[ aquarius records catalogue

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Showing results 151 through 200 of 286.

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We've been flipping out over pretty much all of the amazing Death Waltz soundtrack reissues, but for whatever reason, one of the very first ones they did somehow we never listed, 'cause it was so limited we never had enough, but they repressed it at some point, so here it is, and we're so happy, cuz it's a doozy, the movie itself gory and fantastically grotesque, originally released in 1979, and directed by none other than Lucio Fulci, his most famous movie by far, and the one that established him as a master of horror. The soundtrack by Fabio Frizzi is the perfect accompaniment, equal parts trancey Italo synth grooviness, progged out Mellotron psychedelia, coked out Euro-disco, tribal tropical weirdness, shimmering electronics and moody minimal mesmer, all woven into a strangely compelling sonic horror all its own. As with all Death Waltz releases, the packaging is exquisite, eye popping new cover art, with printed inner sleeves, includes liner notes from Frizzi himself as well as renowned Italian horror expert Stephen Thrower. And according to the label, the record is "mastered at 45 rpm of maximum stereo destruction."

A band called Zombie Battle Axe. A record called ...Now You Are Dead. Released on Slut Factory, the same label that released the latest record by Iron Bitchface. So of course we were expecting some sort of grinding metallic weirdness. Some throbbing techno grindcore, something spastic and freaked out at least, but lo and behold, Zombie Battle Axe is nothing of the sort. Instead, ZBA weave dark, creepy crawly cinematic soundscapes that sound like they could have been plucked with out of a movie by John Carpenter or Dario Argento. Long wavery synth tones, whirring and shimmering like that dense fog that always seems to be creeping along the ground in cemeteries. Long drawn out melodies, mournful and melancholy, the sound of rain and wind, thunder and lightning, lots of howling wolves, deep dolorous drones, layers of buzz and hiss, all recorded super lo-fi, so the tape hiss adds to the mysterious murk. Some seriously haunting cinematic ambience, drone music wrapped around some scratchy old Halloween sound effects record, dubbed onto an old cassette, stuffed into a beat up old tape player, buried in the front yard and broadcast through 3 feet of worm filled black earth. The perfect soundtrack for midnight strolls along muddy swamps, raising the dead, leering and lurking in dark alleys searching for your next victim or for your next super-eight home made giallo.

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Ok, lately it seems like we're ALWAYS saying stuff reminds us of the suspenseful soundtrack synth music of film director John Carpenter - who, along with collaborator Alan Howarth, is known for composing the propulsive, sinister scores for his own movies. Music that's become a big influence on a lot of our favorite artists today. How many recent releases have we tagged with a Carpenter comparison? Umberto, D.A., Gatekeeper, Zombi, Xander Harris, Majeure, Roll The Dice, Steve Moore, Twins, Dylan Ettinger, Blizaro, Jonas Reinhart, Hyetal, Arrow Kleeman, Lazer Crystal, Maserati, Nightsatan, and more... Of course many of those are overt imitations of the master. Goblin is the other influence we usually cite for a lot of these too, but the future-disco, fright flick, sci-fi SYNTH sound is more about Carpenter. So, this release makes perfect sense, the obvious next step in the current wave of Carpenter worship. Zombie Zombie is a French synth duo, 1/2 of which is in fact former AQ Record Of The Week honoree Etienne Jaumet (for his album Night Music), and they have decided to pay tribute to John Carpenter in the most direct way possible: a disc of all Carpenter covers! This 5 track, 28 minute mini-album includes their takes on the main themes from JC classics Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, Escape From LA, and The Thing. Hmm, the latter of which was actually composed by Ennio Morricone, right? Though that's cool too. You also get ZZ's version of the music from the bank robbery scene in Escape From New York. When we learned Jaumet was part of this, we knew ZZ would know their stuff and do JC right, and they sure do. All the skittery machine beats and eerie melodies, urgent shuffling chase-scene rhythms and ominous thick bass heavy synth burble, moody atmospheric drone and creepy tick-tock-ery of the JC originals is lovingly recreated via ZZ's not-far-removed but definitely updated, dancefloor/DJ friendly versions, which come across as somewhat heavier and a bit more tweaked than actual soundtrack recordings, also more "band-like" and less soundtrack slick. We haven't heard ZZ's other album, but we bet these sound like their own songs, y'know. Basically, if you like John Carpenter, or any of the stuff we're always mentioning JC in conjunction with, you will dig this! The only thing that would have made this better is if they'd made it a longer disc and also included cues from The Fog, They Live, and a few other of our JC faves. But these themes are pretty much the best of the best. And we'd LOVE to see 'em play this stuff live, which we hear they're doing. Come to think of it, we'd love to see Carpenter himself perform live, we wonder if he's ever even considered the idea, he'd probably be surprised at how many people would come out to see that, don't you think?

MPEG stream: The Bank Robbery (Taken From Escape From New York)
MPEG stream: Halloween (Main Theme)
MPEG stream: The Thing (Main Theme)

Sometimes you just have to pause from the hustle, bustle and general assault of the modern world to refresh your appreciation of something truly exceptional and timeless. So, that said... Everyone! Stop what you're doing this very second, and get your own copy of this album! If you already have it, then get another copy for your best friend! If they already have it, then... well, you get the picture! Its presence is absolutely essential in any/every self respecting music lover's library. This is not a new release, in fact it is the 30th anniversary edition which came out back in 1998... which means this classic album is pushing forty, and it still delights like a pup! Simply stated, Odessey & Oracle is a rare beautifully plumed pop bird that soars above the crowd. So many of our favorite more recent pop gods were clearly enormously influenced by this band and this album in particular -- Pernice Brothers, Zumpano, The New Pornographers, The Posies, The Shins... the list goes on and on and on. And we could go on and on but why waste breath and time? Highest recommendation, 'nuff said! This edition also includes a bunch of bonus tracks for the completist (primarily alternate and mono versions). Heck, if you wanna go totally whole hog... may we recommend the Zombie Heaven 4 cd box set? At least two aQuarians own one, and several others are definitely considering it...

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Even ravers and bangers have to come down sometime. After releasing two of the most uptempo, neon bright and relentless electronic albums of the last few years, Zomby is ready to show off other sides of his sonic scope. If Where Were You In '92 was him swallowing the ecstasy, and One Foot Ahead Of The Other, was him peaking on the dance floor, then Dedication is the dramatic and elegant coming down. Stepping away from manic blasts of color, Dedication finds Zomby in a much more eerie, haunting and sensual state of sound. It's a lot like a musical version of when you first meet someone who you are so in to, they're always the life of the party and so fun to be around, but then you actually get to know them and they show you some different sides of their personality and you end up loving their spirit and soul, whether they are jumping up and down or feeling reflective and melancholy. Dedication is a record that will hopefully bring Zomby to a whole new audience, but those who loved those first two blasts of manic musical ecstasy that were those first two records, should really try to get past the shock of the slow down, and listen a few times and let the music here seep into their bones. We hear some of our favorite moments of Squarepusher, Autechre, and Aphex Twin records, doused in a sensibility that's so fluid and infectious. We're always so excited when an electronic musician we love makes it obvious that they are in it for the long haul, as their ability to craft shapes, sounds and feelings transcends any one momentary trend in the always flavor of the month electronic scene. Zomby is here to stay, and this album proves it!

MPEG stream: Witch Hunt
MPEG stream: Things Fall Apart
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Zomby's latest full length, Dedication, which came out earlier in the year proved once again that he's no flash in the pan electronic act. The album showed a a new side of his music making, including an emotional depth and a more subdued quality we hadn't seen so much before. But we still love when he raves and bangs, and it really seems he has found his way to a perfect balance. This new 12" has both bangers and tracks that travel to the darker side of the dance floor. What keeps setting Zomby apart from many of his peers is not only that he had the balls to make such a strong shift in his signature sound, but that he really has come into his own as someone who defies any one electronic genre, and instead has the ability to make music that can get under your skin in so many different ways. We wouldn't be surprised if Thom Yorke is paying close attention to this new Zomby release as we could really see the next Radiohead or Yorke solo outing being heavily influenced by these sounds. With Aphex Twin missing in action for several years, it feels like maybe Zomby is the go to man for innovative electronic sounds that raise the bar, for the next decade. So fucking good!

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Holy shit!!!! This has been in absolute constant rotation for us since we got it and sadly it's taken a while for us to get enough to list but here it is and we think it's going to be tough to beat this as the best electronic record of the year! Think 8-bit rave bangers with mescaline fueled glow sticks and you start to get an idea of the charged, frantic and colorful world Zomby have created with One Foot Ahead Of The Other. Zomby manage to tap into all the aspects of electronic music we love and comes across almost like a new supercharged version of skweee! But the greatness of Zomby is that the songs and sounds on One Foot Ahead Of Another screams FUCK LABELS LET'S REACH SONIC LEVELS OF ECSTASY! while the rest of the electronic music world is constantly divided into way too many confusing sub-genres. This transcends all that, big time! While past Zomby releases have aligned the 'group' with the dubstep scene, Zomby really does move to the beat of his own unique and unclassifiable rhythm. And the results are so fucking electrifying! We're happy that there are no hidden cameras following us during our daily lives cuz when we have this on our headphones as we walk through the city we totally bust out impromptu contorted dance freakouts, cuz it's just totally impossible to stand still when this is playing. It has the same kind of frenetic energy that made us fall in love with folks like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher back in the day. One Foot Ahead Of The Other is the kind of record that folks like Black Dice, Fuck Buttons and Excepter all secretly wish they could make. Not a wasted moment to be found, all killer and no filler... and for sure one of our favorite records of the year!

MPEG stream: One Foot Ahead Of The Other
MPEG stream: Pumpkinhead's Revenge
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SORRY. What if the ravers hijacked dubstep!? Well the UK's Zomby has done just that and we couldn't be more thrilled. We've selfishly been loving their 12"s but never were able to get enough to list, but with their debut full length we knew we had to make sure to let the world know just how much we love us some Zomby! Most faithful AQ list readers know that how much we dig so much of the dubstep that's come out in the last couple years, but we will also be the first to admit that it's a genre that can tend to get very same-y, so Zomby's sound here is so refreshing and invigorating, especially in a scene that was in some dire needs of some playful spirit and a bit more flamboyant charisma. Imagine Benge mixed with Deee-Lite and you start to get the idea of what kind of ecstatic territory Zomby is dancing, stomping and having so much fun all over. The title of the record makes no apologies for their love of the early '90s rave/house scene yet they give it a nuanced facelift dipped in the sweat of dubstep that pretty much blows away anything we can remember coming out of that scene. While so many dubstep artists are so dark and serious, often to the point of self-parody, Zomby brings a levity and sense of play to the table that's not only much needed but he also imbues his sound with so much spirit and soul. We imagine this blasting at after-partys in the dressing rooms of everyone from Pinch to the Basement Jaxx. It's so cool that someone has found a way to bring the dark and brooding elements of dubstep that we love and light them on fire with dance floor hi-jinks and an wickedly irreverent spirit. So damn good!

MPEG stream: Euphoria
MPEG stream: Fuck Mixing, Let's Dance
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With Love is full length number three from this aQ beloved outfit, following hot on the heels of Dedication, a record which found Zomby ditching much of the neon bright raviness, of his earlier record for something a bit darker and moodier, which some of us at aQ found infinitely appealing. We remarked that Dedication played like a Zomby come down record, which has us wondering what With Love might be, since it too, displays a much moodier disposition that the early Zomby jams, and in a way, might be even a bit darker than Dedication. Spread out over two discs, and eighty minutes, With Love is a sprawling collection of short sonic snapshots, that vary greatly, and are all over the map sonically, touching on sounds both dark and light, but definitely leaning toward the shadowier side, with much of the record, heavier on the old dubstep Zomby sound, check out "Horrid", with it's clipped, echo drenched skeletal beat, its deep bass wobbles, and swirling psychedelic loops, or the string laced synth heavy electro-dub skitter of "Orion", but then the vibe/sound shifts on jams like "Isis" with moody piano, and layered, looped vocals, a sort of dark electro brood, which shifts once again on a track like "It's Time", with an old school breakbeat, beneath a flurry of skittery jazziness, all underneath another hazy looped vocal, woozily soulful and darkly funky, but then again, out of nowhere "Overdose" explodes in a flurry of old school jungle, right down to the revved up Amen break, which rules, and resurfaces throughout (again on the muddy, droned out drum and bass of "777"), but does raise the question, how exactly are all of these songs linked? In some ways, With Love feels more like a singles comp, a collection of odds and ends, as if maybe Zomby had some tracks left over from a handful of different releases and assembled them into With Love, cuz while there is a flow, and a pretty good one at that, it's not necessarily all that linear, and might be a little bit schizophrenic, how could it not be, 33 tracks, with most tracks sounding not at all like the song on either side of it, which is not a bad thing at all, but it does make it more of an 'active' listen, it's not the sort of late night chill out record you throw on and wind down with, although there are plenty of tracks that are perfect for that sort of listening, and it's not a nonstop dance party, even though there are plenty of jams like that, some are glistening and shimmering and dreamy, others dubbed out and minimal, still others beat heavy and dark, some of the record dips into Burial / Vessel style slo-mo soul, some gets all soundtracky and kosmische, it's definitely super varied, and while we'd be psyched if ANY of these tracks came blaring through the PA at some club, we're not sure your typical dancefloor would get it. Instead, consider With Love some seriously psychedelic headphone bliss out for electronic headz, which in case it's not obvious, means this comes HIGHly recommended.

MPEG stream: Horrid
MPEG stream: Memories
MPEG stream: Overdose
MPEG stream: 777
MPEG stream: With Love

Another gorgeous and mysterious collection of lo-fi, ritualistic, minimal, otherworldly psychedelia from Asa Osborn, aka Zomes, one time guitarist for legendary Baltimore hypno rockers Lungfish. And like his former bandmate, Daniel Higgs, the repetition and trancelike orchestrations of those Lungfish songs carried over to his new project. Higgs of course blossomed into a strangely inspiring psychedelic shaman, a wandering troubadour, as likely to perform a laughing solo as he is to do a whole set of solo jaw harp, Zomes became similarly shamanistic, with the minimal cyclical heavy rock of his former outfit transformed into something altogether more hushed and mediative, a series of miniature tone poems, simple melodies, spare arrangements, skeletal rhythms, each track, a simple, slow shifting soundscape of warm whirs, and muted thrum, of ethereal shimmer and bleary shuffle, of reverbed celestial drift and slo-mo kraut-drone dirgery, all the tracks woven deftly into a haunting alien songsuite, a hazy soundtrack to outer space drift and innerspace exploration. Even more than Zomes' debut, Earth Grid manages the impossible task of being both even more simple and sparse, while being more rich and lush, and somehow more polished. Earth Grid plays almost like a collection of fragments, each a glimpse into the ether, a peek behind the curtain, any of these songs could have been stretched out to sprawling trancelike raga lengths, but the economy in composition and instrumentation extends to song length too, with each impossibly catch sonic shard leaving us wanting more, at least until we're engulfed by the spirit and sound of the next brief bit of repetitive and meditative lumber and drift. The record begins with "Openings", which is maybe the most 'rock' sounding Zomes track yet, and almost sounds like a Lunfish song slowed down to a crawl, the beat distorted and lumberingly propulsive, while the main melodies wheezes over a thick undulating buzz. "Pilgrim Traveler" is also drenched in buzz and fuzz (as is much of Earth Grid), and again harkens back to Lungfish, a woozy melody drifts over some thick lugubrious riffing (and it's strange what a similar melodic sense Higgs And Osborne have, must be all the years spent in a band together, cuz much of Earth Grid could easily be translated to Higgs' current sound). "Melody, The Prism" is one of our favorites, a murky muddied beat, buried under some dark dreamy low end thrum, a creeping, ominous krautrock lumber, but laced with sweet little melodic trills, but then there's "Stark Reality", a similarly gauzy rhythmic sprawl, and "Youth Of The Beast" which is Zomes at its doomiest, but interspersed amidst all this dark energy, there is plenty of light, dreamy, drifty, sun dappled kosmische folk drift, languid tangles of layered soft buzzing melody and lush expanses of blurred fuzz drenched krautdrone shimmer, at times sounding a bit like the cosmic alien folk of Amps For Christ, and at others, more of a sweetly serene, ethereal swirl, all washed out and spectral, and so fantastically dreamy. Super striking minimal psychedelic cover art, geometric designs in white tape on a black background. The lp version includes a download coupon too...

MPEG stream: Openings
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Originally released as a super limited cassette, this collection of abstract kosmische improvs from aQ faves Zomes, aka Asa Osborne, he of the mighty Lungfish, and later, the stripped down but equally mighty Pupils, has now been reissued on vinyl, taking the original two improvisations from the tape, and adding a third, and pushing the sound of Zomes even further into the abstract ether. On other 'proper' Zomes records, the sound was an immediately entrancing fragmented loop music, single melodic figures, repeated and layered into trancelike shortform miniature ragas, shamanistic and subdued, which is most definitely still the case on these three extended sonic explorations, which find Osborne continuing on that same sonic path, but expanding that sound significantly, or rather the scope of his sound, the source is still minimal, warm layered synths, but here, those layers are stretched into slowly undulating sidelong swells, like Riley or Reich, or like more modern synthscapers like Expo 70, Osborne, unfurls lush melodies, letting them drift and shimmer, melodies surfacing and then fading out, before a new set of melodies take their place, dreamlike and softly psychedelic, sun dappled and gorgeously gauzy, this is total krautdrone new age bliss, utterly lovely and serene and tranquil and divine. The two tracks here from the tape are transcendent and transport the listener to some hazy otherworld, everything blurred and muted and washed out and soft focus. As is the extra track here, but it weds that same sort of ethereal shimmer to something grittier and buzzier, creating a sort of washed out raga buzz that combines the more low fidelity audio alchemy of the other Zomes records with a more abstract improvised heart-of-the-sun cosmic/celestial soulgazing/soundscaping. Fans of the current crop of krautsynth new age drifters will be in heaven, just imagine a prettier, dronier, more ethereal and minimal Expo 70, and you'll get an idea of what sort of spaced out cosmic drift these improvisations offer. So totally lovely.

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SORRY. The last time we heard from Zomes, aka Asa Osborne, he of the mighty Lungfish, and later, the stripped down but equally mighty Pupils, we couldn't get enough, declaring his self titled debut on Holy Mountain our Record Of The Week, a stunning collection of fragmented loop music, single melodic figures, repeated and layered into trancelike shortform miniature ragas, as shamanistic as his long time partner Daniel Higgs, but taking a much more subdued and kosmische path. On this way too limited cassette, Osborne continues on his sonic path, but expanding his sound, or rather the scope of his sound, the source is still minimal, warm layered synths, but here, those layers are stretched into slowly undulating sidelong swells, like Riley or Reich, Osborne, unfurls lush melodies, lately them drift and shimmer, melodies surfacing and then fading out, before a new set of melodies take their place, dreamlike and softly psychedelic, sun dappled and gorgeously gauzy, this is total krautdrone new age bliss, utterly lovely and serene and tranquil and divine. Both tracks here are transcendent and transport the listener to some hazy otherworld, everything blurred and muted and washed out and soft focus. Imagine a way prettier and more minimal Expo 70, and you'll get an idea of what sort of spaced out cosmic drift these 2 improvisations offer. So totally lovely. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!! Already out of print, these are the only copies we'll be able to get... ----* ----* Selected New Arrivals : ----*

So far we've made both full lengths from Asa Osborne's Zomes project Records Of The Week, and for good reason, each one a gorgeous assemblage of lo-fi keyboard mediations, and haunting rhythmic ragas, hiss drenched melodies unfurling over murky beats, everything blurred and bleary and meditatively blissed out. Many recent converts to Zomes might not realize that Osborne was previously the guitarist in late great Baltimore hypnorock combo Lungfish, which also of course featured mystical musical shaman Daniel Higgs, who also gets a lot of love on the aQ list. Between those two ROTW full lengths, Osborne released a cassette called Improvisations 1 + 2, which as the title suggested, found Osborne improvising on some similar sonic themes, that tape fitting perfectly between those proper albums. Variations takes up where that tape left off, with a series of short form tranced out synth mediations, rhythmless this time, so the feel is much more abstract and free, more celestial and yeah, even more kosmische. It's hard not to draw a parallel, at least melodically, to another aQ fave, Amps For Christ, Zomes' sound treading similarly warped electronic ground, with some tracks revealing playful melodies, as if reinterpretations of some old folks standard, played here on some primitive analog synth, and recorded onto old dusty tapes, while others blossom and unfold like some long lost new age prog artifact, captured surreptitiously on a handheld tape player, the strange low fidelity production and soft swirls of tape hiss adding all manner of texture and grit to the proceedings, so even at its most washed out and serene, the sound is rough and raw, the tones gristly and crunchy, everything gloriously warm and buzzy. Not much else needs to be said really, Zomes fans will want this for sure, but really anyone into tripped out lo-fi kosmische explorations and hushed minimal synthscapery should grab one of these, and will most likely find themselves falling under Zomes' sonic spell. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!! ----* ----* Selected New Arrivals : ----*

The magic of the band Lungfish, was that they didn't approach their songs like songs. More like loops or pieces. Each of their 'songs' was a single riff, locked into trancelike repetition, rife with subtle tonal variation, but ultimately, almost static and incredibly mesmerizing. The band somehow propulsive while managing to not move forward, but instead looping in on themselves. Even Lungfish offshoot duo the Pupils displayed the same affinity for repetition, almost like a stripped down acoustic Lungfish, letting the vocals of frontman Daniel Higgs carry the melody, while the guitar and rhythm formed the mesmerizingly repetitive support. So when Higgs took off on his own, his music was appropriately cyclical and looped and trancelike, so it seemed the root of Lungfish's sound was in fact to be found in the personal soundworld of Higgs. Or so we thought until now. Zomes is the solo project of Lungfish / Pupils guitarist Asa Osborne, and the sound nears a remarkable resemblance to the solo work of his ex-partner Higgs. Short tracks, each centered around a single melodic figure, the sound allowed to shift subtly, but ultimately locked into a mesmerizing loop. Whether it's heavily effected guitar, simple muted tribal drumming, chiming guitar harmonics, whether the sound is dense and fuzzed out, or spare and spacious, Osborne conjures up a gorgeous world of trancelike sound. Maybe we were premature in declaring Higgs the music shaman of Lungfish. Perhaps the power of Lungfish stemmed from the shamanistic energy of two like minded musical seers. Zomes seems to make that abundantly clear. However, where much of Higgs' solo work is steeped in crumbling distortion, glowing with a burning intensity, Osborne's sounds seem to do just the opposite, to lope lazily, to drift dreamily. Just as powerful, sometimes almost as intense, almost Lungfish like once in a while, certainly just as mesmeric, but instead of threatening to crumble or explode, they are content to just spread and sprawl, sun dappled and dreamlike, the sound lush in its lo-fi hiss and buzz, the actual instrumentation simple, often a single guitar, and a single drum, sometimes even less, but it's the melodies, it's the timbre and the quality of the recording, the immediacy, the subdued power lurking within these slow soft spirituals, the reveals Osborne to be the musical shaman his past outfits have only hinted at. So gorgeous and sublime, mysterious and so so powerful. Zomes has been spinning NONSTOP around here over the last few weeks, and once you finally immerse yourself in the sounds of Zomes, it won't be difficult to see why. Now we can't seem to stop fantasizing about them reuniting, not as Lungfish, but as some impossibly mind expanding ritualistic future trance space bliss innerspace drone duo. Maybe someday...

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MPEG stream: Night Signs
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Originally released last year, and just now getting issued stateside by Kemado, this chunk of psychedelic noisiness comes courtesy of an Aussie combo called Zond, who, we were led to believe from all the various online descriptions, not to mention the ridiculously hyperbolic label blurb, were gonna sound like some super sludgey, metallic sludge noise rock juggernaut, when in fact, while noisy and heavy and spaced out and druggy, are way more shoegazey and washed out, and WAY more psychedelic. After a slow brooding, shimmering ambient intro, the band kick off the record with a sonic squall that to these ears sounds like some supercharged hybrid of Bailter Space, My Bloody Valentine and Loop, mesmerizing, repetitive, hypnotic, the vocals hazy and buried in the mix, the sound a wall of swirling blurred sound, blown out and in the red, but still melodic and dreamy and fuzzy and totally blissed out. In fact the whole record plays out like some unhinged shoegaze noiserock feverdream, the drums pounding away, buried beneath layers upon layers of coruscating distortion, of wild swirls of soaring psychedelic skreee, the vocals too, a plaintive croon, barely audible, a ghostlike presence beneath the roiling, churning heaviness. Think the above mentioned bands, but also A Place To Bury Strangers, White Noise Sound, Swervedriver, Jesus & Mary Chain of course, even some modern more space rocky outfits like White Hills and the Heads. This stuff is the perfect fit amidst all those, the sound is heavy, and dense, layered and intense, hazy and druggy, washed out, blurred and blissy and super psychedelic, with a sound like this, a little surprised these guys aren't already blowing up. Imagine it's only a matter of time. Definitely a new aQ fave...

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That's right - a John Zorn Xmas album!!!???

Big new Zorn composition. "Written for solo piano, six boy sopranos, and full orchestra...monumental" it sez here.

"Archery is Zorn's first large scale game piece and features an incredible all-star band, including, among others: Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Laswell, George Lewis, Bob Ostertag, Kramer, Tom Cora, Wayne Horvitz and of course John Zorn on sax and duck

Several respected chamber music ensembles put their strings to the test playing John Zorn's cartoon-music inspired music (disc one) as well as the even wilder and much darker compositions from Zorn's Naked City/"Torture Garden" period (disc two)!

RealAudio clip: The Dead Man part 9

A 20th-century (not 21st, as it specifically references Schoenberg and others from the 1900s) chamber piece composed by avant-jazz-maestro John Zorn in 2001. Scored for virtuoso female voice along with various combinations of piccolo, piano, flute, celeste, violin, cello, percussion (hi Willy!), organ, clarinet, etc. Conceptually, Zorn employs an Oulipo-inspired conceit here: each movement is prohibited from using a particular pitch, making a musical lipogram of sorts. Sonically, this is quite nice, if you're partial to soprano wordless aaaa-aaahh-ah-ah operatic type vocals continually soaring over mysterious horror movie strings, atonal piano, randomly struck bells, everything very ominous and dramatic and high-art beautiful. There's sound effects (wind machines??) and rustling percussion that add some pleasing "glitch" to the proceedings. Maybe you don't buy a 20th century classical disc everyday, but this would be nice one to keep your Jonathan Bepler "Cremaster" soundtracks company... This does make us wonder, do academic composer aficionados feel about Zorn doing stuff like this the same way some of us felt about Faith No More's Mike Patton doing "Zorn" type stuff? MPEG Download: "Five" [/audio/zornchimeras5.mp3]

MPEG stream: Five

Not to be confused with New York saxophonist / composer John Zorn, this is East Berlin electronic artist Michael Zorn. Throughout the disc's twelve long tracks, Zorn jumps freely through lush techno soundscapes to thick sweaty electro to dub infused microhouse (ala Chain Reaction) without missing a beat or boring us listeners. Zorn maintains a club-friendly downtempo quality while weaving through so many styles on one disc, but it's hard to say if Zorn's really found his own voice. "The City...", however, is still an impressive debut and a pleasurable listen.

We'll let the obi speak here: "Over thirty minutes in length, Duras is a major new composition inspired by the romantic writings of Marguerite Duras and the mystical music of Olivier Messiaen. Seductive, elusive, ritualistic, Duras is a hypnotic work of startling clarity and complexity. 'Etant donnees' is the perfect companion piece to Duras: a provocative noise trio inspired by the enigmatic last masterpiece of Marcel Duchamp..." With Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Anthony Coleman etc. [/cat/experimental208.html]

"Originally released in 1992, Elegy, one of Zorn's most important compositions, creates a mysterious world of erotic perversion, drawing inspiration from the writings of Jean Genet, and features an unusual collection of some of San Francisco's most interesting musicians: David Abel, Barbara Chaffe, Mike Patton, David Shea, David Slusser, Trey Spruance, William Winant."

For those of you who don't want the whole shelf-load of JZ's Filmworks volumes, a handy-dandy "best of" selected by the man himself. Maybe good starting point...

Finally a domestic version of the hard-to-find Japanese release, to fill the gap in your collection between Filmworks II and Filmworks V (uh, what happened to IV?). Anyway, this features a bunch of great stuff played by a bunch of great musicians, including the very first Masada recordings, a Zorn/Marc Ribot duo, and cues for commercials directed by the likes of Godard and Cronenberg.

Subtitled "S/M + More"...

Organist Jamie Saft, clarinetist Chris Speed and percussionist Cyro Baptista play John Zorn's compositions (including a few from his Masada project) for this soundtrack to a documentary (controversial, we're told) about the Gay Hasidic Jewish community...

From the obi: "Augmenting the exciting Masada String Trio with Anthony Coleman, Marc Ribot, and pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-Fen, Zorn's Masada music has never sounded as beautiful or as evocative as in the soundtrack for a film documentary about the Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi Germany by resettling to Shanghai. Also included is a quirky all-percussion score for Ela Troyano's exotic gay porno film 'Latin Boys Go To Hell', featuring the driving rhythms of Cyro Baptista and Kenny Wollesen."

From the accompanying obi strip: "Hypnotic, sensual and evocative music for Martina Kudlacek's brilliant and detailed documentary on the life and work of underground film legend Maya Deren. Mixing myth and ritual with avant-garde dance and film techniques, Alright, now that you've read all that, and if you're at all familiar with Zorn's Filmworks series, you probably know whether or not if you want / need this. I must admit, I didn't expect to like this disc, considering the high proliferation of compositions from Zorn in the past fifteen or so years. But the man always seems to come through somehow. One of the two major highlights of this disc are the subtle beauty in the performances of Erik Friedlander (actually some of the most touching and heartfelt playing that I've heard from him!). The other is the rare performance by Zorn on piano, beautifully rendered - a rare homage to his love of Feldman, maybe? There are moments of minimalist texture, however brief and overshadowed by Friedlander's sweet dynamicism. Always one to cross over styles and display technical virtuosity, this installment of Filmworks could do without the bongo drumming or faux-exotic parts, but then again, it is about Maya Deren whose films themselves included Haitian drumming in them. Overall a nice disc and one that almost lives up to its obi strip comments.

RealAudio clip: Kiev 1
RealAudio clip: Filming
RealAudio clip: Nostalgia 2

Here you go Zornophiliacs: the 11th volume in his filmworks series. We turn to resident Zorn expert 'obi' for this review: "The latest volume in a continuing series documenting Zorn's varied and creative work for film features one of his most popular ensembles: Masada String Trio. Their incredible rapport is at its best in this haunting score for Aviva Slesin's documentary film on Jewish children hidden from the Nazis during the Shoah. Orchestral arrangements, intimate improvisations, lyricism and a handful of new Masada tunes make this one of Zorn's most memorable film scores." In other words: if you have I - X, you might as well pick up XI.

RealAudio clip: Yesoma (vocal)
RealAudio clip: The Trap

This volume of the filmworks series collects Zorn's scores from three documentaries. Tzadik says: "A touch of minimalism laces the score to a film on the East Village dance scene. Haunting and childlike, the music for a documentary on outsider artist Morton Bartlett is tenderly scored for voice and cello. Finally, guitarist Marc Ribot goes head to head with chinese pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-Fen for a film on the lives of Shaolin Monks now living and teaching in America." ----* ----* Compilations : ----*

For the John Zorn fan who has to have everything. Yes, that means that we're now on to Filmworks #13 and it looks like there's no end in sight. So with a big thanks to Tzadik for supplying a glowing review in advance, we bring you the obi: "2002 proves to be a watershed year for Zorn, with this being his fifth film score in three months. Here, a taste of Ennio Morricone, Astor Piazzola, French musette and Nino Rota make up what is perhaps his greatest film score to date. At times bizarre, haunting, exhilerating and powerful, the lush sonorities of this dynamic group will surprise you as much as it did Zorn himself. A romantic new lyricism. A remarkable new direction. Unexpected, inevitable and absolutely..." okay, enough. We made some sound samples, so check 'em out.

RealAudio clip: Shifting Sands
RealAudio clip: Aftermath

Though a formally composed soundtrack to suit each step of its filmic events, Filmworks XV is fluid, engaging and emotionally moving. Zorn plays a moody and meandering electric Wurlitzer organ with master percussionist Cyro Baptista and bassist and oud player Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz. The result is a soundtrack that absolutely holds its own as an incredible composition. Its framework is built upon melodic improvisation that is activated by a momentous balance of space and rhythm. Traces of folk music (from Hasidic to Yiddish) combined with the soul-jazz sound of the Wurlizter create an appropriately emotional mood for Protocols of Zion, a documentary about the rise of anti-Semitism following 9/11 by director Marc Levin. Truly amazing and moving. Each listen is more rewarding than the previous. Excellent!

MPEG stream: Searching For A Past
MPEG stream: Fighting Time

"A peek into the secret world of a teenage weirdo, revealing the early seeds that developed into the composer's later dementia." (--from the obi)

add to cart [/images/addtocart.gif]/af4105.html It's hard to believe it's already been half a year since John Zorn's 50th birthday party. People are STILL talking about what a great party it was and what an excellent batch of new Tzadik releases related to his septuagenarian anniversary we've been blessed with. Wow. Wow! I mean WOW! And what more of a suitable way of kicking off the second half of this year's batch than with First Words. Recorded in the early months of 1955 by his doting mother (using a portable Wollensack recorder purchased at Sears) as he lay in his crib in his yellow and gray camouflage pajamas, the first track of First Words is exactly as one would expect: The very first words uttered by John Zorn! These two syllables, spoken in the interval of a major second, have mystified Zorn for most of his life. This kernel of music, this germinal source of inspiration, was it meant to lead into something, or was it a cadence? Frustrated in his attempts to understand the genius of his earlier self, Zorn went so far as to enroll in Columbia University's Ph.D. program in musicology in an attempt to analyze and break the code on the brief musical passage. The fruits of his labors resulted in the completion of his thesis: The Ontological Implications Of My First Utterance, which is included in hardback form in this limited edition first pressing. The remaining 11 tracks on the album are all compositions commissioned by Zorn and performed by the Downtown scene's greatest: Steve Lacy, Wayne Horvitz, Ikue Mori, Fred Frith, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Dave Douglas, Otomo Yoshihide and more!

MPEG stream: Goo
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Willie Winant has a star turn here on the track "Gris-Gris" for 13 tuned drums.

A nice and pleasant record from the notorious John Zorn? Yes, and one that, in keeping with its title, could be the Zorn you might give to your mother, only perhaps not since the booklet has artwork by Trevor Brown (best known for the infamous Whitehouse album covers)! From Tzadik's obi blurb: "A beautiful and lyrical exploration of surf, exotica, easy listening and world beat, The Gift is an honest and heartfelt offering to music lovers the world over: an invitation to forget about the worries and cares of the world; to sit back and relax. Featuring Marc Ribot (Postizos), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle), Cyro Baptista (Herbie Hancock), Jamie Soft (Bobby Previte), Joey Baron (Masada) and many special guests, this is the album Naked City fans have been waiting for. A side of John Zorn you've rarely heard, the music of The Gift is both relaxing and stimulating, like feeling perfectly at home in a place you've never been before. John Zorn 'for lovers only.'" Hmm.

The Zorn archival onslaught continues with another cd reissue of one of his many game piece compositions. 'Hockey' was recorded in 1980 and performed by an all-star cast of Downtown NY visionary improvisors. The composition itself, written in 1978, requires

RealAudio clip: Take 2

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