Blood Axis.
An appropriate tie-in to the Lords of Chaos discussion in the book thread.
Oh, what the hell, I may as well jump in here also with my lucky seven recent listens:
Archie Shepp - The Magic of Juju
God (the one with Kevin Martin, J. Broadrick etc.) - Possession
Naked City - Absinthe
Lucy - Churches, Schools, and Guns
Xiu Xiu - Angel Guts / Red Classroom
Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics
Pharoah Sanders - Karma
Menace - Impact Velocity
Failure - Tree Of Stars EP
Kool Keith - Demolition Crash
Trash Talk - No Peace (fucking AMAZING)
The Roots - …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin
Kanye West - Yeezus
American Football - S/T
and a lot of Elton John
Naked City - Absinthe
I bow to you.
Sir.
[reply]
Naked City - Absinthe
I bow to you.
Sir.[/reply]
“Kewl!”
It really is a beautiful piece of work; funny how it’s one of my favorite things John Zorn has been involved in and he never uses a sax on it. I first heard it ‘blind’ and thought it was a Nurse with Wound album.
Some of the more recent ‘Filmworks’ are really nice as well for trance-like ambiences - the soundtrack for “Workingman’s Death” is terrific
I’m a big fan of the Filmworks series too. I think I have around 11 or 12 in the series. Still quite a few to collect before I have them all.
Workingman’s Death is exquisite. To say the least.
Zorn’s discography is so extensive it’s almost impossible to keep up.
But I am a huge fan of both Naked City and the Painkiller project he did with Bill Laswell. Painkiller’s Live In Nagoya album is one of my top 10 all time favourite albums. It is an absolute out and out killer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqfHJNeH-O0&list=PL28DCDA9A4BC10653
I’m a big fan of the Filmworks series too. I think I have around 11 or 12 in the series. Still quite a few to collect before I have them all.
Workingman’s Death is exquisite. To say the least.
Zorn’s discography is so extensive it’s almost impossible to keep up.
For sure, there are some areas where I’ve already given up - like the Masada releases; I’ll be contented with a couple and resist the urge to be a completist.
But I am a huge fan of both Naked City and the Painkiller project he did with Bill Laswell. Painkiller’s Live In Nagoya album is one of my top 10 all time favourite albums. It is an absolute out and out killer!
I agree. I think they came to Japan again in 2005 and, after some debating, I dropped a full 5,000 yen (roughly $50) to get a ticket to see them. Nagoya concert sounds like it was a slightly better value for money (and the audiences are always more enthusiastic outside the mega-media hubs of Tokyo and Osaka), but I have no complaints otherwise.
Even with Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins) drumming, they blaze - though I prefer Mick Harris both in terms of personality and technique.
I’m a big fan of the Filmworks series too. I think I have around 11 or 12 in the series. Still quite a few to collect before I have them all.
Workingman’s Death is exquisite. To say the least.
Zorn’s discography is so extensive it’s almost impossible to keep up.
But I am a huge fan of both Naked City and the Painkiller project he did with Bill Laswell. Painkiller’s Live In Nagoya album is one of my top 10 all time favourite albums. It is an absolute out and out killer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqfHJNeH-O0&list=PL28DCDA9A4BC10653
Painkiller!!! I’ve seen them live in the Mick Harris era and it ripped my face off…I have the entire catalog…for a long time I tried to be a Laswell completist(quite the daunting and impossible task)…I have loads of stuff he was involved with…Painkiller was(and is) a true juggernaut…not for the weak of heart…
and Naked City was pure class(sadly never got to see them although I did see Bill Frissell play in a museum once in Gainesville…I saw Masada live a couple of and they burned bright…Zorn and Laswell both have two of the most prolific discography’s of anyone out there…
Painkiller!!! I’ve seen them live in the Mick Harris era and it ripped my face off…I have the entire catalog…for a long time I tried to be a Laswell completist(quite the daunting and impossible task)…I have loads of stuff he was involved with…Painkiller was(and is) a true juggernaut…not for the weak of heart…
Laswell and Zorn are really two peas in a pod, not just because of the intense eclecticism and workaholic nature. They have both made some really bad judgment calls (Laswell in particular has some ambient material that’s too close to watery New Age for my liking), but when they hit the bullseye with a project, they make material that will stick with you for life.
i imagine you might like some of the “Wordsound” label’s stuff (the first Equations of Eternity disc in particular, which is like Scorn with Laswell guesting on bass and Eraldo Bernocchi on additional ‘textures’.)
Painkiller are all class. I have owned a copy of the (quadruple cd) album Execution Ground for 17 years now and still haven’t grown bored of it. That album preceeded the whole “doom / drone” hysteria of the early 00’s by at least 7 years. (Stephen O’Malley I hope you said thanks).
Agree that you cannot go wrong with Naked City. Though admittedly some releases are better than others, especially Absinthe which is head and shoulders above its brethren.
When it comes to Zorn you really need to spend some time separating the wheat from the chaff. The Filmworks series are generally a good go to (especially the The Rain Horse, my personal favourite), but if you really, really want to up the ante try IAO: Musick In Sacred Light. It’s an album he did with Bill Laswell, Mike Patton, Cyro Baptista (drummer extraordinaire!) and Jamie Saft (he of Naked City fame). Has an Aleister Crowley / Kabbalism / Occult theme to it and runs the gamut from screamed black metal thrash workouts to trance tribal drumming, horror music soundscapes and general weirdness. Absolutely essential for even non Zorn fans. Sounds for all the world like the soundtrack to a Roman Polanski occult film noir as re-imagined by Anton Lavey.
Masada is hit and miss - although Masada Guitars was astonishing.
W.A.S.P. - Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)
When it comes to Zorn you really need to spend some time separating the wheat from the chaff. The Filmworks series are generally a good go to (especially the The Rain Horse, my personal favourite), but if you really, really want to up the ante try IAO: Musick In Sacred Light. It’s an album he did with Bill Laswell, Mike Patton, Cyro Baptista (drummer extraordinaire!) and Jamie Saft (he of Naked City fame). Has an Aleister Crowley / Kabbalism / Occult theme to it and runs the gamut from screamed black metal thrash workouts to trance tribal drumming, horror music soundscapes and general weirdness. Absolutely essential for even non Zorn fans. Sounds for all the world like the soundtrack to a Roman Polanski occult film noir as re-imagined by Anton Lavey.
I have that IAO album. Loved it too.
Thanks for the heads up on The Rain Horse. Been meaning to check that one out - now I definitely will. Your recommendations are generally spot on IMHO.
As for what I’m listening to now / recently:
Scorn - Refuse / Start Fires
James Plokin & Mark Spybey - A Peripheral Blur
Michael Nyman - Decay Music
Time Machines - Time Machines
Zomby - With Love
Plan on sitting up late tonight so there’ll be heaps more. Hell, I may push on til dawn!
[:)]
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Painkiller!!! I’ve seen them live in the Mick Harris era and it ripped my face off…I have the entire catalog…for a long time I tried to be a Laswell completist(quite the daunting and impossible task)…I have loads of stuff he was involved with…Painkiller was(and is) a true juggernaut…not for the weak of heart…
Laswell and Zorn are really two peas in a pod, not just because of the intense eclecticism and workaholic nature. They have both made some really bad judgment calls (Laswell in particular has some ambient material that’s too close to watery New Age for my liking), but when they hit the bullseye with a project, they make material that will stick with you for life.
i imagine you might like some of the “Wordsound” label’s stuff (the first Equations of Eternity disc in particular, which is like Scorn with Laswell guesting on bass and Eraldo Bernocchi on additional ‘textures’.)[/reply]
I worked for Wordsound on and off for a year…I know Skiz Fernando very well and have everything in the catalog…some great times in my life…
I worked for Wordsound on and off for a year…I know Skiz Fernando very well and have everything in the catalog…some great times in my life…
You may have unlocked my dreaded ‘storytime mode’…
One of the strangest shows I’ve attended, just in terms of attempting to fuse together disparate elements, was an event called ‘Flying Swimming’ booked by the Osaka electro-acoustic artists Kouhei Matsunaga. This was like a Wordsound showcase (w/ Spectre, Mentol Nomad, and Sensational), a laptop-based breakcore party (w/ Kid 606 and Lesser), and a performance art confrontation courtesy of local ‘noise’ people and Runzelstirn & Gurglestock.
That last item on the list is fronted by an evil Swiss imp named Rudolf, who is a very serious scatologist, sado-masochist, and occasional leader of things like the “Vomit Orchestra” whose performance gimmick you can probably imagine. He was something of a magnet for Osaka’s small ‘deranged junkie’ population, and the type of guy who, when drunk, would remind you that he was the reincarnation of a Nazi officer shot by occupying forces after the fall of Berlin. Classy.
So…yeah, you had that element doing its damndest to get along with all of the Wordsound people, who were in fact very good sports about it and just tending to their own business for the most part.
I think I got into that show for free because I was wandering around the periphery of the club with some camera gear, and someone came up and slapped a press pass on me without even asking for credentials - so I snuck in and managed to film a collective sound check that was actually more entertaining than many full shows I’ve seen: both of the laptoppers spewing out shards of glitchy mayhem, a couple of DJ’s, ‘Sensational’ freestyling, and a couple of Rudolf’s slaves wandering about zombie-like.
The gig itself was a beautiful disaster, 8 continual hours of everything from Janovian primal screaming and fire-breathing to MC’s baked out of their mind and forgetting where they were, to Kid 606 falling asleep at the base of a bass cabinet and getting tripped over repeatedly.
Apparently there was an even crazier second stop on this showcase, that featured Merzbow in the place of R + G…
and a performance art confrontation courtesy of local ‘noise’ people and Runzelstirn & Gurglestock.
That last item on the list is fronted by an evil Swiss imp named Rudolf, who is a very serious scatologist, sado-masochist, and occasional leader of things like the “Vomit Orchestra” whose performance gimmick you can probably imagine. He was something of a magnet for Osaka’s small ‘deranged junkie’ population, and the type of guy who, when drunk, would remind you that he was the reincarnation of a Nazi officer shot by occupying forces after the fall of Berlin. Classy.
Runzelstirn & Gurglestock are fucking awesome. I have seen some of their live “performances” many years ago on a bootlegged vhs and it was inspiring to say the least (I am a sick puppy after all). I know that Trey of Mr Bungle / Secret Chiefs is a huge fan. Figures.
Their albums will test the limits of yr patience tho’.
Now listening to:
Khanate - s/t
yep…it’s gonna be one of “those” days.
Runzelstirn & Gurglestock are fucking awesome. I have seen some of their live “performances” many years ago on a bootlegged vhs and it was inspiring to say the least (I am a sick puppy after all). I know that Trey of Mr Bungle / Secret Chiefs is a huge fan. Figures.
Well I will say this much: R + G are dfinitely doing what they do because they feel compelled to do it. I think it’s also a very fine line between what they present on stage and what they do in their private lives. They’re not just doing their ‘act’ on a whim because they can’t think of a better way to get a little write-up in the local scene paper.
I’ve talked with Dave Phillips a lot (who is also bassist for Swiss grindcrushers Fear of God), and he’s almost the polar opposite of his mate Rudolf Ebner in terms of demeanor. Have never actually seen them perform together.
Also had the, uh, honor of going to, ahem “Schimpfluch Commune Osaka” (Rudolf’s house) once, which looks like something from a Saw movie yet to be made.
Lastly, yes, Khanate fucking rules - saw them on a bill with Kevin Drumm some time ago (about when ‘Capture / Release’ came out, which I still love and should just spin again now that I’m thinking of it.)
Khanate? Isn’t someone from Old Lady Drivers in that band?
Yeah, Plotkin.
and Dubin
Nirvana-Bleach 20th Anniversary