This is not an album, but a treasure with the characteristic of a dynamite: it will explode right in your face in the very moment when you will push play.
Although there is a solid line-up of gifted singers such as Jesse Harris or Sofia Rei, the crown belongs to the genius of Mike Patton. He’s really something and he is brilliant, sparkling and unique each and every time, with each song he reveals another shade or dimension of his unlimited possibilities to approach and perform a song. It’s both admirable and completely disarming.
But the release feature a whole army of outstanding musicians conducted by the man who put all this “atoms” and “elements’ to work, the Magus John Zorn. Marc Ribot – Guitar; Trevor Dunn – Bass; John Medeski – Organ, Piano, Fender Rhodes; Kenny Wollesen – Vibes, Joey Baron – Drums and Cyro Baptista – Percussion are the solid foundation of these sonic buildings. Read more John Zorn – The Song Project Vinyl Singles Edition (2014)
Life and Living
avant-garde
John Zorn (Moonchild) – The Last Judgement (2014)
This seems to be the last piece of the mystical-musical puzzle started by Zorn. I’m still in love with the insanely brilliant “Ipsissimus” released in 2010, followed by “Templars-In Sacred Blood” in 2012.
Zorn formed in 2006 the hardcore voice/bass/drums trio of Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn, and Joey Baron which became known as the Moonchild Trio.
Moonchild is the title of a novel written by Aleister Crowley in 1917. Its plot involves a magical war between a group of white magicians, led by Simon Iff, and a group of black magicians over an unborn child. In the novel, numerous acquaintances of Crowley appear as thinly disguised fictional characters. Crowley portrays MacGregor Mathers as the primary villain, including him as a character named SRMD, using the abbreviation of Mathers’ magical name. Arthur Edward Waite appears as a villain named Arthwaite, and the unseen head of the Inner Circle of which SRMD was a member, “A.B.” is theosophist Annie Besant.
Same year two albums of Zorn’s compositions performed by the trio were released: “Moonchild: Songs Without Words” and “Astronome”. Read more John Zorn (Moonchild) – The Last Judgement (2014)
Byzant At Sunset – Bang Your Head. Again. And then vote!
Random Being – World Without Memory, full album video
It’s not a secret, I love the debut effort by Random Being, I have written about it here.
Just a small reminder. Random Being it’s an on-line creative collective and their collaboration bring to the surface a magical-mystery world of sounds and emotions, grooves and emulations. Self label it “avant-pop”, their universe it’s a melting pot of different genres and flavors, it’s a place of psychedelia, space and progressive rock, fever-burned rhythmics, contorted samplers and sound manipulations, jazz grooves and tango fueled passions. It might be post-pop as well – while post became the new (fashionable) porn. Think of David Bowie, P.I.L., Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd jamming in the same room.
Now they delight not only our ears, but as well our eyes delivering a throughout exciting video journey for all the songs from the album. Read more Random Being – World Without Memory, full album video
Last Exit [featuring Richard Walker]
This is a solid draft, but not a completely finished song, part of the upcoming Byzant At Sunset release. B flat, 90 BPM. Blues. Dirty and dangerous. Out of the box for those who dare thinking, feeling and playing different. Enjoy!
Krokofant – Krokofant (2014)
Kongsberg, a town located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal, is perhaps best known for being the home of Norway’s major defence contractor, Kongsberg Gruppen, formerly Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. Two of its well known products were the Kongsberg Colt and the Krag-Jørgensen rifle. The latter was adopted in the late 19th century as the standard army rifle in Denmark, Norway and U.S.A.
Notable, since 1964, the town has hosted Kongsberg Jazzfestival, an annual international jazz festival where prominent world acts such as BB King, Diana Krall, Ornette Coleman, Joshua Redman and John Scofield have played in recent years.
Also, Kongsberg it’s the home of some prominent artists such as Morten Harket – the lead singer of A-ha; jazz pianist Morten Qvenild; jazz guitarist Ivar Grydeland and pianist Håkon Austbø – among many others. And while Oslo it’s proud of Shining, now Kongsberg have this murderous trio called Krokofant. Krokofant?
What can we expect from a band named after a bizarre mixture between crocodile and elephant? Definitively good stuffs! Read more Krokofant – Krokofant (2014)
John Zorn – In The Hall Of Mirrors (2014)
Under the John Zorn moniker a lot of quite different records are released regularly. He write classic music, chamber music and all sort of experimental jazz sometimes with roots back to Jewish traditional music, sometimes tripping over the frontiers of our average perception. “In The Hall Of Mirrors” features three extraordinary talented musicians, a rhythm section made of bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and the virtuoso pianist Stephen Gosling. We’ve got 48.46 minutes of sparkling, refreshing, intense, still extremely enjoyable experimental (jazz) music.
Blending classical and jazz music, this is a breathtaking and intense album throughout, reveling new dimensions and sounds, introducing the listeners to a limitless open space full of flavors and surprises. The performance of Stephen Gosling it’s fascinating and very inspired, while the dynamic rhythm section of Cohen and Sorey offers a breathtaking and solid groundwork. Simply splendid! Read more John Zorn – In The Hall Of Mirrors (2014)
Dog Fashion Disco – Sweet Nothings (2014)
Originally named Hug The Retard, Dog Fashion Disco was formed in 1995 by Todd Smith, Greg Combs, and John Ensminger in Rockville, Maryland. Tod, Greg and John were high school colleagues. Combining many different music styles from the 70’s psychedelic, through jazz to heavy metal and circus music, Dog Fashion Disco was categorized as avant-garde metal band being heavily influenced by Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle. The band’s lyrical content is often highly esoteric and satirical, with constant tongue-in-cheek references to the occult, drug use, and other oddities.
Their first two albums were self released and low budget products. The first – “Erotic Massage” (1997) – was funded by a loan taken out by drummer John Ensminger. The second self-released album was titled “Experiments In Alchemy” and released in 1998. While the first album was Read more Dog Fashion Disco – Sweet Nothings (2014)
Venetian Snares – My Love Is A Bulldozer (2014)
Aaron Funk, better known as Venetian Snares had reinvented breakcore and set the stage for many other artists such as UndaCova, Xanopticon, Enduser and Datach’i.
He debuted on a record label in 1999 with the EP “Greg Hates Car Culture” released on History of the Future. Prior to this, he self-released material on cassette tapes as early as 1992. Funk was quite prolific, releasing sometimes up to eight recordings per year, for different labels including: History of the Future, Isolate/DySLeXiC ResPonSe, Addict, Zod, Distort, Sublight, Low-Res, Planet Mu and Hymen.
He is making electronic music often in odd and numbered time signatures (mostly 7/4) and combining different sounds and styles from IDM to trip-hop and dark ambient with twisted off, intense breakcore beats. Read more Venetian Snares – My Love Is A Bulldozer (2014)
John Frusciante – Enclosure (2014)
If Syd Barrett would still be around and doing records, probably he would play the things John Frusciante play. A brilliant, but sometimes disturbing game of motions and emotions beyond the horizon we generally dare to explore. Sometimes there is no line between madness and genius.
Drum’n’bass inspired drums, unleashed guitar solos and an always changing ambiance of space-rock and indie electronic music it’s the world that Frusciante build up and share with us.
“Enclosure, upon its completion, was the record which represented the achievement of all the musical goals I had been aiming at for the previous 5 years. It was recorded simultaneously with Black Knights’ Medieval Chamber, and as different as the two albums appear to be, they represent one investigative creative thought process. What I learned from one fed directly into the other. Enclosure is presently my last word on the musical statement which began with PBX” – said Frusciante. Read more John Frusciante – Enclosure (2014)
