Thursday, April 26, 2007

BIG SATAN - Live in Cognito

First off, I gotta say that I prefer Tim Berne's live stuff to his studio work, although he still kicks ass in ANY setting. Some bands are just best experienced live and Tim Berne's groups are no exception. This isn’t BIG SATAN’s first live recording, but it’s definitely their best. Simply put, this fuckin' rocks out, balls to the wall.

Marc Ducret share's more compositional duties with Berne in BIG SATAN than other groups, but obviously drawing ideas from other Berne/Ducret-involved projects like Science Friction, as well as Bloodcount and Caos Totale, so a lot of that past has played a big part in shaping
BIG SATAN's tunes. Tom Rainey doesn't contribute much to the tunes themselves, but he’s a vital player to shaping the BIG SATAN sound. He basically puts the "BIG" in BIG SATAN, providing much of the bottom end.

The music goes many places, from dark and spacious to dense and pummeling in others. Probably this is my favourite live album from Tim Berne since Bloodcount's 3-CD set "BLOODCOUNT UNWOUND". As always, awesome artwork from one of my faves, Stephen Byram (thanks for the comment on my blog : )))))

This is the NEW metal, motherfuckers.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

SERGEI KURYOKHIN - DIVINE MADNESS

I first discovered Sergei Kuryokhin's music about 2 years ago. I was at a free jazz bar in Tokyo with my friend, who had heard his music before at this same bar. What came out of the speakers was unlike any other music I had ever heard. It was extremely odd, but refreshing to hear. It was totally unclassifiable. That particular CD was titled DON CARLOS. The music went in so many different unpredictable and bizarre directions, but always stayed tightly focused. The ensemble on this particular disc is Sergei's now legendary "Orkestr Pop-Mekhanika" (Popular Mechanics Orchestra) which he formed around 1984. The ever-changing project included musicians, bands and actors from Leningrad and Moscow, as well as from Europe, such as Vanessa Redgrave, "Akvarium" and Boris Grebenshchikov, "Kino" and Viktor Tsoy, "Igry", "Auktsion", Dzhungli", "Tri-O", Sergei Bugayev, even a Red Army Ensemble and many others. During "perestroika" under Mikhail Gorbachev, Kuryokhin was harshly attacked by the Communist Party ideologist Ligachev who called the Popular Mechanics show an "ideological and artistic jumble!"

Anyway, I have always been on the lookout for his CD's and had no luck until recently. I found Some Combinations of Fingers and Passion released on the Leo label a few months back, which is solo piano performances. The way he approaches any instrument, it seems, is by channeling everything into it. He just throws everything into his music. I've rarely heard playing so passionate and personal.

Just a few weeks ago, my firend in Tokyo pretty much discovered a gold mine of rare Sergei stuff, mostly on the Solyd label in Russia. So far, I've only listened to a few of these CD's, but they're all brilliant. Very odd but striking packaging. Some of the CD's come in jewel cases with a dayglo colored cardboard sleeve to house them in with a booklet of photos from the respective performances.

He also has a 4-CD box set on LEO called DIVINE MADNESS which contains the rare and long out of print titles: SUBWAY CULTURE, PIANO ZOOLOGICAL ELEMENTS, INTRODUCTION IN POP MECHANICS and POP MECHANICS NO.17. This is the next set I'd like to track down. These are all early works I believe.

Anyway, I urge any fan of avant-garde music to track down his music and wallow in the insanity. You'll be floored.

I'm too lazy to write my own biography so the following biography is taken from http://mitki.kulichki.net/recent/skiif/

"Sergey Kuryokhin, pianist, composer, band leader, actor, director and public figure died of cancer on July 9, 1996, at the age of 42. He first attracted public attention as jazz pianist, playing solo, with Vladimir Chekasin, Anatoly Vapirov and others. In the early 1980s, before he was allowed to travel outside the Soviet Union, his records published by Leo Records, as well as a number of TV programs made him one of the cult figures of the burgeoning Russian underground. In 1984 he formed Pop-Mechanika Orchestra - a band, a concept and a philosophy. The band, which could be anything from a modest trio to a full blown multimedia extravag anza complete with a full symphony, a brass band, a rock group, a circus, a zoo, a gypsy singer, and whatever else his fantasy could bring up at the moment, subsequently toured most of the world. Sergey Kuryokhin's discography counts more than 40 LPs and CDs, he composed music for dozens of films worldwide. His importance however stretches beyond his documented legacy. He was most known and valued as a tireless catalyst of artistic life, as a creative force which united and formed the artistic community, as one of the strongest and most vital voices of a rev olutionary era, the era which transformed the stagnant Soviet Union into new, yet unknown, but vibrant Russia.

Walls all over the world are coming down: cultural, physical and intellectual. As was the Pop-Mechanika Orchestra, the SKIIFestival will be of an interdisciplinary nature. Thus it is rather a Feast of Arts: the Festival stages will host Baroque, Classical , Jazz, Free Improvisation, Rock, Dance, Film, Theater & Poetry."


Recommended links:
http://www.kuryokhin.ru/skif_e.php
http://www.kuryokhin.ru/
http://www.discogs.com/artist
http://www.raig.ru/kuriokhin.asp

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Ivan's Childhood

Awesome. I've been waiting for Criterion to release this. It's finally coming out as a special edition. This is Andrei Tarkovsky's first feature film. This is a great film from a director who was in full bloom by the time he made his first feature film. This is one of the most unforgettable depictions of how a kid deals with wartime. Goddamn genius! Check it out. it's coming out in July this year. One of my absolute faves.

and the MOTHER OF THE YEAR award goes to...

...whoever the stupid bitch was that left this kid outside in his stroller outside a record store. I was at King Kong records, noticed that this kid was sleeping, but no mom or dad in sight. OK. I was in the store for about 20-30 minutes, came back out, the kid still out like a light, but no one watching him. I just wonder what kind of fuckstick leaves their kid unattended for 30 minutes. In a pretty sketchy area too, Ame-Mura. I guess many people do recently. It seems to be the "in" thing to dump unborn babies in an empty toilet stall or garbage bin, or leave 3 year old kids home for 5 months by themselves. Fuck. If you don't want your kid, give it up for adoption. Don't bring up another little fucker with no manners to become another piece of shit just like you. Eat shit, mom. Then eat more shit.

key vocabulary highlighted in red

Friday, April 13, 2007

Tim Berne Mind Over Friction

In case you missed the originals, Tim Berne has re-issued the classic Science Friction studio and live album (originally released as "The Sublime And" in one nice package beautifully designed by Steve Byram on the Screwgun label.

This is one of my favorite projects from Tim Berne, the live stuff especially kicks ass. I think the standout track is "The shell Game" with some awesome slinky guitar playing, courtesy of Marc Ducret. Tom Rainey holds everything together as usual, in fine style. Anyhow, Don't pass it up a second time. For newbies to Tim Berne, this is as good a place to start as any.

Can't wait to hear the new torn+berne+rainey+taborn on ECM.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

The Jesus Christ Action Figure™

Check this ad out. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Walk on Water Action!!!!
Be the first to
throw the first stone!!! Take THAAAT JESUS!!!!

Also, check out the Jesus Christ Superstore!

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Discarded Bird

What kind of fucking moron just leaves a bird on the road with a note attched to it saying "Don't Pick It Up"? If you don't want your pet anymore, give it to someone, or take it to a pet shop. Or just let it free. Really swift thinking, dicksmack. You've just been added to my list of people who I wish horrible unspeakable deaths upon.