John Zorn - Filmworks 1986-1990 (USA 1992)

The John Zorn Discography.

I have read many times about to where to start for a new listener of the John Zorn catalogue. Of course it would depend on your musical palette. Most would be very put off if they plunged into the early game pieces but there are many much more accessible places to start, but to get a real overview of the vast array of musical styles that John inhabits then perhaps this set could be a very good place to start. The earliest of John's quite substantial FilmWorks Series this set consists of 32 short tracks scored for several obscure movies over the time period mentioned. This is an awesome set with so many bases covered that I won't bother mentioning them all but as I said this lot covers a vast amount of ground and never lets up for interesting ditties and great tunes. There is plenty o catchy melodies here and some slight weirdness but overall very accessible and highly recommended and gets 4.5/5.

John Zorn - Elegy (USA 1991)

The John Zorn Discography.

This recent CD arrival is another one of Zorn's "File Card" Pieces, which means it consists of some  pretty avant-garde sounding collages with plenty of unusual sound effects. I like the atmospherics of this set and the feel of the music here has a classical feel in places and so could be considered one of his composer series recordings. I think this is the best of his file card recordings that I have heard so far and I rate is 4/5.

Sun Ra - The Other Side Of The Sun (USA 1980)

The Sun Ra Discography.

Another recent arrival to add to my burgeoning Sun Ra Collection and we find Ra and the boys in a very melodic mood as they swing their way through an impressive "Space Fling" taking us all the way back to the Arkestra's early days. Then we get a lovely version of  "Flamingo" before we get treated to a very funky version of the perennial "Space is the Place" and a unique version it is too. "The Sunny Side Of The Street" is another extended swing workout, with the album closing with another Ra Original in the slightly more chaotic style we are use to. Overall a fairly accessible set from Ra and most enjoyable. Rating 3.5/5.  

Sun Ra - Other Planes Of There (USA 1966)

The Sun Ra Discography.

More out there music for this next Sun Ra recording and again I refer you to Nuvoid and Adventure Equation for more detailed analysis and information about this album. I'll Just say that it sounds like standard Sun Ra music, which means pretty much unlike anyone else, quite challenging and free sounding jazz music. Some more great piano from the master, Pretty wild and chaotic sounds here.

Rating 3.5/5. 

Sun Ra - When Angels Speak Of Love (USA 1966)

The Sun Ra Discography.

First up, because I'm lazy and mostly semi-literate, I'll direct you to a couple of better sources for more informed opinions of this next Sun Ra recording. Nuvoid and Adventure Equation. 

I think this is the high point of the group of the choreograph workshop recordings from the early  60s in New York. Space music certainly would be an apt description for this strange atmospheric Jazz inflected music. It's is mostly slow in tempo with plenty of that famous reverb and echo from these Workshop recordings. I am very impressed  with the opening track and have enjoyed the whole album overall, especially as there is some great Ra piano in the mix here and there. It is great that these ultra rare recordings are actually still available from the Evidence reissue campaign back between 1992 and 2000, I have relied on them heavily in building by collection.Rating 5/5.

Sun Ra - What's New (USA 1975)

The Sun Ra Discography.

1.  What's New   6:55

2.  Wanderlust   5:53

3.  Jukin'   2:26

4.  Autumn in New York   6:59

5.  State Street   3:45

6.  Sometimes I'm Happy   6:42

7.  Time after Time 1   2:18

8.  Time after Time 2   3:30

9.  Easy to Love   3:27

10. Sunnyside Up   3:36

11. We Roam The Cosmos   10:30

Got a bit of a backlog of Sun Ra albums to get through and I believe this is where we got to in part one of the Sun Ra Discography. This is the second release in the discography where I haven't been able to purchase it on CD("Deep Purple" was the other one although some of the tracks I have on "Sound Of Joy"), except some of the tracks above appeared on the "Standards" CD. This original release has a particularly convoluted history and has never been reissued on CD, so I got this version from Adventure Equation Blog. Also check out Nuvoid, for  a more indepth review and history.

The first four tracks, again recorded at the Choreographers workshop in 1963, continue the series of jazz standards the Arkestra covered and overall is an enjoyable workout, although I do prefer it when they play the more original Sun Ra compositions. Tracks 5  to 10 cover similar ground and some I have covered on the "Standards" CD. All fairly conventional Jazz but more in the Bebop style than the earlier swing that Ra played previously. A nice set.

Track 11 was the original B-side of What's New but was only issued on very few copies of the original pressing before the other tracks, 5-10, replaced it on later pressings. This is a fairly lo-fi live recording of an apparently improvised number which sounds familiar with parts of other tracks incorporated. The line "space is the place" and perhaps, the line"My Brother The Wind" indicate this. It is mostly a spoken/sung word piece with very slight background sounds. Ra Sermonising his space stuff. Not particularly interesting.

Overall rating 2.5/5.

Gorilla Toss - Gorilla Toss (Tzadik 2013)

Some More from Tzadik.

After 10 Tzadik CDs, none of which I had heard any of the music before I purchased them, I haven't yet had one  that I didn't like or couldn't connect with in some way, until now. This is very harsh and grating music, it is very stop start with lots of tempo changes, quite punky with a female singer with a high pitched almost squeal who sings kinda staccato and is impossible to understand. It does remind me of some of the UK post punk from the early 80s but with far less melody. It takes dedication to stay with this and to be able to notice the textures and layers built into this complex music. I have noticed that in small amounts, like the occasional track played within a playlist, that I am able to give it enough attention to appreciate the textures but across the whole set is too much. Do I like it? Not all that much at present, but there is enough here to keep me interested in giving the music time to see if I come round to enjoying it. Present rating 2/5. 

Black Sabbath - Masters Of Reality (UK 1971)

Fuck Yeah!!!

I am reading a Black Sabbath biography called "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Joel McIver, not a particularly great book but it's Ok and so I am listening to The Sab's early albums as I read through. I have already covered "Paranoid" much earlier on this blog so now I'm headbanginmg to their 3rd album in "Masters Of reality. This album opens and closes with two of the best Sabbath tunes, with the ode to The Leaf with the magnificent "Sweet leaf", yet another monster riff of mind blowing proportions  and the truly brilliant "Into the Void closing the set, also another unforgettable Sabbath Riff. In between these two masterpieces lurks another bunch of awesomely heavy tracks to bludgeon your ears. Another all time classic album that should be played loud and gets a rating of 5/5.  

Alvin Curran - Shofar Rags (Tzadik 2013)

More from Tzadik Records.

That thing pictured on the cover is called a Shofar and is the main source of the sounds that these compositions are built around. It actually makes a very natural sound and these soundscapes have an ambient texture and are drone like in places. evokes images of forests and  primitive tribes and there are lots of animal sounds filling out the long pieces. This is released under the Radical Jewish Culture banner and just shows what a hugely eclectic series it is. I do quite like the textures of these pieces and find this mellow music quite relaxing and pleasant. As I said, these are longish soundscapes as opposed to tunes in a conventional sense and I like it enough to rate it 3/5.

Les Rhinocéros - Les Rhinocéros II (Tzadik 2013)

More From Tzadik Records.

I am quickly building a collection of good quality and very interesting CD's from Tzadik and this release is no exception. This one comes under the Spotlight series, which is a relatively new series featuring young new talent. There are not many releases in this series at present and this is the first I have acquired. Les Rhinocéros is a cool name and this is a very cool and highly talented young band who have produced, in their second album, a set of  rock based compositions that encompass many different styles, from punk to funk to world music and jazz. A mostly instrumental set with plenty of cool stuff to discover after repeated listenings. Still familiarising myself with this record as there is quite a lot to take in but it is very well done and a most enjoyable  ride. Another quality release from Tzadik who haven't disappointed yet. Rating 4/5.

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (UK 1970)

Oh Yeah!

If anyone actually reads this blog they may be familiar with the admission some time back that I had finally decided that Black Sabbath are my all time favourite band ever. So much of the music I have loved over the last 30+ years may not have been made if this band had never happened. I don't need to describe the music on their debut album, it is classic and any serious music fan probably knows it, and knows that it was the heaviest music produced at the time and had a huge hand in the creation of what we now call Heavy Metal.

Sabbath's music just wipes the floor with any and all contemporary metal bands, they are the masters as far as I am concerned and their latest album "13", with most of the original lineup, proved that to me again.

The music herin is just sublime, gives me goosebumps and levels of excitement and joy seldom experienced with most music. It is so powerful, Tony's monster Riffs have never been bettered and were surely liberated from heaven. Geezer had the dirtiest bass on the planet and Bill Ward is a fantastic drummer, perhaps my favourite. Ozzy just fits perfectly with this music and this was only their first album, better was to come.

I just have to rate this 5/5 and remember, Play loud, Play Fucken loud!

Deveykus - Pillar Without Mercy (Tzadik 2013)

Another arrival from Tzadik records.

So many great albums and so little time to get through them all. The Tzadik CDs are arriving thick and fast and this one has been released under the radical jewish culture banner. This is a slow burning monster of a rock album, the tunes move at almost glacial speed with plenty of heavy guitar and a trombone playing along with the guitar melodies or on top of the crunching guitar. Don't usually get to much into these slow spacerock sort of things but this one is very good with some wonderful guitar pyrotechnics and the trombone giving it a slightly different angle. There certainly is plenty of variety in this series and I have yet to be disappointed with any of the Tzadik releases I have acquired so far. Rating 4/5.

Sun Ra - Music From Tomorrow's World (USA 1960/2002)

The Sun Ra Discography.

I missed this one when I started building my Sun Ra collection earlier this year. This rather full CD consists of a rare live set from 1960 which, although an amature recording, stands up pretty well. The three opening tracks are not as good as their "studio" versions although "Space Aura" is still bloody outstanding and by far the outstanding moment of this set. I'm not at all a fan of the Gershwins music but there is some nice soloing on the two covers here. "How High The Moon" gets some great treatment, especially the wonderful bop Sax solo that fills 2/3 of the, unfortunately Sun Ra's piano and Boykin's  bass are almost inaudible. "China Gate" sounds more like an original Ra composition which closes out this set

The Majestic Hall session has a bunch of songs already familiar but some previously unheard compositions as well which makes this lo-fi set a must hear for Ra fanatics. The band sounds fine and the songs are good but the sound quality is a bit of a challenge.Still an important addition to my Sun Ra collection. For a far more eloquent review of  this release check out Nuvoids Sun Ra Sunday. My Rating 3/5.

Sun Ra - Standards (USA 2001)

The Sun Ra Discography.

Another release from the German DA Music, along with the recently covered Janus CD, this lot is a compilation of Jazz Standards cobbled together from a very early session in 1955 and a couple of sessions from 1962 in New York. This is a mostly conventional set with plenty of swing and is easy on the ears. Sound quality isn't particularly great but not bad either as the Arkestra play these pretty straight. Nothing here to get overly excited about, just a pleasant set of covers and fills in my collection. Rating 2.5/5.

Noah Creshevsky - The Four Seasons - Hyperrealist Music (Tzadik 2013)

Some More From Tzadik.

This latest arrival from Tzadik is one of the Composer series and is the most impressive one I have received so far. A suit of pieces played by a group of conventional instruments but constructed in an unconventional way and  then some electronic effects integrated and finally it sounds like some tape manipulation to make it really fucked up sounding. It works remarkably well and I am enjoying the quite unique effects. I am not all that aware of the contemporary classical scene in the early 21st century but if this is in any way representative of the music then it is quite some way from what most of us would be familiar with although it still has a classical feel to the music. Anyhow, I am very impressed with  Noah Creshevsky's efforts here and rate this release 4.5/5.

Blaxploitation Volumes 1-4 Various Artists (UK 1996)

A Short break from Tzadik.

Quite some time ago I was browsing at the local cheap CD emporium (that's "The Warehouse" for you locals), when I came across one of these volumes. Now I already had been exploring some compilations of Rare groove and funk from the early 70 and these were something I couldn't leave on the rack. I managed to get volumes 2,3,&4 but with the sort of random stocking of The Warehouse, I never did find Volume 1 and kinda left it at that. Recently I was re loading these onto my hard drive to make a massive playlist of all the compilation CD's I have(over 12,500 tracks) and I thought it would be nice to have volume one to complete the set. I was pleased to see I could still get it on Amazon and so the aforementioned Volume arrived in the mail box today.

I am doing a quick review of all four volumes together as the quality and style of the sets are very consistent throughout. Consistently brilliant that is. The majority of the artists here were or are pretty well known, this is not a collection of obscure rare grooves, and the music here is, for me at least, a mix of quite familiar tracks, some familiar names with not so familiar tracks and some unfamiliar names with stuff I never heard of. As the covers say, these are compilations of Soul, Jazz and Funk, although mostly all conglomerated into most tracks. This music is just fantastic, great soul, and funky jazz with some mean jamming in the extended tracks. Essential music and as I mentioned consistently excellent throughout all four volumes and each volume has two discs chock full to about 75 minutes each. I think Volume three is the best but the whole lot rate 5/5.

Highly recommended and worth while getting your hands on them while they are still available.

Bester Quartet - The Golden Land (Tzadik 2013)

Some more from Tzadik Records.

This next arrival from Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series is far more serious on the Jewish Music aspect and so has a real world music sound, probably due mostly to the Bayan, which I think is some kind of accordion, certainly sounds like it. This is a pretty good set of Kletzma inspired music and although nothing to rave about, it is pretty enjoyable with some nice soloing, especially on the more uptempo numbers. There are several slower songs that are more atmospheric and even slightly experimental sounding in places but quite nice overall. Another quality release to add to my growing Tzadik collection and worth a rating of 3/5.