DRESSER, MARK Marinade (Tzadik) cd 16.98

DRESSER, MARK, FRED FRITH AND IKUE MORI Later ... (Victo) cd 15.98
Recorded at the Great American Music Hall in 1994, this monster improv trio amble, tweak and scrape through nine pieces of downtown avant jazz.

DRUM CIRCUS Magic Theatre (Garden of Delights) cd 21.00
Here's a pretty cool, jazz-damaged, percussion-heavy Krautrock obscurity that we just got hip to, thanks to this recent cd reissue on Garden Of Delights. As you might expect from something called Drum Circus from 1971, this has a definite hippy attitude, full of Om-drones and space-jazz piano and cosmic Eastern raga moves. It's a bit like Alice Coltrane meets Lothar And The Hand People meets early (pre-robotic) Kraftwerk. On the 21+ minute title track you'll groove to martial drums, unison chanting of mystical slogans, ominous organs...what's not to like? I mean, this has got both free-jazz freakouts and ranting incantations -- with lotsa lyrics by none other than Timothy Leary! And Drum Circus then get into some '70s Miles Davis styled funk on the aptly titled "Groove Rock". There's even some nice melodic elements too -- Andee thinks the male singer on "All Things" sounds like Roger Daltrey. But overall though, this will probably appeal more to say, folks partial to recent Boredoms output than to fans of The Who...
MPEG Stream: "Magic Theatre"
MPEG Stream: "Now It Hurts You"

DRYER / HEULE / LINDSAY Idea Of West (Creative Sources) cd 13.98
When we first got this record in, we thought we had it totally figured out. Just take a look at the lineup: Tony Dryer, an accomplished double bassist and former touring member of the Flying Luttenbachers, Jacob Lindsay, local clarinet free-jazz virtuoso, and last but not least, Jacob Heule, a member of SF's only acoustic free/death/grind duo Ettrick! So naturally we figured this record would be a chaotic frenzy of fierce free jazzy madness. And while it is definitely loosely composed and rather abstract, the trio delve into some unexpected territory here. We checked out Heule's website and he describes the Idea of West as an album of "quiet and static acoustic musical territories explored through the pragmatic application of compositional and improvisational structures". Damn, and we thought we had this one figured out!
"In Order to Reroute the Wind" starts things off on a rather minimal note. Rickety scratching and scraping that sound like creaking boats swaying in a harbor of sizzling electric waste. Quiet industrial, barely there type of sound meanderings, a reserved and delicate sound for these ferocious free jazz contemporaries. On first listen, the jazz aesthetic of Idea of West is a bit hidden underneath a more ambient guise. Don't get us wrong, this sounds more like a jazz collaboration than a drone/ambient record, but it defiantly lacks the smack you in the face ferocity of other releases put out by these dudes. But that doesn't mean Idea of the West isn't an awesome piece of work in its own right. On the contrary, the trio confidently evolve Idea of West into a beautifully arranged aural invitation into a strange world of alchemic precision and skilled musicianship. Like a sorcerer who meticulously adds ingredients to a potion, paying careful attention to every detail in hopes of casting the perfect spell, these dudes play with close attention to detail. The record builds up and dissipates as the trio feed off each other's playing, letting chance determination sculpt their meditations into a hauntingly beautiful sonic narrative. Perfect for those of you aQ-addicts open to the weirder, more mystical side of free jazz!! And most certainly recommended by us!
MPEG Stream: "Before There Was Mass"
MPEG Stream: "Light From Another Light"
MPEG Stream: "Meant And Memory"

DUNN, TREVOR TRIO-CONVULSANT Sister Phantom Owl Fish (Ipecac) cd 17.98
The former Bungle and current Fantomas bassist unleashes the second album of spazz-jazz from his Trio-Convulsant (following up one from long ago that we can't get anymore). Ranging from hard (almost metallic) to soft (cocktails, anyone?), and generally pretty high on the notes-played-per-unit-of-time count. Complex compositions and loose improv coexist here, and the playing is at a very high level, from Dunn as well as his cohorts Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Ches Smith (drums). If you have Zorn, Cline, Ribot, that sort of stuff in yr "jazz" collection, you'll find that the Trio-Convulsant fits in there quite nicely too.
MPEG Stream: "Liver-colored Dew"
MPEG Stream: "The Single Petal Of A Rose"

DUNN, TREVOR'S TRIO-CONVULSANT Debutantes & Centipedes (BUZZ-Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, with Adam Levy on guitar and Kenny Wollesen on drums make up the Trio-Convulsant.

EAST NEW YORK ENSEMBLE DE MUSIC At The Helm (Ikef) cd 14.98
"Bilal Abdurahman's East New York Ensemble de Music emerged out of the fertile, cross-fertilizing community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, where African, West Indian & black American cultures converged. This rare 1974 disc, originally issued on Folkways, is back in print for the first time in nearly 30 years and what a gem it is! At The Helm is a gorgeously careening collection of indo-jazz that draws heavily on the near and far eastern sounds of Turkey, Korea, North Africa, India and China and threads them into a distinctively forceful Black Jazz idiom. In his lifetime, Bilal had always referred to this meld as a kind of 'Black Magical Music' and the tight, energetic compositions on this unsung masterpiece only supports the elevated, otherworldly claims. Take one listen to their rendition of Freddie Hubbard's beautiful 13 minute epic, 'Sun Flower', and you'll hear why this is a must for fans of rare groove & spiritual black jazz."

EAST NEW YORK ENSEMBLE DE MUSIC At The Helm (Smithsonian Folkways) lp 16.98

EAST NEW YORK ENSEMBLE DE MUSIC At The Helm (Smithsonian Folkways) lp 16.98

EHLERS, EKKEHARD Plays Albert Ayler (Staubgold) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second solo recording from the former Autopoeses member, in which Ehlers samples fragments of Albert Ayler. However, it is debatable as to how much Ayler is actually present on this recording, musically. Consisting entirely of digitally altered cello recordings, these two sidelong pieces gently swell, teeter and expand, forming beautiful, haunting drones that lie beneath digital snippets of arhythmic ephemera. Like Stephan Mathieu, whom Ekkehard has collaborated with on this year's "Heroin" cd, Ehlers simply restructures a mundane cello recording into a wonderfully reticular songpoem. Very highly recommended.

EICHSTAEDT, BJOERN House Of Horror... 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Volume 1 in 7" series of duos featuring German experimental/improv musician (and Italian suspense film fan) Eichstaedt. Side one, "House Of Horror" features Bjoern on keys and samples and Thomas Maos on guitar, creating an appropriately spooky soundscape to go along with the title. Side two, "Samuel Chillian vs. Batman (And His Mad Dogs From Transsylvania)" continues the fun with conspirator Leoon Gruenbaum.

EIGHTY MILE BEACH Inclement Weather (Om) cd 13.98
One of the many diverse branches of Ms Beth Custer's formidable creative tree. This one takes her into a melting pot of electronics, dance and jazz.

EKSWYZIA Live @ Phthalo (Phthalo) cd-r 12.98
Similar in intent to Squarepusher, Ekswyzia is dedicated to fusing the expressiveness of jazz within electronica programming. While Squarepusher definitely embraces a grooviness from jazz, Ekswysia takes the freeform jazz approach with a frenzy of squelchy synthetic screeches and sampled cymbals, snares, and toms clattering away with a frenzied often irregular pace. Challenging to say the least.

EL-P High Water (Thirsty Ear) cd 15.98
Latest in Thirsty Ear's Blue series, discs where jazz players are matched up with non-jazz performers (electronic, hip hop, etc.) for some cross genre explorations. The results have been mosly great, with past participants including the Antipop Consortium and Spring Heel Jack. This long awaited volume matches up the usual jazz suspects: Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Guillermo Brown, and Steve Swell with Definitive Jux head honcho El-P. Thankfully El-P shows an amazing amount of restraint here, and instead of dropping beats everywhere, and scratching and rapping all over the place, he lets the band just go. And in fact, the band goes in all sorts of new directions, some seriously dark and gritty, like on the opening track turning their avant bop into a creepy crawly cinematic jazzscape of pounding piano, wailing horns and slamming propulsive drumming. Sounds like the darkest scariest sample Shadow never dug out of a musty old crate. And things continue on in that vein, dark and boppish soundscapes, and it's not really until the end of track five where El-P makes his presence known, subtley, with a shuffling hip hop beat over muted trumpet and simple piano chords. For the second half of the record, El-P adds more and more beats, nothing bombastic or booming, just simple and groovy, totally complimenting the groups jazzy explorations. Track seven features some raspy jazz vocals over a creeping, minor key dirge, that is so intensely dark and moving. Once again, DJ Shadow would kill to come up with a track like this. So while there are beats and occasional hip-hop-isms, this is basically at heart a jazz record, albeit a dark and funky and creepy one. Maybe the best in the series so far!
MPEG Stream: "Get Your Hand Off My Shoulder, Pig"
MPEG Stream: "Intrigue In The House Of India"

ELECTRIC MASADA At The Mountains of Madness (Tzadik) 2cd 23.00

ELECTRIC MASADA John Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration Vol. 4 (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Wow, when John Zorn turns 50 he really makes a big deal about it. Umpteen concerts and commorative compact disc releases. Oh well, you're only 50 once (if you're lucky enough to make it that far). And I guess Zorn doesn't want anyone to think he's gonna be slowing down with age. So here's another one of Zorn's birthday presents to us. Seven tracks performed live at NYC's Tonic by Electric Masada -- an electric (natch) octet edition of Zorn's famed 'Jewish jazz' outfit, fully amped up with Marc Ribot's guitar, Ikue Mori's laptop electronics, Trevor Dunn's bass, Jamie Saft's keyboards, both Joey Baron and Kenny Wollesen's drums *and* Cyro Baptista's percussion. Plus of course the birthday boy himself on sax. Sounds like they'd be capable of making a lot of noise? Damn right. The obi suggests this possesses the energy of Zorn's Naked City and the mayhem of one of his Cobra projects, unleashed on the Masada songbook...and the obi could be right. Although this has its moments of delicate beauty, it's the hard rock shocks this delievers that might make it a must buy for old Zorn fans who'd like to hear a (50 year) old Zorn & co. kick some ass...
MPEG Stream: "Tekufah"
MPEG Stream: "Idalah-Abal"

ELLINGTON, DUKE AND HIS ORCHESTRA Jubilee Stomp (Monk) lp 21.00
Legendary composer Duke Ellington gets the deluxe Monk Records treatment here, bringing together 17 songs recorded in 1927 and 1928, right as his success was really beginning to take off thanks to a lucrative contract with agent Irving Mills. Ellington was an incredibly prolific songwriter and served as the perfect example of a big band leader. He also helped bring his art to the attention of white Americans, leading to unprecedented fame and elevating jazz music to a level of respectability that could not be ignored within America or the rest of the world. This record captures Duke and his Orchestra performing a variety of mostly Ellington penned tunes, with a couple of other numbers as well. Listening to this stuff is exciting, as one really gets the sense of a distinctly American artist creating and drawing on a distinctly American style of art, while also demonstrating how important the contributions of African-Americans were in establishing this new identity. Another winner from Monk!

EMERGENCY Homage To Peace (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.
Emergency were a mysterious and unlikely group, even by the always seemingly esoteric standards of the world of free jazz, two African-Americans, two Japanese and one French gypsy. The most well known of the lot, Glenn Spearman, a protege of legendary ESP free jazz saxophonist Frank Wright, handled the soprano and tenor saxophones, while the group was rounded out by some lesser known, but incredibly skilled players who had done time with Peter Brotzman, Derek Bailey, Misha Mengelberg, Steve Lacy and Cecil Taylor among others: Takshi Kako on piano, Bob Reid on double bass, Sabu Toyozumi on drums, and guitar prodigy Boulou Ferret, who was only 21 when this session was recorded. The various members gravitated from their various homes toward Paris, the free jazz hub of the early seventies, and eventually found themselves jamming as Emergency. This performance, a live session from 1970, is a dense psychedelic jam, an acid rock free jazz fusion, swirls of abstract guitar, clattery shuffling tribal throb, flurries of piano sprinkled atop burbling slippery basslines, while horns soar and skronk and squeal above it all. Lots of tripped out guitar effects, occasional Art Ensemble-ish vocals, some stretches of doomy jazzy ambience, some super angular abstract freakouts, but it's ultimately Ferret's acid fired guitar that takes center stage, sometimes shrikeing and scraping, sending fiery strands of distorted wah into the stratosphere, sometimes, slow and smooth channelling a little Wes Montgomery, sometimes locked in heated battle, wildly butting heads with the other instruments, the musical equivelent to one of those cartoon clouds when a bunch of people are in a fight, a big wirling cloud of notes and rhythms, a horn poking out here, a drum stick there, just spinning wild and chaotic. So 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: "People In Sorrow"
MPEG Stream: "Infidels"

ENGKILDE, AUGUST Police Beat Box (Cheap) cd 17.98
Cheap is a Viennese label that seems to have gotten sort of wacky evidenced by the electron purity of Robert Hood and Sil Electronics, and now August Engkilde's "Police Beat Box" extends Cheap's propensity for silliness, with this computer-manipulated mix of the brassy jazz laden rock of Engkilde's band Inner Urge and a Bollywood gangster movie.

ENSEMBLE MODERN / FRED FRITH Traffic Continues (Winter & Winter) cd 15.98
Avant guitar great Fred Frith, along with Ikue Mori (drum machines) and Zeena Parkins (harp), join one of Germany's premier new music ensembles (the aptly named Ensemble Modern) for what sounds amazingly like, if you can imagine, Aaron Copland at the Knitting Factory. A downtown NYC jazz take on 20th century classical, verging into Carl Stalling cartoon-music territory at moments. Not silly-sounding though, rather it's beautiful, pastoral and grand. Really great. On Winter & Winter, with their distinctive packaging. Dedicated in part to the memory of cellist Tom Cora.

ET CETERA s/t (Long Hair) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
1971 strikes again. Holy moly, the planets must have been extra-aligned that year. Here's a krautrock classic from '71 that kinda fell through the cracks (though not the cracks in the cosmic egg). Well, it's certainly been lauded by some but we'd never heard it before now, anyway. In fact, this is its first time on cd, apparently, and we're glad to have it! Wild stuff here, a trip indeed, starting off with a serious dose of crazed, freakout action for synth and drums entitled "Thursday Morning Sunrise". Seriously psychedelic jamming jazz weirdness, like Sun Ra gone heavy. The synth squiggles and squeaks, growls and grumbles, and drums tumble and splatter, for almost 12 minutes. Some sunrise! But if you think that this is gonna be an album of improvised, uh, "drug jazz" (which it is, in part), you'll be surprised by what's to come on this disc... lovely acoustic guitar melodies ("Mellodrama Nr. 2 A"), faux-Eastern bliss-out vibes ("Raga"), and spoken word beat poetry set amidst angelic vocal arrangements ("Lady Blue")... like we said, a trip! But then again, all this eclectic awesomeness - from moody jazz to ethnic groove to fuzzy acid rock instrumentals - isn't all that unexpected in a krautrock band, especially one featuring members of Embryo and Exmagma, as well as mastermind Wolfgang Dauner (of The Oimels fame). They deliver the goods with a great deal of groove and gusto, making music both beautiful and bizarre... it could be the soundtrack to some avantgarde psychedelic art film from the '70s, like a Jodorowsky epic. Despite the not-so-cheap import price, this is a recommended reissue, done right. Snazzy, colorful cover, remastered sound (from original masters), 3 lengthy & quite excellent bonus tracks, liner notes... the works!
MPEG Stream: "Thursday Morning Sunrise"
MPEG Stream: "Lady Blue"
MPEG Stream: "Tau Ceti"

ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE 21st Century Union March (Silkheart) cd 16.98

ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE Ka-Real (Silkheart) cd 15.98
The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble's jazz builds complexity from simplicity, diversifies through repetition, transcends time by emphasizing it. Their laser-like ability to set the rhythm button on infinite repeat creates a hypnosis similar to the mind-buzz of classical minimalists like Steve Reich and Terry Riley.

ETTRIC Feaders Of Ravens (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98

ETTRICK Infinite Horned Abomination (Heule) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On the same label as the more spaced out free-form black jazz ambience of Hodag (reviewed elsewhere on this list), Ettrick on the surface seems like they must be a way more metal proposition, the record's called Infinite Horned Abomination for chrissakes! And their logo is of the spiky illegible classic metal style, but in fact, this is way more of a sputtery skronky free jazz, with wild horns and chaotic bursts of sputtering drum splatter. Each half of this duo handles both sax and drums, each player safely ensconced in their own channel, sometimes it's two horns, sometimes it's horn and drums, sometimes all drums, a dizzying barrage coming scattershot from both the left and right channels, as if there were some sort of free jazz monkeys screaming and beating their chests wildly in each channel, pelting the listener with sonic stones and hurling great handfuls of free jazz dung! Intense and aggressive and furiously freaked out. You might think you're tough, jazz sissy, and we're happy to let you have a go, but this stuff is dangerous, and sharp, and sort of scary, so stand back and let the more highly decorated free jazz warriors step forward, unless you're feeling particularly brave today...
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!! Each disc packaged in a cool hand screened cardboard sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Before The Semantic"
MPEG Stream: "Village Of Necromposition"

EVANS, BILL AND JIM HALL Undercurrent (Blue Note) cd 15.98

EVOLUTIONARY JASS BAND Change Of Scene (Community Library) cd 16.98
The strangely monickered Evolutionary Jass Band features two ex members of free noise abstract improvisors Jackie-O-Motherfucker, and while that pedigree definitely informs the sound of the EJB, their sound is much more aligned with traditional jazz, a mix of dark New Orleans funeral jazz and skittery post bop, but all sort of laid back and dreamy, dark and dolorous. Horns don't skronk so much as swoon and shimmer. Dark tones shift and slide, drifting thick and rich over dense tribal drumming, and simple slippery bass. There's even some sitar to add some droney buzz. The EJS are a pretty big ensemble, but it doesn't sound cluttery or crowded, each player contributes and deftly interacts with the rest of the group, but also knows when to let someone else step forward.
This will definitely hit the spot for modern jazz-heads, and might even appeal to the more traditionally inclined, but folks who dig the abstract clatter and free form drift of bands like JOMF, No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand Of The Man and the like, might dig this too. It could be their gateway to a lifelong love of jazz, which is at least partially responsible for informing the new breed of improvised abstraction that is all the rage these days.
Great stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Aunt Dot"
MPEG Stream: "Change Of Scene"

EX, TERRIE, & AB BAARS Hef (Terp) cd 17.98
Guitarist Terrie Ex (of Dutch political avant rock band The Ex) follows up the collaboration with Han Bennink on "Laughing Owl", with another duo recording, this time making noise with saxophonist Ab Baars. Improv brutality, totally harsh and grating. Are you tough enough?

EXIAS-J Electric Conception "Balance of Chaos" (PSF) cd 22.00
PSF provides a second installment of freeform electric mayhem from Tokyo's six-member avant-jazz ensemble Exias-J, this time recorded live during a visit to New York in 2003. Still recommended for those into the extremes of noisy improvised music like Borebetomagus and the Blue Humans. But, as before, don't worry if you're not into saxophones -- there's none of 'em here, just guitars, synths, piano, electronics, contrabass, computers, and drums. Dynamic (quiet...and loud!) and droning and abstract and limitless. Exias-J could perhaps be considered the collective spiritual heirs to the the late great Japanese free improvising master Masayuki Takayanagi...
MPEG Stream: "Broadening Distribution: Invention"
MPEG Stream: "Palestine"

EXIAS-J Live Document 2003-2005 (PSF) dvd 27.00
It's usually the case that improvised music is best experienced live. It's usually made live after all. Seeing as well as hearing the interactions of the improvising musicians often adds a lot to the experience. A live cd or lp of an improv session can be great, but it's not the same as being there in the moment as the music was happening. Next best thing to being there? A live audio-visual document. Anyone into the extreme sounds of Japanese electronics and jazz improv outfit Exias-J is thus in for a treat with this release, a DVD on the PSF label presenting live footage from three shows, two in Tokyo and one at the Tonic (R.I.P.) in NYC.
Exias-J head honcho, guitarist Hideaki Kondo, explains that in addition to the usual free improv process, these performances find his group experimenting with more conceptual, structured forms and restrictions, minimalism, sonatas, compositional stuff like that. Whatever their methods, though, they kick up a heck of a ruckus, featuring guitars, computers, analog synth, piano, live electronics, cello, contrabass, drums and percussion.
142 minutes, region free, NTSC.

EYE / ZORN DUO John Zorn 50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 10 (Tzadik) cd 15.98

FLACK, ROBERTA First Take (Atlantic) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is Roberta Flack's debut from 1969 and it's not only one of the best soul debuts of all time but one of our all-time favorite records. Many of us didn't even know there had been a cd version of this, but were excited to discover there was considering we've worn out our cherished lp versions, which we've cherished and always kept close to our turntable, even amongst the piles of our ever growing record collections.
But since there is indeed a cd version (not new or nothin') we had to take a moment to rave about it. First Take is an album brewing with such strong emotional weight, when Roberta sings it she means it, and while the word 'soul' has been reduced to a meaningless tag-name of a genre this reminds us what true soul is really all about. Elegant and moody string and horn arrangements by William Fischer, impeccable playing from a band that included the amazing Ron Carter on bass, and the stunning and often covered album opener "Compared To What" penned for Roberta by the enigmatic Gene (Eugene) McDaniels. First Take shares a special place next to records like Sam Cooke's Night Beat, Nina Simone's High Priestess Of Soul and Roy Orbison's In Dreams, another record that you can turn to time after time when you really need to check in with sounds that are filled with honesty and core conviction. There is no doubt that it's this record that has influenced everyone from Cat Power to Erykah Badu. First Take is as sexy as it is spiritual. Raw and unpolished yet so sensual and the closest thing you can get to trying to find any real peace of mind in this world. Absolutely recommended, a record that will always be close to our hearts!
MPEG Stream: "Compared To What"
MPEG Stream: "Tryin' Time"
MPEG Stream: "Angelitos Negros"

FLAHERTY, PAUL & CHRIS CORSANO The Beloved Music (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98
Not sure what it is, but a lot of the new wave of post-hardcore improvised jazz leaves us really cold. Naysayers and squares have always described free jazz as just a bunch of noise, a bunch of honking skronking non-music. And as much as we fancy ourselves lovers of free jazz AND diggers of all manner of noise, we have occasionally lamentedly found ourselves playing that role, you know, the grumpy and bitter old music man, reflecting on the glory of the good ol' days, admonishing the younguns "That's nothing but noise, give that dangnabbit rackit a rest!" Or something appropriately crotchety like that.
But every once in a while, for whatever reason, one of those records sneaks through and kicks our ass. This is one of those records.
It helps that Corsano and Flaherty have been honing their improvisational mind melds for years now. Their interplay is fluid and fierce, a free jazz freakout as sublime as it is pummeling. Corsano (who also does time in free folk weirdos Sunburned Hand Of The Man) and Flaherty (a legend amongst free jazz fiends) spar and weave, Flaherty's sax spewing thick gushes of corrosive sound, a downright Borbetomagusian cascade of shreiks and groans, sputters and wheezes, but it's Corsano who holds it all together, an incredible gush of dense and delirious drumming, from impossibly subtle shuffle and skitter to an avalanche of percussion pummel unrivalled. Holy shit! So massive and emotionally charged, freaked out and wild and free. But Corsano and Flaherty manage to imbue each white hot burst with strangely soothing atonal melodies and rhythms that manage to be downright catchy, so much so that on repeated listens we find ourselves almost humming along to Corsano's solo stretches. Amazing stuff!
MPEG Stream: "The Great Pine Tar Scandal"
MPEG Stream: "A Lean And Tortured Heart"

FLAHERTY, PAUL / CHRIS CORSANO / C. SPENCER YEH A Rock In The Snow (Important) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "We Have To Check Your Equipment For Bombs"
MPEG Stream: "Do You Have Any Prurient Releases?"

FLEURETY Department of Apocalyptic Affairs (Supernal Music) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've heard a lot of strange black metal related discs, but this is among the strangest...On this album, metal is only one (important but small) component of the whole, which also involves free jazz and trip hop...Released on the same label that brought us the infamous Benighted Leams, and you can see how this truly fucked-up "so bad it's weird and so weird it's bad and so weird and bad that it's kind of amazing" band would appeal to the same minds that thought the Leams were genius. Formerly a medieval 'forest-is-my-throne' epic black metal band a la Ulver (and we think still sharing some members with that Norwegian Ulver/Ved Buens Ende/Dodheimsgard axis), now these guys are wearing suits, carrying automatic weapons, and programming beats. But they've gone beyond the Mr. Bungle tendencies of say, an Arcturus (who seem "ordinary" in comparison!), and created something that even we at AQ can't quite understand, or judge. Every time we put this on, our reactions vary from being blown away at how bizarre and great it is to being appalled at the (same!) dismally bad and wrong moments. Great packaging, with the lyrics in the form of a miniature intelligence "dossier". Essential for those compelled to always increase the utter weirdness quotient of their cd collections, and very definitely for fans of Arcturus, Solefald, and recent Dodheimsgard.
RealAudio clip: "Fingerprint"

FLOWER-CORSANO DUO The Four Aims (VHF) cd 13.98
We were all ready to hate this, not cuz we don't dig the players, we love Michael Flower (Vibracathedral, Sunroof!) and Chris Corsano is a ruling drummer, it's just that for some reason we thought this was gonna be some of that new fangled indie free jazz, which always leaves us a bit cold. Not sure why, maybe it was the 'duo' thing. But then it's on VHF, home to much of our favorite dronemusic and outrock, and the instrumentation definitely looked like anything but free jazz: Japan banjo, tanpura, organ, melodica, cello and drums. So we figured, okay, what the heck, let's give it a try, and BAM, this totally knocked out socks off and our teeth in, at once exactly what we had hoped for, but something we never would have imagined, some impossible hybrid of frenetic chaotic drumming, and strange super distorted looped melodic mantras, like some impossible sonic hybrid of Mick Barr and Dan Higgs, or Orthrelm covering Zomes, tripped out and psychedelic, wild as fuck, but weirdly hypnotic and totally mesmerizing.
The opener is a mad blowout of wild melodies super distorted and all tangled up, like some strange sped up bagpipe, wound around Corsano's non stop drum workout, the banjo here ends up sounding like the guitars on Amps For Christ records, unfurling intense abstract runs of notes and fragmented melodies, sometimes locking into little trills, other times getting all wavery and woozy, the drums somehow remaining totally free but staying locked in with Flower's wild psych freakouts. It's so inherently chaotic and raw and primal and by all rights should be difficult to listen to, but after a few minutes, we find ourselves totally lost, and we never want it to end.
The follow up is more of a percussive free jam, reminding us of groups like Avarus and Anaksimandros and No Neck and Sunburned Hand, very free, but with the metallic shimmer spreading out over the warm low end whirs and the abstract gamelan like melodies. "The Drifter's Miracles" is the most obviously VHF of the batch, a long languorous slow burning ur-drone, all bowed stings and wheezing organ, very raga like, overtones shifting and beating against one another, bits or percussion clink and clank beneath the gloriously heaving sea of rich lustrous tones, this definitely could be a whole record, as it is, it's easily the most 'listenable' of the bunch.
"The Beginning Of The End" sounds like a field recording of some ritualistic musical performance, the sound muted and lo-fi, a sort of crazed dance, the drums a wild tribal patter, sometimes splatter, Flower again offering up dense tangles and billowing squiggles, there is definitely a free jazz element, but the duo manage to take the loose free drumming, and the manic looped sounding melodies and create a another, sort-of abstract, ultra free ur-drone, it's quite magical actually, the parts are so frenetic and tense and relentless, that it seems impossible that combining them would create something soothing and spiritual, but that's precisely what it does.
The closer, the nearly 18 minute "The Main Ingredient" is like a more jubilant, ebullient version of the record opener, the drums muted and minimal, still skittery and feral, but Flower's banjo weaving magical crystalline shapes in the air, melodies, notes, tones, harmonies, overtones, all shimmering and hovering and looping and stuttering and glistening, total Amps For Christ / Higgs / Orthrelm sun baked lysergic spiritual raga drone free jazz out-rock blowout. So completely heavy, and epic, and dreamlike, and tripped out, and intense and so so beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "I, Brute Force?"
MPEG Stream: "The Drifter's Miracles"
MPEG Stream: "The Main Ingredient"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS Trauma (ugExplode) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Trauma finds long time no wave free jazz attackers the Flying Luttenbachers doing their usual brutal best to channel the spirits of Brotzmann and Ayler and Takayanagi and the like. It's primal stuff originally recorded in 2001, newly reissued on cd for those that missed it the first time, and want a taste of that intensely improv Luttenbachers phase (before their more recent forays into tech guitar mutant metal prog scifi spasms). On this disc, squealing saxophone and rumbling bass vie with the frenzied percussive pummel of bandleader Weasel Walter, the whole screaming machinegunning shebang never really letting up (the eleven tracks on this nearly 70 minute disc are aptly titled "Trauma 1" through "Trauma 11").
Go to YouTube to watch this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PU4pVVM5wb4) brilliant video for a track from Trauma, depicting panic in the streets and the nightmarish effects of multiple nuclear blasts, for which the Luttenbacher's freeform blasting is the perfect soundtrack. The images, so scary in the '80s (they're all edited together from the TV movie The Day After, remember that?) hilariously, horrifically fit the music and vice versa. No more need be said by us, that should do the trick.
MPEG Stream: "Trauma 1"
MPEG Stream: "Trauma 2"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE ...The Truth Is A Fucking Lie... (Skin Graft) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The notorious Weasel Walter and co. return with their seventh album of Chicago death-jazz spazz. This album features two almost diameterically opposed covers: "De Futura" by French prog giants Magma and "Black Perversion" by sub-cult black metal band Havohej, both fitting in nicely along with the Flying Luttenbachers' usual skree. Instrumentation on this disc includes mellotron, cello (played by Fred Lonberg-Holm) and 'abyssic guitar', in addition to the more ordindary drums, bass, saxophone, etc.

FONATINE, BRIGITTE L'Indendie (Actuel) lp 14.98

FONTAINE, BRIGITTE WITH ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO Comme ˆ la Radio (Saravah) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I somehow missed out on the first round of this reissue a little bit ago, but luckily for all of us, it's popped up again! This is an amazing collaboration between two totally incredible musical explorers, french chanteuse Brigitte Fontaine (with percussionist partner Areski) and avant-jazz greats Art Ensemble of Chicago, recorded during the Art Ensemble's stay in Paris in 1969. Though coming from very different backgrounds, each artist's idiosyncratic approach, commitment to experimentation, disregard for genre boundaries, and keen sense for improvisation and working collaboratively yields an album that pushes each performer to new heights. The blend of Fontaine's vocals, Areski's understated percussion, and the Art Ensemble's horns is really seamless, evoking the mysterious, intriguing sounds of lounge jazz in a dada cafe, or, well, an intellectual french chanteuse melding avant-folk with free jazz, which is exactly what it is. Brigitte Fontaine is becoming more and more cemented as one of my absolute favorite artists ever whith each reissue I get my hands on. So great, so recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Comme ç La Radio"

FOOD Last Supper (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
4th album from Norweigan avant-fusioneers, 2nd for Rune G.

FOOD Molecular Gastronomy (Rune Grammofon) cd 17.98
We liked the other Food discs, but this one's just a bit to wanky fusiony whatever for us, sorry.

FOOD Veggie (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Norway's Rune Grammofon label has become one of those imprints whose releases we ALWAYS have to pay attention to -- and not just 'cause of the lovely packaging courtesy artist/designer Kim Hiorthoy in which they are invariably resplendent, but because they are often quite excellent. As is this one, Food's "Veggie" (housed in, of course, a handsome Hiorthoy digipack). Apparently it's the third album from this experimental jazz group. The other two, unheard by us, were live recordings, but with "Veggie" Food move into the studio, and not just any: the "Audio Virus Lab" of Norwegian sound artist Deathprod. In the context of Helge "Deathprod" Sten's electronics-infused production, this becomes something rather other than normal "jazz". It's experimental indeed. Led by British saxophonist Iain Ballamy, the Food quartet also features Supersilent's Arve Henriksen on trumpet, Mats Eilertsen on acoustic and electric basses, and Thomas Stronen on drums (and most of 'em are also credited with "sampler", so it's not just Deathprod doing the electronicky stuff).
If you count Mr. Deathprod, who is also a Supersilent member (and who actually gets a whole track here, "Nofood", all to himself), this band is 2/5ths Supersilent, and boy, do we love Supersilent -- they're our favorite Norwegian "death-jazz" improv n' electronics group. So already we were anticipating good things from "Veggie", and you don't have to listen for very long to encounter echoes of Arve Henriksen's breathy solo album "Sakuteiki", the glacial drones of Supersilent's "5", and the electronic chaos of Supersilent's "1-3" as well. Bubbling underneath with electro-acoustic beats and drones, this is spacey, lyrical, melodic, 21st century jazz, establishing a range of moods from a mellow Miles Davis trumpet at sunset looking over a North Sea fjord kind of thing to more abrasive, paranoid glitching and shrieking experience... Really nice. Good, and good for you.
RealAudio clip: "Tofu"
RealAudio clip: "Veg"
RealAudio clip: "Chickpea"

FORBIDDEN PLANET s/t (self-released) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bay Area improv dude and Rastascan label owner Gino Robair (drums, "materials") teams up with AQ-fave Bjoern Eichstaedt (keys, voice) and fellow Germans Pit Schmidt (sax, tapes) and Thomas Maos (guitar, "mts modulation" whatever that is) for this live session, recorded April 15th 2000 at Club Voltaire, Tuebingen Germany. If you read our lists closely, you'll know Eichstaedt as a very creative and eclectic musician, responsible for solo electronic recordings, the Bunglized jazz/rock of Bretzel Killing Machine, AND the utter black metal weirdness that is Caacrinolas! Eichstaedt's new Forbidden Planet project incorporates his pal Robair's improv jazz sensibilities into a crazy half-hour-plus stew of everything from mellow noir-jazz to full-on Hendrix-style distorted guitar skree to sizzling electronic scrape-scapes to Patton-esque abstract vocal blurt. Quite a trip. Must have been a great show, although of course this was edited down from the raw recordings. It's a cd-r, numbered and limited to 100, packaged in an ever-popular *sandpaper* cover!
RealAudio clip: "Track 2"

FREE MUSIC QUINTET One And Two (ESP-Disk/Calibre) cd 14.98
Reissue of this 1968 blast of noisy free jazz from this Dutch ensemble. The Free Music Quintet was: Pierre Courbois, Peter Van de Locht, Boy Raaymakers, Ferdy Rikkers and Erwin Somer.

FREEDOM RHYTHM & SOUND Revolutionary Jazz Original Cover Art 1965-83 (Soul Jazz) book 39.95
You think Soul Jazz are good and funk, jazz and soul reissues, you should see how good they are at making books! Holy crap this thing is amazing, just based on the incredible and expansive booklets that come with all the Soul Jazz releases, it should come as no surprise that these guys can put together a pretty amazing book. Then again, how can you go wrong working with some of the coolest, most striking, and arguably most important jazz album covers EVER (well, okay 1965-1983).
We can't think of a single music obsessive we know that wouldn't flip for this book. It's huge, perfect for displaying record covers almost full size, and the covers, WOW, so creative, the design so fantastic, some just great looking, many super political, all of them AWESOME. Covers of albums by folks like Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Rashied Ali, Steve Reid and more more more!!
The only thing more fun than listening to these classic free jazz records, is looking at the covers, and since most of these you'll probably only ever get to see on cd, it's nice to have the covers big and bold to enjoy.
There's also a companion double cd, with some of the best revolutionary jazz jams ever, ones with their covers represented inside, we'll list it on the next list, but if you want one, just ask, or it should be in the In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed section at the end of this week's list.

FRIEDLANDER'S, ERIK (CHIMERA) The Watchman (Tzadik) cd 15.98
New installment in Tazdik's "Radical Jewish Culture" series. Cellist Erik Friedlander, along with two clarinetists and a bassist, creates some very beautiful klezmer-influenced chamber jazz. Friedlander plays on the Masada Chamber Ensemble double-cd and if you liked that, you'll want this, it's similarly gorgeous and moving.

FRIEDLANDER, ERIK Grains of Paradise (Tzadik) cd 15.98

FRISELL, BILL Ghost Town (Nonesuch) cd 16.98
A truly solo album from stellar guitarist Frisell (he plays electric & acoustic guitars as well as as banjo, loops and bass). The material here ranges from Frisell's own compositions to pieces by John McLaughlin, Hank Williams, and the Gershwins. Very pretty, liquid, and appropriately-lonely sounding stuff.

FRITH, FRED Clearing (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Member of such classic "experimental" outfits as Henry Cow, Art Bears and Massacre, and frequent downtown (Zorn, Laswell) collaborator, Frith has enjoyed increasingly iconic status for the last quarter century (novices, check out 1980's Gravity). Clearing is the avant guitar-hero's first solo guitar record since 1974's seminal Guitar Solos. Very pretty, evocative (and dynamic) improv pieces.
RealAudio clip: "White"
RealAudio clip: "This Earth Is A Flower"