December 2003 - zorn-list - mailman.xmission.com

Amplify 2002: balance box set
by Bill Ashline 06 Dec '03

06 Dec '03

Apologies for multiple postings.... I wanted to put in a strong word of recommendation of this box set from Erstwhile Records. Admittedly, I had a very tiny part in its release, so I'm biased, but this is a great set. The box contains seven CDs and one DVD by Jonas Leddington of the Amplify festival of electroacoustic improv in Tokyo in October 2002. The DVD is superb. Jonas did a great job of editing and using effects. He captured some terrific footage of the performers as well as interviews, including some interesting ones with Keith Rowe, Gunter Muller, and Marcus Schmickler. He has additional footage of tangential events as a bonus on the DVD. The CDs are very well recorded. Four are of the festival itself. One is of outside shows involving Toshi Nakamura and another is of a guitar septet, featuring Rowe, Oren Ambarchi, Nakamura, Taku Sugimoto, Otomo Yoshihide, Burkhard Stangl, and Tetuzi Akiyama performing a part of Cornelius Cardew's Treatise as well as a separate improvisation. This CD is one of the highlights of the set. But my favorite of all the CDs in this box is #2, a duo with Nakamura and Gunter Muller called ".tint". This particular recording is unbelievably great and probably will rank as the best thing I've heard all year. It's an indispensable studio set, separately recorded from the other live events, and very, very inspired. The recordings of the actual festival are stellar. Eight of the twelve sets were included and were well-selected. My favorites are the Otomo Yoshihide/Gunter Muller duo and the Cosmos duo of Ami Yoshida and Sachiko M, which sounds much better on record and on DVD than I remember it being at the festival itself (one of the problems with sitting at the back of the venue). One of my favorite sets was the duo between Stangl and Christof Kurzmann, which, unfortunately, isn't included in the box, probably because the sound is rather similar to their previous Erstwhile recording Schnee, which might well be my overall favorite on the label. However, a good portion of this set is included on the DVD, including a "remix" of the accompanying Schnee video, itself a remix of video footage from the four films that served as titles of the tracks on the CD. The box is beautifully packaged with artwork by Friederike Paetzold, and there's an accompanying booklet with brief essays and remarks by most of the performers. It's selling for $150 direct from the label and about $200 at distributors. A lot of time and money has gone into producing this package and I would consider it well-worth the investment. It's a limited one-time release of 800 copies, so it won't be around forever. Get it while you still can. http://www.erstwhilerecords.com

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Pale Flower
by Tosh 05 Dec '03

05 Dec '03

I want to second this opinion - Pale Flower is great! It's a yakuza genre film with weird touches. It goes well with Branded to Kill or Tokyo Drifters. -- Tosh Berman TamTam Books http://www.tamtambooks.com

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Fred Frith Show in SF
by Bruno N 05 Dec '03

05 Dec '03

Wanted to give a heads up to my fellow zorn-listers, Fred Frith will be playing at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco this Sunday night. He will be performing with Miya Masaoka, Larry Ochs, Lesli Dalaba, and Carla Kihstedt. Show is at 8 PM and tickets are $12. Rock on. Bruno N.P. -- Cuong Vu "Bound" _________________________________________________________________ Get holiday tips for festive fun. http://special.msn.com/network/happyholidays.armx

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Re: Curlew
by Epistrophy＠aol.com 04 Dec '03

04 Dec '03

<< Davey Williams has gone to be replaced by Dean Granros. I don't know anything about him but he fits like a glove. >> Nice to see this, Richard. I hate the very idea of anyone replacing Davey Williams, but I'm glad to hear that Dean Granros has filled the gap well. - Todd

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Curlew
by CuneiWay＠aol.com 04 Dec '03

04 Dec '03

Richard wrote: >Just been listening to Curlew's new CD: Mercury. I am sure Steve is too >shy >to trumpet how good this recording is on the list but I warmly recommend >it. Oh, no, I'm not too shy, but it's better if someone else does it out of their appreciation of the music. So, thank you very much Richard. I would like to mention that you can go to our website and hear a track from the album (and all their previous albums as well). Our website is at: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com Curlew's page is at: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/curlew.html And if you just want to hear the track (entitled "Still"): http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/realaudio/still.ram Thank you Steve/ Cuneiform

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SUN CITY GIRLS update/show info (12/6/03: Tacoma, WA)
by squeegee media 04 Dec '03

04 Dec '03

Ladies & Gentlemen, a truly special event, FYI, courtesty of a truly singular "band"... ...Sincerely, James Kirchmer, WA, USA p.s. - all of the titles currently available via Sublime Frequencies are must-buys, IMHO. (these are not SCG titles; see the link below) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ The Squeegee Presents ~ SUN CITY GIRLS ..and.. SPECS {opening!} (((ONLY SCG SHOW OF 2003!))) *** SATURDAY, December 6th, 2003 *** at BOB's JAVA JIVE (est. in 1929, and recently added to the Historical Register! Check out a picture: http://snurl.com/3775) in Tacoma, Washington, "City of Destiny" 2102 South Tacoma Way / 253.475.9843 9pm doors /// 10pm show /// $8 cover 21 & over only (beer/wine/food available) (Note: sorry, no advance tiks! arrive early! and fyi - the Java Jive opens at 4pm, for your PBR & greasy burger consumin' convenience) coming soon (Jan. '04): www.SunCityGirls.com currently online: www.sublimefrequencies.com (a legendary record label in-the-making, brought to you by the Sun City Girls & their fine associates) --------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN CITY GIRLS: Alan Bishop / Richard Bishop / Charles Gocher To say the Sun City Girls are just a band is like saying William Burroughs is just a writer, or Salvador Dali is just a painter, or Alexandro Jodorowsky is just a director. Of course, all of these classifications are basically valid, but the need to label such polymorphously talented explorers of the Void excludes so much more than simple labels can include. For over twenty years, the Sun City Girls have used music as both a storehouse and delivery system for outsider information expressed through an aesthetic philosophy that incorporates pan-Asiatic indigenous cultures, conspiracy theories, intuitive harmolodics, aberrant mysticism, historical incongruities, twisted archetypes, fourth world anthropology, global Pop detritus, Arabic indulgence, and scatological politics. Refusing to be easily comprehended or consumed, the Girls are trickster mixmasters, Wild Boys, lugubrious gamers, Three Masters collapsing all boundaries, barriers, and official lines of demarcation that make life safe, stable, and coherent. They are the twentieth century's collective psychosis made radiant and divine through their persistence of resistance, an absurdly funny reaction to the demands of stopping all their nonsense and just be good little girls. Anonymity allows for tactical spontaneity, following their bliss (both collectively and individually) away from the prying eyes of Control. Like the Hashishin of yore, they lie in wait, patient, under the radar, never pinning down their music, personalities, or ideologies, executing their secret insurrections and bringing us all along to Paradise. Or at least to Alamut's Garden of Delights. In an increasingly moribund society which seeks to regulate, assimilate, and exterminate autonomy, deviance, and dissent, the Sun City Girls offer the possibility of staying true to a revolutionary vision, one that encompasses the depths of Amuck transcendence and the heights of asinine stupidity, rois et imbÃ©ciles at the same time. Smearing themselves with the sublime and the absurd, the Sun City Girls stand defiantly idiosynchric yet passionately committed to any and all freedoms no matter how obvious or transgressive. So unexpect the expected. Try it, you'll like it. Just don't expect the world to ever be the same again. - by William Burns, 2003

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Zappa Bootleg offer is "off the table" Thanx ! -STB
by Stuart Boyer 02 Dec '03

02 Dec '03

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Curlew
by Richard Gardner 02 Dec '03

02 Dec '03

Just been listening to Curlew's new CD: Mercury. I am sure Steve is too shy to trumpet how good this recording is on the list but I warmly recommend it. Its rockier than Meet the Curlews and tighter as a band. Davey Williams has gone to be replaced by Dean Granros. I don't know anything about him but he fits like a glove. There is a gentle shimmering solo slide intro at to the last track that is gorgeous without any sign of saccharine. The second major change is the re-introduction of keyboards with Chris Parker adding more texture to the sound. Underneath all this the bass and drums have really learned to lock together to make a firm foundation for the leaders. The result seems to leave George Cartwright happier to sit back, at times, and let the band blow. IMHO anybody on this list would enjoy this music. Richard Gardner

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zappa boots 1/20/76 free offer !! first (5) responses
by Stuart Boyer 02 Dec '03

02 Dec '03

Hello, always looking to give away a few cd's in hopes of striking up a trade or two if it's possible. I just added a couple of new FZ's to my collection thru another list. Thanks, Stu

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First Recordings 1973
by Epistrophy＠aol.com 01 Dec '03

01 Dec '03

Hi, all! I've been meaning to subscribe to this list for some time and finally got around to it. Three things: 1) Since the list info says y'all discuss Elliott Sharp at times, what does anyone think of "The Velocity of Hue"? I got it last week and think it's some of the most amazing acoustic work I've ever heard in my life. E# is always incredible, but this is above board yet. 2) Many of you probably know that Zorn was inspired to get into free music by his high school French teacher, Jacques Coursil, who did some recording in the late 60s with Sunny Murray, Burton Greene and other free jazzmen. I managed to track Coursil down recently. Here's an update (it's after the bit about Henry Grimes): <A HREF="http://minguslives.blogspot.com">http://minguslives.blogspot.com</A> . 3) I've got a used but excellent copy of Zorn's "First Recordings 1973" on eBay starting at just $3.00. It ends tomorrow (Tuesday) at about 1:25 PM PST: <A HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2576425193&category=1056…"> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2576425193&category=1056…</A> . - Todd

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