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Post by Offering on Mar 6, 2010 9:57:47 GMT -5
I wouldn't ask for a 300 tunes Alhambra songbook and a new series of volumes like Masada:-) Two are fine. I agree!
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Post by ANON on Mar 6, 2010 10:12:43 GMT -5
Kaz handles ALL administrative work for tzadik/hips road. basically zorn is the creative/money and Kaz does EVERYTHING else. it's quite a lot of work.
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rubsa
Junior Member
Posts: 77
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Post by rubsa on Mar 7, 2010 5:30:11 GMT -5
I like the first one way better than Miraculous and I don't think it will grow on me as much as Love Songs has.
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Post by Offering on Mar 8, 2010 14:24:21 GMT -5
Listening to ISOTM now, and really enjoying it. More "instant" for me than ALS was.
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Post by stefanodoug on Mar 17, 2010 5:15:27 GMT -5
This morning I finally got my original copy of Alhambra Love Songs (vol.1), which I admit I had previously downloaded as mp3 files, and I laughed at the very "catchy" portrait of Zorn (on the obi) with his hands on the rudder steering wheel. He doesn't really look like an avantgarde composer... very funny:-)
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rubsa
Junior Member
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Post by rubsa on Mar 24, 2010 13:47:28 GMT -5
bad news (?) for the people that don't want any more Alhambra records. ISOTM wasn't an instant hit for me but I'm all for as much Alhambra stuff as he wants to do.
Now with Ribot and Carol Emmanuel.
John Zorn: The Goddess—Music for the Ancient of Days Continuing in the mystical tradition of In Search of the Miraculous, The Goddess is a stunning collection of Odes in celebration of Women in Myth, Magick and Ritual throughout the Ages. Expanding the ever-growing Alhambra ensemble with the searing guitar of Marc Ribot and the evocative harp of Carol Emanuel, the music takes on a lush orchestral sound and more than a touch of the feminine. Blending an hypnotic minimalist propulsion with the complex cinematic sweep of Zorn's fast changing extended file card compositions, the music develops from moment to moment in ways both surprising and inevitable. Breathtaking and hauntingly beautiful, The Goddess is a lyrical treat for your ears!
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Post by sarahv on Mar 24, 2010 13:51:07 GMT -5
I feel like I might like it more with that harp+guitar combo added in, since the Belle de Nature soundtrack is one of my very favorite Zorn works. So even though I haven't been a big fan so far I'll probably check that out.
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Post by stefanodoug on Mar 26, 2010 6:39:56 GMT -5
Uhm, I went few times through ISOTM but unlike the first volume of Alhambra Love Songs which I'm still digging, it didn't enthralled me that much.
It might be the vibraphone whose quiet sound partially "harms" it; I think Zorn added too many layers of filling sounds (harp, vibes and extra bass) morphing the initial project into a The Dreamers-like clone. The dry piano trio was a perfect balanced blend. This is of course my humble opinion.
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Post by rodrigo on Mar 26, 2010 8:28:01 GMT -5
Well, I really like the "new" Alhambra sound, as compared to the first release, for me it's more intriguing & interesting. I should say there's no harp whatsoever in Miraculous, and the extra bass is only in one song, the rest of the disc is one bass or the other, not the two of them together. Looking forward to The Goddess...
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rubsa
Junior Member
Posts: 77
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Post by rubsa on Mar 26, 2010 8:36:50 GMT -5
It might be the vibraphone whose quiet sound partially "harms" it; I think Zorn added too many layers of filling sounds (harp, vibes and extra bass) morphing the initial project into a The Dreamers-like clone. The dry piano trio was a perfect balanced blend. This is of course my humble opinion. This is pretty much how I feel. ISOTM is a little too rigid and paced compared to the trio, and as much as I love Ribot, adding him and Emmanuel makes me think the next one will be just more like Dreamers 2. I predict if Alhambra 4 comes around Cyro will be in there too. If Zorn wanted to change it up I would have preferred if he went with a Jimmy Smith-type trio or quartet with Burger on B-3 or something. I love the intimacy of the first Alhambra and hope it doesn't become a wall of sound.
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Post by stefanodoug on Mar 27, 2010 11:17:35 GMT -5
I guess that's the unlucky power of the vibraphone, an instrument whose sound "flattens" the whole atmosphere to a very quiet (at times muffled) ambience... don't know if this gives an idea of what I'm trying to say:-)
I've read that Ipos doesn't sound like Masada too much... that's too bad, I hoped Zorn had found the right balance between squeaky noises and pleasant sounds:-) I will check it out soon (I apologize for going a bit off topic here).
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Post by Offering on Mar 27, 2010 14:47:49 GMT -5
I guess that's the unlucky power of the vibraphone, an instrument whose sound "flattens" the whole atmosphere to a very quiet (at times muffled) ambience... don't know if this gives an idea of what I'm trying to say:-) I've read that Ipos doesn't sound like Masada too much... that's too bad, I hoped Zorn had found the right balance between squeaky noises and pleasant sounds:-) I will check it out soon (I apologize for going a bit off topic here). I certainly felt that way after my first listen. Listening again now.
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Post by stefanodoug on Apr 6, 2010 5:14:50 GMT -5
Further listens to ISOTM are confirming my first impression: too many layers of sounds, the quiet dry piano trio vanished and the soothing atmosphere of the first release disappeared. Alhambra is my keeper:-)
The Goddess? My spine is shivering... oh my Goddess!:-) Ribot and Emanuel (the latter for real this time; she was claimed to be part of the ISOFM ensemble but she isn't) added to the already expanded group. Now that sounds like a new clone of The Dreamers ensemble.
Unlike the old Naked City days, a band capable of playing different styles on stage, it seems like Zorn is trying to make his music all the same by having it performed by the same band:-) Of course I'm kidding although the recent Tzadik releases have been pointing to that direction.
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Post by sarahv on Apr 6, 2010 6:49:24 GMT -5
Too many layers of sound? That would be my last complaint about almost any of JZ's work... I tend to like it better the more band members are on stage Like Electric Masada... the more the merrier.
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Post by stefanodoug on Apr 6, 2010 7:58:32 GMT -5
Too many layers of sound? That would be my last complaint about almost any of JZ's work... I tend to like it better the more band members are on stage Like Electric Masada... the more the merrier. I love EM, the octet with two drummers and the two quartets playing against each other but in the case of the Alhambra series I feel like Zorn has been slowly morphing the initial trio into a "The Dreamers" clone, a repetition in other words. That's what I'm complaining about. The first Alhambra was good to me because it was a trio. Besides I'd like "O'o" more than ISOTM (Ribot sits in the former after all:-) which seems a concept album rather than a collection of tunes. "The Goddess" looks like another step in that direction, moving away from the initial trio thing even further. I just wanted to stress my opinion about this fact with my latest post. I'm very curious to hear Ipos now. Even though I like exotica, Masada and Alhambra, I hoped these three branches could have stayed parallel on their own paths but it appears they're crossbreeding. After all we're talking about Zorn, should I be surprised?:-)
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