simon hopkins

Xu Feng

[ review of: Xu Feng by John Zorn (CD Album) ]

John Zorn's 'game pieces' are among the most notorious of his already pretty notorious oeuvre, not least because so damn little is known about what they are, how they work or what they mean. Between 1974 and 1992. he composed some 27 of these works, which are in essence, sets of organizational rules to be followed by groups of improvisers under the guidance of a prompter, with the degree to which they pre-or pro-scribe line-ups, structure, mood, and even genre, vary from piece to piece. In terms of how the rules actually work, Zorn has always kept his cards close to his chest, preferring to work with players he knows well and explain the rules to them, as he puts it 'as part of an oral tradition'. The Archival series of Zorn's label Tzadik has already begun re-releasing the now-classic game piece recordings the composer made in the late 70s, but now the label is presenting new interpretations.

Xu Feng, a piece for two guitars, two keyboards and two drums (or for six drummers), was composed in 1985, right after the completion of his most famous game piece, Cobra. The piece was inspired by the films of the eponymous martial arts actress-turned-producer, and Zorn deliberately set out to achieve something of the violence and kinetic energy of her films, giving more precise instructions to the improvisers than in previous pieces. For this recording, he has assembled a sextet well up to the task: guitarists Fred Frith and John Schott; electronics manipulators David Slusser and Chris Brown; and drummers Dave Lombardo and William Winant. I've personally been lucky enough this year to have seen several of these players performing live; Winant's performance with Mr Bungle in London and Zorn, Lombardo and Frith together (with Bill Laswell) in Paris had prepared me for some of the dynamic aggression of this session. But not all. Talk about action-packed! Single-sitting listens to this CD are exhausting, but huge fun. Which isn't to say that this is an undisciplined noise-fest. On the contrary, both the instrumental control of the players and the piece's compositional complexity give the proceedings the feeling of an extremely tight narrative.

Can't wait to hear a six drummer version with Lombardo, Winant, Baron, Baptista, Jim Black and Susie Ibarra!

PS. Fred Frith is sooooo on form at the moment.

Posted by simon hopkins at 00:00, 17 Nov 2000

OHAYO!HOAHIO!

[ review of: OHAYO!HOAHIO! by HOAHIO (CD Album) ]

To all intents and purposes, this eccentric, perverse and altogether delightful Tzadik album, the second by all-female Japanese noise-pop-improv trio HOAHIO, is actually a posthumous release. The group came together in 1997 as a trio of singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Haco (of After Dinner fame), the extraordinary koto abuser Michiyo Yagi and sampler specialist Sachiko M (perhaps still best known for her long-standing association - in various contexts - with Otomo Yoshihide). In the three years since they've managed to record two albums (97's Happy Mail, Amoeba Records, Japan) and this follow up, tour Europe, Canada and Japan and, I'm afraid, split up. The highly recommended Improvised Music from Japan website tells us that as of Spring this year HOAHIO became a loose collective of two, three or four female musicians led by Haco and that this particular trio will no longer perform.

More's the pity, on the strength of OHAYO!HOAHIO! which somehow blends these three musicians' highly diverse talents, inclinations and instrumental resources with apparent ease. In terms of tone, the album runs the gamut from cute kitsch to angry dissonance. Generically, it's as happy to reference bubble gum pop or three-minute punk as it is improv, folk music and minimalist electronica. The results could be argued as throw-away, but I don't think so. There's a mutual respect and shared sense of fun and even wonder here that lift the music above the merely playful (though it's that, too, very often). I'm hooked.

Posted by simon hopkins at 00:00, 14 Nov 2000

The City Wears A Slouch Hat

[ review of: The City Wears A Slouch Hat by John Cage (CD Album) ]

In 1942, the then-still-emerging young composer John Cage spent some time in Chicago; while there, he was approached by some officials from CBS Radio to collaborate on a radio play with the poet Kenneth Patchen. The play was to be called The City Wears A Slouch Hat and was a surrealistic take on the imaginary visit to Chicago by the Messiah. With typical far-sightedness, Cage composed a huge 250 page score which would incorporate the sounds of the city as part of the 'music' - a revolutionary notion then, and scarcely less so over half a century later.

Unfortunately, with only a week to go before the live broadcast, engineers at CBS informed Cage that his score was impractical on every level, and he had to perform an entirely new piece in only seven days. He decided to put together a piece for percussion group and sound effects. In the event the broadcast was quite a success and, significantly, its reception encouraged Cage to move to New York - an important turning point for him.

But this CD - the first commercial release of this broadcast - has far more than simply historical significance: City really is quite extraordinary, a frenetic collage-like summation of mid 20th Century urban life, with all its chaos, anger, exhilaration, illogic and speed. The CD also features two other pieces by Cage from the same period. Credo In Us for shortwave radios, prepared piano and percussion comes on like a bunch of especially talented children let loose in a music shop. It was originally composed for a Merce Cunningham duet, so that may well have been the idea. Imaginary Landscape, the first of a highly influential series, is a slightly earlier piece, from 1939. While composer-accompanist at the progressive Cornish School in Seattle, Cage had access to a (for then) highly advanced recording studio which allowed him access to electronic sound-makers. Imaginary Landscape, for electronics, prepared piano and percussion has something of the early science fiction soundtrack about it but is no less charming for that. Christ alone knows what it must have sounded like to Cage's contemporaries.

Top marks to the ever-quality Cortical Foundation for this impeccably mastered and package reissue. A final word of caution: this CD is strictly limited to 1000 copies worldwide, so get it while you can.
Posted by simon hopkins at 00:00, 03 Nov 2000