Weird Little Boy

text

Weird Little Boy easily among John Zorn's most ambitious recent projects, this, the group's eponymously-titled debut , released though Zorn's own Tokyo-based Avant label. WLB are: guitarist Chris Cochrane, Faith No More singer Mike Patton (who doubles here on drums), guitarist/keyboardist/drummer Trey Spruance and percussionist William Winant. Zorn himself plays alto and samplers.The group improvise soundscapes to accompany Dennis Cooper and Casey McKinney's deviant little stories which are reproduced alongside Nayland Blake's illustrations in the 46 page which comes with this lavish package (itself designed by longtime Zorn-associate - as designer and musician - Ikue Mori). The music is appropriately schizoid, with arcs of piercing electronics and stabbing percussion slashing their way through bursts of warped surf guitar, recalling at once Naked City's genre-busting tendencies and Zorn's more nightmarish take on ambient (Leng T'Che, Absinthe, elements of Kristallnacht).