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quoted 3 lines Many pleasant and proper adjectives would also support the recent Otomo

>Many pleasant and proper adjectives would also support the recent Otomo >Yoshihide 12", "Lupin The Third, Ending Theme". Can't wait for the full >length CD to arrive.

I dished out the cash for the full-length, "Plays the Music of Takeo Yamashita", and I think the high points are really high, but there are a few intolerable twee pop tracks I just want to delete from the disc, perhaps from my memory as well. My favorite track is probably "Shichinin no Keiji Plot-1", which repeats this smoky-jazz-club melody via sax and piano over a rather brilliant sound collage: clock bells, bursts of distortion, japanese dialogue, and best of all, a perfectly-timed gurgling car engine that ends with a slam of a door and the window shattering. The other tracks, instrumentally, range from uptempo Ground Zero-lite jazz to, again, sugar-coated twee pop, which to be honest, is usually just in the vocals. So they're not really as bad as I make them out to be. Another recent Otomo gem is his new Tzadik disc, "Cathode", which melds tone-based electronics with traditional japanese acoustic instruments. Someone on another list, who seems to have pretty great taste in experimental music, recommended it as, possibly, the release of the year and Otomo's (expected) masterpiece. So I being the follower that I am, rushed out to go find it. Well, after a week of repeated listening, I too think it's quite excellent, but maybe a bit too subtle to be the release of the year (for me). If you've been keeping up with Otomo's electronics projects, sine wave et al, you'll know what to expect for about half of "Cathode". The first track sounds like a rather sedated Fahey plucking away at an acoustic guitar over what sounds like the first track off Gastr del Sol's "Upgrade and Afterlife" -- that lovely tone hum. The second track is a rather awesome tape piece (17:18) where he seems to manipulate an ensemble of acoustic instruments (prepared pianos, whistling, reverse-sho?, etc). It's episodic at first, one pitch after another, but then the rhythm builds and the samples start intertwining and gell-ing. Excellent. The third track is a harddisc composition using the same materials he used for the second tracks. If you don't have an experienced ear, you'll most likely be fast forwarding through a lot of this (17:00) -- rather neutral electronics, Rehberg & Bauer without their scary and brutal side. The fourth track (sho, sampler, sine wave generator) is similar sounding to Otomo's Filament 2 work with Sachiko M and Gunter Muller (For 4 Ears). Overall, quite excellent. If you're into abstract electronics or musique-concrete, go with "Cathode". If you want something in the mutant rock/jazz goofy vein, something well-constructed and weird, go with "Plays the Music of Takeo Yamashita". What I'm really excited to hear is his upcoming "Dear Derek" MEME release. From what I've been able to gather, it's Otomo working solely with samples of Derek Bailey. My chops are already watering! Well, not much has been rocking my boat lately that hasn't already been mentioned: Polwechsel 1 & 2 (hatArt) Ambush comp The Bionaut "Friends" (Harvest/EMI/Eat Raw) new Fennesz and Pita Himuro Nichiyobi (Worm Interface), really just for the great "We found a flying saucer mix" :) Bill Dixon "Collection" (Cadence) ...and I wish there was a place here for that new Pierre Henri box, if I could only afford it! peace, eric. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org