MAOZ, EYAL Edom (Tzadik) cd 15.98

MARCUS, STEVE Tomorrow Never Knows (Water) cd 15.98

MARTINO, PAT We'll Be Together Again1 (Savoy Jazz) cd 13.98

MASADA 50th Anniversary Volume 7 (Tzadik) cd 16.98

MASADA First Live 1993 (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Though an interesting and wonderful document of John Zorn's Ornette Coleman inspired quartet -- fabulously rendered by four of the most amazing performers in the Downtown scene -- we think Tzadik have outdone themselves with the obi strip comments this time around: "How many times do you get the chance to hear the initial meeting of a legendary band? This CD is just that. A diamond in the rough. The absolutely first time the original quartet Masada ever played the music that has made them one of the most exciting bands of modern Jewish music. It's all here -- the fireworks, the telepathic communication -- the Masada magic. Experience the same excitement the musicians felt when they realized the possibilities this very special evening at the old Knitting Factory back in 1993. It all started this night." Sounds like an advert for a major theme park or Vegas attraction. Despite these ridiculous self-applauding comments, this is a fine record by one of the hardest working and tastefully virtuosic jazz outfits of our time. And why is it that Joey Baron is always so damn happy? Maybe Tzadik should put out a video of just him performing. That'd be sweet.
RealAudio clip: "Zebdi"

MASADA Live at Tonic 2001 (Tzadik) 2cd 22.00
It's becoming really hard to creatively describe records by John Zorn's Klezmer-bop ensemble Masada, especially considering this is record number twenty or something. Every record sounds quite similar, but by the same token, every record is absolutely fantastic. Recorded live at Tonic in New York City earlier this year, this is a 2 hour double cd document of a single show. Masada has to be one of the most intense, most emotional, and just straight up best modern jazz ensembles going. Zorn and his stellar group: Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen and Joey Baron, take understated percussion, hypnotic basslines and Douglas and Zorn's intertwined horns and weave dark and exotic epics. So beautiful.

MASADA Live In Sevilla 2000 (Tzadik) cd 15.98
The classic Masada lineup (Zorn, Douglas, Baron, Cohen) hits us with yet another recording. Yeah, if like us you're into Zorn's group and their trademark Ornette-meets-Klezmer jazz then you've probably got a shelf already groaning under the weight of their other releases, but that's no reason to pass up another, especially this one, 'cause it's super. Masada is really one of the best modern jazz combos going, and "Live In Sevilla" is proof enough (and a great starting-point for the Masada virgin). Includes a bad-ass drum solo from the godlike Joey Baron.

MASADA Sanhedrin (Tzadik) 2cd 34.00

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Alef (DIW) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fifth avant-klezmer release from the New York version of Zorn's Masada. The 4th, you'll recall, is available only by sending in yr proofs-of-purchase gleaned from the first 3.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Bar Kokhba (Tzadik) 2cd 29.00
Small ensembles of strings, keyboards, and clarinets playing klezmer/jazz tunes. This brief description must be augmented with the declaration that this is an ALL TIME AQUARIUS FAVE!!!

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Live in Jerusalem 1994 (Tzadik) 2cd 21.00
Another amazing 2cd collection of John Zorn's Masada, this time recorded live at the world famous Jerusalem Festival marking Masada's first visit to Israel. Dark and sublime klezmer mixed with the shrieking bombastic jazz Zorn is famous for. Excellent.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Live In Taipei 1995 (Tzadik) 2cd 21.00
"An absolutely essential document of one of the world's most exciting working bands" says the obi. Well, if after a dozen-plus releases one can define this new one as "essential", I don't know - but it's true that Masada is an incredible band, and Masada fans will have to decide what's essential and what's not. Heck, all the Masada releases might well be essential!! For those just checking in, Masada is saxophonist Zorn's klezmer-meets-Ornette jazz combo, with trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer supreme Joey Baron, great players all. For the curious, this is also a good purchase.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Tet (Nine) (DIW) 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
John Zorn's series of avant-experimental klezmer quartet pieces. The usual suspects: Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums.

MASAOKA, MIYA, TRIO Monk's Japanese Folk Song (Dizim) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Koto virtuoso Masaoka teams up with jazz greats Reggie Workman (bass) and Andrew Cyrille (drums) to explore tunes from (or inspired by) both Thelonious Monk & Japanese folk music.

MASS Mixed Media (Paratactile) cd 16.98
British avant-garde "stereo" guitarist Gary Smith unleashes the third release from his power trio Mass, wherein he's joined by the equally out there and extreme rhythm section of Gary Jeff and Lou Ciccotelli. You might know these guys from their contributions to projects like God and Aufgehoben No Process. Mass is a bit less oppressive than those bands, closer to "jazz" but not what most people think of as jazz, of course. Yessir, their electronics, improv moves, and rock-derived power combine for another satisfying head-bender.
MPEG Stream: "Advance"

MASSACRE Meltdown (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Massacre has been around since 1981's seminal album Killing Time (which you must seek out if you haven't heard it already). Comprised of guitarist Fred Frith, bassist Bill Laswell, and -- new to the group -- Charles Hayward on drums, Massacre specialize in improvised avant rock -- propulsive rhythms, plink-plonking bass, scraping schizo textural guitarwork. Recorded live at Robert Wyatt's 2001 Meltdown Festival, it all adds up to an intense listening experience, especially when the trio lets loose with climactic fervor. As the founder of the legendary This Heat, Hayward's name makes this even more of a supergroup than before. Luckily the music lives up to that, although we'd still recommend Killing Time to start with.
RealAudio clip: "Closing the Circles and Loose End"
RealAudio clip: "Up For It"

MAT MANERI TRIO So What? (Hat) cd 17.98
Jazz power trio, Mat Maneri (electric violin), Matthew Shipp (piano) and Randy Peterson (drums) convey a dynamism, agility and spontaneity that defines improv. A lovely collection of pieces including originals and Miles Davis compositions.

MATTHEW SHIPP Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear) cd 16.98

MAULAWI Nururdin (Universal Sound) cd 21.00
From the "Now Thing" comp.

MAYBE MONDAY Saturn's Finger (Buzz-Records) cd 15.98
A new improv trio starring Fred Frith (avant-guitarist extraordinaire!), Larry Ochs (from SF's much-lauded Rova Saxophone Quartet), and Miya Masaoka (the Bay Area's most adventurous improvising koto player--some may remember her performance with a hive of bees not long ago). Three long tracks of careful musical interaction that delves into the quiet and beautiful as well as the difficult and noisy. Anyone who saw this trio perform at SF's Great American Music Hall a few weeks back will know that all the players really delve into their respective bags of tricks: Ochs both blowing lovely melodies and squawking violence, Masaoka both coaxing soothing drones and plucking chaos, Frith both fooling with little noises and grinding out immense ones...a tour de force of improv abilities.

MCDUFF, BROTHER JACK Gin & Orange (Dusty Groove) cd 14.98

MCLAUGHLIN, JOHN My Goal's Beyond (Knit Classics) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MCNEILL, LLOYD QUARTET, THE Asha (Universal Sound) cd 19.98
We've heard tracks here and there from Lloyd McNeill, on that New Thing! Soul Jazz compilation, on the Freedom Rhythm & Sound revolutionary jazz comp, but this is the first full length we've heard, and it's magical.
Besides being an incredible flutist and composer, McNeill was also a painter, palling around with Picasso in Paris, he ran his own record label, has recorded with Nina Simone, Ron Carter, and lots of others. He's also a music anthropologist, a teacher and a poet. He was involved in the civil rights movement, recorded music for art installations and ballets. But his music, wow, totally breathtaking, Latin and Brazilian flecked spiritual jazz. Nothing skronky or far out, now wild and wooly, or in any way difficult, just incredibly passionate, and personal, lush and melodic, gorgeous and understated real jazz.
Originally released on his own label, the Asha Recording Company, a label he ran from the late sixties until the early seventies, Asha is a truly fantastic bit of classic jazz, the songs soar and swell and brood, exploding into flights of fancy, but just as quickly slipping back into deep introspection, the band is tight as hell, shuffling drums, moody understated piano, some Latin percussion here and there, but it's McNeill's flute and piccolo playing that really makes Asha so special, fluttery and breathy one moment, wildly melodic the next, weaving gorgeous melodies over dreamy jazzscapes. The title track might be one of the most perfect jams ever, slightly melancholy, super dynamic, minor key melodies, plenty of tension, so melodic and moody, and downright lovely. The 10+ minute "Warmth Of A Sunny Day" is sun dappled and dreamy, the piano and flute perfectly in sync, playfully sparring over a sunshiny bed of soft focus piano and warm liquid bass. So fantastic. Yet another jazz reissue that is becoming a fast fave.
MPEG Stream: "Asha"
MPEG Stream: "As A Matter Of Fact"
MPEG Stream: "Two-Third's Pleasure"

MCNEILL, LLOYD QUARTET, THE Asha (Universal Sound) lp 23.00
We've heard tracks here and there from Lloyd McNeill, on that New Thing! Soul Jazz compilation, on the Freedom Rhythm & Sound revolutionary jazz comp, but this is the first full length we've heard, and it's magical.
Besides being an incredible flutist and composer, McNeill was also a painter, palling around with Picasso in Paris, he ran his own record label, has recorded with Nina Simone, Ron Carter, and lots of others. He's also a music anthropologist, a teacher and a poet. He was involved in the civil rights movement, recorded music for art installations and ballets. But his music, wow, totally breathtaking, Latin and Brazilian flecked spiritual jazz. Nothing skronky or far out, now wild and wooly, or in any way difficult, just incredibly passionate, and personal, lush and melodic, gorgeous and understated real jazz.
Originally released on his own label, the Asha Recording Company, a label he ran from the late sixties until the early seventies, Asha is a truly fantastic bit of classic jazz, the songs soar and swell and brood, exploding into flights of fancy, but just as quickly slipping back into deep introspection, the band is tight as hell, shuffling drums, moody understated piano, some Latin percussion here and there, but it's McNeill's flute and piccolo playing that really makes Asha so special, fluttery and breathy one moment, wildly melodic the next, weaving gorgeous melodies over dreamy jazzscapes. The title track might be one of the most perfect jams ever, slightly melancholy, super dynamic, minor key melodies, plenty of tension, so melodic and moody, and downright lovely. The 10+ minute "Warmth Of A Sunny Day" is sun dappled and dreamy, the piano and flute perfectly in sync, playfully sparring over a sunshiny bed of soft focus piano and warm liquid bass. So fantastic. Yet another jazz reissue that is becoming a fast fave.
MPEG Stream: "Asha"
MPEG Stream: "As A Matter Of Fact"
MPEG Stream: "Two-Third's Pleasure"

MCPHEE, JOE Nation Time (Atavistic / Unheard Music) cd 14.98
1971 set from sax & trumpet player Joe McPhee & his group. Bad ass to say the least.

MCPHEE, JOE Trinity (Atavistic / Unheard Music) cd 14.98
1973 "blues inflected out-soul" date from saxophonist Joe McPhee and his trio (piano, drums), reissued for the first time, and with much improved sound from the original LP, we're told. Albert Ayler-dedicated jazz wildness.

MCPHEE, JOE Underground Railroad / Live At Holy Cross Monastery (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another fine Atavistic "Unheard Music Series" re-issue, this of the super-rare 1969 debut LP from freedom jazz trumpeter/saxophonist Joe McPhee who was last mentioned here thanks to his recent collaboration with Canadian dada noiseniks the Nihilist Spasm Band. It's coupled with a second disc filled with a hitherto unreleased live concert recording from '68. Both were recorded at the same New York monastery -- and while the sounds are doubtless quite spiritual in intent, the energy is sometimes far from quiet and contemplative! The '68 show features readings of tunes by Monk, McPhee, and members of McPhee's Contemporary Improvisational Ensemble, whereas the "Underground Railroad" LP, recorded with a smaller group, features only McPhee's compositions. Both are powerful, beautiful, and political with that '60s black power vibe. As always, some sort of award is due UMS curator John Corbett for bringing these sorts of classic free jazz artifacts to light.

MCPHEE, JOE & JOHN SNYDER Pieces of Light (Atavistic) cd 14.98

MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD Book of 11 (Masada) cd 16.98

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD Combustication (Blue Note) 15.98
Newest from this popular jazz combo.

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD Combustication Remix EP (Blue Note) cdep 11.98
The super-popular jazz organ trio get remixed by The Automator, Bill Laswell (of course), Guru, Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto), and a couple others.

MEPHISTA Black Narcissus (Tzadik) cd 16.98
This new improvisational group of extremely prolific downtown NY musicians just happen to all be women, and is being marketed as "one of the first all women supergroups" by Tzadik. Combining the amazing percussive work of the young Susie Ibarra, the post-drum machine electronics manipulations by the one and only Ikue Mori and lovely minimalist piano work from Swiss born Sylvie Courvoisier, 'Black Narcissus' is a nine part excursion that is stark and mysterious, texturally affluent and exhilarating -- a wonderfully rendered surrealist epic that rivals most improvisational efforts in materialising a visual element in sonic abstraction. The core improvisational interplay between Ibarra and Courvoisier is highly efffective and comes across as compositional, while Mori's electronic clicks and whirrs add an erratic framework in which the others become woven into. Nicely executed, and a wonderful surprise from Tzadik.
RealAudio clip: "Black Widow"

MEPHISTA Entomological Reflections (Tzadik) cd 15.98

MIDORIKAWA, KEIKI Complete 'Grune Revolution' (Doubtmusic) 2cd 29.00
Attention Masayuki Takayanagi fans! Actually, attention all '70s Japanese free jazz fans!! Heck, attention everybody!!! (Well, everybody who likes crazy creative freeform improv skronkiness.)
Doubtmusic brings us this compact disc reissue of a 1976 album by Japanese improvising cellist/bassist Keiki Midorikawa playing with several heavy friends, nicely packaged of course, in a miniature LP style sleeve. Actually, it's more than a reissue, as this double cd edition has been expanded twofold to include previously unissued music. The original LP documented Midorikawa's duo with legendary guitarist Takayanagi on one side, and his duo with pianist Masahiko Sato on the other side, about 20 minutes each. But at the same concert, Midorikawa had also performed a duo with percussionist Mashaiko Togashi, the 40 minute recording of which appears here for the first time, as disc one of what's now a two disc set, which is why it's now considered "Complete". Additionally, it's been remastered, and includes both the liner notes from the original vinyl release as well as new liners penned by Taku Sugimoto. Perhaps they explain why all the titles are given in what appears to be German, we don't know though, we haven't read 'em yet.
Since we came to this primarily as Takayanagi fans, naturally we jumped right to disc two to hear his contribution to this set. The Midorikawa/Takayanagi duo, entitled "An die Prinzessin die aus dem Maulbeerbaum geboren wurde", is crammed with plinking and plonking, scrabble and scrape, silences and even some (vocal) screams, the busy fingers of both men rustling up some (mostly quiet) noise. It's the Derek Bailey-ish side of Takayanagi on display here. Following it on the same disc, Midorikawa's duo with Sato, "Der Todeskampf am Maderospatch" is rather more dramatic, sounding melodically lovely (jazzy) in parts, but also building to loud, rumbling crescendos. Quite satisfying for our free jazz cravings.
But actually, turning to disc one, we soon discovered that Midorikawa's lengthy duo with Togashi, "Dichorragia nesimachus", is probably our favorite piece here. It's both wonderfully moody, Midorikawa caressing his strings in "classical" mode, melodically droning away amidst beautiful bells and gentle shimmer, which gives way on the percussive side of the equation to more martial drum beats, a physical pounding that then elicits a sawing, shuddering response from Midorikawa's cello, both players coming together for rapidfire percussive skitter-scatter... of course, it's a long piece, and that only describes a portion of it. Nice to have it rescued from the vault!
MPEG Stream: "Dichorragia nesimachus"
MPEG Stream: "Der Todeskampf am Maderospatch"

MILLER, LLOYD A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz (Jazzman) cd 17.98
We first heard Lloyd Miller on that amazing Spiritual Jazz compilation we reviewed recently, and while pretty much every track was a killer, Miller's "Gol-E Gandom" definitely stood out, beginning with a santur solo, that sounded like a sea of buzzing sitars, until the jazz kicked in, bopping bass, fluid piano, shuffling rhythms, somehow following the melody laid out by the opening santur solo. So magical. We were smitten and were dying to hear more. Luckily, Jazzman endeavored to put together this amazing collection of Miller's various recordings, which was no small feat, considering that even after a lifetime playing jazz, most of these songs were only available on super limited self released records, which made it into fewer hands, and ears, that would seem right considering the power and originality of Miller's music.
He grew up in America, but his father was transferred to Iran, so his family moved there when Miller was 19, and they lived there for 5 years. Then Miller finally moved to Europe, to pursue jazz, after all, Europe was where it was happening, he landed in Germany, later heading to Switzerland, all the while creating these amazing, and mostly unheard pieces, incorporating an incredible array of ethnic instruments with some seriously intense and inspired jazz.
While some of the tracks here sound like straight up jazz, flecked with bits of ethnic instrumentation, others are totally far out. "Le Grand Bidou" finds his group riffing on a single chord, while Miller inserts an Indian style tonic drone played on the micro organ, and the result is bizarre, the whole track twists and squirms and heaves, it's an odd fit, but fit it does, we can only imagine how freaked out purists must have been. and frustrated, considering the caliber of playing, but it's these twisted takes on standard jazz that makes this stuff so magical, and the fact that this was the late fifties / early sixties, it's a wonder Miller didn't become a sensation. This stuff is radical, revolutionary, considering how important the incorporation of African music and instruments into jazz became (Don Cherry, Art Ensemble), how is it that this wasn't equally if not more radical? A white kid from Utah, with impeccable jazz chops, playing all sorts of Turkish and Persian instruments, wrapping standard jazz tropes around Indian arrangements, kind of mindblowing even now.
The liner notes are super detailed, and Miller's life is fascinating, but it's really about the music, and as much as we dig jazz, and fancy ourselves, if not experts, at least super fans, we had NEVER heard Miller before that comp, and this stuff is so cool, and so unlike ANYTHING we've ever heard, from the instrumentation, to the arrangements, to modal systems, some of the tracks are Indian ragas transformed, others seem to eschew the jazz completely and sound like some mysterious magical world music, but it's where the two elements mesh where things get truly magical, tablas underpinning pianos, strange horns droning over upright bass and shuffling percussion, all woven deftly into a strain of jazz that is wholly unique and original. So fantastic, and so utterly and wholeheartedly recommended. Easily THE jazz reissue of the year, if not the decade!
MPEG Stream: "Gol-E Gandom"
MPEG Stream: "Gozel Guzler"
MPEG Stream: "Hue Wail"

MIN BUL s/t (Universal Norway) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's one I remember reading about in one of them rare-ass record collector books and thinking, wow, I'd like to hear that. A 1970 jazz-rock improv trio from Norway, featuring the young guitarist Terje Rypdal (later an ECM staple), balanced somewhere between psych-rock and Impulse-inspired energy jazz. Well at last it's been reissued on cd (first time ever legit reish we're told) and it is indeed damn good. Rypdal makes a good claim here to being Norway's answer to Sonny Sharrock or Ray Russell, and rips it up on some soprano sax as well as electric guitar. The six tracks here range from sheer freakout implosions to calmer, groovier stuff, with bassist Bjornar Andresen's Mingus-meets-Cream composition "Champagne of Course" being a monster highlight. Definitely a jazz record more than a rock one, but quite intense and heavy and experimental and sometimes beautiful too. And it's another NWW-list entry by the way. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "I Cried A Million Tears Last Night"
MPEG Stream: "Champagne Of Course"

MINGUS, CHARLES A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music & Poetry (Bethlehem) cd 11.98

MINGUS, CHARLES At UCLA 1965 (Sue Mingus Music) 2cd 21.00

MPEG Stream: "Meditation On Inner Peace"
MPEG Stream: "Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America"

MINGUS, CHARLES Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (Impulse) cd 16.98

MINGUS, CHARLES Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse) cd 16.98

MIR s/t (Savage Land / Wallace / A Tree In A Field) cd 13.98
It's been well over a decade since our ears have been assaulted by a -new- recording from intense Swiss industrial-jazz juggernaut 16-17, though thankfully in recent years there's been a couple crucial reissues via the Savage Land label, including one, of 1994's Gyatso, that we made a Record Of The Week not too long ago, in 2008.
While 16-17 are long gone, now it's almost as if some of their extreme spirit has been reincarnated in the form of this new band, MIR, whose debut compact disc on Savage Land is in fact produced by 16-17 mastermind Alex Buess. MIR, it turns out, is the project of one-time 16-17 drummer Daniel Buess (who is apparently NOT related to Alex, oddly enough) in a trio with two others. Daniel is credited with drums, metal percussions, and electronics, while the other members of MIR play guitar, bass, organ, and synth, lots of synth. Heavily effected electronics and punishing percussive strikes are definitely the two key elements of MIR's all-instrumental "experimental rock music" sound. They traffic in droning noise, isolationist improv, sludge and skree filled soundscapery, and no wavish punk, MIR synthesizing something both avant garde and physically primal.
Among the seven tracks on this not-quite-half-hour album, the most 16-17 sounding one here is probably "Animal Instinct", with the swingin' jackboot precision of its big rhythmic boom-thwap, floor-scraping distorted bass, and dense layers of abstract electronic groan and drone (however there's no sax attack though, which is one way that MIR differs from 16-17). To mention a few other songs, there's also the skittery grooves of "Jimbo", the sinister shimmering drones of "Organ Donor", the uptempo energetic guitar throttling of "Hit", and the sudden attacks and echoed decay of the darkly atmospheric "Terminal Reverb", which sounds like it's part Starfuckers, part Spectre.
Also we could also compare MIR to a mix of Supersilent and Shit & Shine, perhaps... along with, of course, 16-17. Very cool, and best played LOUD, if you dare.
MPEG Stream: "Animal Instinct"
MPEG Stream: "No Parts Inside"
MPEG Stream: "Terminal Reverb"

MODERN NORDEUROPAISCHE DORFMUSIK Westberliner Stadtmusik 1969 I-IV (Leiterwagon) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
77 minutes of free-improv "psychedelic scorch" put to tape in 1969 by this trio of West Berliners: Norbert Eisbrenner, Werner Goetz, and Sven-Ake Johansson. Johansson (his solo work the subject of a recent Unheard Music Series reissue) played drums on Peter Brotzmann's legendary "Machine Gun" album, recorded around the same time as this disc. MND isn't going to punish you with quite the intensity of "Machine Gun" but it's a nice slice of free-jazz meets early-krautrock experimentation, presenting a sparse sound-field composed of spastic, Sharrock-like guitar squiggle, percussive hits, bass rumble, and lovely horn-shriek, either building into noise-storms or fading back into tense silences. For FMP/Incus fans surely!
Packaged in a cardboard sleeve, with liner notes only in German.
RealAudio clip: "track 3, excerpt 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 3, excerpt 2"

MODERN SOUND QUARTET Otinku (EM Records) cd 21.00
What's the latest obsession of our friends at Japan's weirdest, most wonderful reissues label, EM Records? Last summer, they brought us a special series of sixties surf music soundtracks, and we can thank EM for the essential selection of "singing saw" recordings stocked at Aquarius... as well as much else in the vein of incredibly strange or at least unusual music. Now, EM is excited about...the steel drums! Or, as EM more correctly calls 'em, steel pans. Now, steel pans, to us, aren't quite as thrilling as musical saws, though we'll admit that it's cool that these tuned percussion instruments are made from cast-off 55 gallon oil drums. They've got an interesting history and all, but steel pan and calypso music isn't really our thing... overexposure to the touristy, cheesy use of the instrument doesn't help. What's next, EM celebrates the pan flute? But, at least on the two steel pan oriented albums that EM has recently rescued and reissued, the steel pan sound is pretty sweet, and totally jazzed up. Afro-Caribbean jazz-funk laced with the percussive melodic chiming sound of the steel pan is what you'll hear on this album by the Modern Sound Quintet, recorded in Stockholm, Sweden (of all places) in 1971. But the band wasn't Swedish -- leader Rudy Smith came from Trinidad, birthplace of the steel pan, and the other musicians in the group hailed from Trinidad, Ghana, Barbados, and Surinam. Smith was the pannist in the group, which also featured drum kit, congas, bass and piano. They cook up some funky originals as well as putting their own unique steel pan spin on such standards as Milt Jackson's "Bag's Groove", Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", and Herbie Mann's "Memphis Underground". Perhaps in this context the steel pan does sound a bit like that more ordinary jazz instrument, the vibes, but of course with more of a tropical island flavor. No doubt there's some grooves here that some crate-digging DJ's would be happy to have unearthed on vinyl, now they'll know to look for this. And while we won't pretend this is the most amazing thing EM has ever released, it's kinda neat if you are at all into obscure jazz-funk exotica. Pretty charming really. This is the one to get, and if you love it then check out EM's other related steel pan release, a reissue of 1984's Still Around by the Rudy Smith Quartet.
Oh and of course this boasts EM's usual deluxe gatefold sleeve packaging job, with informative, illustrated liner notes in both Japanese and English.
MPEG Stream: "Otinku"
MPEG Stream: "Flower In The Rain"

MOHA! Norwegianism (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
Second Rune Grammofon album from this extreme improv duo from Norway! It makes sense that they'd have an exclamation point as part of their name, as their music is indeed punctuated with glitchy outbursts, zaps of loud guitar/drums/electronics. Meanwhile, "MoHa" simply references their names: Morten J. Olsen and Anders Hana, both of whom are members of Ultralyd as well. We compared their first disc of hyperactive skree to some of Mick Barr's stuff, and to the most nutty bits from their labelmates Supersilent. Now we can add that shortly after our first listen to Norwegianism, we put on a classic avant-garde electro-acoustic album from 1970 by Luciano Berio, and after a few minutes got confused and thought we were still listening to MoHa!, when the Berio got into a particularly crinkly and chaotic passage of electronic bleepage. We like it best, though, when MoHa! pace themselves, give the music space to breathe, maybe even settle into some broken-down rhythm for a while (which are the parts that remind us of Supersilent), as on the track "Home Two".
We guess they may have titled this album Norwegianism 'cause they recorded it in Geneva and mixed it in Berlin, and felt that they were bringing some Norwegian noise to those locales. Also it could be in recognition of the fact that they get monetary support from the Arts Council Norway -- apparently Norwegian taxpayers are a lot more musically open-minded than the typical US citizen!
MPEG Stream: "Gay One"
MPEG Stream: "Home Two"

MOHA! Norwegianism (Rune Grammofon) lp 17.98
NOW ON VINYL!
Second Rune Grammofon album from this extreme improv duo from Norway! It makes sense that they'd have an exclamation point as part of their name, as their music is indeed punctuated with glitchy outbursts, zaps of loud guitar/drums/electronics. Meanwhile, "MoHa" simply references their names: Morten J. Olsen and Anders Hana, both of whom are members of Ultralyd as well. We compared their first disc of hyperactive skree to some of Mick Barr's stuff, and to the most nutty bits from their labelmates Supersilent. Now we can add that shortly after our first listen to Norwegianism, we put on a classic avant-garde electro-acoustic album from 1970 by Luciano Berio, and after a few minutes got confused and thought we were still listening to MoHa!, when the Berio got into a particularly crinkly and chaotic passage of electronic bleepage. We like it best, though, when MoHa! pace themselves, give the music space to breathe, maybe even settle into some broken-down rhythm for a while (which are the parts that remind us of Supersilent), as on the track "Home Two".
We guess they may have titled this album Norwegianism 'cause they recorded it in Geneva and mixed it in Berlin, and felt that they were bringing some Norwegian noise to those locales. Also it could be in recognition of the fact that they get monetary support from the Arts Council Norway -- apparently Norwegian taxpayers are a lot more musically open-minded than the typical US citizen!
MPEG Stream: "Gay One"
MPEG Stream: "Home Two"

MOHA! One-Way Ticket To Candyland (Rune Grammofon) cd 17.98
As always (this is their 3rd album), the exclamation point in this Norwegian industrial-skronk duo's name is quite appropriate. They definitely provide some bang for your buck, if you're into this extreme style of choppy, panicked trash-compactor "jazz", wherein sizzling electronics collide with machine-like percussion in a satisfyingly spastic frenzy. Electric guitar, keyboard, drummachine, drums, and something called "supercollider3" (a software program?) are deployed for maximum density and intensity, sounding something like a bunch of John Zorn types trapped in an exploding Radio Shack.
The album title One-Way Ticket To Candyland only makes us think that these guys have already splurged on the sugary treats, certainly seeming a bit hyperactively agitated by -something- in their quirky, chaotic music making. Yet the weird thing is, despite their jitters, they have such a knack for getting all the little pulsating puzzle pieces of their only seemingly messy compositions/improvisations to fit together remarkably well, turning this way and that like tiny, precision cogs in a well designed machine. All their herky-jerky blurting turns out to be exactly according to spec.
Knowing this, they almost get sassy, in that there's a bit of smartass punkrock 'tude to their (instrumental) song titles, from "The Shitman" to "Oh My God It's Rave". Shades of Don Cab!
MPEG Stream: "It Burns Twice"
MPEG Stream: "Prog-O-Rama"

MOHA! One-Way Ticket To Candyland (Rune Grammofon) lp 18.98
As always (this is their 3rd album), the exclamation point in this Norwegian industrial-skronk duo's name is quite appropriate. They definitely provide some bang for your buck, if you're into this extreme style of choppy, panicked trash-compactor "jazz", wherein sizzling electronics collide with machine-like percussion in a satisfyingly spastic frenzy. Electric guitar, keyboard, drummachine, drums, and something called "supercollider3" (a software program?) are deployed for maximum density and intensity, sounding something like a bunch of John Zorn types trapped in an exploding Radio Shack.
The album title One-Way Ticket To Candyland only makes us think that these guys have already splurged on the sugary treats, certainly seeming a bit hyperactively agitated by -something- in their quirky, chaotic music making. Yet the weird thing is, despite their jitters, they have such a knack for getting all the little pulsating puzzle pieces of their only seemingly messy compositions/improvisations to fit together remarkably well, turning this way and that like tiny, precision cogs in a well designed machine. All their herky-jerky blurting turns out to be exactly according to spec.
Knowing this, they almost get sassy, in that there's a bit of smartass punkrock 'tude to their (instrumental) song titles, from "The Shitman" to "Oh My God It's Rave". Shades of Don Cab!
MPEG Stream: "It Burns Twice"
MPEG Stream: "Prog-O-Rama"

MOHA! Raus Aus Stavanger (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
Ultra intense, precision electric guitar / drums / electronics improv from this noisy Norwegian duo, appropriately recorded at some place called "Athletic Sound". The exclamation point that's part of their name is also quite apt!
This is crazed stuff, on the jazz side perhaps owing something to pioneer skronk guitarists like Sharrock and Takayanagi, but sounding not so much like jazz, or even guitar (it sounds more like a malfunctioning raygun). All this abstract glitchy distortion, processed percussion, and scrabbling, shredding skree really reminds us a lot of the likes of Phantomsmasher or (especially) Mick Barr's Orthrelm. Or maybe their countrymen Supersilent having a violent seizure? To some, this is will be utter earhole punishment, but we also know a lot of you will love it!
MPEG Stream: "B1"
MPEG Stream: "C8"

MONK, THELONIOUS QUARTET WITH JOHN COLTRANE At Carnegie Hall (Blue Note) cd 17.98
Long lost in the Library Of Congress, now out on cd! As archival jazz releases go, this is a big deal. And you can see why if you just go look at who the artists are.

MONTERA, JEAN-MARC Smiles From Jupiter (Grob) cd 15.98