn, Chamberlin). The track opens with beautiful yet dark string opening, and then moves into a repeating sitar like idea. When the strings come back in, over the sitar, and also a highly affected drumbeat, the album hits one of its most innovative points. There are even some funk like moments in the albums opener “AK” (Torn, Berne, Taborn, Rainey) so it is hard to pinpoint one overarching influences for these musicians. I really think this album could potentially pull a lot of electronic music fans into the jazz scene, and I recommended it to anyone who can stand abrasive noise.
Points of Interest
David Torn plays guitar on David Bowie's albums Heathen, Reality, and Slow Burn
Craig Taborn's Junk Magic will be playing at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Tom Rainey play's with Wilco's Nels Cline on Ash and Tabula (2004)
David Torn (Guitars, live-sampling and manipulation)
Tim Berne (Alto saxophone)
Craig Taborn (Fender Rhodes, Hammond b3, mellotron, bent circuits)
Tom Rainey (Drums)
Review
This is a pretty unique album. One can hear influences of Bill Frisell, hard-core, and electronic music. A lot of the affect of the album I assume comes from Torn and Taborn, considering they are the ones using electronics. It’s vary interesting to see how jazz musicians are embracing technologies in their pursuit of noises. Some of the electronic elements stand out in tunes like “Them Buried Standing” (David Torn) which has a nice groove that Tortoise fans will love. Also Torn uses live sampling quite a bit on tracks like “Rest & Unrest” (Torn) and “Sink” (Torn, Berne, Taborn, Rainey) which include affected drum kits and even moments when what you make think is a mad playing skips. “Sink” uses this technique towards the beginning, but then erupts into every player being fast loud and abrasive. The track “Rest and Unrest” uses the sampling more like The Books, repeating a melody and including sound bits of people talking. Another influence present in the album is Indian music, found in the track “Miss Place, The Mist…” (Torn, Chamberlin). The track opens with beautiful yet dark string opening, and then moves into a repeating sitar like idea. When the strings come back in, over the sitar, and also a highly affected drumbeat, the album hits one of its most innovative points. There are even some funk like moments in the albums opener “AK” (Torn, Berne, Taborn, Rainey) so it is hard to pinpoint one overarching influences for these musicians. I really think this album could potentially pull a lot of electronic music fans into the jazz scene, and I recommended it to anyone who can stand abrasive noise.
Points of Interest
David Torn plays guitar on David Bowie's albums Heathen, Reality, and Slow Burn
Craig Taborn's Junk Magic will be playing at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Tom Rainey play's with Wilco's Nels Cline on Ash and Tabula (2004)
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