Eyvind Kang - Alastor - Book Of Angels Vol.21 (Tzadik 2014)

Masada Book Two.

With Masada Book Three unleashed on the World(Well NYC at least) in March, I thought that the Book of Angels must be complete after 20 volumes. Alas, here it is, Vol.21, with Vol 22 also done and dusted and hopeful released in the near future, it's gotta be a good thing.

  Having already heard Eyvind Kang via his last Tzadik release from 2012, I wasn't overly excited about this new volume. The new CD duly arrived in the Mailbox and on first casual listen while doing some chores it sounded OK but nothing to rave about. Later on some tracks started to really get my attention and in the early evening I had the opportunity to sit down and really have a listen.

  With a large list of musicians playing a collection of strangely named instruments we get presented with a quite an exotic collection of interpretations covering a wide range of styles in the most impressive manner. I am very very impressed with the width and breadth of the music presented here and have been enjoying this set far more than I anticipated. This release had shot to very near the top of the list for quality for this series and the quality of the Book of Angels just keeps on impressing.Rating 4.5/5.

John Zorn - The Alchemist (USA 2014)

More Zorn.

The ever prolific Mr. Zorn with yet another CD in 2014. Another of his Mystic series with two compositional works, one for string Quartet and the other For Voices. I'm not a big fan of his vocal works in this idiom, but it is impressive none-the-less. The title track, being the string quartet, is more enjoyable for my palate and  although I am not a big fan of this sort of thing, I do like to listen to this sort of stuff occasionally. Of course it is sort of avant garde, so not an easy listen. Rating 3/5. 

John Zorn - Filmworks XVII (USA 2005)

More Zorn Filmworks.

The collecting of Zorn's filmworks series is turning into a very rewarding endeavor. This volume is the latest to arrive in my mail box and practically hasn't left the CD player since the day it arrived. There are two film scores here mixed throughout the CD. The five Skull pieces from one film are little percussive pieces and although aren't overly impressive on their own, they make nice little interludes between the masterpieces that make up the soundtrack to "Notes On Marie Menken" .The first of these opens the set with a lovely mellow guitar intro from the very talented and all round groovy guy, Jon Madof, before the piece morphs into a very pleasant sort of Eurojazz number. After the first Skull piece we get another cool sounding Euro jazz style track in which the second half of the song we get an extremely awesome extended guitar solo from the aforementioned Madof. Not a bombastic type of "Rock" solo but more reminiscent of Zappa's more involved extended solo's but more laid back. Track 6 "GoGoGo" is an 8 minute free jazz blowout with our man Zorn honking most impressively on his Sax. Very Sun Ra and one of the best I have heard, I really connected with it. The other stand out track, amongst some pretty good company, is track 12 "Arabsque", another with Zorn on sax and has a real cool "Psychedelic" delay effect on the sax and is just a knockout tune. The best filmworks volume I have heard so far and now in my Zorn Top Ten.. Rating 5/5

John Zorn - Filmworks V - Tears Of Ecstasy (Tzadik 1996)

And More filmworks.

Now getting back to Zorn's Filmworks and this volume of soundbites for this Japanese film. Like many of his previous soundtracks, we have 48 short pieces that cover a huge array of styles, many of which are quite catchy and very interesting but all mostly feel unfinished. Still and interesting collection of sounds. Rating 3.5/5.

John Zorn - Psychomagia (Tzadik 2014)

More From Zorn.

A great album of new Zorn compositions for the rock outfit Abraxas, who did  one of the Book Of Angels volumes. This is full tilt progressive rock for the 21st century and the playing is exemplary. I like this set more than their Masada set. Rating 4.5/5.  

John zorn - Fragmentations,Prayers and Interjections. (Tzadik 2014)

More Zorn.

Zorn has had another prolific start to the year with four releases already so far and 2 more on the near horizon. Although this CD is released under the Mystic Series, It is actually a set of 4 classical compositions for a large ensemble. The music here will be familiar in style for those who have explored his other works in the classical vein. I do enjoy this release but am unable to really describe the music within except that it is fairly avant-garde sounding. The music is challenging and somewhat disjointed and chaotic. I am familiar with this type of composition as Frank Zappa's orchestral recording were of a similar nature. But for me the best composer of this sort of thing was Edgard Varese. Rating 3.5/5.

John Zorn - Filmworks IV - S&M + More (USA 1997)

Latest Zorn Filmworks Arrival.

This release is another compilation of various film musics from a bunch of obscure flicks that not many of us have seen. The tracks here are a lot longer that the many short music samples from most of the previous volumes. The set kicks of with a sort of late night dubby thing that cruises along quite pleasantly and is a lovely relaxing vibe, where as the second track is far more esoteric and is actually a number of smaller sound bites from the same film soundtrack all indexed as one track. As usual with Zorn there is a vast cornucopia of musical styles on offer here, making for an intriguing listen, although not all of it is riveting and some of it will work better hearing it in the context of the film it was created for. Rating 3/5.  

John Zorn - The Hermetic Organ II - St Pauls Chapel NYC (USA 2014)

Latest John Zorn CD

Johns second Organ recital and pretty much like the last one which was something I didn't really get into all that much. This one is slightly better and a bit mellower than the first one. Perhaps better to see the event live but still, listenable and I'll rate it 2.5/5.

John Zorn - Filmworks III - 1990-1995

Another Zorn filmworks CD.

The next volume of Zorn's Filmworks releases arrived a couple of weeks back and it is another collection of over 50 tracks in just over an hour. The first 12 tracks are most important as it was the first coming together of the four musicians who went on to form Masada and it is a great bunch of nice jazz tracks. The tracks 14-25 are Zorn and Marc Ribot letting loose on some very cool music. There is some real lovely mellow laid back stuff amongst the more raucous stuff. I don't think I have heard Ribot and Zorn play together like this, just the two of them, it is very good. The rest of the collection is apparently a bunch of advertising jingles, so to speak and most  are very short and cover a vast amount of musical territory with some familiar themes which I recognise as they were developed further later on on some of the Naked City releases. Overall a most interesting release.Rating 4/5.

John Zorn - Shir Hashirim - (Tzadik USA 2013)

John's last release of the year.

An all female a capella album not unlike the Mycale "Book Of Angels" volume. As the blurb above states, this is a real mix of influences and on first casual listens the atmosphere of Plainchant is obvious, but there is no actual singing on this release. Instead each track is constructed using the voices as if they were musical instruments. It is beautifully done and there are some recognisable melodies from other Zorn music but presented in a different way. It is most impressive, but I find it all starts to sound the same across the whole set, also I have a difficulty of certain resonances created by the combination and pitch of the voices that makes for hard work to listen to. Makes nice background music and is certainly an impressive achievement. Rating 3/5.

John Zorn - In Lambeth—Visions From The Walled Garden Of William Blake (Tzadik USA 2013)

John Zorn's December 2013 Release.

Phew! More Zorn. Zorn's Gnostic Trio recordings are not my favourites, the combination of harp, Vibes/Bells and guitar is too mellow sounding for me although this recording is fleshed out with some subtle electronics from Ikue Mori. Certainly some of Zorn's more accessible music, jazz flavoured and quite laid back, makes good background music though and certainly isn't unpleasant but not one I will revisit a lot. Rating 2.5/5

Painkiller - The Prophecy (Tzadik USA 2013)

Another John Zorn arrival

The second Zorn release from November, a live Painkiller recording from several concerts in europe in 2004-5. Selections edited into one 65 minute long suit of mindblowing proportions. Zorn and Laswell are impressive as usual but the Japanese Drummer is brilliant and his solos are excellent. Not so much of the Hardcore stuff like their first albums but plenty of more atmospheric and dubby improvisations with plenty of great Zorn Sax. A well put together suit and an enjoyable if not taxing listen.Rating 4/5.

John Zorn - On The Torment Of Saints, The Casting Of Spells And The Evocation Of Spirits (Tzadik USA 2013)

The latest John Zorn Arrivals.

Well, Old Zornie has bee a very busy boy of late(isn't he always) with 4 new CDs released over the last couple of months and another 4 releases over the first 3 months of the new year. That as well as just completing his 60th birthday celebrations and the exciting news about the upcoming premiere of another Book of Masada songs. Looking forward to some possible releases from the Birthday celebrations and the possibility of another volume of the Book Of Angles sometime in the near future, it's gonna be a big year for Zorn Music again.

Anyhow, catching up with the latest arrivals in my letter box, starting with this set of classical pieces. I am really not qualified to say too much about this music but I am enjoying these pieces, especially "The Tempest" which starts off with some thunderous percussion and is carried along by some impressive jazz like drumming.  All three pieces are recent compositions with "All Hallow's Eve" being an impressive trio piece that is quite violent in the last movement. The Temptartion of ST. Anthony is for a larger group and like the other compositions, is keeping me interested. I think Zorns "Classical" music is getting better and better and I am enjoying this set a lot. Rating 4/5.

John Zorn & Thurston Moore - "@" (Tzadik/USA 2013)

The John Zorn Discography

And John keeps pumping out the music, much to the delight of us who appreciate most of what he does. This is his 6th release of the year and we are promised another four Zorn related releases over the next two months. I'll never want to wait 5 years between releases that most of these big rock bands make us wait nowadays again.

I was a bit apprehensive about this set, with it being another of his improvised duos, this time with Thurston Moore, and I know that these releases don't have a lot of conventional song structure or melody and I sometimes struggle with that. As you would expect from Thurston, there is plenty of feedback drenched guitar pyrotechnics and experimental jamming combined with plenty of Zorns scronking Sax. The guys have pulled this off surprisingly well and I am finding myself drawn into their improvised soundscapes quite intensely and am far more impressed than I thought I would be. Amongst all the noise and chaos there are also some quite beautiful and almost ambient moments and even a folksy sounding piece from Moore. Not a release for everybody but for the hardcore Zorn 

aficionado this is bloody good. Zorn does it again. 4/5.

Beit: Masada Volume Two (USA 1994) (DIW Japan 1994)

Masada Book One

Volume two of the original Masada book is another high powered set of John Zorn's Klezmer infused take on Ornette Coleman's classic jazz. "Piram" kicks of the set in great fashion with it's chaotic sax and trumpet, although I have heard it better on the live albums. "Hadasha" is the set highlight and is a slow burning and magnificently laid back affair. "Lachish" is another that I prefer the live version and is far more avant-garde and free sounding than the first two and "Rachab" is slower but is one of those European sounding pieces that feels like it never gets going and doesn't flow smoothly, but not too bad a track, there are plenty of interesting things going on. "Peliyot" has one of those excellent Masada Greg Cohen Bass grooves although it's not backed up by equally groovy brass, which is more chaotic. And so it goes, as the rest of the album continues along these lines, a mixed set of quality jazz but somewhat more chaotic sounding than the first volume. Not as many great melodies to really get the attention but another great volume in this series. Rating 3.5./5.

John Zorn - Kristallnacht (USA 1992)

The John Zorn Discography.

Zorn's deepest and most serious album is his musical representation of the event named in the albums title. A disgusting and despicable event that was a forerunner of something even more horrific. Understandably the music here isn't easy listening even by Zorn's standards(referring mostly to track 2) and it is a difficult record to just sit and "enjoy" due to the images it provokes and the events it represents.  The first track perhaps set the tone for Zorn's later Masada project, before it gets almost taken over by what could be German propaganda speech recordings, But is is the second track that really represents the event with its crescendo of broken glass sounds and other less audible noise which makes for an almost unlistenable piece, although it does get a bit more bearable later on in the piece. The album is highly regarded within the Zorn Discography and after skipping "Never Again" and sitting with the music for several listens the rest of the set does impress and isn't as gloomy as the title suggests. Fairly chaotic and verging on industrial, like on "Barzel" which sounds like a cross between Mezbow and Throbbing Gristle but mostly the set has a classical feel. There are even some light heart moments if you listen carefully. A real eclectic set and most impressive. Rating 4.5/5.

John Zorn - The Noble Prize Winner - Filmworks XXIV (USA 2010)

The John Zorn Discography.

Although scored for a film, this laid back set is pretty much a straight up Jazz release with piano, vibes and drums. Although the themes seem to be repeating a bit throughout the record and it all sounds a bit the same, the music itself is very enjoyable and very John Zorn. I am thoroughly enjoying this set  and a great one to put on when entertaining as there isn't any thing here to frighten the guests. Another great release in the huge Zorn discography and rated 4/5.