John Zorn

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010

Among the thousands of under-appreciated or under-publicized albums that were released in 2010, hundreds became our favorites and were presented in ALARM and on AlarmPress.com. Of those, we pared down to 100 outstanding releases, leaving no genre unexplored in our list of this year’s overlooked gems.

Morrow vs. Hajduch

Morrow vs. Hajduch: John Zorn’s Ipsissimus

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

John Zorn: IpsissimusJohn Zorn: Ipsissimus (Tzadik, 10/5/10)

John Zorn: “Warlock”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/John_Zorn_Moonchild_Warlock.mp3|titles=John Zorn: “Warlock”]

Morrow: In 2006, indefatigable composer John Zorn launched another of his countless ensembles — Moonchild, a sludgy power trio built around vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn, and drummer Joey Baron.  In the four albums that began with Moonchild: Songs without Words, Zorn has used the group to explore heavy and spastic improvisations amid composed riffs and directed song structures.

The lineup has expanded a bit for a few releases, but that wild trio is the group’s heart, with Patton offering wordless shrieks, chants, and vocal spasms over Dunn and Baron’s distorted notes and progressive rhythms.  Ipsissimus is the group’s fifth release in less than five years, and it’s the first to prominently feature the guitar work of Marc Ribot, who appeared on one track of the 2008 release The Crucible.

Hajduch: In description, this sounds like a whole lot of John Zorn’s projects (in the case of Naked City, you sub out Mike Patton and add Yamantaka Eye of Boredoms, but the description still fits to an extent).  In practice, it’s very different.  Patton feels extraneous to an extent — like Attila Csihar‘s work with Mayhem, it can seem sort of like there is just this guy, making noises.  But also like Attila/Mayhem, there are moments where it just fits perfectly and feels exactly right.

Mike Patton

Mike Patton: Anomalous Vocalist Tackles Italian Orch-Pop

Given identifiable credits such as Faith No More, Tomahawk, and Mr. Bungle, the words “Patton” and “incognito” don’t seem to follow each other. But Mike Patton‘s newest project, Mondo Cane, stems from just such a union — with Patton disguising his American accent and assimilating to a new culture.

Ben Perowsky

Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra: Cohesive Collisions of Rock and Jazz

Even after several decades of cross-pollination between the worlds of rock and jazz, it could be argued that a true (or at least natural-sounding) hybrid has yet to be invented. Ironically enough, one of the most well-blended combinations of the two genres has recently arrived in the form of drummer Ben Perowsky’s Moodswing Orchestra.

Wu Fei: Experimental Expression of Chinese Traditions

Wu Fei‘s work is a marriage between the East and West. Using traditional Chinese instruments such as the guzheng and erhu in unconventional ways, Fei strays from the strict, painterly elegance of the instrument’s usual genre, instead introducing improvised and experimental elements.

J.G. Thirlwell: Cinematic Mad Science

After releasing music under names such as Foetus, Manorexia, and Steroid Maximus, composer/producer J.G. Thirlwell only recently has released under his own name — while maintaining his distinctive genre-mashing concoctions.

Dysrhythmia: Hyperactive Technicality

Strip down, way down, the layers of the moody energy of Brooklyn post-rock metal trio Dysrhythmia’s fifth album, Psychic Maps, and you can hear an indication of the agility responsible for the band’s deep intensity.