Torn, Karn, Bozzio - Polytown
David Torn, Mick Karn, Terry Bozzio
Polytown
1994 CMP Records
Composed and performed by Torn, Karn and Bozzio in a scant two weeks, this is a supergroup of players making a strong case for sincerely edgy, spontaneously composed works that result in a solid, well constructed, often brilliant bit of art-rock.
And art-rock it is, maybe leaning heavy into avant-garde, but at its core is the sensibilities of three dudes who have played with Zappa, Japan and Bowie among others. It is instrumentally challenging, but not just chops-laden wankery. If anything, it relies heavily on the heavy arranging skills of Bozzio, who can add a sense of formal logic to even the most improvised settings he is so fleet of foot (both of them), and the closest parallel I can draw is having a structure not unlike the interlocking ostinato like patterns of various African styles, or moving westward, to the Javanese Gamelan influenced works of King Crimson. It also has heaploads of Karn's middle-eastern sounding slinky off-kilter funk. In spots it treads the same kind of cross-meter playing you hear in much of Henry Threadgill's work. Torn fills up all the remaining space with distorted growls, floating washes and things that go atonal in the night.
Bozzio plays a battery of sounds, that are at once very orchestral in orientation, and will at chance flip to dense grooves using atypical combinations of cymbals and toms rather than just doing the kick/snare/hi-hat acrobatics one might expect. Very little here is what one might expect, and that is part of the joy of this record. This is bleeding edge over a decade after its release. A track like Palms For Lester starts lightly and then builds into a spiralling Dervish dance of ever growing intricacy. Open Letter to the Heart of Diaphora could be a fever dream in the middle of the Empty Quarter of the Saudi peninsula. Warrior Horsemen of the Spirit Thundering Over Hills of Doubt to a Place of Hope --besides having an incongrous title-- is a percussion heavy tweak out, with heavy cinematic flourishes provided by Torn's guitar synths and Karns bass clarinet adding space by filling it. This is the Abduction Scene sounds like...well the struggle of someone being kidnapped, and taken off into the night rapidly...only kidnapped and abducted very rhythmically. The Use of certain exotica also helps add depth and variety across the proceedings.
The only shame of this is that it was a one-off thing, and the three have never recorded together in this format since.
You might like this if you like:
Zappa - Apostrophe
Project X
Bozzio Levin Stevens - Black Light Syndrome
Henry Threadgill - Too Much Sugar for a Dime
Polytown
1994 CMP Records
Composed and performed by Torn, Karn and Bozzio in a scant two weeks, this is a supergroup of players making a strong case for sincerely edgy, spontaneously composed works that result in a solid, well constructed, often brilliant bit of art-rock.
And art-rock it is, maybe leaning heavy into avant-garde, but at its core is the sensibilities of three dudes who have played with Zappa, Japan and Bowie among others. It is instrumentally challenging, but not just chops-laden wankery. If anything, it relies heavily on the heavy arranging skills of Bozzio, who can add a sense of formal logic to even the most improvised settings he is so fleet of foot (both of them), and the closest parallel I can draw is having a structure not unlike the interlocking ostinato like patterns of various African styles, or moving westward, to the Javanese Gamelan influenced works of King Crimson. It also has heaploads of Karn's middle-eastern sounding slinky off-kilter funk. In spots it treads the same kind of cross-meter playing you hear in much of Henry Threadgill's work. Torn fills up all the remaining space with distorted growls, floating washes and things that go atonal in the night.
Bozzio plays a battery of sounds, that are at once very orchestral in orientation, and will at chance flip to dense grooves using atypical combinations of cymbals and toms rather than just doing the kick/snare/hi-hat acrobatics one might expect. Very little here is what one might expect, and that is part of the joy of this record. This is bleeding edge over a decade after its release. A track like Palms For Lester starts lightly and then builds into a spiralling Dervish dance of ever growing intricacy. Open Letter to the Heart of Diaphora could be a fever dream in the middle of the Empty Quarter of the Saudi peninsula. Warrior Horsemen of the Spirit Thundering Over Hills of Doubt to a Place of Hope --besides having an incongrous title-- is a percussion heavy tweak out, with heavy cinematic flourishes provided by Torn's guitar synths and Karns bass clarinet adding space by filling it. This is the Abduction Scene sounds like...well the struggle of someone being kidnapped, and taken off into the night rapidly...only kidnapped and abducted very rhythmically. The Use of certain exotica also helps add depth and variety across the proceedings.
The only shame of this is that it was a one-off thing, and the three have never recorded together in this format since.
You might like this if you like:
Zappa - Apostrophe
Project X
Bozzio Levin Stevens - Black Light Syndrome
Henry Threadgill - Too Much Sugar for a Dime
posted by theloniusfunk at 8:13 PM
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