#johnzorn — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #johnzorn, aggregated by home.social.
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20 years ago! Jazz à Vienne 2006..
What a Band....#AcousticMasada #JohnZorn, #DaveDouglas , #GregCohen , #JoeyBaron
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20 years ago! Jazz à Vienne 2006..
What a Band....#AcousticMasada #JohnZorn, #DaveDouglas , #GregCohen , #JoeyBaron
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Last night I caught a *sick* Simulacrum set at Roulette. Simulacrum being a Zorn project featuring Medeski, Hollenberg, and Grohowski playing the heaviest shit imaginable. Bonkers how much range Zorn has.
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Last night I caught a *sick* Simulacrum set at Roulette. Simulacrum being a Zorn project featuring Medeski, Hollenberg, and Grohowski playing the heaviest shit imaginable. Bonkers how much range Zorn has.
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I had no business leaving my apartment today, recovering from the weekend and some sort of vertigo, but it was 5 minutes away and I knew it'd be an easy 8-9pm hour of the kind stuff and that it was. New Masada Quartet never not astounding. Tonight, magical evermore for a sold out and rapt Roulette.
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New #review today: "#SimonHanes is a fixture on the New York #AvantGarde scene, frequently working with #JohnZorn, #JGThirlwell, and others. Gargantua is a new work composed by Hanes featuring what I refer to as an E.U.I. — Ensemble of Unusual Instrumentation. The ensemble in question features three soprano vocalists, three French horns, three trombones, three electric basses, and three drum sets." #ExposeOnline http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/simon-hanes-gargantua-2.html
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New #review today: "#SimonHanes is a fixture on the New York #AvantGarde scene, frequently working with #JohnZorn, #JGThirlwell, and others. Gargantua is a new work composed by Hanes featuring what I refer to as an E.U.I. — Ensemble of Unusual Instrumentation. The ensemble in question features three soprano vocalists, three French horns, three trombones, three electric basses, and three drum sets." #ExposeOnline http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/simon-hanes-gargantua-2.html
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“Go! Go! Go!” (1962-964) (https://youtu.be/qzBDW3JGk6Y?si=ettzESbPEN4d7wRR) is a time lapse film of the streets of NYC directed, filmed and constructed by Marie Menken from a camera while driving around NYC. This version uses the music of avant-garde composer John Zorn #LaEsoterica #GoGoGo #MarieMenken #JohnZorn
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“Go! Go! Go!” (1962-964) (https://youtu.be/qzBDW3JGk6Y?si=ettzESbPEN4d7wRR) is a time lapse film of the streets of NYC directed, filmed and constructed by Marie Menken from a camera while driving around NYC. This version uses the music of avant-garde composer John Zorn #LaEsoterica #GoGoGo #MarieMenken #JohnZorn
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John Zorn − The Goddess: Music for the Ancient of Days (2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ptHkPJbXUQ&list=PLk6mKkLSqvN-ym4AQQyvvT2Ey-z5Hpxvc
This is really relaxing (not joking)
With Ribot, Dunn <3, Wollesen, ...
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Remember kids: friends don't let friends "Zorn". Not even once.
A concise and funny article propping up early Zorn experiments as some kind of evil or fucked up taboo. Good stuff! 🤣
"Here is a list of things Naked City sounds like: a jazz “Revolution 9,” a broken tape of a French murder mystery, a rollercoaster on the brink of falling apart, the varsity jazz band in a mental institution, The Wizard of Gore, a man in a red velvet suit whispering something seductive and then screaming in your ear, nothing else."
Wholesome tunes for the entire family to gather around the stereophonic sound system in the living room and listen together to on a cold winter Sunday evening.
"The Sicilian Clan"(linked in the article) is still one of my favorite "smooth" jazz-noir bits after 30+ years.
https://www.treblezine.com/john-zorn-naked-city-gleeful-noise-jazz-experiment/
#JohnZorn #AvantJazz #FreeJazz #music #Jazz -
Remember kids: friends don't let friends "Zorn". Not even once.
A concise and funny article propping up early Zorn experiments as some kind of evil or fucked up taboo. Good stuff! 🤣
"Here is a list of things Naked City sounds like: a jazz “Revolution 9,” a broken tape of a French murder mystery, a rollercoaster on the brink of falling apart, the varsity jazz band in a mental institution, The Wizard of Gore, a man in a red velvet suit whispering something seductive and then screaming in your ear, nothing else."
Wholesome tunes for the entire family to gather around the stereophonic sound system in the living room and listen together to on a cold winter Sunday evening.
"The Sicilian Clan"(linked in the article) is still one of my favorite "smooth" jazz-noir bits after 30+ years.
https://www.treblezine.com/john-zorn-naked-city-gleeful-noise-jazz-experiment/
#JohnZorn #AvantJazz #FreeJazz #music #Jazz -
Music is not a language, it’s a place to go.
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Music is not a language, it’s a place to go.
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FIP: "Sur les pas de l’ovni John Zorn" https://www.radiofrance.fr//fip/podcasts/club-jazzafip/sur-les-pas-de-l-ovni-john-zorn-7063833
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My girlfriend just referred to Trevor Dunn as "that guy from John Zorn's band".
...the band she was thinking of? Mr. Bungle
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A forgotten treasure (by me). One of the greatest Book of Angels. No doubt! With Tyshawn Sorey on drums.
John Zorn - Flaga: Book of Angels, vol. 27
https://open.spotify.com/album/0ozHBNffIj4lcRNiimFdbP?si=qdYRoca5RF2U_eQTbFpzrg
#music #jazz #johnzorn #bookofangels #tyshawnsorey #pullitzerprize
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#TIL how to share a YouTube video at a specific time marker...🤣
It's all about some Post Bop #Klezmer tonight!
Probably the first of my favorite songs from #JohnZorn and his #Masada ensemble.
Also, pretty much one of the first albums of his that I bought along with his Painkiller "Execution Grounds" project. Both blew the top of my head off when I first heard them in 1994.Regretfully, I've never seen any of the iterations of Masada. I was, however, fortunate enough to catch Painkiller on their first tour through Seattle at Moe's Mo' Rockin' Cafe up on Capitol Hill.
This song "Abidan" off the album "Gimel" is much less frenetic, with significantly less #skronk, and more of a slow jazz-noir burn compared to most of their other work. "Hazor"(the 2nd song after this one) is another slowish, kinda swingin' tune.
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#TIL how to share a YouTube video at a specific time marker...🤣
It's all about some Post Bop #Klezmer tonight!
Probably the first of my favorite songs from #JohnZorn and his #Masada ensemble.
Also, pretty much one of the first albums of his that I bought along with his Painkiller "Execution Grounds" project. Both blew the top of my head off when I first heard them in 1994.Regretfully, I've never seen any of the iterations of Masada. I was, however, fortunate enough to catch Painkiller on their first tour through Seattle at Moe's Mo' Rockin' Cafe up on Capitol Hill.
This song "Abidan" off the album "Gimel" is much less frenetic, with significantly less #skronk, and more of a slow jazz-noir burn compared to most of their other work. "Hazor"(the 2nd song after this one) is another slowish, kinda swingin' tune.
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🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #JazzTheatre
John Zorn:
🎵 Akialoahttps://open.spotify.com/track/3CPer1wDAH7N7sBDMs2JMu
🎶 show playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3vnTt87jK3SaVb1BQNaldn🎶 KEXP playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6VNALrOa3gWbk794YuIrwg -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #JazzTheatre
John Zorn:
🎵 Akialoahttps://open.spotify.com/track/3CPer1wDAH7N7sBDMs2JMu
🎶 show playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3vnTt87jK3SaVb1BQNaldn🎶 KEXP playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6VNALrOa3gWbk794YuIrwg -
Abhorrent Expanse – Enter the Misanthropocene Review
By Dear Hollow
How experimental is too experimental? That’s the question Chicago’s Abhorrent Expanse posits. It’s clear from the title: Enter the Misanthropocene enters to play jazz and fuck shit up, and “Bitches Brew” is on its final notes. When the Lord of the Promo Pit designated the quartet as “death-drone,” I was intrigued and gobbled up rights. It was clear from the jump that Abhorrent Expanse was not the death metal act with a mammoth guitar tone I had hoped, but an improvisational free jazz quartet that decides to do extreme metal sometimes, with death metal, grindcore, and, yes, drone metal making short-lived appearances. Pushing the boundary between extreme lofty experimentation and outright nonsense, Enter the Misanthropocene is a sophomore effort that will take you to an abstract and uncompromising world – or straight to the medicine cabinet for an aspirin.
Abhorrent Expanse has a solid lineup, including caliber from Zebulon Pike, Celestiial, Obsequiae, and The Blight – even if its sound feels entirely convoluted. Following the controversial debut Gateways to Resplendence, Enter the Misanthropocene is largely the same, but its scope is larger, significantly reducing its drone content in favor of jazzy noodling, grind intensity, sprawling ambiance, and deconstructed death metal jaggedness. The drone that exists within is a short-lived sprawl that pops up periodically, giving a more abstract feel than its predecessor’s “dissodeath meeting drone metal in a dark alley behind the Kmart” vibe. Forty-eight minutes of whiplash-inducing tonal and tempo shifts, off-key twanging, random stoner sprawls, and an undeserved love for improv awaits – and I need a nap.
Say it with me: improv is bad. I get the whole avant-garde approach that John Zorn would drool over, that an improvised performance is a “never see it the same way twice” kind of deal, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. As we’ve seen with typically good bands like Neptunian Maximalism or Bunsenburner, relying on group chemistry instead of thoughtful songwriting to create a singular experience hardly pans out – and Enter the Misanthropocene is no exception. Moments of avant-garde clarity in which the instruments align shine in the twitching obscure grind (title track, “Assail the Density Matrix,” “Dissonant Aggressors”), short-lived minimalist drone (“Praise for Chaos,” “Dissonant Aggressors,” “Ascension Symptom Acceleration”), haunting ritualism (“Waves of Graves”), and ambient calm (“Kairos”). Death growls are sparse. Enter the Misanthropocene is so free jazz and avant-garde it forcibly drags nonconsenting listeners into what seems like obscenely high art…
…Or incompetent musicianship. Much of Abhorrent Expanse’s sound is rooted in utter nonsense, and one that often gets played really fast. While there’s certainly artistic discomfort aplenty to be found on this record, in which I can see some merit (“Waves of Graves,” “Drenched Onyx”), these are scattered moments among what sound like the plonks and twunks of a novice fiddling with a new guitar at Guitar Center. Atonal noodling and off-beat drumming accounts for the majority of its forty-eight minute runtime, sounding entirely random. The drone-doom moments feel off-beat and misaligned (“Praise for Chaos”), some ambient moments are so subtle and minimalist that they just cover John Cage’s 4’33” for a bit before eventually becoming audible (“Nephilim Disinterred”), and by the end of the ten-minute closer “Prostrate Before Chthonic Devourment” you might feel like you’ve been through a prostrate exam.
The promotion around Abhorrent Expanse relies on similarities to dissonant acts like Portal and Imperial Triumphant – but in order to do that, they’d actually have to write some songs first. Gateways to Resplendence was challenging and avant-garde but anchored to a respectable degree; Enter the Misanthropocene is a leaf on the wind, being blown by one avant-garde gust to another with no semblance of gravity to save it. Its high-art status is a divisive issue, as the directionless noodling can be seen as either a challenging piece of art or four dudes who don’t know how to play their instruments. But isn’t that the nature of art itself? Abhorrent Expanse holds a mirror to art itself, making us question what is drivel and what is erudite – through the improvised off-key noodling of someone who has arguably never picked up a guitar before.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Amalgam Music
Websites: abhorrentexpanse.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 15th, 2025#10 #2025 #AbhorrentExpanse #AmalgamMusic #AmbientMetal #AmericanMetal #Aug25 #Bunsenburner #Celestiial #DeathMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #EnterTheMisanthropocene #FreeJazz #Grindcore #ImperialTriumphant #JohnCage #JohnZorn #NeptunianMaximalism #Noise #Obsequiae #Portal #Review #Reviews #TheBlight #ZebulonPike
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Abhorrent Expanse – Enter the Misanthropocene Review
By Dear Hollow
How experimental is too experimental? That’s the question Chicago’s Abhorrent Expanse posits. It’s clear from the title: Enter the Misanthropocene enters to play jazz and fuck shit up, and “Bitches Brew” is on its final notes. When the Lord of the Promo Pit designated the quartet as “death-drone,” I was intrigued and gobbled up rights. It was clear from the jump that Abhorrent Expanse was not the death metal act with a mammoth guitar tone I had hoped, but an improvisational free jazz quartet that decides to do extreme metal sometimes, with death metal, grindcore, and, yes, drone metal making short-lived appearances. Pushing the boundary between extreme lofty experimentation and outright nonsense, Enter the Misanthropocene is a sophomore effort that will take you to an abstract and uncompromising world – or straight to the medicine cabinet for an aspirin.
Abhorrent Expanse has a solid lineup, including caliber from Zebulon Pike, Celestiial, Obsequiae, and The Blight – even if its sound feels entirely convoluted. Following the controversial debut Gateways to Resplendence, Enter the Misanthropocene is largely the same, but its scope is larger, significantly reducing its drone content in favor of jazzy noodling, grind intensity, sprawling ambiance, and deconstructed death metal jaggedness. The drone that exists within is a short-lived sprawl that pops up periodically, giving a more abstract feel than its predecessor’s “dissodeath meeting drone metal in a dark alley behind the Kmart” vibe. Forty-eight minutes of whiplash-inducing tonal and tempo shifts, off-key twanging, random stoner sprawls, and an undeserved love for improv awaits – and I need a nap.
Say it with me: improv is bad. I get the whole avant-garde approach that John Zorn would drool over, that an improvised performance is a “never see it the same way twice” kind of deal, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. As we’ve seen with typically good bands like Neptunian Maximalism or Bunsenburner, relying on group chemistry instead of thoughtful songwriting to create a singular experience hardly pans out – and Enter the Misanthropocene is no exception. Moments of avant-garde clarity in which the instruments align shine in the twitching obscure grind (title track, “Assail the Density Matrix,” “Dissonant Aggressors”), short-lived minimalist drone (“Praise for Chaos,” “Dissonant Aggressors,” “Ascension Symptom Acceleration”), haunting ritualism (“Waves of Graves”), and ambient calm (“Kairos”). Death growls are sparse. Enter the Misanthropocene is so free jazz and avant-garde it forcibly drags nonconsenting listeners into what seems like obscenely high art…
…Or incompetent musicianship. Much of Abhorrent Expanse’s sound is rooted in utter nonsense, and one that often gets played really fast. While there’s certainly artistic discomfort aplenty to be found on this record, in which I can see some merit (“Waves of Graves,” “Drenched Onyx”), these are scattered moments among what sound like the plonks and twunks of a novice fiddling with a new guitar at Guitar Center. Atonal noodling and off-beat drumming accounts for the majority of its forty-eight minute runtime, sounding entirely random. The drone-doom moments feel off-beat and misaligned (“Praise for Chaos”), some ambient moments are so subtle and minimalist that they just cover John Cage’s 4’33” for a bit before eventually becoming audible (“Nephilim Disinterred”), and by the end of the ten-minute closer “Prostrate Before Chthonic Devourment” you might feel like you’ve been through a prostrate exam.
The promotion around Abhorrent Expanse relies on similarities to dissonant acts like Portal and Imperial Triumphant – but in order to do that, they’d actually have to write some songs first. Gateways to Resplendence was challenging and avant-garde but anchored to a respectable degree; Enter the Misanthropocene is a leaf on the wind, being blown by one avant-garde gust to another with no semblance of gravity to save it. Its high-art status is a divisive issue, as the directionless noodling can be seen as either a challenging piece of art or four dudes who don’t know how to play their instruments. But isn’t that the nature of art itself? Abhorrent Expanse holds a mirror to art itself, making us question what is drivel and what is erudite – through the improvised off-key noodling of someone who has arguably never picked up a guitar before.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Amalgam Music
Websites: abhorrentexpanse.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 15th, 2025#10 #2025 #AbhorrentExpanse #AmalgamMusic #AmbientMetal #AmericanMetal #Aug25 #Bunsenburner #Celestiial #DeathMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #EnterTheMisanthropocene #FreeJazz #Grindcore #ImperialTriumphant #JohnCage #JohnZorn #NeptunianMaximalism #Noise #Obsequiae #Portal #Review #Reviews #TheBlight #ZebulonPike
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Tonight:
First stop at the Stone for a set from Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith playing John Zorn's Suite for Piano. Holy shit, that was some wild, amazing music. Zorn in the audience and hopefully he was as bowled over by Smith's drumming as I was. As electrifying an acoustic piano trio I've ever heard. Marsella playing JZ works all week, wish I could hit em all!
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Ava Mendoza/Gabby Fluke-Mogul/Carolina Pérez – Mama Killa Review
By Angry Metal Guy
By: Nameless_n00b_601
The more experimental a piece of music is, the harder it must work to ground its artistic expression in an emotional or compositional core. Dazzling displays of aural innovation or sonic provocation still need a conceptual throughline—something for even the most open-minded listener to latch onto. As a fan of more “challenging” styles, I find there’s a fine line between music that feels like “artistic expression for its own sake” and music that offers “engaging tunes I actually want to listen to.” Mama Killa is the debut improvisational collaborative album from a trio with an impressive musical pedigree, consisting of guitarist Ava Mendoza (Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, Unnatural Ways), violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul (Zoh Amba, Ivo Perelman, William Parker), and drummer Carolina Pérez (Hypoxia, Castrator). Named after the Incan goddess of the moon, the album promises “eight tracks of high-volume, riff-based guitar-violin improvisation bolstered by thunderous drumming.” Can this newly formed power trio avoid the common pitfalls of experimental music and deliver over 50 minutes of compelling, instrumental free jazz?
Mama Killa offers a set of compositions that resist easy classification. While “free jazz” is likely the closest label, the sound here is a novel fusion of dissonant aesthetics, ambient impulses, Afro-Latin grooves, and avant-garde metal. I’d point to John Zorn’s more metal-focused offerings, or the most recent Mamaleek albums as potential antecedents, but Mama Killa truly sounds like nothing else. Each player draws from their unique background to craft performances that exist at a stylistic crossroads. Mendoza’s guitar work ranges from off-kilter psychedelic blues riffs, effects-heavy noise, and introspective drone, punctuated by ethereal, tremolo-picked leads. Her ingenuity is matched by Fluke-Mogul, whose violin playing is both versatile and unpredictable. She uses an array of techniques and effects pedals to summon everything from shrieking wails to rhythmic plucking and somber melodies. Pérez, meanwhile, brings her death metal roots to the drum kit, incorporating double bass gallops and anchoring the string players with a solid, rock-oriented foundation. While her style may lack the finesse and tight precision of a traditional jazz drummer, her command of dynamics, fluidity, and aggression elevate the string pyrotechnics of her bandmates.
The album and its track list are held together by a close attention to dynamics, allowing the listener to distinguish peaks from valleys in what might otherwise feel like formless terrain. High-intensity, riff-driven tracks like raucous opener “Puma Punku,” the black metal-tinged “We Will Be Millions” and the krautrock-inspired “Nowhere but Here” are spaced out by slower, more contemplative pieces that highlight different elements of the trio’s artistry. “Trichocereus Pachanoi” places Pérez in the spotlight with an undulating drum solo that eventually gives way to Sunn O)))-like waves of guitar drone—a motif expanded in the tense and unsettling “Mama Huaco.” Meanwhile, “Partera Party” centers Fluke-Mogul, who begins with a sparse, exhilarating violin solo before easing into an almost playful groove once the drums enter. This sense of contrast lends Mama Killa a strong pacing. Whenever the trio’s intensity hits a peak, it is soon tempered by several minutes of minimalist reflection. While some of the quieter moments occasionally linger a bit too long, the album overall offers a surprisingly well-balanced listening experience, especially for a genre so rooted in unpredictability.
It helps that Mama Killa features a raw, no-frills production style that not only highlights its careful use of dynamics but also brings sonic clarity to its adventurous performances. Legendary engineer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Boredoms) captures everything from the subtle hiss of Mendosa’s amps to the soft timbre of Pérez’s cymbal wash, placing the listener firmly in the room without relying on studio tricks that might dilute the emotion of these pieces. This allows the gorgeous violin melody of “Amazing Graces” and the slow-burn, post-rock build of the closer “Mama Coco” to truly resonate. Unfortunately, the production does highlight a somewhat weak vocal performance on 2 tracks (“Puma Punku” and “Nowhere but Here”), where improvised blackened yelps appear to distract from the stellar instrumental parts. This is ultimately a small complaint, but it does detract slightly from an otherwise impressive work.
Mama Killa is an exciting debut that manages to both chart new sonic territory and entertain while doing so. It certainly stands as a challenging work which listeners might not be keen to partake in regularly, but for those willing to embark, Mama Killa offers a unique and varied work of experimental music with a sly thematic core. It’s an album where each contributor’s artistic voice is clearly discernible, and their cohesion elevates this collection of improvised music beyond typical genre pitfalls. If the trio finds time amid their busy musical schedules to release another project, it will be exciting to see how they might further develop an already compelling formula.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: Lossless
Label: Burning Ambulance Music
Website: mendozaflukemogulperez.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: July 11th, 2025#2025 #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogulCarolinaPérez #Castrator #FreeJazz #Hypoxia #JohnZorn #Jul25 #Mamaleek #Progressive #Review #Reviews #Sunn #SunnO_ #Swans
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Ava Mendoza/Gabby Fluke-Mogul/Carolina Pérez – Mama Killa Review
By Angry Metal Guy
By: Nameless_n00b_601
The more experimental a piece of music is, the harder it must work to ground its artistic expression in an emotional or compositional core. Dazzling displays of aural innovation or sonic provocation still need a conceptual throughline—something for even the most open-minded listener to latch onto. As a fan of more “challenging” styles, I find there’s a fine line between music that feels like “artistic expression for its own sake” and music that offers “engaging tunes I actually want to listen to.” Mama Killa is the debut improvisational collaborative album from a trio with an impressive musical pedigree, consisting of guitarist Ava Mendoza (Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, Unnatural Ways), violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul (Zoh Amba, Ivo Perelman, William Parker), and drummer Carolina Pérez (Hypoxia, Castrator). Named after the Incan goddess of the moon, the album promises “eight tracks of high-volume, riff-based guitar-violin improvisation bolstered by thunderous drumming.” Can this newly formed power trio avoid the common pitfalls of experimental music and deliver over 50 minutes of compelling, instrumental free jazz?
Mama Killa offers a set of compositions that resist easy classification. While “free jazz” is likely the closest label, the sound here is a novel fusion of dissonant aesthetics, ambient impulses, Afro-Latin grooves, and avant-garde metal. I’d point to John Zorn’s more metal-focused offerings, or the most recent Mamaleek albums as potential antecedents, but Mama Killa truly sounds like nothing else. Each player draws from their unique background to craft performances that exist at a stylistic crossroads. Mendoza’s guitar work ranges from off-kilter psychedelic blues riffs, effects-heavy noise, and introspective drone, punctuated by ethereal, tremolo-picked leads. Her ingenuity is matched by Fluke-Mogul, whose violin playing is both versatile and unpredictable. She uses an array of techniques and effects pedals to summon everything from shrieking wails to rhythmic plucking and somber melodies. Pérez, meanwhile, brings her death metal roots to the drum kit, incorporating double bass gallops and anchoring the string players with a solid, rock-oriented foundation. While her style may lack the finesse and tight precision of a traditional jazz drummer, her command of dynamics, fluidity, and aggression elevate the string pyrotechnics of her bandmates.
The album and its track list are held together by a close attention to dynamics, allowing the listener to distinguish peaks from valleys in what might otherwise feel like formless terrain. High-intensity, riff-driven tracks like raucous opener “Puma Punku,” the black metal-tinged “We Will Be Millions” and the krautrock-inspired “Nowhere but Here” are spaced out by slower, more contemplative pieces that highlight different elements of the trio’s artistry. “Trichocereus Pachanoi” places Pérez in the spotlight with an undulating drum solo that eventually gives way to Sunn O)))-like waves of guitar drone—a motif expanded in the tense and unsettling “Mama Huaco.” Meanwhile, “Partera Party” centers Fluke-Mogul, who begins with a sparse, exhilarating violin solo before easing into an almost playful groove once the drums enter. This sense of contrast lends Mama Killa a strong pacing. Whenever the trio’s intensity hits a peak, it is soon tempered by several minutes of minimalist reflection. While some of the quieter moments occasionally linger a bit too long, the album overall offers a surprisingly well-balanced listening experience, especially for a genre so rooted in unpredictability.
It helps that Mama Killa features a raw, no-frills production style that not only highlights its careful use of dynamics but also brings sonic clarity to its adventurous performances. Legendary engineer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Boredoms) captures everything from the subtle hiss of Mendosa’s amps to the soft timbre of Pérez’s cymbal wash, placing the listener firmly in the room without relying on studio tricks that might dilute the emotion of these pieces. This allows the gorgeous violin melody of “Amazing Graces” and the slow-burn, post-rock build of the closer “Mama Coco” to truly resonate. Unfortunately, the production does highlight a somewhat weak vocal performance on 2 tracks (“Puma Punku” and “Nowhere but Here”), where improvised blackened yelps appear to distract from the stellar instrumental parts. This is ultimately a small complaint, but it does detract slightly from an otherwise impressive work.
Mama Killa is an exciting debut that manages to both chart new sonic territory and entertain while doing so. It certainly stands as a challenging work which listeners might not be keen to partake in regularly, but for those willing to embark, Mama Killa offers a unique and varied work of experimental music with a sly thematic core. It’s an album where each contributor’s artistic voice is clearly discernible, and their cohesion elevates this collection of improvised music beyond typical genre pitfalls. If the trio finds time amid their busy musical schedules to release another project, it will be exciting to see how they might further develop an already compelling formula.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: Lossless
Label: Burning Ambulance Music
Website: mendozaflukemogulperez.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: July 11th, 2025#2025 #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogulCarolinaPérez #Castrator #FreeJazz #Hypoxia #JohnZorn #Jul25 #Mamaleek #Progressive #Review #Reviews #Sunn #SunnO_ #Swans
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John Zorn - The Big Gundown - Zorn plays Morricone - 1985
#Music #AlbumSuggestions #NowPlaying #NowListening
#JohnZorn #TheBigGundownZornPlaysMorricone -
Tonight: second stop = I mean, one of the best live bands out there, for FREE, sitting on the floor right behind one of the best guitarists on the planet. Of course, it was amazing. New Masada Quartet (Zorn, Lage, Roeder, Wolleson) at the Drawing Center, free show celebrating an exhibit of John Zorn's drawings. A something-special only-in-NYC experience.
#nycfreaks #livemusic #nyc #johnzorn #newmasadaquartet #julianlage
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Escuchando: Ipos, Book of Angels Vol.14 (John Zorn + The dreamers). Con Marc Ribot a la guitarra! Me gusta mucho cómo toca, es casi desenfadado.
El Book of angels es un proyecto de Zorn que deconstruye música tradicional judía, en este caso en un tono así surf rock, casi como una banda sonora.
No está en abierto en ninguna parte, lo podéis encontrar si queréis (incluido en Tzadik, el sello). Zorn es un poco especial con cómo distribuye su música.
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up - 2/06/25
I listen to a John Zorn album that sounds like they handed a bunch of grade school kids instruments and told them to play the Jazz album the teacher just played for them.
Favorite Videos include RESCENE on it's Live, and 5 music videos.
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up - 2/06/25
I listen to a John Zorn album that sounds like they handed a bunch of grade school kids instruments and told them to play the Jazz album the teacher just played for them.
Favorite Videos include RESCENE on it's Live, and 5 music videos.
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John Zorn: Hermetic Cartography
Feb 7–May 11, 2025 -
This afternoon: hard to top a Sunday afternoon with The New Masada Quartet at the Village Vanguard. Matinee always a win. Julian Lage always a win. Vanguard always a win. Winning!
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This afternoon: hard to top a Sunday afternoon with The New Masada Quartet at the Village Vanguard. Matinee always a win. Julian Lage always a win. Vanguard always a win. Winning!
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#NowPlaying In case you thought everything #PeterBrötzmann did was totally confrontational, “Berlin Djungle”, a composition for FIVE clarinetists was recorded live in 1984 with an unbelievable lineup: #ToshinoriKondo, #JohnZorn, #WilliamParker, #TonyOxley, and many others. https://destination-out.bandcamp.com/album/berlin-djungle
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The Jazz-Metal Trio PainKiller’s Classic Lineup Revs Up Again
#MickHarris #BillLaswell and #JohnZorn new album, “Samsara” — their first in 30 years — arrives as Laswell battles health troubles that “opened up a new direction.” -
2024.100
New Masada Quartet: Vol 3 (live)
One of John Zorn's most formidable Masada lineups captured live in all their chaotic, mindblowing glory. And also features some of the best guitar playing I've heard in a while, Julian Lage at his finest. Zorn being Zorn, the entire set streams as a single track, but worth listening to end-to-end. Enjoy!
#newmusic #MusicDiscovery #johnzorn
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4KO6icVqCeor1TL1ahhm9h?si=LhsdfkYpQfqnC5wJ9mQryg
Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/new-masada-quartet-vol-3-live/1763702724
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#Upcoming “Samsara” is a new recording from the original #Painkiller trio of #JohnZorn (saxophone), #BillLaswell (bass), and #MickHarris (electronics). Available via #TzadikRecords, November 15th. https://www.tzadik.com/
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Musical Interlude: And now for something completely different...years and years ago I picked up John Zorn's avant-garde jazz album SPILLANE and loved it...it's not my usual thing but the central idea of title composition is that it's a collection of vignettes from a hardboiled detective novel of the sort written by Mickey Spillane. Zorn didn't give his musicians actual sheet music, just index cards indicating the mood he was trying to evoke.
Give this a listen; it's long, but it's an unforgettable experience.
"Spillane," performed by John Zorn and his ensemble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEShoGd2EVw
#MusicalInterlude #JohnZorn #Spillane #HardBoilied #AvantGarde #Jazz
