The Bad Plus Joshua Redman

    

     I initially saw this album written about in a New York Times piece. I read it and immediately ordered the album online. Where else but Amazon.com. A bit overpriced but its a quick and easy way for me to get my jazz albums. I was super hyped about this album because I love the Bad Plus and Joshua Redman. I actually listened to this album earlier today and didn't really think much of it. Let's see if that's changed the second time around. Lets get started on the musical discourse!
     The album opens with 'As This Moment Slips Away', a melancholy number that actually feels like time is slipping away as the music continues on. By that I mean, the music has a meandering quality to it, but in a good way, with Redman's saxophone leading the way while the piano colours the piece with lush chords. At some point near the end of the piece, a new motif is established to the already accepted riff. It kind of reminds me of Joe Henderson at times, because of the chord changes and the way the saxophone is weaving in and out of the melody with the piano.
     The next tune is called 'Beauty Has It Hard', a great title for a tune. This one is a another kind of melancholy number. By that I mean to say that the melody, rhythm, and harmonic structure is at a similar tempo to the first one, even though it isn't the same tune. The saxophone has more of a free-wheeling part in this tune, with some honks here and there, and some chromatic type runs going up and down the register. After a while in this piece, another new motif is added, almost like a song within a song. It's a beautiful melody man. At the end, there's a big buildup to this beautiful melody, with the piano crushing these great chord voicings, with Redman's saxophone ending on a high note.
     'County Seat' opens like a kind of traditional straight-ahead jazz tune. There's an established head, that is very quick and bebop-like, then it enters a piano thang, with Iverson showing off more of his technical solo ability. Then Redman's sax comes in like a straight-ahead saxophone colossus, then going into a bluesy thing, maybe like a blues hoe down that sounds jazzy? It reminds me of Sonny Rollins.
     'The Mending' starts off as a kind of piano ballad, much like straight-ahead jazz stuff. It has a kind of bluesy vibe to it. Redman's saxophone sings sweetly over the ballad chord voicings of Iverson's piano. Anderson's bass lines are especially great here, as he really stretches out playing interesting bass lines, rather than just playing up on the piano chords.
     'Dirty Blonde' starts off as something very Bad Plus-like. In fact, I believe it was an old tune from a previous Bad Plus album that they reused here. Whereas the other tunes here were all written for this album, other than this one and the last tune, 'Silence is the Question'. By Bad Plus-like, it sounds like a piece written for just the three of them as a trio, and they just added saxophone to it just for this album. A lot is happening in this tune and there are chord changes galore. What is astounding is the fact that they manage to keep it all together without sounding free-jazz, which would've been cool in my opinion. It's definitely way different from the other pieces before it. It's a much more complicated piece, and there are moments where it is very free, but not necessarily free-jazz.
     'Faith Through Error' starts off as a kind of Ornette Coleman type thing, with everyone playing their own kind of random thing. I know its not random but this is the most free-jazz they get on the album thus far. It is, as my old white guitar playing friend from this old band called Lightning says, 'out there'. He also says 'they're wacked old black dudes'. This is their big free piece and it goes into a short drum solo that is more tasteful than showy. It was super quick though, wish it could've lasted longer, as King is a great jazz percussionist.
     'Lack The Faith But Not The Wine' is a more laid back tune with a slow melody. This tune has a nice bass part especially, it seems on the slower more ballad stuff the bass really shines. The tone of the saxophone here seems changed, like he used a different mouthpiece or different horn to get that particular tone. Because it sounds more like an older saxophone tone, more of a somber tonal colour. This is probably the most 'relaxing' piece on the album because its just so chill the whole way through without any surprises.
     "Friend Or Foe' has a freewheeling kind of arrangement. Like progressive jazz, which it pretty much is. There is a established theme and motif coming and going, but then there are all these chromatic runs, and then this kind of bass vamp, that is particularly rhythmic with the drums and the bass. When the smoke clears, Redman's sax plays this melody that sounds like it came straight out of the 90s jazz scene when he was a young man just making it big in the jazz world. It's such a Redman style solo here, and it is really sick. He plays them changes bad! He kills it, and these changes aren't your average everyday jazz chord changes, they're modern, hip, and interesting to listen to over and over again within this tune.
     The last tune is 'Silence Is The Question', which is another older Bad Plus tune that they reused for this album. It opens with a bass solo, which is very melodic, soulful, and not showy. It's as if he were only playing for the song, which is a beautiful thing man. The head of this tune is a kind of ballad type chord changes that goes up and then comes down, and then repeats. Meanwhile, the saxophone is holding long tones. This is the longest tune of the album, around thirteen minutes, and its very free. The drums really are what stood to me. When everyone was doing their thing after the theme, the drums just have this constant cymbal and ride thing going on, its just fantastic. Later, the drums get all crazy; King is all over his drumset, much more like a free-jazz drummer. It's probably the finest moment of the album because for me this is what jazz is today, its more akin to free-jazz than straight-ahead now. Iverson and Redman go all over the place as well, and Redman even starts to make high notes and maybe a few squeaks! This sounded more like it was recorded live in the studio, rather than just separate rooms with headphones and all that.   
     The first time through I didn't really acknowledge all of the nuances that this album has. On the second listen, I definitely got it. Its actually a great album, and all the tunes have great variations in themselves to differentiate them from the rest of the tunes. The improvisation in this album is pretty insane, but I feel like they worked harder on the compositions rather than the solos. Other than Redman's solos. Redman's solos were amazing, as usual for him. He sounded like himself, despite playing with the Bad Plus. Which is a great thing. He still had his usual tone, and his usual batch of improvisational phrases. Another thing I liked about this album was the album cover with the dots, I thought that was very cool. What wasn't cool? The fact that it cost me $20 to buy on Amazon. I might have to figure out a cheaper way to get all the new jazz albums. A lot of this music is kind of like technical jazz, sometimes going beyond jazz and into the avante-garde. The music is very brainy and esoteric in a way. This definitely isn't your bop and blues type stuff, although all these guys are influenced by that stuff as well. I have to say, this is one of the best modern jazz albums I've heard in a while, and all these guys are all killer musicians who are very inspiring to me as a musician. I actually saw the Bad Plus last year at a college nearby, and that definitely made an impact on me as a musician. This album they did with Joshua Redman was great, and had a lot of ebb and flow to it. Great stuff!

The Faceless, Autotheism

    

     First of all, I got this album because I heard it on YouTube first. And I thought,"Wow! This is so good I have to buy it!" So not everyone that listens to albums on Youtube just listen for free and never buy anything. For me, Youtube helps promote the music I buy. So I ordered it online and I've had it for a couple weeks now. My opinion of it is the same as when I first heard it. It's still great. I can't say much of the lyrics because I don't understand the singing of the growls and death metal style singing, but I get the gist of what the songs are about from the titles. The track names are as follows, Autotheist Movement I: Create, Autotheist Movement II: Emancipate, Autotheist Movement III: Deconsecrate, Accelerated Evolution, The Eidolon Reality, Ten Billion Years, Hail Science, Hymn of Sanity, and In Solitude. All the tracks segue into one another like the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album. The only vocals I can really understand are guitarist Michael Keene's clean vocals, he does a really great job with the singing. He sounds great, he has a good voice. Nearly all the songs were written or co-written by Michael Keene (guitarist) and the album was produced by Keene at his home studio in LA.
     The whole album I believe is a concept album and the third studio debut by the Faceless but here is a little info about the album from Wikipedia. Keene has stated in interviews that the name "Auto-theism" derives from "auto" meaning self and "theism" meaning belief in God or gods, hence autotheism means "believing in one's self", or "being your own God". The album questions antiquated belief systems that are in play in current society. As well as touching upon religion, the album touches upon growth in technology at an exponential rate, the Holographic Universe theory, and science as a new religion, or alternatively, knowledge and reason as a reigning religion. Keene said in interviews that the inspiration for the album came partly from reading a book by Ray Kurzweil called The Singularity Is Near. The album also has an underlying theme of "Age of Reason" or "Renaissance"-esque discovery and ethics traits; alternatively, "starting over" or massively rethinking the way current systems are run. The album artwork, as well as the music and lyrics, intuitively portray this atmosphere.(Wikipedia)
     Here's some info on the production. The record was recorded at Keene's home studio in Los Angeles in 2012. Preproduction versions of almost every song had been previously recorded by Keene throughout 2011, along with an additional song which ultimately was not used for the record. Keene noted that this track was better suited for his solo project and that the song would eventually see the light of day under that project name. Some of the guitar tracking for the preproduction captured a natural, raw quality and ended up being used in the final album versions of the songs. Keene approached the recording of Autotheism differently than previous records. All guitar and bass was recorded direct and drums were tracked live right in Keene's living room. Keene states that 7 different guitars were used to achieve the broad array of tones heard, including his neon green Washburn WM526, a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, a Bernie Rico Jr, as well as a chambered guitar made of carbon fiber.
     Evan Brewer debuted the use of fretless bass in The Faceless on two tracks on a whim of experimentation in the studio. Keene also explored a more industrial influence, creating "post-apocalyptic" percussion sequences on many of the tracks. This played a big part in giving the record its distinctly dark quality. Another key quality of Autotheism came from Keene's time spent on experimenting with string arrangements and keyboard sequencing.
     The lyrics were written largely in the studio. A process that Keene and Ficco described as "grueling, but rewarding". An outline for the story of the lyrics was written, followed by the individual topics for each song. Then, Keene and Ficco worked out the lyrics and phrasing as they went along with the recording process. "The bulk of the time was spent on the writing of the lyrics and phrasing. Once that part was complete, the actual recording flew by. "Geoff is an exceptionally easy vocalist to record and produce" said Keene.
A guest appearance by Keene's long time friend and infamous YouTube sensation Sergio "The Sexy Sax Man" Flores appears on the track "Deconsecrate". Keene's mother also contributes harmonizing background vocals on the track "Emancipate". (Wikipedia)
     Anyways, I believe all the ideas and lyrics from the album are kind of wack and stupid. My stepdad saw the album and looked at the song titles and thought it was a bit silly. Let's face it; in metal there is a lot of ideology and ideas, but for the most part the musicians use it for their music and art, but they don't believe in it at all, its just something for entertainment, just a gimmick. Kind of like how Slayer uses Satan as the main source and ideas for a lot of their songs. Or like how Black Metal uses the idea of Satanism versus Christianity, and burning churches for their inspiration haha. And all the metal fans I know who are into those genres don't have an interest in any of the ideas behind the songs, they just enjoy the music because they think it sounds good. I once had a friend who believed in these ideas of autotheism and stuff, and he was a bit off your rocker, to say the least.
     Now, let's talk about the actual music. This is what makes the album great. There is even jazz elements; there's this sick saxophone solo in the beginning of the album! That alone to me makes this death metal album great. The guitar solos aren't meandering. In fact, they are very tasteful and straight to the point. The guitars and drums are the main focus of the album for me. The drums are thunderous and pretty much always have double bass going super fast and super hard. The lyrics for me are kind of hard to get over because yes they sound good but I don't understand a word. However, me not understanding the growls doesn't matter, I know that they sound great. Another great aspect of this album is the use of fretless bass by Evan Brewer. I really enjoy Keene's chorus vocals on the track Ten Billion Years, it sounds so catchy for metal. Is metal suppose to be catchy? Because this album is very catchy and I love that about it. The themes are very simple and they always repeat, bringing the music full circle. The last tune has acoustic guitar and some nice vocals, not unlike European folk music, or medieval folk music. It really gives off that kind of progressive rock vibe, or in this case, progressive death metal vibe. Or would you call it progressive technical death metal? Anyways, after the acoustic opening it goes back to the tech death metal stuff, ending the album on a high note.
     The other thing about this album is that it is very short. It seems to go by very quickly in about 40 minutes, which I guess is pretty long, but I'm more used to jazz albums where the music can go on much longer. The length is actually good for death metal.
     Lastly, although I'm not really a big death metal guy, this was a great listen and a great album. I wish they had more of the jazz elements, or even more acoustic guitar bits. That would have made things more interesting than just the stereotypical technical death metal playing. However, I did enjoy the saxophone solo on the album so I guess there's that. A great album produced by a great guitarist. Oh yeah, and let me also mention that I've seen Michael Keene at the grocery store. 

David S. Ware Quartet, Wisdom of Uncertainty

Before I write my own impressions of this album, I'll write out the liner notes as written by Matt Galloway in May of 1997. This is the Quartet's most thrilling session to date as well as its most focused. The ensemble continues to use Shipp's melodic deconstructions as a pivot point for elastic launches, anchoring its improvisations with simple, catchy themes. Wisdom of Uncertainty builds on the heated intensity of the Japan Godspelized sessions, finding the Quartet pulling back from the precipice ever so slightly and harnessing that redoubtable energy without losing a shred of passion.
     The striking opening track, 'Acclimation,' begins with Ware eestablishing the theme in a blistering tone before launching into a fenetic run through the range of his horn. Shipp immediately begins to flay the melody, peeling it away layer by layer, only to offer it back in jagged shards. Parker takes the riff even farther, shearing part the theme in an expansive, constantly evolving arco bass solo. Recent precussion addition Ibarra brings graceful texture to this heady mix. A former student of rythmic pioneer Milford Graves, Ibarra works her kit from all angles, creating a paplabnle sense of space within the composition with an array of bells, tiny cymbals and non-linear rhthmic digressions.
     Book ended by complex, stumbling refrains and condensed solos, the feverish 'Antidromic' and 'Alignment' are perhaps the compositions most determined by form. Says Ware,"I've always been very aware of form. People sometimes say that this type of music is just random notes, that anything goes. That's just not the case at all. There's so much information being passed through this music-musical, philosophical, and metaphysical- and the motifs and melodies have their own direction about them. We've been playing together for so many years that our internal musical apparatus is able to just hone right in on these natural plateaus."
      The sprawling 'Utopic' is Wisdom of Uncertainty's unquestionable centerpiece. Beginning serenely with the trio of Shipp, Parker and Ibarra. Shipp chips out the subtle, moving refrain while Parker bows out a stunning counterpoint over Ibarra's delicate shell of bells and chimes. Beyond their lengthy tenure in the Ware Quartet, Shipp and Parker remain rhythmic partners in Shipp's own trio and quartet, their own duo and in 1996, added their indelible stamp to Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman's Cama de Terra disc (check their jaw-dropping duet on the title track for details). Over the years, the two have achieved an unspoken, highly developed language that here allows them to shadow each other almost unconsciously. Ware's lyrical entry begins on a grand note and soon gives way to an expansive, at times combustible solo that unlocks a range of emotions. An immense, wildly spiritual track, it's classic jazz in every sense of the term, and the David S. Ware Quartet has rarely sounded this beautiful or majestic.
     'Utopic' speaks of people who are willing to explore the outer reaches of human experience and not be so willing to readily accept what the past has been and what society dictates that the human experience should be," Ware offers. "It's a dedication to those souls who are willing to take a risk and discover something fresh and something splendid-people who are willing to search themselves."
      'Continuum' brings the album to a close and full circle., with the saxophonist stating the melody and then quickly giving it up to Shipp, Parker, and Ibarra to reconfigure, only to reclaim it with a forceful solo of his own. Like Wisdom of Uncertainty itself, it's the real deal-turbulent without being overwhelming, directed yet hardly restrained, and another high point in the constantly evolving scope of the David S. Ware Quartet. Grab hold while you can. -Matt Galloway, Toronto, May 1997 
    First, I got this album on a whim. I randomly got it because it was the first album by David S. Ware that I saw on amazon. I skimmed the tracks and read the reviews and they were all good so I decided to buy it. The David S. Ware Quartet is  David S. Ware on saxophone, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Susie Ibarra on drums. This is my first real modern free-jazz studio recording. All the other free-jazz recordings I have are live performances. I can get a real sense of what they're reaching and trying to do here. For the most part, the tunes have a line, maybe two or three, then they kind of go off into what most people would say is 'random notes and playing', but we free-jazz fans wouldn't put it that way. The first two tracks are like that, they have an opening motif and then they kind of just go off into the outer limits of free-jazz saxophone, like a modern version of the late John Coltrane. But the third song in the middle of the album, 'Utopic' begins with a profound piano statement, then a bass thing, then the drums. Then Ware comes in with his saxophone, blaring and bracing us for the rest of the tune. There's lots of chimes and bells and stuff on the percussion side of things. It's a bold statement that enters into the spiritual realm, if one would ever go there with describing music. That first half of the album is spectacular.
      The next half of the album opens with a tune called 'Alignment'. This starts with a rhythmic motif and then they stretch out on the theme, playing variations of it as the saxophone goes into the outer limits. The next tune, 'Sunbows Rainsets Blue' is a more somber and mellow tune that starts with a melody on the piano and has beautiful piano arpeggios. Then the saxophone comes in does its thang, so to speak. The melody is both beautiful and haunting at the same time in this piece, evoking many different emotions from the players. The drumming is especially interesting on this piece, all the cymbal flourishes are noticeable and add much to the piece. The last tune is called 'Continuum' and brings the album full circle. It was a chromatic kind of melody going up a scale, playing variations on that in the opening motif, before the saxophone comes in for extended improvisation. Later, the piano has its turn playing a solo. At the end of the tune, the drummer takes a solo. It's a tasteful, volley of snare and cymbal hits that sound great. Then they end it by repeating the chromatic theme of the piece.
     I gotta say that buying this album was definitely worth it, buying it on a whim was risky but I love the album. I like how the drummer is a woman, she play's so amazingly! The drums on this album is almost like a painter, not so much just a time keeper, but someone who is adding colour to the the songs. I could have bought something more recent but realistically its interesting hearing how David S. Ware sounded when he was in the beginning phase of this Quartet. This is one of the better free-jazz experiences I've had, the others being Jack Dejohnette's Made in Chicago, Ornette Coleman's Hamburg concert in 1987, and the new lineup of the Art Ensemble of Chicago sometime in the 200s. Out of all of those, I would say this album is more rewarding, although Ornette Coleman live in 1987 was amazing too because the lineup consisted of Coleman, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and Charlie Haden. A lot of what this Quartet did back in the 90s, (this album was made in 1997) reminds me of what The Bad Plus does today. Sure, The Bad Plus isn't as free-jazz as this Quartet was but I feel like the material and the spirit of the music is similar.
      Also, Matthew Shipp's piano playing is similar to Ethan Iverson's (pianist for the Bad Plus). This album makes me definitely want to check out more. I've heard a lot of Ware's more recent stuff but I'll have to go back and listen to his earlier work. It's too bad that Ware died in 2012 of a blood infection. He was a great musician on the free-jazz scene, working as far back as the 1960's, with Cecil Taylor. Go buy this album. It was pretty cheap. This is basically my gateway into the free-jazz studio album world. I've heard Ornette Coleman's free-jazz album and John Coltrane's free-jazz stuff, but this is the first real modern free-jazz album I've got my hands on and I'm sure glad I got it. Great stuff man! This music inspires me to practice more on the guitar.
    

First impressions of Smite

 Smite is a third person action moba (massive online battle arena) that is free to play! It's got a super competitive scene and is made by Hi-Rez Studios, which also made the games Tribes:Ascend and Global Agenda. The heroes that you play in this game are all various gods, from various cultures, from Egypt, Rome, Greece, etc. My favorite character so far is Freya, the Valkyrie. The picture above is Freya as on the deviant art website. Anyways, I'm only at level 3 in the game so far so I don't have the main game modes unlocked right now. The main game mode is 5v5 with lanes. Basically to win you destroy the enemy team's towers, kill their phoenix, and destroy their titan to win. But I won't unlock that mode until I reach level 5 :( So anyways, I played all these other game modes.
     The first one I played was Arena, where you just straight up fight and battle to the death for the most kills. I just played with other people against the computer for all these modes so it was pretty easy and fun. The most important thing about Smite for me, is that you get your ultimate ability at level 5, which is pretty fast and amazing, considering that in all other mobas you don't get your "ult" until level 10. So Arena is just a battle royale to see who gets the most kills. Pretty fun. No towers to destroy or anything like that.
    The next game mode I tried out was random one lane battle. Basically you spawn as a random god and your fighting only in one lane. I can't remember for sure but I believe this mode was with 5v5 heroes. Every hero is fighting in that one lane trying to destroy the enemy team's tower, kill their phoenix, and destroy their titan to win the game. It's basically a super hectic fight fest and the chaser is that you can't go back to base to heal up, you have to stay out in the battlefield until you die, then you spawn back to base and can buy items and stuff. This mode was very fun, and the first time I played the god Freya, the Valkyrie, she's a great character. She's a blonde with armor and a sword. Basically her first ability gives her stronger melee attack. Her second ability gives her attack a long range magic attack. Her third ability throws up enemies in the air. And her ultimate flies her in the air and has her throwing magic projectiles at her enemies. Pretty sick! So yeah it was fun playing her in this mode.
     The last game mode I tried out was 3v3 lane match. Basically the regular game mode except with only three people instead of five. There was outside areas outside of the lane where you could get power up auras and stuff by defeating monsters in the jungle (area outside of lanes where you can get power ups).
     Basically, my first impression is that this game is amazing. I can't wait to unlock the regular game mode. The graphics are great, the actual playing of the game is good, and the characters are all pretty cool and unique. This would be one of my later mobas that I've played and I would have to say that this one is one of the best. I would put it on the same level as Heroes of the Storm in terms of fun and playability. The thing with mobas that I don't really like is the fact that there's no real story or lore, there's just tons of characters battling with it. With these gods, there should be lore and stuff because not everyone has read Norse mythology or whatever other things they have in the game. So some of these gods I have no idea who they really are without lore of some kind. Anyway, I've found a new game to play online other than Heroes of the Storm. By the way, HoTs comes out June 2nd, then everyone will be playing it. Smite is a super tight game and I'm glad I finally got around to downloading it.

What I've been up to lately

    

     Aw, man. What have I been up to lately? Lots of things. For one thing there's work. Other than that there's all the good stuff. For one thing I've been scouring and discovering new jazz music. Recently this has been in form of free-jazz. Right now I'm really into this sax player David S. Ware, who died in 2012. Read all about David S. Ware here. His work is very solid and reminds me of John Coltrane's free-jazz period. Also, his claim to fame is that he used to work with experimental jazz pianist Cecil Taylor. In addition, Ware used to work with the same consistent line-up for something like twenty years, pretty extraordinary.
     Also, I've been working on my own jazz playing on the guitar quite a bit. But I am losing faith in playing music in general. The fact that I'm not in a real band means I have no incentive to really dig in and practice for hours on end. There is this old clarinet player that I'm currently working with but I find the project to be kind of difficult because all we have is clarinet and guitar. You can't really do too much with that format. It would be better if I played bass, because at least there would be something with more of a constant rhythmic pulse, rather than just guitar chords. I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap Fender bass and using that to play with him instead of guitar. I'm not really sure about our project because the kind of jazz that this guy likes is way old. I'm more of a jazz modernist, I like everything from the Charlie Parker 50s bebop era to today with free-jazz. I don't mind dixieland and the jazz of the 1920s but that's really not my thing. This guy comes from the dixieland school of jazz, and is even in a dixieland jazz band. So were really coming from different backgrounds. Anyways, we'll see how things go with it. I'll keep practicing guitar everyday but I am generally becoming disillusioned with playing music lately because I feel like I'm going nowhere with it. It really sucks! I'm thinking about attending a community college just for the fact that I can play in the school jazz band there and actually find a use for my playing, maybe find other musicians, and start a group. That's the goal because so far just relying on trying to find people online hasn't worked for me.
     In other news, there's gaming. I've been playing a ton of Heroes of the Storm. That's been my main game for months now. I even stream it on twitch.tv when I have time during the day. The cool thing about it is that the actual game is being released in June, just five more days! Its been in beta for about six long months, and its been the best beta that I've ever been apart of. Also, I've started playing Call of Duty Advanced Warfare on the pc again just because I like to do the ten minute team deathmatch rounds. In other gaming news, I'm really looking forward to this Blizzard Game Overwatch, a first person shooter game that's suppose to come out in the future, maybe next year. The picture above is from Overwatch. And then, there's the new Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, the last of the Starcraft real time strategy series. That one's suppose to come out next year as well I believe. A lot of stuff from Blizzard when it comes to pc gaming. In addition, I've been playing a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles on the 3DS. And also I've kind of become a leader in organizing times for when me and two of my other buddies from work play Super Smash Brothers for the 3DS online together.
     Lastly, I've been watching this anime called Steingate. Right now I'm about halfway through it. It's about a mad scientist who is discovering time travel. It's unlike any anime I've ever seen. Also, I've been keeping up on the new Chicago PD episodes, I'm really into that show. But the main thing I would have to say that is going on, is the music. It's always the music, isn't it?

Music I've been listening to lately

     

     Been listening to a lot of cool stuff lately. I've been getting more and more into free-jazz. So I've been listening a lot to people like Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Peter Brotzman, Ken Vandermark, Albert Ayler, and this chick from Chicago named Matana Roberts. Those are all pretty heavy duty free-jazz artists. But I would say mainly Peter Brotzmann is the free-jazz guy I've been listening to the most. He really has a lot of personality to his playing. When he plays a note on the saxophone, you can really tell its him playing. Also, some of his playing nods to Coltrane when he's really feeling it. A great free-jazz composer I've been listening to is Wadada Leo Smith, a great trumpet player who plays in free contexts.
      Other things that have attracted my attention is video-game music. My favorite video game theme is the Brinstar theme from Super Metroid, an old super nintendo game. Also, I'm really into the music of the nintendo jrpg Xenoblade Chronicles. There's a lot of guitar in the music of that game, guitars with a lot of distortion, very progressive tracks with synthesizers, bass, and drums. The guitar riffs are very intricate and precise, very heavy-metal but more of a Japanese style of heavy metal rather than the death metal stuff of America. Also, I'm really into the music from the Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, and Final Fantasy 7. I got into the game music because it reminded me of playing these old games as a kid, and also you can't always just listen to jazz.
     Lastly, I've been listening to metal and death-metal stuff as well. In terms of death metal, I just picked up the new Faceless album, Autotheism. It's a pretty good effort from a band that keeps reforming with new members. There's a jazz vibe to the album, and there's clean vocals to add to the screaming. In addition I've been listening to Tosin Abasi's (guitarist of the instrumental metal band Animals as Leaders) sideproject T.R.A.M, a jazzy sort of rock band that has a guy that plays saxophone and flute. It's a great band and of all the music I've been listening to lately I would recommend T.R.A.M the most. Their first and only album is pretty darn good. Also, last week I picked up the new St.Vincent album and this CD by this band called Angra, a Brazilian metal band. So yeah, free-jazz, video-game music, and death-metal.

Art Ensemble of Chicago Baptizum

The Art Ensemble of Chicago's album Bap-tizum is a great live recording. Much of the Art Ensemble's best work is done in live concert settings rather than behind the recording console in a studio. This album has everything an Art Ensemble fan could dream of. The beginning of the concert features chaotic shouting and screaming from Malachi Favors (bass). This line-up features all the original members of the Art Ensemble including Joseph Jarman (sax, reeds, percussion), Lester Bowie (trumpet, percussion), Roscoe Mitchell (sax, reeds, percussion), Don Moye (drums, percussion), and Malachi Favors (bass). The album was recorded live at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival in 1972.

       What is so great about this album is that it has everything that the Art Ensemble would be known for to this very day in 2014. The music has the Black jazz sensibility, humor, blues, post-bop,, and a hip style of free-jazz that was just beginning to be noticed back in 1972. This isn't your suit and tie jazz band and you can tell just by hearing it. The album got great reviews and I would say it is a must have for free-jazz fans and Art Ensemble of Chicago fans.
     For me the highlight of the album was a tune called Ohnedaruth, which is the longest piece on the album, consisting of 15 minutes and written by the whole band. It features shouting, lots of percussion, wild thunderous drumming, and tons of free playing by the horns, especially the trumpet.  And who could forget their closing song that the group still uses to this day to end concerts, Odwalla. Its a great ending piece that is very catchy and boppish with the melodic lines. If you want to get into free-jazz this might be a little extreme to start with but if you like this, then you will learn to love free-jazz that is very, as my friends have said the group, "out there", kind of like the name of the Eric Dolphy album.

Mad Max: Fury Road

     Mad Max: Fury Road is a great movie, even better than the Avengers in my opinion. Way better. This movie is an exercise in cinema. Meaning that there's very little plot, the acting is emotive, and the action of just non-stop. In fact, you could say this whole movie is nothing but one big chase.
     First of all, the movie starts with our hero, Max out in the desert with his car eating a lizard. He gets captured by these skinny bald headed guys and gets brought back to the Citadel, a major city in this dystopian universe. They cut his hair and we see that his hair is going to get donated to people there. I found it weird how they didn't just shave off his hair so he'd look like them. Anyways, Max fights and tries to escape but they end up man handling him and chaining him up again. It then cuts scenes to where there's this old guy with long white hair wearing some kind of armor, and some kind of mouthpiece over his face. He speaks to all the people in the Citadel from the top of the place, like some kind of Furor or Adolf Hitler, which that's basically who he is in this picture. Basically this guy controls all the people in the Citadel and is their King, telling them that he will take them to Valhalla.  He controls the water, the breeding, and God knows what else in the place so he's the ruler of everyone there. Later, we find out that his brothers are also kind of big shots running people. And then we have the main storyline of the whole movie. This woman took the King's wives, including his pregnant wife, and is taking them to her home village. Thus begins the long chase that is the whole movie.
     Next, once the King finds out his wives are gone he goes out with a ton of his bald headed men and rides out on the Fury Road to get them back. There's tons of action, firefights, and music. The King's entourage even included men playing big drums, and a guy playing a double necked guitar with a ton of amps behind him, which was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. This is all happening while they're driving on the road, making for an exciting picture. So after Max fights the wives and the woman driving the truck, they find out working together to battle the King's guys trying to drive them off the road is the best idea. Once they find out that the woman's village is no longer there, and that the green trees that used to be there have been replaced by desert and crows, they come to the conclusion that they should go back to the Citadel, and make an attempt to take it, thus getting the water and everything else that comes with it. So they fight their way back, kill tons of the bald headed freaks, and even kill the King. Once they get back to the Citadel, they are recognized as heroes by the people and are brought up to the high place within the citadel. Cut scene. Fin.
     Lastly, the good thing about this movie is that even though it was lacking in plot and dialogue, the dialogue was emotive and the actors were definitely feeling it (I'm really feeling it!). After a while the fire fights and the off-road driving got old though, for me at least. But they chose to go with the more action oriented style, and it really payed off. I would say this movie has just as much action scenes in it as the new Avengers, maybe more. Also, it was interesting that this movie isn't really about Max at all. It's all about the woman driving the truck, with the mechanical arm. Once they get back to the Citadel, she and the rest of the living wives go up, but Max gets lost within the crowd. So, she's going to be in charge, not Max. Also, I found it messed up that the pregnant wife ends up getting run over. And the King has a guy slice her up to check the baby, and of course it was dead. Kind of messed up in my opinion. Pretty great movie though, I would recommend it to anyone who's into action flicks, car flicks, or the original Mad Max series. What a lovely day. 
    

Avengers: Age of Ultron

     The new Avengers: Age of Ultron movie was a blast. Let me give you the good, the bad, and the nerdy. This movie is all about how Tony Stark wants to create an AI that will "save the world" because he doesn't believe that the Avengers can defeat any really tough enemies. What if aliens attack again like the last movie? Anyway, so Tony Stark, aka Iron Man creates this AI and the AI activates itself after Stark and Bruce Banner (Hulk) have been working on it for a long time. The AI is called Ultron and lets just say it knew everything about the Avengers before it even met them in person. It's goals was to initially save the world, but he went beyond Stark's initial plans and wanted to destroy all humans and start a new. Kind of simple minded right? So that's the main plot and story of this action fest.
     First off, Ultron kind of has jokey comments to make and even reminded me a bit of the Joker from the Dark Knight. Ultron is basically just a tall platinum robot, he doesn't really look all that cool nor interesting. Moving on, Ultron teams up with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to take out the Avengers. Those two agree to help him because they have a grievance with Tony Stark, a Stark missile hit their town and many people died. Later, they join the fight with the Avengers when they find out that Ultron is trying to kill people instead of help them. This movie is mainly all action and the action is pretty good! The fight with Ultron, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch against the Avengers leaves the Avengers in the dust mainly because Scarlet Witch uses her telekinesis to get into the Avengers' heads, making them see visions, leaving them in a cloud of confusion. Then, the Hulk ends up going crazy in a town in Africa, and Iron Man is the only Avenger up that can stop him. That was a pretty fun fight. Iron Man had to call something down from space, a giant Iron Man Suit that could compete with the Hulk. Needless to say, that town was leveled.
     Next, the Avengers seek refuge at a safe house until they can figure out what to do against Ultron. They were basically defeated at that point. Then Ultron decides he needs to keep evolving so she has this Korean Avengers scientist Cho create a body for him to use. But the Avengers come to stop him while he's being uploaded into the new body. I kind of couldn't tell weather his new body was going to be human-like or if it was just another metal thing. Anyways, the Avengers take the body and its brought to Stark's lab, where Stark and Banner work on producing the Vision, an AI designed to take out Ultron! Once they have the Vision on their side, they decide to take out Ultron for good and boy is the fight a good one.
     Later, they fight Ultron at some eastern European city. Ultron's goal was to lift the city up into the sky and drop it, the impact would have killed billions. But in order to actually defeat Ultron, they had to destroy each and every single Ultron body that he had. He had his main body doing all the bad super-villain stuff, but he also had probably hundreds or thousands of other smaller bodies that they had to fight as well. Basically, they were fighting for a long time. At this point Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch join sides with the Avengers, because they knew Ultron was actually against the human race, not trying to help. The Avengers end up getting everyone out of the city and the piece of the city that was floating in the air is destroyed thanks to Iron Man and Thor. The cool part is when The Vision tells the last Ultron body that he thinks the human race is beautiful and stuff. Then Ultron says that he's hopelessly naive. Then the Vision says "Well, I was born yesterday." Then he blasts the Ultron apart. Cut scene. Fin. After the credits we see Thanos with the Infinity Guantlet and he says,"Guess I'll have to do it myself." Pretty cool eh?
     Lastly, it was a good movie although the plot was simple minded. The action fills up most of the movie, leaving pretty much no room for much of a plot. There was an interesting romance between Banner and Black Widow, aka Scarlet Johannson. In the beginning Black Widow was actually able to calm the Hulk down by putting her hand on the Hulk's giant hand. That was an important part because it shows that the Hulk can actually be controlled and not just a rage monster. Also, the movie was kind of made better because I went to see it with four of my good friends that I have met here in LA. Good movie, but I think the first one was better, and I think the next one will be better too if it involves Thanos.
    

Fate/Stay Night

     Fate/Stay Night was an enjoyable anime about magic users, Magi, using Epic Heroes called Servants to battle each other to the death in the hope of winning the Holy Grail to get any wishes they want granted. The anime focuses on a guy named Shirou Emiya and his Servant Saber. Emiya only wants to fight to end the fighting. He's interested in protecting people and even not making Saber fight unless he ultimately has to. He teams up with a master Magi girl named Tosahka to protect each other and fight against the other Servants and their Masters.
     First off, this anime is really slow and takes a while for it to really get going. I think it took a good four or five episodes before the anime really got beyond just telling the introductory story and into the main plots. One of the highlights of the show is that the female Servant Saber was actually King Arthur, or Arturia in her own time. She uses her blade, Excalibur against other Servants and she was actually one of the most powerful servants. Until they ran into this little girl with blonde hair, Illyavasiel Einzbern. She had an Epic Hero from Greece named Hercules and he could not be defeated unless he was killed twelve times. Pretty epic right? The way they defeat him is that Tossahka's Servant, Archer, goes one on one with the big brute Hercules and kills him several times before he actually gets mauled to death. By the way, this anime is mildly violent, there's blood and people die but its not graphic. Then, Tosahka uses her magic gems on Hercules, killing him yet again. But it was Saber's Noble Phantasm, or special move that kills Hercules seven times in one strike. Her Noble Phantasm is her swords scabbard.
     Next, other parts of this anime that was interesting was the ending. There was this Epic Hero from the last Holy Grail Wars that was still somehow in the world physical because he was "eating" human souls to keep his physical body in that current world. Usually after the Holy Grail Wars are over, Servants return back to their own time I guess until summoned for the next one. Anyways, there was this Epic Hero named Gilgamesh, the first true King of the world when the world was still one. Gilgamesh was very cool and stylish. When not fighting he wore a white coat with fur on it. When fighting he had this red armor on. His specialty was that he had hundreds of great epic weapons at his disposal. He was just super cool because he was using all these interesting weapons. Oh, and also he had a thing for Saber, saying that she was his. In the end Saber ends up winning the fight because of her scabbard. The thing that was powerful about Excalibur was the scabbard, not the actual sword itself. In the end Emiya has Saber destroy the Holy Grail. It was decided earlier the show that they would destroy the Holy Grail because they heard that if they actually ask for wishes, the world could be destroyed just like ten years ago when the last Holy Grail Wars occurred. Anyways, in the end Saber says that she loves Emiya and goes back to her own time. Once she's back she has a female knight of hers to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.
     Lastly, this anime was pretty good. But it was just so slow, especially the beginning. There is a movie called Unlimited Bladeworks that I have to see that goes along with the anime. I would recommend this to any anime fan.  

Darker than Black Thoughts

     

     Darker than Black is a recent anime that came out in 2007. Let me break it down for you. A mysterious anomaly called Heaven's Gate appeared in South America, followed by Hell's Gate in Tokyo, changing the sky and destroying the landscape. The real sky and stars disappeared and were replaced by a different sky. During this time, people with special powers called Contractors appeared. Contractors are named by their Messier catalog number. Contractors are called contractors because for their powers they all have to pay a price each time their power is used. One woman had to kiss someone. Another had to drink alcohol. Another had to eat cigarettes. The main character is a Chinese guy that goes under the name BK201 but other-times just as Hei. Also, when Hei is doing contractor work he wears a black jacket, a white mask, and goes under the name by the police as the Black Reaper. He's pretty much the epitome of a cool character in an anime. These contractors are known to be cold blooded killers, using their powers to overcome their enemies.
     First, the anime is divided in two sections; the first season involving Hei trying to find his sister and his general work as a contractor, and the second season involving Hei rescuing and training a young Russian girl named Suo that just became a contractor. Although Hei is the main character of the anime, a lot of attention and focus is given to a young police woman who is trying to expose the syndicate, an underground organization that uses contractors for assassinations. Hei works for the syndicate and performs many jobs, killing high ranking officials and anyone who the syndicate wants dead. Hei's special power is that he can send electricity through his hands. He also uses a kind of weapon that is like a dagger but also has a rope to it, giving him a long range attack. The first season is twenty-four episodes and so much happens. The main storyline is that a girl from Hei's past has the power to go back in time, but each time she does she grows older. She's trying to prevent the government from using a weapon that will kill every contractor in the world. In the end Hei ends up helping her. Although at first, he was against her because she wouldn't tell Hei the whereabouts of his younger sister. In the end, Hei ends up saving the world, by saving the world I mean saving the contractors, and life in a world where contractors exist goes on.
     Second, the other part of this anime is the second season. This involves a Russian girl named Suo, and her brother Shion. Shion was born a contractor and has the ability to make copies of stuff, but his price is that he can't use his legs. Also, their father named Palichenkov was a scientist that worked on research involving the Gate. One day, while Paslichenkov is working at University, his children are there with him and there's an explosion, killing Suo. But Professor Palichenkov uses Shion's ability to make a copy of Suo and give her implanted memories, so its as if she never died. They played God in that case and it all works out fine until Suo finds out she's a copy. But everything really goes crazy when a government agency that the police woman from the first season works for raids her house looking for Shion. Suo is left on the run but Hei finds her and captures her. He ends up in a fight with an interesting contractors. She's a woman with a kind of lightsaber type sword with blue energy. Her price is that she has to kiss someone every-time she uses her power. She's one of the coolest characters in the whole anime, also her hair is really cool. Anyway, Hei kidnaps Suo but Suo ends up loving him, in a caretaker kind of way. Somehow Suo also becomes a contractor. Her power is that a long gun with a super long scope comes out of her body and she fires it at people. But the main focus is that Yin, a doll that Hei worked with in the syndicate now has a power that is killing contractors. A doll is someone who isn't truly human, but has cognitive speech and gives out valuable information. In this world though, dolls are more or not used as playthings. But the girl from the first season that could go back in time predicted that if Yin and some other character meet, then the world would end. So the whole point is to stop Yin from meeting that other character. But in the end it was kind of confusing because when Hei finally meets with Yin nothing is explained or happens. Instead we realize that everything we learned about Suo is erased, and she's back to being a schoolgirl in class with her friends, her parents are alive, but she says its as if she's forgotten something. And the police woman ends up being an even higher ranking job, and the people in the future even call her and her organization the syndicate. Oh yeah, and they also show hover cars. Interesting stuff but they don't really explain what happens. Obviously the world didn't end but we don't find out what happened to Hei. Maybe that's what Gemini of the Meteor is for. Its the sequel. It premiered in Japan in 2008. I'll have to check that out for more information.
     Lastly, it was a great anime and the fights were interesting because each contractor had their own set of special powers. There were some brutal bloody moments but it wasn't really about the fights or the violence, it was always about where the storyline was going to take you rather than lets have a big rival fight. Also, the artwork is great in this. Also, there's a talking cat that turns into a talking flying squirrel. Check this one out, you won't regret it! 

Parasyte the Maxim

    

Parasyte the Maxim was one of the great new anime that came out in America recently. I saw it on the website crunchyroll, which has tons of Japanese anime with subtitles. This anime is about a teenage boy named Shinichi Izumi, who lives in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo. One night a worm-like parasite tries to burrow through Shinichi's ears to get to his brain, but because he was wearing headphones, makes an attempt to go his arm instead. So Migi, the parasyte takes over Shinichi's right hand and they attempt to coexist and talk, and help each other out to survive in this world where parasites have become commonplace in Tokyo. Not only have they become commonplace, but they are man-eating killers who can disguise themselves as humans. A lot of stuff happens in this anime, I'll try to break it down.
     First, the main thing that happens in the beginning is that a parasite attacks Shinichi at school, killing tons of his classmates, in an attempt to kill Shinichi. Shinichi and Migi have to work together to kill their foe, and they end up killing him. This anime is not for the light-hearted, its very gory and bloody.
      Next, another main part of the storyline was when Shinichi learns that his mother was killed by a parasite while she was out on vacation with Shinichi's father. What happens is the parasite actually figures out where Shinichi lives and stabs Shinichi right through the heart, killing Shinichi instantly. But he doesn't die there. Migi does something to grow a part of him where Shinichi's heart used to be. It was quite something. If Migi didn't do it, he would've died. The parasite Migi plays an important role in this anime, and he's just as important as Shinichi.
    Then, Shinichi finds out that one of his teachers at his school Ryoko Tamiya is a parasite but she says she doesn't want to fight, that she wants to join forces with him and be friends. Little does Shinichi know, that she is part of an elite parasite group where they make decisions about human feeding grounds, and other nefarious parasite stuff. Eventually their club gets wiped out and Shinichi has to fight for his life against their leader, Gotou.
     In addition, there's more to this anime than just fighting parasites and bloody bodies. There are other important characters like Shinichi's girl friend Satomi Murano. The more Shinichi gets caught in the world of parasites, the more he becomes cold, less human, and out of touch with Samtomi. Also, there is another girl who gets infatuated with Shinichi. However, she ends up getting killed by a parasite and Shinichi ends up killing the parasite in a fit of rage. Then, there is the loss of his mother. And Ryoko ends up getting killed protecting her baby in her arms. She gets shot by the cops despite holding a human baby in her hands. Despite her being a parasite, her baby ended up somehow human, which I never quite understood. Also, the relationship between Shinichi and Migi was like brothers. Despite Migi being a burden on him, Shinichi ended up loving Migi.
     Lastly, the fights in this anime are intense. They keep the anime interesting and on your toes while watching. The last fight at the end versus Gotou is an incredible anime fight, where Shinichi barely wins because he doesn't have Migi to help him. Instead he ends up stabbing Gotou with a stick, a stick that has poison in it, thus weakening his state. He didn't know that the stick would poison Gotou, so he thought he was going to die, but fought him anyway, pretty cool right? He did it because he wanted to weaken Gotou before he got to kill any more people. The police end up raiding Tokyo and killing most of the parasites but the main question that doesn't get answered in the end of the show is where do the parasites come from? And what is their purpose of existence? This is kind of only answered through the dialogue of Ryoko. But we never truly learn if the parasites are aliens or what. All in all it was a great anime and I'd highly recommend it to any anime man. The latest anime that I've been watching is Darker than Black, I'm on the second season and it is fantastic.