Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Magical Power From Mars


Acid Mothers Temple and Important Records have decided to release the complete Magical Power From Mars in its entirety with the addition of the fourth and final track 'Aladdin Kane.' Magical Power From Mars comes housed with completely new front and back art and no expense was spared on more 3D lenticular covers for the front. This is the complete album available for the first time in its entirety. Magical Power From Mars is an album full of epic statements from the Acid Mothers. Each track has an average length of 17:27 (we did the math) and each track has it's own unique musical ideals and arrangements which stand out in the Acid Mothers diverse catalog. Makoto Kawabata and crew successfully set out to create an album unique in its look and sound and were extremely successful in the execution of that goal. Previously issued as 3 now out of print EPs.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Great Jewish Music - Serge Gainsbourg


The music world has certainly been enriched since composer and saxophonist John Zorn got his consciousness raised about his Jewishness. He subsequently formed a band with the ominous name Masada and established the Tzadik label, which has produced some of the best avant-garde recordings of the last ten years. Tzadik's fledgling Great Jewish Music series promises to be excellent, if this album is any indication. On it various members of the American and British avant-establishment take turns arranging songs by the great French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, with results varying from fairly straightforward (Cibo Matto's surprisingly gentle "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus" and Ikue Mori's delightful "Pauvre Lola") to bizarrely wonderful (Faith No More frontman Mike Patton's take on "Ford Mustang" and Zorn's own all-vocal "Contact"). Medeski, Martin and Wood contribute a version of "Intoxicated Man" on which Medeski does his best to imitate a woozy French accordion before veering off into the trio's more familiar organic jazz-funk territory; Fred Frith acquits himself nicely on a one-man-band version of "The Ballad of Melody Nelson." All in all, this is a fine and fitting tribute to an underappreciated songwriter. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

01 Elysian Fields - Les Amours Perdues
02 Mike Patton - Ford Mustang
03 Wayne Horvitz & Robin Holcomb - Bonnie And Clyde
04 Cyro Baptista - Là-Bas C'Est Naturel
05 Kramer - 69 Année Èrotique
06 Ikue Mori - Pauvre Lola
07 Fred Frith - The Ballad Of Melody Nelson
08 JON - Les Sucettes
09 Ruins - L' Homme Á Tête De Chou
10 Anthony Coleman - Ce Mortel Ennui
11 Eszter Balint - Un Poison Violent, C'Est Ça L'Amour
12 David Shea - Initials B.B
13 Eyvind Kang - Sous Le Soleil Exactement
14 Steve Beresford - Couleur Café
15 Blonde Redhead - Le Chanson De Slogan
16 John Zorn - Contact
17 Cibo Matto - Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus
18 Medeski, Martin & Wood - Intoxicated Man
19 Shelley Hirsch - Comic Strip
20 Franz Treichler - Requiem Pour Un Con
21 Marc Ribot - Black Trombone

Great Jewish Music - Marc Bolan



















Part of the Tzadik label's Radical Jewish Culture Series, which sought to highlight great music by Jews (instead of focusing on music with distinct Jewish cultural influences, though the two are not mutually exclusive), Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan is also part of a smaller series of tribute albums put out by the label. The diverse lineup of honored artists, which includes Serge Gainsbourg and Burt Bacharach, is presented on albums that feature interpretations by some of the avant-garde and experimental community's most talented musicians. Bolan may seem like the gritty odd-man-out in such company, but John Zorn, the creative force holding the reins at Tzadik, knows an influential musician when he sees one. Indeed, ripples of the impact that Marc Bolan and his band T. Rex had on punk and rock musicians can still be felt more than two decades after his death. His delicious creepiness is all over this album, especially on Kramer's version of "Get It On," where a child's voice singing over up-tempo drums and jangly guitar (with flute, drum machine, and string elements thrown in) lends an almost pedophiliac edge to Bolan's swampy sexual lure. Rebecca Moore's "Telegram Sam" is also reverently disturbing, with guttural utterances alternating between the atmospheric moaning, wailing, and buzzing of guitar and synth, like the last breath of someone who has given up fighting her own demons. The Tall Dwarfs' version of "Ride a White Swan" shows off Bolan's penchant for sounding raw and groovy at the same time, and Eszter Balint's rendition of "Mambo Sun" shows how a love song can be both sweet and angry. Overall, this is a great compilation, which instead of merely parroting Bolan's music, does what the best of tributes do -- captures the elements that made him wonderful, while letting the creativity and uniqueness of the artists performing the songs shine through. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

1. Children Of The Revolution
Artist: Arto Lindsay, Marc Ribot
2. Telegram Sam
Artist: Rebecca Moore
3. Get It On
Artist: Kramer
4. Buick Mackane
Artist: Melvins
5. Groove A Little
Artist: Medeski, Martin and Wood
6. Cosmic Dancer
Artist: Lo Galluccio
7. Chariot Choogle
Artist: Mike Patton, Fantomas
8. Ride A White Swan
Artist: Tall Dwarfs
9. Rip-Off
Artist: Chris Cochrane
10. Deboraarobed
Artist: Gary Lucas
11. Mambo Sun
Artist: Eszter Balint
12. Jeepster
Artist: Vernon Reid
13. Lunacy's Back
Artist: Danny Cohen
14. Life's A Gas
Artist: Oren Bloedow
15. Would I Be The One
Artist: Sean Lennon & Yuka Honda
16. Love Charm
Artist: Cake Like
17. Scenescof
Artist: Trey Spruance
18. 20th Century Boy
Artist: Buckethead
19. Romany Soup
Artist: Lloyd Cole