SUN RA Spaceship Lullaby (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 14.98
Remember the doo-wop tracks on that Sun Ra singles double cd? This is that sort of stuff. Otherworldly 50s doo-wop from Ra & Co.

SUN RA Strange Strings (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 16.98
Strange is right! And it's not just the strings. This 1966 recording by out-jazz pioneer Sun Ra and his adventurous Astro Infinity Arkestra is strange all over. This could SO totally be a current day improv psych cd-r from some of our Finnish friends, for instance... if it weren't recorded 40 years ago by one of the foremost geniuses of 20th century American jazz (and Afro-Outer-Space art). The idea here is that alongside the horns and flutes and bass all the usual instrumentation of the Arkestra, they're improvising on a collection of completely unfamiliar instruments -- the sundry "strange strings" of the title. Odd, exotic stringed instruments possibly including: Chinese lute, "moon-guitar" (?), mandolin, banjo, koto, bandura, ukelin (a zither type instrument), and others yet to be identified. Directed only by loose gestures from Sun Ra, the band expresses themselves freely on these strange strings... and the results must rank among the weirdest and most abstract sounds in Sun Ra's vast catalog, an unhinged tangle of sputtering pluckery and string-scrape. In addition, some sort of percussion adds thunderous rumbling metallic drones (this is presumably the "lightning drum" with which Ra is also credited, along with electronic piano). It could be a sheet of metal, or even a metal musical sculpture, as this reissue's extensive and investigative liner notes postulate. Another sonic element making the proceedings even stranger is the wordless, otherworldly "space vocal" of Art Jenkins aka Thlan Aldridge.
There's three tracks here from the rare original Saturn-label release, plus a fourth bonus cut. "Worlds Approaching" starts things off with a 10+ minutes of woozy Wurlitzer, clonky horn burble, and percussive clatter. Then the shambolic strange strings orgy begins with "Strings Strange" (12:47) and continues through to the epic "Strange Strange" (20:53). Log drums pulse beneath the reverbed apeshit freeform freakout of strings, space vocals, and metallic crashes.
And, after all that, there's the ten and a half minute bonus track. Which believe it or not, is probably the strangest (there's that word again) thing on here! It's called "Door Squeak" and YES that's right, it's actually Sun Ra "playing" a squeaky, creaky door. Which is exactly what it so spookily sounds like. Pretty cool we think, a nice simple coda to the preceding mayhem, celebrating a pure love of sound, whatever the source, and its mysterious power over our imaginations.
Good grief, it's astonishing that even with so many Sun Ra reissues already out, there's STILL amazing stuff like this to be unearthed.
MPEG Stream: "Strings Strange"
MPEG Stream: "Strange Strange"
MPEG Stream: "Door Squeak"

SUN RA The Futuristic Sounds Of (Five Four / Cherry Red) cd 15.98
As many of you know sometimes navigating the world of the prolific and brilliant legacy of Sun Ra can be so daunting and overwhelming. Not only did he make so many records in his lifetime but over the years there have been a multitude of collections, reissues and live recordings, to the point that knowing which Sun Ra recording you need next can feel quite overwhelming. Of course Sun Ra is most known and lauded for his free jazz inventions but what is often overlooked is that in order to go so out and free he first developed and explored an incredibly rich swing developing a seriously solid bebop foundation. This 1961 record gives little hints as to the outer world Sun Ra would eventually fly off to. Sheer brilliance! Such a great record!
MPEG Stream: "The Beginning"
MPEG Stream: "Looking Outward"
MPEG Stream: "Bassism"

SUN RA The Night Of The Purple Moon (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 15.98
Yowza, another cool Sun Ra reissue! The space-jazz legend left this earth long ago now, but continues to astound. It's the first time on cd for The Night Of The Purple Moon, a 1970 session (originally released on LP in '72) by Ra and "His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra", which here means a rare small-group outing, featuring Sun Ra getting down on twin Mini-Moogs and, for the majority of the record, something called a "Roksichord" (back then, a new-fangled solid state electronic keyboard, simulating a harpsichord and meant mainly for rock bands). He's accompanied by Akestra stalwart John Gilmore on the drums (instead of his usual saxophone, though he does bust out his tenor on one cut, "Impromptu Festival"), Danny Davis on alto and clarinet and flute and bongos (and drums when Gilmore takes over on sax), and the electric bass of Safford James. It's an intimate, groovy, spaced-out lounge-jazz thing they've got going, somehow (though unsurprisingly, since it's Sun Ra) simultaneously tweaked and eerie, jaunty and haunted... The nasal, rinky-dink distorted electronic sounds of Ra's Roksichord are predominant, augmented by the occasional outburst of sax. This is given even more weird atmosphere by the spare production and the slightly scratchy presence of surface noise, as the master tapes were destroyed and this cd reissue was prepared from an unplayed copy of the original vinyl release. Nothing we'd complain about of course. And this slipcased cd reish, with liner notes by John Corbett, also includes four bonus tracks -- one alternate take, and three *previously unreleased* tracks of Sun Ra Wurlitzer electric piano and Celeste solos home-recorded in 1964, even weirder and more otherworldly (muffled and lo-fi and abstract and thus ethereal) than anything he could conjure from those Moogs and the Roksichord later on. Recommended (duh, it's a Sun Ra reissue!).
MPEG Stream: "The Night Of The Purple Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of The Living Image"
MPEG Stream: "Wurlitzer Solo 1"

SUN RA The Night of the Purple Moon (Saturn Research) lp 14.98

SUN RA The Other Side of the Sun (Universe) cd 16.98
1979 Sun Ra LP reissued as a mini-gatefold cd as well on vinyl. Lovely, loungey space-jazz, including Sun Ra standard/anthem "Space Is The Place".

SUN RA The Other Side of the Sun (Universe) lp 21.00
1979 Sun Ra LP reissued as a mini-gatefold cd as well on vinyl. Lovely, loungey space-jazz, including Sun Ra standard/anthem "Space Is The Place".

SUN RA The Singles (Evidence) 2cd 28.00
INCREDIBLE! "This 2-disc collection of Sun Ra-related 45s and alternate takes took over three years to compile. It contains every Saturn single that we know to exist as of August, 1996, that did not appear on an album, with the exception of 4 sides by Walt Dunn which would not fit on these two cds and on which Sun Ra does not play. Often pressed in lots of 50, these singles, recorded between 1954 and 1982, represent the 'Holy Grail' among Sun Ra collectors, and have never appeared on lp or cd. The 36-page booklet contains liner notes written by four of the universe's leading Ra experts, as well as detailed discographical information and rare photos."

SUN RA When Angels Speak Of Love (Evidence) cd 16.98
Another new Evidence label Sun Ra reissue, originally an El Saturn lp from '63. I think we'll go ahead and quote the full Evidence press release for this one, just in case anyone needs the background info on Sun Ra (it's easier than trying to explain the basics about the man and his music ourselves... but I wish they hadn't mentioned Phish, don't let that discourage you if you're new to Sun Ra): "Evidence Music returns with a highly-anticipated series of five CD packages, including a 2-CD box of unreleased albums, by Sun Ra, the colorful jazz bandleader whose association with interplanetary travel, ancient Egypt, and big band and electronic keyboard innovation made him one of the 20th Century's most influential and eccentric musical icons. Evidence has been working on the series for four years -- since issuing its award-winning Sun Ra compilation The Singles in 1996. All but Lanquidity emanate from Sun Ra's own label, El Saturn Records. All packages contain extensive liner notes, historical documentation and photographs. Easily one of the oddest personalities in the history of jazz, the bandleader, composer and keyboardist known as Sun Ra claimed to be an extraterrestrial from the planet Saturn. Actually born Herman 'Sonny' Blount in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, he studied music at Alabama A&M University and became a big-band leader in his home town. Eventually, he moved to Chicago where he would write arrangements for Fletcher Henderson, change his name to Le Sony'r Ra, and start his first 'Arkestra' with saxophonists and band members-for-life John Gilmore, Marshall Allen and Pat Patrick. In the mid and late '50s, he prolifically recorded 45s and LPs for his own Saturn label, even accompanying and writing arrangements for doo-wop groups. His earliest albums were for Transition Records and later Delmark Records in 1957. In 1961, he moved to New York where he continued to record for El Saturn and the indie ESP-Disk label. Sun Ra continued his extensive concert date schedule into the early '90s, and even got as far as signing with A&M Records. He left this planet on May 30, 1993, but his music remains an ongoing source of wonderment and inspiration for all who discover it, as it was for musicians as diverse as George Clinton, Sonic Youth and Phish. Thanks to Evidence Music's reissue program -- five important new CDs in addition
become available for future generations. This album, When Angels Speak of Love, originally recorded in 1963 and released in 1966, is the rarest of Sun Ra's self-released albums on his own El Saturn label. Only a handful of the original pressing still remain. The album was recorded during Sun Ra's New York residency. Considered by many to be his richest period. This reissue preserves what has been a lost artifact from the 'New Thing' revolution in jazz in New York City's Greenwich Village in the mid-60s."

SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA Live Soundscape (DIW) 2cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Live from 1979 with June Tyson. There's also a 70-minute second disc which features Sun Ra lecturing on "The Possibility of Altered Destiny".

SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA The Cry Of Jazz (Atavistic) dvd 21.00
Well, Sun Ra fans have two good reasons to go out and buy themselves a DVD player if they don't happen to have one already -- number one, the DVD release of the Sun Ra sci-fi flick Space Is The Place, reviewed nearby. Number two, this item, a 1959 "polemic on the politics of music and race" made by filmmaker/musician Edward O. Bland that features live footage of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, and the rest of the Arkestra, shot in Chicago jazz clubs, their home turf in that era. 35 minutes, black and white. Brought to us by Atavistic's Unheard Music Series, who continue to earn the gratitude of jazz-heads everywhere.

SUN RA & THE BLUES PROJECT (SENSATIONAL GUITARS OF DAN & DALE) Batman and Robin (Universe) lp 21.00
Amid the constant, welcome flood of reissued Sun Ra treasures, this is certainly an oddity (and that's saying something). Apparently Sun Ra (who plays Hammond B-3 on here), Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and other Arkestra greats decided to cash in on the national Batman and Robin mania back in 1966, and this LP was the result! It's got Neal Hefti's famous Batman theme, and about a dozen other Batman-inspired toons ("Joker Is Wild", "The Bat Cave", "Batman's Batmorang", you get the idea), all of 'em bouncy, jazzy, garagey fun stuff for the kids. Not your typical Sun Ra fare, but quite a novelty, very kitsch. Also features Al Kooper on organ...

SUN RA & THE MYTH SCIENCE ORCHESTRA A Black Mass (Son Boy Records) cd 15.98
A play by Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)...

SUN RA / HENRY DUMAS The Ark And The Ankh cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"In conversation 1966, Slug's Saloon NYC". That's right, not a Sun Ra jazz album, but a 25-minute long disc of spoken word -- the great jazz visionary Ra interviewed (and going waaay beyond the subject of jazz, of course). The discussion is accompanied by intrusive, eerie flutes and other musical interruptions, weird echo effects, plus lots of ambient background noise/tape hiss... a weird listen, even before you start paying attention to what Ra is saying: "The whole goal of humanity is to be destroyed", stuff like that... it goes on and on, unfortunately programmed as only one track. Probably a lot of really interesting wisdom to be found here, but we haven't had a chance to fully imbibe. Definitely one for Ra fanatics, and anyone interested in esoteric philosophies/ers.
Q. What's the problem with the black man?
A. He doesn't see me.

SUN RA AND HIS MYTH SCIENCE ARKESTRA We Travel The Space Ways (Saturn) lp 14.98

SUN RA ARKESTRA Nuclear War (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 14.98
Super rare Sun Ra record originally (and barely) released by the UK post-punk label Y Records in 1984 (with two tracks coming out as a 12" single in '82), an album that in response to the spectre of nuclear armaggedon, asks the musical question: "now whatcha gonna do without your ass?" Several tracks from this album were later included on some equally rare releases on Ra's Saturn label, but this cd reissue in Atavistic's Unheard Music Series is certainly the first time that most folks are going to get to hear these tunes. They range from the seven-minute title track chant (a la his classic "Space Is The Place") with lines like: "talking about nuclear war -- it's a motherfucker -- if they push that button, your ass gotta go" etc. (This sort of language might explain why Columbia rejected the album!) Other tracks include a reading of Duke Ellington's "Drop Me Off In Harlem" and a couple of June-Tyson-sung standards. Although a few cuts are gorgeously moody, most are upbeat, swinging jazz tunes that seem to affirm the joy of life rather than being the harbingers of apocalypse you might expect on an album named "Nuclear War"! Ironically, the album ends with Tyson's bittersweet rendition of "Smile" -- when she sings the lyrics:
"Smile, even though your heart is aching / smile, even though it's aching / when there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by / if you smile, through your tears and sorrow / smile, and maybe tomorrow / you'll see the sun come shining through..." Think about *mushroom* clouds and wonder what Ra is trying to get across here...
RealAudio clip: "Nuclear War"
RealAudio clip: "Retrospect"

SUPERSILENT 1-3 (Rune Grammofon) 3cd 30.00
This Norwegian "death-jazz" trio make their debut on three cds, super-creative electronics/jazz improv, unlike much else. A big fave around here.

SUPERSILENT 4 (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
A little bit more jazzy & readily "listenable" than their amazing, overwhelming triple-cd debut, this sophomore release by the mysterious Nowegian group Supersilent continues to explore the limits of hyper-rhythmic free jazz, mixed with elements of ambient, musique concrete, noise and instrumental rock. If somewhat undefinable improv-ish bands like Starfuckers, Skullflower, Nels Cline Trio, etc. interest you, here's another one to add to that august roster. Parts of this sound like a live band (out)doing the most intense studio work of an Autechre or Squarepusher! Excellent album from an as-yet underappreciated band (although a recent feature in The Wire magazine signals a possible change in that status).

SUPERSILENT 5 (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
Another brilliant disc from this Norwegian "death-jazz" outfit! Bandmember and producer Helge Sten (aka Deathprod) took some 30 hours of material recorded live (direct to DAT) in various European locations (London, Oslo, Bologna) and edited it down to fit this cd. At first, "5" threatens to be a quieter, gentler Supersilent, as almost every track starts off with restrainted, ambient-jazz loveliness/loneliness like some sort of glacial Miles Davis... With Rune Grammofon now being distributed by ECM, we thought perhaps Supersilent were perhaps making a bid for ECM's semi-New Age market. But these are long tracks, and they often build into louder, scarier, more unsettling (yet still quite beautiful) realms. Witness the soundscape of heavy, doleful bass-buzz, electronic rumblings and intermittent percussion that track one (there's no titles) eventually reveals. Of course, Supersilent has always used space and (near)silence -- their sparse, abstract jazz-noise aesthetic being what's unique about them (although reminding us at AQ of the "rock concrete" of Italian improv-rockers the Starfuckers). So there *are* lots of mellow parts on here, indeed hauntingly mellow, and that's fine. We might consider this the "psychedelic" Supersilent album. Gorgeous.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 3"

SUPERSILENT 6 (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
We remember when Supersilent 1-3 came out, and we were like, who the heck are these guys with a debut triple cd?? After listening to it, of course we became fast fans. And Supersilent 4 and 5, which made interesting stylistic shifts, only served to deepen our appreciation of this Norwegian quartet. Now Supersilent 6 is upon us, and it's been eagerly anticipated -- we sold a whole bunch the day we got 'em in! On this disc, Supersilent continue to creatively pursue their own unique Nordic mind-meld of improv, electronics, jazz, and what we might describe as live musique concrete. Maybe we should call it glitch-fusion? Maybe not, but there's gorgeous Frippertronics guitar one moment, breathy trumpet the next, all with electronic drones and scattered drum-beats underneath. Delicate, shimmering soundscapes build into mammoth sound-masses, still shimmering. Their music still holds a great deal of mystery, even if the band is at last getting the exposure they deserve, such as a feature in the new issue (#228) of The Wire. Others have observed that it's amazing that Supersilent's music is totally improvised and without overdubs, and we'd have to agree. Supersilent 6 is a disc thick with noise of great beauty, and comes highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 5"

SUPERSILENT 6 (Rune Grammofon) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Having released no fewer than six cds since 1998 (four albums, but one was a triple cd), Norwegian experimental jazz-drone-electronics outfit Supersilent have become firm favorites here at Aquarius and elsewhere. Now, at last, their label has bowed to public demand and put Supersilent on vinyl -- well, at least their latest album 6, which is now available in a handsome double LP gatefold sleeve. We don't know if they plan to do the same with their other albums, but it would be cool if they did, though Supersilent 1-3 would be an expensive, and weighty, proposition on wax we'd imagine. Anyway, here's what we said about 6 when it first was released on cd last winter:
We remember when Supersilent 1-3 came out, and we were like, who the heck are these guys with a debut triple cd?? After listening to it, of course we became fast fans. And Supersilent 4 and 5, which made interesting stylistic shifts, only served to deepen our appreciation of this Norwegian quartet. Now Supersilent 6 is upon us, and it's been eagerly anticipated -- we sold a whole bunch the day we got 'em in! On this disc, Supersilent continue to creatively pursue their own unique Nordic mind-meld of improv, electronics, jazz, and what we might describe as live musique concrete. Maybe we should call it glitch-fusion? Maybe not, but there's gorgeous Frippertronics guitar one moment, breathy trumpet the next, all with electronic drones and scattered drum-beats underneath. Delicate, shimmering soundscapes build into mammoth sound-masses, still shimmering. Their music still holds a great deal of mystery, even if the band is at last getting the exposure they deserve, such as a feature in the new issue (#228) of The Wire. Others have observed that it's amazing that Supersilent's music is totally improvised and without overdubs, and we'd have to agree. Supersilent 6 is a disc thick with noise of great beauty, and comes highly recommended.

SUPERSILENT 7 (Rune Grammofon) dvd 25.00
Our favorite Norwegian death-jazz electro-acoustic improv ensemble, the one and only Supersilent, are back with a new release -- and it's a live DVD! As such, it serves as something of a consolation for myself (Allan) and AQ pal Cayce, who showed up to see Supersilent perform here in San Francisco for their first and only time (this was a year or two ago, at the Great American Music Hall) only to discover that the band who were breaking their gear down and vacating the stage upon our arrival was in fact Supersilent, making way for Jagajazzist who we had thought were to be the opening act. D'oh!! It was an especially cruel twist of fate for Cayce, who through a set of circumstances we needn't describe here, ended up holding (and paying for) FIVE non-refundable tickets to the show. He actually didn't really mind shelling out $100 to see Supersilent (that's how much of a fan he is) but then to miss 'em in the end was, unfortunate to say the least...
So, now through the magic of the DVD format, Cayce and I can experience what that show might have been like. And all Supersilent fans can experience what the show on the DVD (filmed in Oslo, August 16th 2004) was definitely very much like! We were actually a little worried that the visuals would somehow reveal too much about this band, but the DVD is shot in moody black and white 16mm which helps maintain their mystique... and it is cool to see how the actual humans involved interact with their instruments and equipment to produce the sounds of Supersilent, which have always been a blend of very live sounding playing and electronic processing, with the breathy trumpet of Arve Henriksen, snake charmer sinuous at times, suggesting the jazz of Miles Davis amidst the "improv musique concrete" (and this concert is entirely improvised) also being made by keyboardist Stale Strlokken, drummer Jarle Vespestad, and "audio virus" engineer Helge "Deathprod" Sten.
The great thing about this DVD is that after a viewing or two, it still functions as a great new Supersilent album (hence the title, 7, designating it the follow-up to their last album, 6). And since now it's hard to buy a cd player that's not also a DVD player, if you've got one of those hooked up to your stereo system you can just put this disc in and listen to it sans video, as if it was a regular cd that's just a bit longer (109 minutes) than normal.

SUPERSILENT 8 (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
8 is not Supersilent's eighth album, actually, 'cause their first, a triple cd extravaganza, was entitled 1-3... and Supersilent 7 was actually a live dvd. So if you don't count that one, then Supersilent 8 is really the celebrated Norwegian outfit's fifth studio release. Still, it's far enough into Supersilent's career that you'd think we'd have a good notion of what to expect from these AQ faves. But if we really did, it wouldn't be Supersilent. And as usual they offer no clues: the digipack cd design is as usual stylish but generic, and song titles are an unnecessary luxury in which other more ordinary bands indulge. Here we have eight nameless tracks, 66 minutes of new and varied Supersilent output. In the past, they've created stunning soundscapes that are part Miles Davis, part Starfuckers, part Autechre, a hybrid of dronejazz improv and electronic processing, a live band screwing with itself via computer feedback. They call it "death-jazz" but what the heck does that really mean?
So maybe a track by track accounting is needed. The disc starts off quietly, cautiously, eerily ambient, not giving much up at first. It's a ways into the first 11 minute long track that, with increased volume, a rhythmic pulse makes itself throbbingly known, and eventually builds into a roiling low-end cacophony, with what sounds like a tolling bell amidst percussive splatter and insectoid buzz, slowed down and grinding. The second track is even more sparse and atmospheric, with occasional improv percussion clatter, echoing cymbals, and suspenseful electronic organ musings. So far, this is turning out to be a good album for this time of the year (Halloween being this week!). The third cut continues the sorta spooky and sci-fi theme, venturing further into a dense thicket of crackly, agitated sounds, with stabs of sizzling synth and clumsy, clomping rhythmic rattle, harking back to the counter-intuitive chaos of Supersilent 1-3. Track four is sleepier, gentler, with the breathy trumpet of Arve Henriksen weaving a fragile melody.
Then suddenly with the fifth track, it's like we've flipped the record to a (thus far hypothetical, as a vinyl version hasn't yet been released) side two, which begins on a quite different note than before, with a bizarre, distorted, almost robot-metallic voice or voices intoning some sort of garbled rant. But by the time this track's twelve minutes are up, we've heard more of the melodious trumpet, humming drone, percussive splatter, and glacial glitch that we realize we DO expect from ol' Supersilent. That's followed by the stuttering electronic clicks and plings of track six, this song's special surprise being high, wordless female vocals soaring up and over the ending. Number seven is a skronkier, noisier affair than anything yet on the album, it's an energetic compression of the cacophony heard on tracks 1 or 3, the drummer going nuts, the organist sucking up lots of electricity, and with the addition of what must be wild, howling, heavily effected vocals swirling cryptically over it all. Supersilent let it all hang out on this one, yeah! #7 would be the piece for them to play if they ever had to share a stage with Acid Mothers Temple. And then track 8 brings Supersilent 8 to a quiet close, perfectly spaced sounds and silence like a more regulated Starfuckers jam, clicks and clacks and crackle, that only lasts four minutes and four seconds but could go on and on forever as far as we're concerned.
Wow. Another excellent, original Supersilent effort, with the use/abuse of vocals opening up some new dimensions to their sound. Parts of Supersilent 8 give us the idea we're listening to some sort of really strange field recording, the documentation of the fracturing of an iceberg, the swarmings of bugs, or the language of birds or bats, when in fact this is a very human-activated, machine-mediated, far-from-natural audio document. Of course at other times on this album that fact is quite evident! Indeed, Supersilent 8 also is the closest these "death-jazzers" have come to making rock album, especially when the super distorted, hazy murk of psychedelic howling almost garage-rock-improv pummel of track 7 is taken into account.
MPEG Stream: "track 3"
MPEG Stream: "track 5"
MPEG Stream: "track 7"

SVALASTOG Woodwork (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
The name sure sounds like one of those Norwegian black metal bands we like so much, doesn't it? Well, Svalastog are indeed from Norway, but they're not a black metal band. Definitely not. (Though we'd love to hear what a black metal band on Rune Gramofon would be like!)
This could go under an electronica/experimental/just-a-wee-bit-folk category, we'd suppose. Svalastog (who is actually a he not a they, being one guy, Per Henrik Svalastog) has taken several traditional Norwegian folk instruments -- very old fashioned indeed, primitive even, including a ram's horn (Bukkehorn) and a cow's horn (Kuhorn, duh), and also a Norwegian zither called a Harpeleik that apparently belonged to his grandfather -- and played them into his computer, chopping and looping and processing them into glitchily rhythmic, swooping, loping electronica. The idea, to bring the sounds of the rustic Nordic past into the modern musical laboratory of bits and bytes, clicks and cuts, works pretty darn well we'd say. This is moody, mysterious, also quite lively and lovely. Given the concept behind this, we -might- have hoped for something a little -less- processed and smoothed-out, a little more obviously "outdoorsy" or ancient-sounding, than what we get here, if only this wasn't so nice and soothing the way it is!
MPEG Stream: "Mouse Tracking"
MPEG Stream: "Cow Goat Goat"

SWORD + SANDALS Live #3 (Freak Out) cd-r 10.98
Sword + Sandals are a two saxophone and drums trio comprised of local artists Shaun O'Dell (Corn Silo of Skulls, Beak), Randylee Sutherland (head of new cd-r label Freak Out) and the irascible John Dwyer (Coach Whips, The OhSees, etc.) on drums and they have been creating quite a stir at recent art openings and cafe performance spaces. Like the angel/gladiator/Greek philosopher imagery their name implies, Sword + Sandals engage in tumultuous bouts of free interactivity, wrestling sonic foes in the name of some higher ideal. Here in this live set at 21 Grand in Oakland, the cavernous acoustics of the space allow each of the horn players room to roam without straying far from the core idea. But what is that core? Without relying on a foundation of melody, steady tempo or a calculated harmonic plan, each player manages to defy complete cacophony by intuitively overlapping across similar but microtonally separate aural paths, creating mesmerizing dynamic regimes of sound through tense build-ups with intermittent breaths of space. A refreshing new addition to this city's dearth of inspired free jazz-not-jazz performers.
MPEG Stream: "Track 2"
MPEG Stream: "Track 3"

SWORD + SANDALS Live At Arc (Freak Out) cd-r 10.98
It speaks much to a bands power that a drummer and three guys with saxophones can out assault a line-up of ear-splitting knob twiddling feedback makers and a band of obnoxious Portland kids on acid playing "noise-folk" and screeching "Won't you be our friends?" at the audience. Such was the case of this Sword + Sandals live set at the ARC Cafe, one of San Francisco's many strange and short-lived venues. Adding a third saxophone to their ranks for this set, S+S take full advantage of the Arc's cavernous space to spread out and create dynamic battlements of overlapping sax trills across machine-gun drumming. Seemingly cacophonous and composed at the same time, these free players have quite an intuitive knack for creating swells of tension with only occasionally some release. Bracing but always both visually and sonically compelling.
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 3"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI Lonely Woman (Vivid Sound) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yay! Yet another astonishing and beautiful Takayanagi document becomes available (again). Solo electric "jazz" (quotations theirs) guitar improv from this Japanese legend, working with tunes by Ornette (the title cut, of course), Charlie Haden ("Song For Che"), Lee Konitz, Lennie Tristano, and his own self, as well as a version of "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair". Definitely on the more inside, trad jazz side of his ouvre, but that's only relatively speaking, since the "outside" includes tabletop guitar noise fests that would make Thurston Moore run for cover. Again, fans of Fred Frith, Sonny Sharrock, Ray Russell, and the like should get in line. Recorded in '82.

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & KAORU ABE Gradually Projection (DIW) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The sequel to the "Mass Projection" disc (reviewed last list), here's more live guitar/sax improv action drawn from the same 1970 performance by these cult Japanese free jazz masters. This release explores an equally "out" but just not as quite as noisy side to Abe and Takayanagi's music. Abe's sax wanders lethargically on a latenight bender, offering melody and misery in equal measure. Takayanagi's guitar provides near-percussive backing to the doomy drone of Abe's blowing. Lonely beauty and anguish abound. It's one long, intense 49 minute track.

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & KAORU ABE Mass Projection (DIW) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the black-on-black packaging worthy of a Keiji Haino release, complete with badass photos of these two '70s Japanese free jazz legends (the soon-to-die-young saxophonist Kaoru Abe clutching his horn in a suitably doomed pose, and jazz-meets-noise guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi looking commanding in shades), you know that this disc is going to be a serious listen. And intense it is, drawn from the harsher portions of a 1970 live performance (the somewhat mellower remainder of the set is also soon to be released, as "Gradually Projection"). Unlike several recent Takayanagi archival releases, this doesn't have anything to do with his more straight ahead jazzy "Cool Jojo" style. No, this is all loud, scary skree looking to fuck with your head. Abe takes the lead, actually, his saxophone sounding utterly desperate and apocalyptic, but Takayanagi doesn't flinch from the fray either. Not for the faint of heart!

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & NEW DIRECTION Call In Question (PSF) cd 16.98
Some of the heaviest "jazz" ever, recorded in 1970 amazingly enough. The drummer should be in a hardcore band, the guitar player (the legendary Masayuki Takayangi) makes Sonny Sharrock sound like a wimp, and the bass and sax are equally intense. Our fave Takayangi release. Noise guitar way ahead of its time. Beautiful, beautiful noise.
RealAudio clip: "Extraction"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & NEW DIRECTION Live Independence (PSF) cd 22.00
More 1970 out-jazz from a trio version of pioneering noise guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction unit. Two long tracks, "Herdman's Pipe of Spain" and "Mass Projection" that are a little more mellow and melodic than the stuff on the "Call In Question" cd, but not much more.

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & NEW DIRECTION UNIT Live At Moers Festival (Three Blind Mice) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI & NEW DIRECTIONS Independence - Tread On Sure Ground (Tiliqua) cd 25.00
Oh man. Over the past year or so we've been lucky enough to get a hold of reissues of a bunch of rare albums by Japanese jazz legend Masayuki "Jojo" Takayanagi performing with his New Direction(s) unit: Axis Another Revolvable Thing Parts 1 and 2, Eclipse, La Grima. Lucky 'cause we LOVE way-out-there improv electric guitar, which Takayanagi provides in spades, 'specially when he and his group are off on one of his "mass projection" freakouts. Well this here cd reissue (a deluxe gatefold mini-LP sleeve styled import on the always interesting and well-packaged Tiliqua label) is another must have for any Takayanagi fan, documenting his first recording session in 1969 as leader of the initial incarnation of his New Directions group, a trio consisting of drummer Sabu Toyozumi and bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa along with Takayanagi. That's right, no saxophone for you sax haters out there! Just amped-up, feedback-filled guitar skree, brutally bowed bass and crashing drums on such lengthy mass projections as "The Galactic System" and "Piranha". There's also quieter, "gradually projection" pieces here too, some really beautiful, abstractly atmospheric ones including "Herdsman's Pipe Of Spain" (with Yoshizawa on folk-pipe) and the interludes "Deepnight...Swamp" and "Sick...Sick...Sickness...My Aunt". Wow what great titles!!
This Tiliqua reissue of this classic adds a bonus track, from the 1970 compilation LP Guitar Workshop, that in fact is maybe the most intense thing on here. There are also liner notes from the perceptive and well-informed Alan Cummings, who proceeds to really set the scene for this music with his evocative description of the seedy Tokyo jazz quarter of Shinjuku in the sixties and early seventies, a place where Takayanagi's revolutionary jazz explorations fit right in with experimental artists and acid rock radicals.
MPEG Stream: "The Galactic System"
MPEG Stream: "Herdsman's Pipe Of Spain"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI NEW DIRECTION UNIT Axis Another Revolvable Thing Part 1 (Doubtmusic) cd 16.98
The late electric guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi is a legend in Japanese free jazz circles, a bold creator and explorer, who from the late '60s through the '90s broke down or went around the inside/outside jazz dichotomy, putting his axe to work in settings ranging from cool post-bop standards to textural tabletop noise experiments. Definitely an original, it's only for our convenience that he could be described as kind of like a Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, and Derek Bailey, all rolled into one. Even, say, Wolf Eyes teaming up with Anthony Braxton couldn't outgun Takayangi at his fiercest (by the way, that believe-it-or-not collaboration actually exists and is pretty cool, see elsewhere on this list for a review!). And here is a two volume set documenting the power and beauty of Takayangi's heavy duty, feedback-shaping skree circa 1975, in the context of his New Direction Unit, a quartet also featuring Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and cello, Hiroshi Yamazaki on percussion, and Kenji Mori on reeds.
Originally released on vinyl by a Japanese label called Offbeat, these two LPs have been coveted rarities pretty much ever since. A bit of a Holy Grail to some. So, we were excited (and expect some of you to be too) that these records have now officially reissued on compact disc, in nice miniature LP jacket styled cardboard sleeves, reproducing even the misspelling "Revolable" on their covers. They're Japanese imports on a great avant-garde music label called Doubtmusic (we'll have some other titles from them listed soon, including Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra doing a cover of Eric Dolphy's classic Out To Lunch album reviewed elsewhere this list) but we were able to get them for a decent price, $17, not bad at all considering we just saw that someone sold one of these very cds on eBay as a buy-it-now item for $40! Then again, who can put a price on wild and wooly, freeform "jazz" improv action like this?
Actually, both albums have their more quiet and gentle passages, of delicate string-scrabble, spacious drum-clank, and abstract, pretty reed blowing like birds a-twitter (in Takayangi's theoretical terminology, these pieces are called "gradually projection") that build up into denser, stormier freakouts wherein his guitar is fully unleashed and the rest of the group strains mightily to match (what Takayangi terms "mass projection"). On volume two, you get one gradually and two mass projections, while volume one features one gradually, one mass, and also a 13-minute percussion solo!
These reissues include the original liner notes by Teruto Soejima (translated into English, yay!). One paragraph stands out as being particularly descriptive: "Drifting through all of New Direction Unit's music is the scent of blood. Not old, clotted blood, but fresh blood. This isn't mere semblance of music; it's sound through which the blood of human beings has passed. Which is why, in the group's performances, blood seethes, flows against the current, burns, oozes, rises, congeals, is spewed out, gushes forth. Vivid red blood. Takayanagi's ultimate artistic aim may well be the the color of this blood." You might say ew, but listen and see if that doesn't seem true.
Additionally, for techies who need more than blood, we're provided with an obsessively detailed list of the specific microphones used for these recordings, along with the type of mixing console and tape recorder and even the precise brand of tape! It's a bit like the Fucking Champs do on their albums...
MPEG Stream: "Fragment VI"
MPEG Stream: "Fragment II"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI NEW DIRECTION UNIT Axis Another Revolvable Thing Part 2 (Doubtmusic) cd 16.98
The late electric guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi is a legend in Japanese free jazz circles, a bold creator and explorer, who from the late '60s through the '90s broke down or went around the inside/outside jazz dichotomy, putting his axe to work in settings ranging from cool post-bop standards to textural tabletop noise experiments. Definitely an original, it's only for our convenience that he could be described as kind of like a Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, and Derek Bailey, all rolled into one. Even, say, Wolf Eyes teaming up with Anthony Braxton couldn't outgun Takayangi at his fiercest (by the way, that believe-it-or-not collaboration actually exists and is pretty cool, see elsewhere on this list for a review!). And here is a two volume set documenting the power and beauty of Takayangi's heavy duty, feedback-shaping skree circa 1975, in the context of his New Direction Unit, a quartet also featuring Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and cello, Hiroshi Yamazaki on percussion, and Kenji Mori on reeds.
Originally released on vinyl by a Japanese label called Offbeat, these two LPs have been coveted rarities pretty much ever since. A bit of a Holy Grail to some. So, we were excited (and expect some of you to be too) that these records have now officially reissued on compact disc, in nice miniature LP jacket styled cardboard sleeves, reproducing even the misspelling "Revolable" on their covers. They're Japanese imports on a great avant-garde music label called Doubtmusic (we'll have some other titles from them listed soon, including Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra doing a cover of Eric Dolphy's classic Out To Lunch album reviewed elsewhere this list) but we were able to get them for a decent price, $17, not bad at all considering we just saw that someone sold one of these very cds on eBay as a buy-it-now item for $40! Then again, who can put a price on wild and wooly, freeform "jazz" improv action like this?
Actually, both albums have their more quiet and gentle passages, of delicate string-scrabble, spacious drum-clank, and abstract, pretty reed blowing like birds a-twitter (in Takayangi's theoretical terminology, these pieces are called "gradually projection") that build up into denser, stormier freakouts wherein his guitar is fully unleashed and the rest of the group strains mightily to match (what Takayangi terms "mass projection"). On volume two, you get one gradually and two mass projections, while volume one features one gradually, one mass, and also a 13-minute percussion solo!
These reissues include the original liner notes by Teruto Soejima (translated into English, yay!). One paragraph stands out as being particularly descriptive: "Drifting through all of New Direction Unit's music is the scent of blood. Not old, clotted blood, but fresh blood. This isn't mere semblance of music; it's sound through which the blood of human beings has passed. Which is why, in the group's performances, blood seethes, flows against the current, burns, oozes, rises, congeals, is spewed out, gushes forth. Vivid red blood. Takayanagi's ultimate artistic aim may well be the the color of this blood." You might say ew, but listen and see if that doesn't seem true.
Additionally, for techies who need more than blood, we're provided with an obsessively detailed list of the specific microphones used for these recordings, along with the type of mixing console and tape recorder and even the precise brand of tape! It's a bit like the Fucking Champs do on their albums...
MPEG Stream: "Fragment IV"
MPEG Stream: "Fragment V"

TALIBAM! Ordination Of The Globetrotting Conscripts (Azul Discografica) cd 12.98
Besides having one of the best band names ever (exclamation point mandatory!) this trio of noisemaking jazz dissidents and post rock outcasts create what in most cases is practically impossible, a noisy record, heck, a NOISE record, that manages to be totally listenable. And we're not talking listenable like 'on the radio' or 'your Mom might like it', no, your Mom would NOT like this, and the only time you'd hear this on the radio is after a nuclear holocaust, when some survivors hole up in an abandoned radio station, only to realize the transmitter still works, and what better way to fight back against the invaders, than by BLOWING THEIR FUCKING EARDRUMS OUT!
No, this is some unholy spawn of the freest jazz and the most tangled and aggressive of math rocks. Due in no small part to the man behind the drums, Kevin Shea, formerly of Coptic Light and Storm And Stress, although his cohorts aren't so shabby either, Matt Mottel on synth and Ed Bear on sax. Add in some electronics, some banjo, even a little 'singing'. Then toss in a handful of beehives, a bunch of smashed and scratched free jazz records, a couple tapes of aborted Don Cab practice sessions, a few Marshall stacks, wrap the whole thing in raw meat and throw it into the middle of a pack of wild dogs and record the result.
There are a bunch of guests this time around too, contributing stuff like bass, trumpet, piano, upright bass, bass trombone as well as some less recognizable instruments: diddley-bo, mouth-bow, twanger and of course wonder metal. Which makes the sound even more thick and intense and seriously HEAVY. The synth is everywhere, and sounds like one of the Wolf Eyes guys was responsible for its upkeep, a snarling, crackling, grinding spewer of fuzz and buzz and smears of new wave blur, adding tons of texture and melody to proceedings, the sax is of course skronky, but isn't everywhere, but what is everywhere is drums. It's exhausting just listening to Shea spew beats everywhere, it's like a 47 minute drum solo, deftly arranged into convoluted rhythms, and dizzying flurries of fills, but its the drums that propel the songs, all the melodies and notes, textures and tones, are hung on, wrapped around, or just plain tangled up in the confusional and relentless rhythmic onslaught.
There are moments where the chaos and intensity abate just a bit, the twisted, FUCKED UP klezmer of "Lunch Break at Naan", with a horrifying break in the middle with what sounds like scraped strings or a squealing pig, the long slow burn of "A Petroglyphic Massacre", and brief little breathers within the songs, but for the most part, Ordination of the Globetrotting Conscripts is a bit like sitting in a cement mixer full of ball bearings, set to music.
But then there's the epic 13 minute finale, "The Spectre of Water Wars", maybe the most 'musical' of the bunch, where the synth takes center stage, even nudging the omnipresent drums out of the spotlight, spewing thick swaths of creepy Goblin-esque whir, haunting and weirdly new wave, but super rocking at the same time, crumbling and distorted, twisted and freaked out, a propulsive alien krautrock. Imagine a horror movie in which Six Finger Satellite were dosed and lobotomized and then let loose in guitar center, to fight off a twisted psycho killer with only the instruments on hand. Might sound something like this. Seriously scary, way fucked up, but wild and amazing and weirdly sort of fun too.
MPEG Stream: "Ordination Of The Globetrotting Conscripts"
MPEG Stream: "Guns And Butter"
MPEG Stream: "Revolutionary Bummer Weed And The Syncretic Narcotraffickers"

TALIBAM! s/t (Evolving Ear) cd-r 8.98
Awesome band name for sure! We were dying to hear these guys before we had any idea what they might sound like. And they do sort of sound like the name, explanation point and all. A whirling dervish of a three piece, Matthew Mottel on synth, Kevin Shea (Coptic Light, Storm And Stress) on drums and Ed Bear on baritone saxophone and
electronics. The presence of Kevin Shea should give you a hint as to what you're in for. His spastic, impossibly octopoidal drum splatter is all over this disc, a stuttering spastic free jazz soundscape dense and impenetrable. Above this tangled percussive squall, the synth and the sax do battle. And this is a serious fucking knock down drag out battle to the death. The synth seems to come out on top turning what could have been more of a free jazz record into a seriously fucked up freenoise record. Mottel is like Keith Emerson on a serious PCP bender, spitting out thick snarling sheets of synth buzz, spraying it like machine gun fire, melodies are tangled and complicated little knots hurled into the fray like cannonballs made out of steel string and roof nails. The sax is all over the place, adding tonal color, mad squawking, chittering chirps and deep fuzzy moans, this is a massive chaotic free for all. Sometimes the band members lock into a cohesive sort of drone, but even then Shea is still hurling his kit all over a huge concrete bunker, like every free jazz solo drum record played simultaneously, it's never long before the synth splinters and the sax shrieks and suddenly it a big black musical cloud, you know like in cartoons when people are fighting and there's a big black swirling cloud with arms and legs sticking out. Only now there's broken drumsticks, shattered keys from an abused synthesizer, bent saxophones as well as bruised and bloody body parts.
This an exhausting listen, but it's worth it. Heavy and thick, weirdly groovy, totally spastic and really really great.
Comes packaged in spray painted sleeves made out of old chopped up lps, each disc includes a jagged shard of some old vinyl lp as well.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

TANGERINE AWKESTRA Aliens Took My Mom (Mulatta Records) cd 14.98
The folks that brought us the fantastic Thai Elephant Orchestra disc are also responsible for the release of this almost as unusual album -- avant-garde jazz music made by an orchestra of Brooklyn pre- and grade-schoolers! They are definitely more skilled than the elephants, so maybe comparisons are not appropriate. But as with that cd, you'd not necessarily guess that these aren't some out-there adult humans making this music. Certainly Sun Ra fans will see some parallels here, and not just 'cause of Tangerine Awkestra's penchant for track titles like "Spaceships on the Empire State Building" and "Volcanoes Explode at the Center of the Earth". These dozen or so young (ages 2 to 9) musicians have crafted their own multi-part composition (programme music, no less, about an alien invasion of the earth!) as well as tackling some Bach and Sonny Rollins (we prefer their own stuff, though). The instrumentation includes percussion (lots of drums!), piano, violin, recorder, and more...drums... making for lots of Alice Coltrane-meets-Amon-Duul-ish moments. Very cool, fun, fresh stuff -- play it for your avant-jazz snob friends and see if they can guess what ESP-label free jazzer is responsible (not)!
RealAudio clip: "The Aliens Blow Up Antartica"
RealAudio clip: "The Navy Bombs Them"
RealAudio clip: "Everything Is Soft"

TAYLOR, CECIL Air Above Mountains (Enja) cd 12.98

TAYLOR, CECIL Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come (Revenant) 2cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A crucial, cult recording of pianist Taylor from Paris, 1962, now available on domestic cd thanks to John Fahey's new Revenant label.

TAYLOR, CECIL Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come (Revenant) 2lp 26.00
A crucial, cult recording of pianist Cecil Taylor from Paris, 1962, a jazz holy grail, and rightfully so. Arguably THE defining moment in Taylor's career. Featuring some unbeleivable drumming from Sunny Murray (who would also later drum just as inspirationally with Albert Ayler!)
Originally released in 1975, and reissued on cd a few years ago, now available on deluxe vinyl, in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, courtesy of the seemingly infallable Revenant Records.

TAYLOR, CECIL UNIT Dark To Themselves (Enja) cd 15.98
1976 live session with heavyweight players (besides the great pianist Taylor himself) Raphe Malik, David S. Ware, Jimmy Lyons and Marc Edwards (that's trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, and drums respectively).

TAYLOR, CECIL UNIT It Is In The Brewing Luminous (Hat Hut) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAYLOR, MIKE QUARTET Pendulum (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Sunbeam brings us a lost classic of '60s modern British jazz, the 1965 debut as leader from ill-fated pianist Mike Taylor, who, at the tragic end of a drug-induded downward slide, died (drowned in the River Thames) just four years later in 1969 at age 30, after making only one other album. As a result, not too many folks have heard of him, although he was a major young talent on the scene while he was alive. Reissued on cd for probably the first time, remastered and with new liner notes as well as vintage photos in the cd booklet, Pendulum is a both an historically important release to pique the interest of jazz buffs with its promise and originality, and also a thoroughly enjoyable, melodic and moody listen for more casual jazz fans as well. Taylor eases us into his personal sound-world by stocking all the first side with well-known standards, including pieces by Gershwin and Gillespie, adding to 'em a level of avant-garde abstraction that mirrors the way his sometimes saturnine original compositions, which occupy the entirely of side two, possess a certain foot-tapping familiarity.
MPEG Stream: "Pendulum"
MPEG Stream: "A Night In Tunisia"

TCHICAI, JOHN - IRENE SCHWEIZER - GROUP Willi the Pig (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 14.98
Another great free jazz find in John Corbett and Atavistic's "Unheard Music Series", this disc is the reissue of long out of print 1976 LP documenting a live performance by saxophonist Tchicai and pianist Schweizer (with a drummer and bassist) at a Swiss jazz fest in '75. Two long, burning tracks of Euro-jazz improv from folks who know what they're doing. This was number one on the list of her out of print works that Schweizer wanted to see reissued, by the way. Handsome hot pink pig cover too!

TEXT OF LIGHT s/t (Starlight) cd 13.98
This is the first full length release (after a 12" on Table Of The Elements) by the group Text Of Light, named for a 1974 Stan Brakhage film and made up of Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, DJ Olive, Christian Marclay and Uli Krieger. Originally Text Of Light was formed to perform along with Brakhage films, and while Brakhage was an inspiration for these recordings they are not "potential Brakhage soundtracks". Text Of Light weave spare soundscapes of clatter and creak, enviornmental sounds, free jazz splatter, No Neck Blues Band style hippy rock-brut, avant turntablism, deep drones and abstract ambience.
MPEG Stream: "Knitting Factory (Quartet)"

THING, THE Action Jazz (Smalltown Superjazz) cd 16.98
The Swedish jazz trio (Mats Gustafsson on sax, Paal Nilssen-Love on drums and Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass) that -loves- their indie/garage/hipster rock has returned with another energetic and enjoyable disc. Remember they did those cool improv jazz "covers" of songs by The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on their debut disc Garage? Well this time out they've set their sights on Lightning Bolt! "Ride The Sky" baby!
By the way, we're not being facetious in the least, we do dig The Thing and the things they do. Including their moody, intense original improvs/compositions as well, not just the stuff that's bound to get 'em a mention in Pitchfork. FYI Besides Lightning Bolt, such indie noise rock faves as Ornette Coleman and Yosuke Yamashita get the cover treatment here as well.
MPEG Stream: "Better Living..."
MPEG Stream: "Ride The Sky"

THING, THE Garage (Smalltown Superjazzz) cd 16.98
A trio of Swedish free jazzers (among them saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, sometime Sonic Youth sideman) playing loosely-interpreted covers of "garage rock" tunes, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the White Stripes and (proving they realize garage rock wasn't invented in 2003) the Sonics from the '60s. Hence the title, Garage. Doesn't necessarily sound like the best idea, does it? Well it could have been a terrible, cash-in on the what the kids are digging these days concept... But actually it's pretty cool when you listen to it!!! Super powerful and aggressive but definitely remaining more jazz than rock, though doubtless they'd blow a lot of garage rock bands off the stage with their energy. The seven tracks here also include two originals by The Thing (heavy duty rampant improvs both) and versions of tracks by jazz vets Norman Howard and Peter Brotzmann (he's been in a garage, doubtless). So this turns out to be more than just a gimmick. Garage ranges from R&B infused rave ups to seriously dirgey dissonance, making for a record *this* jazz/garage/freakout fan enjoyed. Crossover potential between folks only into one of the above? Dunno. I actually hadn't heard the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song before, but I know I like The Thing's version...
MPEG Stream: "Art Star"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Flask"

THING, THE Live at Bla (Smalltown Superjazzz) cd 16.98
Two lists back (#216) we reviewed The Thing's album Garage. The upshot being, this Swedish jazz combo was pretty dang good both despite *and* because of their gimmick: covering (loosely and creatively) garage rock hits by such bands as The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Now here's another blast of high-energy improv action from the trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) and Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), recorded live in Olso Norway, at a club called Bla. Nothing blah about their performance though (sorry!). They rumble and scream and blurt and groove, with plenty of passion and chops, and lots of room too for lovely moodiness. Here you'll find live versions of a couple of tracks from their Garage album (Noah Howard's "Haunted" and the White Stripes's "Aluminum") along with other compositions / improvisations not otherwise recorded by The Thing. We figure if you've got discs by such reedsmen as Peter Brotzmann and Ken Vandermark in your (jazz) collection, you need some Gustafsson too, and The Thing is just the thing to check out, both Garage and this Live at Bla disc.
MPEG Stream: "Old Eyes"

THORNTON, CLIFFORD The Panther And The Lash (America) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
WOW. And do we mean WOW!! Fifteen classic free jazz records from the late sixties / early seventies, long out of print, finally getting the ULTRA deluxe reissue treatment. For some reason these are incredibly limited, so these have been a bit tough to get, so we're going to list a few at a time as we can get them.
More trombone (see the Roswell Rudd review elsewhere on this list)! The trombone ranks way up there right along side the flute and the tuba as far as our favorite instruments go. How did the sax become THE jazz instrument of choice when the trombone is so much weirder and more expressive? Okay, okay, sax freaks back off, we love the sax as much as the next guy, but a saxophone is way more likely to spoil a song or record than a trombone. Admit it. So besides Roswell Rudd, Clifford Thronton is another of that rare breed, the free jazz master of the trombone, as well as being a serious supporter of the Black Panthers and the black power movement. Thornton was a serious fixture in the scene, having recorded and played with all the luminaries, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Marzette Watts, Archie Shepp and loads more. The Panther And The Lash, recorded live in Paris in 1970, is as charged politically as it is musically (the album title, song titles like "Huey Is Free") and is an ebullient and passionate expression of frustration and hope. Thornton splits the composition duties with his pianist Francois Tusques, and in addition to the trombone, also handles the cornet, the piano and the maracas. His band on this disc is rounded out by Tusques on piano, celesta, balafon and more maracas, Beb Guerin on double bass and Noel McGhie on drums and percussion. With all those unusual instruments you might expect this to be way more out there, but it's actually got a lot more of a trad jazz vibe than a lot of the releases in this series. Wild piano is smeared and splattered all over the place, mirrored by dizzying drum figures and throbbing serpentine bass lines, there are occasional stretches of totally free abstract swirl with the celesta offering up soft drifting melodic chimes, everything sort of swoonsome and slightly chaotic, but those stretches are usually sandwiched between parts that sound a little bit more 'arranged'. And ultimately it's the trombone and the cornet that are the focus. The tracks with cornet sound sort of like a way more free Miles Davis, the cornet sounding quite a bit like a trumpet, but the trombone tracks are the heart of this disc, much more moody and mournful, the trombone moaning, long low notes stretched way out, languid and laid back over a busy soundscape of free jazz swirl. A bit of bop, big band and free jazz, all deftly arranged into an intense and emotional musical exploration. So fucking great. 
Comes in a gorgeous diecut fullcover three panel sleeve, with new artwork, as well as a huge booklet with the original album sleeve notes, new liner notes in french and english as well as a bunch of cool photos. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "Huey Is Free"
MPEG Stream: "Mahiya Illa Zalab"