John Zorn's Naked City - The Complete Studio Recordings Box Set (USA 2005)

Latest CD Arrival.

This arrived this week.

Way Cool.

John Zorn's Book Of Angles Volume Nine -Xaphan - Secret Chiefs 3 (USA 2008)

Masada Book Two

Kinda skipped over this one due to my excitement over the fabulous Volume 10, but spent some time with it tonight while doing bookwork. This is another of the more rock based volumes of Book Two and I think it is one of the best of the type. A real conglomeration of music styles as usual with a bit of a world music inflection on top of this Jazz/Prog/Fusion rock. As with most Zorn associated music this is complex and played outstandingly well by the Secret Chiefs 3. Rating 3.5/5.   

John Zorn's Naked City - Black Box (Torture Garden & Leng Tch'e) 20th Anniversary Edition (USA 1990/92/2010)

The John Zorn Discography No.18&26

I brought this on the understanding that the tracks weren't included in the Naked City Complete Studio Recordings Box set, Was mistaken, and that particular Box set arrived two days ago, so this release is kinda redundant now. I'll talk about the music later.

CYNICAL HYSTERIE HOUR: John Zorn - Filmworks VII (USA 1989)

The John Zorn Discography No.16

Here we enter the world of John Zorn's Film Music of which there are now 25 volumes. This set wasn't the earliest stuff he recorded but it was the first to be released. This is the re-release of the original Cynical Hysterie Hour that was only available in Japan. The musoc is written for some Japanese cartoons and consists of 23 short sonic blasts and sound bites, some lasting only 15 seconds. Many genres of music are covered from surf music to hardcore, avant-garde, jazz and library music just to touch on a few. There are bits that hark back to "The Big Gundown" album and others that prepare us for the up coming Naked City releases. A good album to approach through the headphones where we can pick up on many quite wonderful and catchy musical snippets, unfortunately the briefness of many of the better one leave you wanting for more extended pieces to develop the music further. Rating 3/5. 

John Zorn's Book Of Angels Volume 10 - Lucifer - Bar Kokhbar Sextet (USA 2008)

Masada Book Two

A quick word on this before I end the day. This must definitely be my favourite volume of the series both before and after this. The classic Bar Kokhba Sextet is just fantastic, especially Marc Ribot's Guitaring. The music is utterly stunning, full of great melody and fabulous playing with its swinging Klezmer style chamber jazz. One of Zorn's best albums ever. Rating 5+/5. 

Sun Ra - Horizon (USA 1971)

The Sun Ra Discography.

This is one of the discs from the Art Yard Box Set that arrived recently and I thought I would touch on it while I wait for the next earlier CD to arrive from Ra's discography. A live recording from Ra's first visit to Egypt, recorded in 71' and the original release was possibly around 74'. A bit on the lo-fi side but certainly listenable enough, although the music is certainly challenging, with the 16 minute piece "The Shadow world" showcasing the chaotic sounding so called "Free Jazz" style of this period of Ra. Classic Ra, takes a bit to get use to and concentration to appreciate its finer moments. "Love in Outer Space" is a highlight with its impressively funky rhythm. Ra's playing on electronic keyboards can get pretty industrial sometimes and I feel prefigures Throbbing Gristle by several years and there are some interesting things happening here, Industrial Jazz seems to be Ra's contribution to out there music, like John Zorn's Jazz Thrash of Painkiller and the Moog solo "Horizon" is a perfect example, although more electronic industrial than Jazz. . I am really enjoying this set on closer inspection and will rate the album 3.5/5. 

john Zorn - Gnostic Preludes (USA 2012)

Another recent Zorn Arrival.

Another recent arrival from Zorn's prolific 2012 release schedule and the precursor of the very recent Mysteries CD. Some of John's most mellow and accessible music, very easy on the ears and I actually like this one slightly more than Mysteries. The best thing to look out for, again, is some great playing from Frisell which stands out for me on closer inspection. Rating 3/5.

John Zorn - Nosferatu (USA 2012)

Latest Zorn Arrival

Back attacking the John Zorn Discography from the other end for this recent CD arrival with another of his many releases from last year. An added bonus for this music, which was composed to accompany a stage production, is having John himself play on this set. I have especially enjoyed his wonderful sax on one of the slower tracks and he plays several instruments on this album. This is a contrasting mix of almost industrial jazz pieces mixed in with more mellow, melodic and atmospheric pieces. I am enjoying the contrasts and on several occasions have been really captured buy the wonderful music emanating from my stereo and with Bill Laswell on board, there are a couple of real groovy dub numbers. Rating 4/5. 

Massive Attack - Blue lines (UK 1991)

Off The Shelf.

Early 90's English trip-hop, a conglomeration of rap, electronica, soul and pop that blends into something identifiably unique. This debut by Massive Attack was a bit of a landmark of the scene at the time and has held up reasonably well over time. A fairly mellow, late night vibe permeates this set which I enjoy but don't get overly excited about. A bit overrated in my opinion but good enough for me to rate it 3/5.

Uncut Magazine - June 2013 - Take 194

Interesting to see a review of the latest volume of John Zorn's book of Angles in this issue and it got a fairly good review. Looking forward to my copy arriving soon. 

Track one on this months CD has been the real stand out. A great piece of 80's sounding post punk.

Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings (USA late 1930's/1990)

A recent CD arrival.

There are many many compilations of Roberts music, but he only recorded a handful of songs If you take out the alternate takes of 12 songs, that leaves only 29 songs ever recorded. As they are all here as well as the alternative takes of all but one song, and with this being one of the best of those collections, especially in the sound quality department, then this is probably the best and only Robert Johnson record you'll ever need.

Recorded in 1936/37, these songs have become almost legendary in the past 70 odd years with them having a huge effect on the classic rock we listen to today. One of the last of the country Delta bluesmen, Roberts songs and especially his guitar picking is wonderful and with the late recording dates, the sound quality is much easier to relate to for modern ears than the earlier Bluesmen's recordings. Not one of my most favourite of the Delta Bluesmen but essential all the same and about time I had this set in my collection again.

Rating 4.5/5.

John Zorn's Book Of Angels Volume Eight(Masada Book Two) - Volac - Erik Friedlander (USA 2007)

Masada Book Two

Another solo set for this volume, this time Erik Friedlander takes us through a set with a cello. This gives the collection a more classical feel and on several occasions as he plucks the strings instead of bowing it sounds very guitar like. A lovely mellow set but with the occasional Avant-Garde moments, I have been surprisingly impressed with this volume and enjoying it's ambience later in the evenings letting its laid back vibe wash over me. Rating 4.5/5.  

Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love (UK 1968)

Off The Shelf.

What could I possibly say about this that ain't already been said. A classic 60's rock album. Full of creativity and awesome guitar playing. My favourite tracks are; "Little Wing", "If 6 Was 9" and the excellent "Little Miss Lover and "Bold as Love" at the end of the album. Compulsory. Great stuff, rating 4.5/5. 

Sun Ra - Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy/Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow (USA 1967/1965

The Sun Ra Discography latest arrival.

 "Art Forms...",  was recorded some time in 61/62', "...Tones..."in 63" and is a pretty difficult listen at times and is very percussion based with a much smaller group of players than many earlier recordings. The music is quite different but I grows with familiarity and I am appreciating it more so now than I did when I reviewed this Evidence release some time back. Some tracks do seem to meander along quite pointlessly at times and so can be difficult to stay with but overall I am growing to appreciate its weirdness as I grow more familiar with it. "Adventure Equation"(Names after Yotte's excellent Sun Ra Blog(Haha))is my favourite track from this set but it did degenerate a bit towards the end. "Moon Dance" is also cool. 

The earlier "Art Forms..." kicks off with a short piece of ambient/percussive weirdness that fits quite well with the later recordings before we get slightly more conventional in a jazzy way on some of the later tracks but interspersed with the heavily reverbed percussive tracks. These two albums actually fit very well together and was a good combination by Evidence. Still gone now are the earlier big band swing numbers with much more melody and rhythm and we are well into the far out Ra musical universe, which is far more challenging no less rewarding with dedicated listening. Rating for this release 3.5/5.    

John Zorn - Spy Vs. Spy - The Music Of Ornette Coleman (USA 1989)

The John Zorn Discography No.15

1. WRU (2:40)

2. Chronology (1:04)

3. Word for Bird (1:14)

4. Good Old Days (2:46)

5. The Disguise (1:18)

6. Enfant (2:36)

7. Rejoicing (1:39)

8. Blues Connotation (1:06)

9. C&D (3:07)

10.Chippie (1:09)

11.Peace Warriors (1:22)

12.Ecars (2:29)

13.Feet Music (4:47)

14.Broadway Blues (3:45)

15.Space Church (2:29)

16.Zig Zag (2:56)

17.Mob Job (4:26)

Continuing on with the Uncle Roddus Zornfest in between new CDs arriving weekly I back track to what I believe is the first John Zorn CD I acquired quite some time ago. Not sure how I got onto it now, but I have vague memories of reading a review somewhere, quite probably in the NME. I could have possibly purchased the two PainKiller CDs  first, again being intrigued by a description probably in the NME.

Anyhow these were the recordings that introduced me into the wonderful and frightening world of  JZ. This earlier music of JZ kinda hits the other extreme from the mellow laidback modern jazz that I have been enjoying so much from his recent releases. We're talking a kind of speed jazz here. 17 covers of Ornette Coleman tunes played in a sort of hardcore punk sort of style but still recognisable as Jazz. Pretty wild horn blowing throughout this set with Zorn in one channel and  Tim Berne in the other. Music to be played loud, I have always had some attraction to this CD, although I haven't given it any air time for quite a while. I enjoy the sax melodies overlaying the wild drumming and the sound produces is big and kinda bombastic. "Good old Days" is my favourite track and the second part of the disc slows things down somewhat with longer tracks and slower tempos. A somewhat chaotic sounding record(not unusual for JZ, especially back then) which is hard to stay with all the way through as it all kinda blurs together, although more concentrated attention does separate out the tunes a bit more,although it is not so easy to give this noise more concentrated attention. Not something I play with Mrs. Roddus in earshot or for casual relaxed listening. I enjoyed this enough to want to explore more of John Zorn's music and was the start of a slowly growing appreciation of the mans music.Rating 3.5/5

NEWS FOR LULU: John Zorn, George Lewis, Bill Frisell

The John Zorn Discography No.14

The first volume of News For Lulu finally arrived and this is another one that I had to get second hand as it is out of print(including  the 2008 re-issue) and any new copies were way to expensive. I have already spoken briefly on the second set "More News For Lulu" and this lot is pretty much the same. I do like this but the trio combination on this album is a bit difficult to stay with over the 73 minutes of this set and not my favourite instrument combination. I like hearing these tracks individually in a mixed playlist than tackling this whole lot at once, but they do grow on you and I think this release is marginally better than it's sister volume. Rating 3.5/5.