Ten tracks from noise, cut-up artist Francois Marceau from Montreal. Armed with a laptop, some free computer programs and a crappy microphone he bewails the chaotic state of the universe with ditties like "Gimme a beer and shuddup," "Paranoid malfunction," and "noise under construction." Not just wall to wall screeching, but actual sound manipulation, just on the distorted, shredded side of things. It doesn’t hurt that he has a Frank Zappa sense of humor going for him as well. If that kind of thing interests you, go for it.

Duo of Ellen Tweiten on piano and Kurt Carpenter on microtonal keyboard. As you would expect there are some glaring sonic collisions when putting the equal tempered piano together with a microtonal keyboard. Considering the mention of geographic locations it seems to me that the musicians might be trying to express the juxtaposition of past and present? The past represented by the thin microtonal keyboard, sounds reminiscent of the supposed music of dead cultures using whatever was at hand, dramatic when compared to the full sound of the regularly tuned piano. An interesting experiment but is it worthy of 16 tracks (17 if you count the mp3 bonus track)? The sound can really grate on the nerves after a while. I even had to quit listening to music for a while to get my calm back and give my irritated eardrums a rest.

This Is my third round with Igor Ogogo's music and I'm starting to recognize the sound of his guitar/music in a split second, I think that itself means this guy has a personality as a musician. According to my personal taste this' the best of the lot of releases he's sent me, it's the most heterogeneous, the melodies and the song structures are crazy but really catchy and somehow I find the songs have become really expressive. Expressivity is a focal point in the economy of the release, infact he hasn't left his bizarre taste back home but the narrative plot in most of the tracks is easier to be followed despite the several tempo changes. I've probably mentioned before the eighties-experimental-music aftertaste of Ogogo and the fact he reminded me some materials of Elliott Sharp's Carbon Orchestra but as I've already said this' not a copycat of some old Sharp's recording. On this recording Igor's guitars have been enriched by some guest appearences of Rod Oakes on trombone and Andrei Solovyov on trumpet and flute, with intruments like these I'm sure som of you may have thought to some weird jazz musician, but I hear more no wave-avant jazz-contemporary classic-funk-rock elements in the soup, that brings "lunar phase" far from what you may consider jazz, the only parallel I can think of is Isotope 217. As suggested by the title the "outer space" element is quite explicit above all if you think to the fact the majority of the melodies have that stoned psychedelic feel that makes you feel there's a bad trip going on inside your head. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of analogue-synth sounds and this recording is so full of reshaped guitar, synthetic bass-lines, weird keyboard and electronic drum-lines a la 808-drum-machine, but on this recording nothing looks out of place. I think I've to add despite the strong personality of the musicians, there's something ironic in most of the songs that makes it even ore interesting. Ogogo confirms to be a weird and bizarre musician a psychiatric answer to George Clinton but, please, don't take me literally.

Zu is one of the most interesting bands to come out of Italy in a long long time. A baritone saxophone player, a bass player and a drummer who also does electronics and Mellotron, is the Rome-based personnel who fuel the fire that burns within Zu, with a flame so high that even even Mr. Bungle/Fantomas' Mike Patton and Melvins' King Buzzo have taken notice and lend their talents and abilities to "Carboniferous" (along with a bunch of other local collaborators). Zu has also previously collaborated with Damo Suzuki, Thurston Moore, Mats Gustafsson, Guy Picciotto, Jim O'Rourke, Eugene Chadbourne, No Means No, Karate and many more, so obviously they understand the importance of exposure and cross-pollination, which is something their music thrives on, is full of and is based on. "Carboniferous" (released on Patton's label Ipecac) is equal parts heavy metal, avantgarde jazz, industrial experimental music. The sheer fury and sonic assault of the rhythm section reminds of Neurosis, Zorn's Moonchild/Crucible, Melvins or even Sepultura at times but the addition of the deeply resonating bari really takes this to a place where no one has (or very few have) gone before. Obviously when the sax whales and screams incessantly it's hard not to think of Zorn's amazing playing, but then when it blends in as part of the overall mood or of the percussive patterns it almost sounds a little bit like Lou Reed's latest incarnation of the Metal Machine Trio. Needless to say the pieces where Patton lends his voice are incredibly powerful and anthemic (in the first of the two he screams Moonchild/Crucible style but in the closing piece of the CD he growls and regurgitates and even manages to sound like a cross between a didgeridoo and a tuvan throat singer).
Overall I love this record. It is different from what's out there, diverse within, powerful and aggressive but innovative and interesting at the same time. Highly recommended if you like extreme stuff that's out there and yet lets you do some head banging!

YUMMA-RE are the new ADD N To X but more organic-rock-based, we can hear inside Talking Heads, King Crimsom with a female approach, for sure inside their art there is nothing of USUAL and COMMON, these kind of concept are banned in this great project. Yumma-Re are Portished with the sense of irony of Talking Heads and the acid style of ADD N To X: Yumma-Re is pure Genius! The artistic path they follow seems driven by the god of Chaos in person, and I confess that I like it. Every track is a remix of the track itself with at least 5-6 genre!!! This work is an experience difficult to explain and it's something really nice to hear. It's a STRAY kind of music that is not only played is a challenge for the listener to feel all the musical sensations YUMMA-RE plays with and in the same time is vital, is not a menaceful of obscure, it is music perfect for a noir film based in Mexico or in a place where there are no limits for excess. The last track, a sort of PALOMA under LSD is a master piece of "cruelty" :) They soar among JAZZ, New Wave, Electronic, Glitch they are sons of the modern sound engineering and in the same time they seem to surf on you tube in a lysergic state. This band is really something new and powerful, they are put in their art the messy culture we live; they make a zapping with music and styles; and I think that are more more more funny than Portished. Plus they are Italian: congratulations ragazzi!