Locus Solus (1983)
Another early work, ten years after the first recordings. I don’t know how chronological this endeavor will prove to be… that doesn’t make sense, chronological is an absolute isn’t it? I’ve already dropped the ball! I will be diving into his early Parachute game pieces in due time, I just really didn’t feel like listening to those today.
This is an improvisation double album featuring four sides, five trios, and four different styles all around, and is another weird one. Members of no wave phenomena DNA are featured throughout, so that’s going on.
Side 1: John Zorn - Saxaphone/Christian Marclay - Samples, Turntable/Peter Blegvad - Vocals.
Tracks one through eight utilize this lineup, and a bizarre, jazzy style of noise. Samples play a big role here, much like a lot of
First Recordings. With the vocals in the mix, this is very reminiscent of bands like DNA, but with turntables doing what the other instruments would be doing, making a whole lot more unique sounds and noises. A brash cacophony is created by Marclay, and the mayhem is the focus of this side of the album. Zorn’s brass work is present at times, but not a central point of the music, a good example being “Juan Talks it Out of His System”. The vocals are not up front either. They’re delivered in a spoken word style, often drenched with echos and other effects. I find it to be an enjoyable movement.
Side 2: John Zorn - Saxaphone/Arto Lindsay - Guitar, vocals/Anton Fier - Percussion.
And I thought side 1 had a DNA-esque style. This lineup makes that comparison much more obvious. But of course, Arto Lindsay of none other than DNA fame is bringing his guitar improv prowess along. Here we lose the outrageous noise brought to us with the turntables and replace it with traditional instrumentation (guitar and drums). The band is acting and improvising as a whole, with no focus on any particular area. All performers are firing on all cylinders, making such a wonderful mess of randomness. The vocals are used more as an instrument, one with the music, than the first side. Odd, abrupt shouts for the most part. Imagine a jazzier DNA, with their no-wave sound increased to higher extremes. Anton Fier (of the Lounge Lizards and the Feelies) is replaced by Mark E. Miller for another set of the same style. Very enjoyable.
Side 3: John Zorn - Saxaphone/Ikue Mori - Drums, electronics/Wayne Horvitz - Organ.
Zorn now is joined by DNA drummer Ikue Mori, we’ll see more of her later in the journal as well, and Wayne Horvitz. This side is the strangest of the album hands down. Whereas the rest off it is DNAish free improv/no wave, this is a new kind of animal. Largely due to Mori’s electronics. This side is less frantic and abrupt, and features a psychedelic array of sounds that just seem out of place in reality. The drumming is very loose, and Zorn’s sax is at constant work. But once again, electronics give this side a more strange feel. All together though, it is very enjoyable, again. My favorite side of the four.
Side 4: John Zorn - Saxaphone/Whiz Kid - Turntables/Mark E. Miller - Drums.
Miller returns to the drumset for the final side, but the music is here is different than his previous set, not drastically though. Now with Whiz Kid delivering some radical turntablism, giving an almost industrial feel at times. You can hear this odd industrial jazz sound in “Disco Volante” and more in “Thunderball”, which also features some tribal style drumming. Even a proto hip-hop track in “White Zombie”. This side is like a combination of all sides two and three, and definitely the most varied. I said side three was my favorite but it may actually be this. I don’t know, they’re both really fantastic.
This is a very good early release from Zorn, one of the best I’ve heard. Would recommend to fans of any sort of experimental music, as well as fans of no wave.