Frank Zappa - Sleep Dirt

Sleep Dirt from 1979 includes music that originally was intended for the double album in 1976 that was pared down to a single release called Zoot Allures. Then Frank Zappa wanted to put out a quadruple album Läther, but was met with resistance from Warner Brothers who demanded four separate records in order to end the contract. Sleep Dirt is one of those records. Original vinyl release was fully instrumental, more in the vein of Hot Rats styled jazz rock (in fact, the album's working title was Hot Rats 3, I kid you not). For the CD re-release Zappa added vocal and new drum overdubs for the more cabaret-jazz influenced numbers that were originally intended to be part of Zappa's unfinished sci-fi musical Hutchentoot. This review concerns the original version and even so I must admit that the tracks like "Time Is Money", "Flambay" and "Spider of Destiny" are not the strongest tracks on the album, although kind of interesting at places. More interesting are the pieces that retain the instrumental status even on the CD.

"Filthy Habits" is an experimental rock instrumental with its feedback drenched (some backwards) guitar sonics and angular riffs and leads. It has a dark vibe and a great rhythm section of Dave Parlato (bass) and Terry Bozzio tearing it up on drums. "Regyptian Strut" is another "Hutchentoot" outtake, as it was actually intended to be an instrumental overture and thus is spared from the vocal dubs. However the CD version adds Chad Wackerman overdub in lieu of the original drums by Chester Thompson. An interesting pompous piece that is somewhat reminiscent of early King Crimson, but without guitar, as Zappa plays percussion on this track. Bruce Fowler's multiple brass parts really add to the piece. For a more uptempo proto-version, check Wazoo (1972 Grand Wazoo orchestra live) for a piece that then was called "Variant I Processional March".

On the second half of the album we have two outstanding tracks. The title track is sublime acoustic guitar duet that shows Zappa at his most introspective and melancholic, which segues directly into "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", an avant-garde rock improvisation with crazy solos from Frank (alternating between acoustic craziness a la "Nine Types of Industrial Pollution" and screaming electric leads) as well as Patrick O'Hearn doing a damn good job at double bass. Terry Bozzio kills on the drum set. 13 minutes of superb performance which draws this underrated album to close quite nicely.

Frank Zappa - Wazoo

Frank Zappa spent most of the year 1972 in a wheelchair, after a stage attack in London. During this period he wrote a lot of music, especially for big-band format. In studio, two records in this vein were conceived: Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo. Having recuperated to a certain point, he assembled an orchestra of 20 musicians (dubbed The Grand Wazoo, naturally) and he went on the road for a small tour. This was followed by another tour with a ten member lineup (The Petit Wazoo), the recordings of which were compiled for Imaginary Diseases in 2006.

In late 2007 the Grand Wazoo lineup also got its archival album. Titled simply Wazoo, it presents a full concert, which was also the last performance of the 20 member orchestra, recorded in Boston, 24th of September, 1972. The stage repertoire, fully instrumental, refers to how amazingly prolific the composer was even during the wheelchair period. Surprisingly little material is performed by the live bigband from the studio big band records. These two studio albums are only represented by "Big Swifty" (with a spiffed-over arrangement and a completely different solo section) and the title track of "The Grand Wazoo". The sole oldie in the set is "Penis Dimension" sans lyrics. Everything else appeared on the record years later.

"Approximate" with its rhythmic-melodic abstration is electrified free-jazz at its best. Its atonal improvisation is colored by its solos, especially Earle Dumler on contrabass sarrusophone and Ian Underwood on synthesizer. Magnum opus "The Adventures of Greggary Peccary" retains its cartoonish edge even without narration (found in extensive liner notes). The given performance, lasting over 30 minutes, is spiced by improvisations. Especially memorable is a "Sketches of Spain" type jam in part two that intensifies to a powerful culmination. Part three contains improvisation that is more post-rock in its unhurried tempo and muted, subdued textures than most of what passes as post-rock these days. The set closes with "Variant I Processional March", a faster paced almost "Peaches En Regalia" like proto-version of a later tune called "Regyptian Strut".

In terms of sound it's amazing how the concurrent recording techniques have managed to capture such a big line up. The sound on the recording is crystal clear and the mastering is well done. Taking that, and the band's wonderful performance (especially by the rhythm section of Dave Parlato on bass and Jim Gordon on drums) into account, Wazoo is a record that is just as fine as Zappa's best recordings and appeals to both younger and older fans.

Yochk'o Seffer - Ima

Ima was a second album from Yochk'o Seffer and his Neffesh Music project. Compared to the previous album, Ima has a darker and more sinister vibe. The arrangements, composition and layering of sounds is more complex than on Delire, the result is a difficult but a richly rewarding listen, a bizarre avant-fusion manifestation.

The title track continues where the final composition on the last album (titled as the first part of "Ima") left off: sinister low drone in E pulsating throughout the 20 minute piece with shifting layers and textures drifting in and out of the mix. Yochk'o uses vocalizing, harmonies, saxophone solos, other self-made reed instruments that rattle and drone in the background and even synthesizers to create an unsettling and surrealist ambiance. Yochk'o plays almost everything in here, save for drums and bass (by Dominique Bertram and Manu Katche respectively) that appear 15 minutes in for some low-key interplay. 20 minutes of almost pure ambient music that sounds more involving than most other efforts in that vein.

The second side is more jazz and fusion oriented, but there's still a lot going on. Mauricia Platon from early Zao days sits in on vocals for the two compositions on side two. "Ofek" opens with mysterious rubato melody rendered on vocal and tenor sax underpinned by strings, bass and clavinet. Clavinet, bass and drums play edgy, herky-jerky rhythms, with meandering xylophone providing further tension. The piece straddles a fine line between composed and improvised material, featuring stellar string performance from Quatour Margand.

"Noce Chimique" is what I'd describe as "extremist jazz-fusion". It features tricky time signatures, nimble yet dissonant basslines and edgy soprano saxophone lines and as such, it might seem as a self-indulgent wank-fest. But further listens reveal a multi-layered beast. Various keyboards provide ominous texture, Platon's voice sounds eerie as hell, at 2:30 Seffer goes into a furious free-jazz piano solo that almost compares to Cecyl Taylor. Five minutes in violin solo comes in, followed by rigid strings. Seven minutes in the piece shifts into a fast paced 7/8 groove, with a choral backing from Platon (and possibly Seffer) to the sax solo, followed by a bass solo during a similar groove where harmonic backdrop is provided by overdubbed soprano and sopranino saxes. A very folky Hungarian melody on vocal and soprano sax follows the improvisation, until the sax drops out leaving piano, bass, drums and vocal. Eventually Platon recites the composition's title and the piece ends with synthesizer effects. Thus closes yet another interesting and unique record from Yochk'o Seffer, which might be his most avant-garde work. A surreal and sinister spin on Zeuhl.

Matmos - Supreme Balloon

Matmos - an electronic duo hailing from San Francisco - whose trademark is the treatment and integration of sundry unconventional samples and field recordings into their experimentalist glitch-techno compositions, have abandoned the practice of recording all sorts of sounds via microphone and sampling them on their seventh album titled Supreme Balloon. Instead, the duo comprising of M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel rely on various analog synthesizers such as Arp, Roland, Korg, Moog and Waldorf. Therefore, Supreme Balloon is by no means a traditional album from Matmos, but in terms of playfulness and composition of sounds (this time, analog synths) it compares well to Matmos' best work. In "Mister Mouth" Marshall Allen from Sun Ra sits in on EVI (electronic valve instrument, a midi controller based on trumpet, similar to the EWI which is based on saxophone). The title track lasts for 24 minutes and confirms just how influential the under-rated Krautrockers Cluster were (and are) to a lot of contemporary electronic experimentalists. Supreme Balloon is a Matmos album that shows the duo's warmer, more melodic and even a more improvisational side.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation