 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
| What's
on Disc by Thomas Schulte |
|
| |
|
GET
SHAGGED
Do you want to know the name of an album that both
Frank Zappa and Henry Rollins and other musicians both give high
praise to? Well, that album is The Shaggs' "Philosophy Of The World"
reissued on the RCA Victor label. In having guests over from time
to time, I have been advised not to give such ready access to my
CD collection to acquaintances. But, in all these years, only one
album has mysteriously disappeared. This one, and I figure that's
also is firm evidence of its strong, cult appeal. Not for the faint
of heart, but one listen to this album will obliterate any belief
in your mind that you personally cannot make an unforgettable album.
We must than the father and "manager" of The Shaggs Austin Wiggin
for the genius to rush this project into the recording studio in
their raw state, unblemished by conventional notions of rehearsing,
harmonization, etc. |
|
| |
|
SHELF
LIFE
Ask someone who knows, like a record store manager,
how many new records come out each week and you will not believe
the answer. One strong recording that still persists high on my
list of important recent recordings is Ani DiFranco's "Up Up Up
Up Up Up" (Righteous Babe). This woman has almost single-handedly
raised folk rock from being a coffeehouse feature to an important
and popular genre. Her songs are delivered like personal confessions
or straight, no-B.S. observations. As if quality were not enough,
Ani does it all outside of the clutches of the music industry and
without an ounce of pretentiousness. Like all of albums that I heard,
"Up Up Up Up Up Up" comes across like a message from a friend. Seemingly
like an old friend is the voice of those classic Japan records,
David Sylvian. Sylvian gloomy new release is "Dead Bees on a Cake."
Old friends of his, like guitarist Bill Frisell, join in on the
creation of the maudlin effort along with such guests as experimental
guitarist Marc Ribot and tabla player Talvin Singh. The swirling
compositions range from languid beauty to piercing, blues-leaning
numbers. No strangers to tragedy themselves, Scottish and Irish
peoples give us many of the world's saddest songs. Joined by some
folk fiddle players, early music ensemble Hesperus examines the
earliest material from these nations on "Celtic Roots" (Maggie's
Music). You think it is a cello, but what you actually are hearing
is a bass viola da gamba as this trio applies period instrumentation
for an unusual "chamber Celtic" effect. Believe it or not, many
immigrants of this ancestry became our first bluegrass players in
remote Appalachian area. Modern descendants of these musical breeds
are present on "Bluegrass 99" (Pinecastle). The fifth in an important
series of high lonesome or just plain country happy recordings.
By combining the cream of the contemporary talent and an excellent
song list, this is the only new bluegrass recording for '99. (If
you can stop at just one.) All the tools of the trade - banjo, mandolin,
fiddle and Dobro (resophonic guitar) - are on hand for this recording. |
|
| |
|
TAKE
THE CHALLENGE
Satoko Fujii approaches jazz from the cultural perspective
of an Asian. The prolific artists again release two albums together.
Recorded in Japan, "Past Life" (Libra Records) features her all-Japanese
sextet that has worked on collective improvisation since forming
in 1996. The instrumentation backing Fujii at the piano is trumpet,
saxophones, trombone, bass and drums. Their hyper-voodoo coloring
of organically evolving themes is exciting and magical. Very avant-garde
and unhindered by Western notions of tonality and structure, Fujii's
music pushes the envelope in all directions. This is her seventh
recording since 1996. Fujii continues advancing the sophistication
in her alchemical mix of jazz, classical music and traditional Japanese
folk motifs. Not entirely improvised, the sextet performs intricate
scores composed by Fujii and features in performance wild musical
fantasies led by Fujii's husband, trumpeter Natuski Tamura. More
intellectually challenging Fujii, material is available on John
Zorn's New York Tzadik label. On Tzadik's "Kitsune-Bi" release,
Fujii appears in solo, duo and trio settings. Helping out is bassist
Mark Dresser, percussionist Jim Black and the soprano saxophonist
from her Sextet, Sachi Hayasaka. Regardless of the setting, the
music of this Paul Bley disciple is highly charged, wickedly dynamic
and virtuoistic. |
|
| |
|
| REVIEWS
>>>>>>>>>> |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Lisa
Sokolov
Lazy Afternoon
Laughing Horse Records,
11 Menocker Road, Monsey NY, 10952
Lisa Sokolov's debut album Lazy Afternoon
is an amazing and peerless vocal jazz record. Lisa's acrobatic leaps
and dives of pitch are stunning. No mere catalog of florid vocal
display, every rumble from the contralto range and every clear,
strident soprano leap is an accent of emotion displayed through
the song. Sokolov's camaraderie is with avant-garde improvisers
like Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, William Parker and Andrew Cyrille.
Nevertheless, her renditions of such standards as "Sunny Side of
the Street" and the title track are important contributions to the
mainstream body of vocal stylism developed by Sarah Vaughn, Ella
Fitzgerald and their peers. This combination of bare, honest sentiment
and vastly versatile lyric inducts Sokolov into a pantheon of jazz
divas. Sokolov's "Over the Rainbow" is an incredibly moving admission
of the human need for fantasy escapism in tear-inducing phrasing
where Lisa accompanies herself on the piano. Sokolov and log-time
collaborator guitarist David Gonzalez perform here an original duet
entitled "This Little Piggy." Here, a child's rhyme is the kernel
to an exciting showcase of Lisa's scat ability. On the Shaker traditional
"Simple Gifts" Sokolov presents us that charming celebration of
simplicity with more scat singing and a gospel-like murmuring, multi-tracked
backing chorus. Lazy Afternoon is an exquisite album of the
level of technical excellence that comes along all too rarely.
(5) |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Trance
Mission
A Day Out Of Time
City of Tribes,
3025 17th, SF CA, 94110
Trance Mission's fourth full-length release is a live recording
from St. John's Church in Berkeley, California. Far-sighted interpreters
of world music motifs, Trance Mission are harbingers of a new exotica.
Here the mournful, mysterious didgeridoo meets the slick, modern
sampler. Their techno-tribal, shrinking world electronica boasts
rich, live instrumentation and strong, simple, overt rhythms. Key
in the arrangements it the voice and clarinets of Beth Custer. Beth's
honest and natural lyric is that of a woman newly planted in the
remote peace of our planet and singing with a new voice. The disembodied
voices of her clarinets echo this neo-primitive joy. (4.5) |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
_________________________________
|
|
| |
|
Outsight
brings to light non-mainstream music, film, books, art, ideas and
opinions.
Published, somewhere, monthly since July 1991. Feel free to re-print
this article.
Ratings are (1) = :(, (5) = :)
"Don't be normal, be natural!"
Visit or Join Outsight's Web ring: http://d.webring.com/hub?ring=music1432
Outsight Radio Hours Webcasts
Sundays 6pm-8pm EST @
http://www.outsight.mu
NEW MAILING ADDRESS:
Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte,
5224 Shoreline Blvd.,
Waterford, MI 48329-1670
E-mail Outsight at: outsight@usa.net |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
