| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label | My Gnosis Rating |
| 1 | Paranoise | Instability, Containment, Rollback | Private Power | 2000 | Ancient Records | 9 |
|
Private Power is the third release of Paranoise, basically the project of
guitarist Jim Matus, since 1988. Earlier albums featured such high profile
jazz musicians as Percy Jones, Gary Windo, Anthony Jackson, & Don Cherry.
The band assembled for this album appears to be a whole new set of
musicians. The music is an almost radio-friendly progressive with a
heavy dose of (pop) world music stylings.
Paranoise | ||||||
| 2 | Noise Fragment | Kadenzkiller | A Live EP | 2000 | self-produced | 9 |
|
Noise Fragment, from Austria, play a busy & noisy instrumental avant-rock.
I am reminded mostly of recent Japanoise bands like Ruins, Korekyojin,
Motor Humming, & Hi-speed. This short CD (EP) consists of 17 very short
tracks, averaging less than 2 minutes each.
anf@cable.vol.at | ||||||
| 3 | Motor Totemist Guild | Blood in the Tower | City of Mirrors | 1999 | Cuneiform | 10 |
|
This album is my first exposure to MTG and not quite what I was expecting.
But, my understanding is that this album is pretty different from their
prior albums. MTG on City of Mirros is basically Big Band Jazz except for
the avant quality of the compositions. This is perhaps what the result
might be if you transported John Zorn back to the 1940's and had him
compose and conduct a piece for a Swing jazz big-band. Composer
James Grigsby is reportedly trying to capture the elements of Stan
Kenton, of whom I am unfortunately unfamilar with.
Rotary Totem Records | ||||||
| 4 | Samkha | Yoke | Samkha | 1999 | Boheme Music | 10 |
|
Samkha, from St Petersburg Russia, play an all acoustic ethnic fusion.
Though this album was recorded in 1993, it seems to have gone un-released
until now. The guitar & banjo is played by Igor Kaim of Ole Lukkoye.
The music is dominated by some furious flute playing and ethnic percussion.
The instrumentation and style of playing often reminds me of Jethro Tull
on the song "Fatman". The music also features beautiful word-less vocals.
I am sometimes reminded of Hedningarna, Jan Garbarek, or Uzva.
Boheme Music Ole Lukkoye | ||||||
| 5 | Istvan Cziglan | Tango Tango | Seven Gates of Alhombra | 1999 | Periferic | 10 (Alan's) |
| "Istvan Cziglan was the original guitarist for the Hungarian group Solaris, who sadly passed away in December 1998. He was working on this material for a solo album when he died, and some of it was finished up by the members of Solaris for this posthumous release. There is surprisingly little guitar playing, as Cziglan seemed to be more interested in composition and textures. Many of the tracks have a cinematic quality, with a definite world music influence, drawing comparisons to Vangelis. A very good album." - Alan Mallery | ||||||
| 6 | Richard Leo Johnson | Get Funked | Fingertip Ship | 1999 | Blue Note | 10 |
| "Johnson is a very unorthodox guitarist, known for playing a double necked acoustic guitar (one 6 string neck, one 12 string). He uses a percussive approach, often hammering his fingers down on the strings or banging on the guitar's body or strumming up by the tuning pegs. These don't come across as "gimmicks" though, they sound like they fully belong in the compositions. Johnson's performances are a lot of fun to watch, and fortunately the spirit of live performance comes through on Fingertip Ship, since it was recorded live to tape in the studio." -- Bob "Bice" Eichler | ||||||
| 7 | Tisziji Munoz | Blessings | Presence of Mastery | 1999 | Anami Music | 10 |
|
Tisziji's music on this album brings to mind the meditative guitar
improvisations of Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, & John Abercrombie.
A good comparison would be the John Coltrane inspired collaboration
_Love Devotion Surrender_ by McLaughlin & Santana.
Tisziji Munoz Anami Music | ||||||