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Over the Map
By
Carlo Wolff
David Torn
Prezens
(ECM)
David Torn packs more into one track than most other musicians
invest in a whole album. He’s a texturalist who thrives on
improvisation and collaboration, the hallmarks of this startling,
diverse CD. The music is harsh, in the shredder showcase “Sink”
and the sprawling “Bulbs”; funky, in “Ring for Endless Travel”;
mesmerizing like deepest Bjork, in the meticulously bent “Ever
More Other”; and inspiring, in “Miss Place, the Mist . . .
,” a great, anthemic construction that sets Gypsy tonality
in a pop frame. Prezens documents a rigorous, fearless
musician who’s doctored hours of tracks recorded live in 2005
into an unpredictable, surprising sequence in which it’s hard
to tell where Torn’s distorted, manipulated guitar leaves
off so keyboardist Craig Taborn can override. Saxophonist
Tim Berne, like Torn a jazz iconoclast for going on 30 years,
is easy to identify, as is drummer Tom Rainey (though what
precisely he plays and how much it’s been electronically altered
is up to the listener to parse). Percussionist Matt Chamberlain
checks in on “Miss Place,” a welcome melodic stop toward the
end of this demanding and singular CD. This is swirling, brave
music for those willing to open their ears to the new. Some
listening here is easier than other; go along for the whole
trip.
 |
 I’m
From Barcelona
Let
Me Introduce My Friends (Mute)
Joining the very short list of bands with contractions in
their names are the sprawling Swedish ensemble I’m From Barcelona.
None of the 29 members are actually from the Spanish city
included in their moniker. Formed by Emanuel Lundgren in Jonkoping,
Sweden, the band are a tribute to the butler on the television
program Fawlty Towers for whom it was a catch phrase.
With perhaps more people on board than he actually needs,
it’s no surprise that a giddy sense of community tumbles through
the proceedings. Though different in character, there’s a
link to the much smaller-populated band that Ronnie Lane formed
in the ’70s, Slim Chance. As with Lane’s endeavor, none of
this would work if there weren’t solid songs on which to build
the rollicking arrangements. Lundgren’s vocals are buoyed
by delightful chorus vocals, and colorful instrumentation
(horns, strings, accordions, a glockenspiel, and more all
come and go) adorn the rhythmic core of guitars, bass, piano,
and drums. And they’ve even got a catchy theme song: “We’re
From Barcelona.”
—David
Greenberger
 Devin
Townsend
Ziltoid
the Omniscient (Heavy Devy)
“I
am Ziltoid the Omniscient. I have come far from across the
omniverse! You shall fetch me your universe’s ultimate cup
of coffee! Black! You have five Earth minutes. Make it perfect!”
It’s hard to believe that is the introduction to what will
almost certainly be the best metal album of 2007, but it is.
The metal-opera epic of alien conqueror Ziltoid the Omniscient
(the ultimate fourth-dimensional guitar hero if he does say
so himself) and his quest to capture the world’s finest coffee
bean while doing battle with Captain Spectacular is this year’s
greatest metal triumph, and it was all put together by one
man.
Strapping
Young Lad frontman and mad genius Devin Townsend returns all
by his lonesome, replacing his industrial-death-metal compatriots
with the kind of inspiration he hasn’t had since Strapping
Young Lad’s metal-canon-worthy album City. Townsend,
who is notorious as much for his prolificness as for his bipolar
disorder, has kept a frenzied schedule of album releases,
and as of late he has been accused of pushing product out
before it is polished. But none of that matters with Ziltoid.
How good is Ziltoid?
Ziltoid
is like a cybernetic version of Queen come back to life to
put things right with rock & roll.
Townsend’s Zappa-esque, comedic-metal story is so good it
should make Trent Reznor shake in his black boots. The perfection
of Townsend’s spacey pop-metal delivery should make Billy
Corgan think twice before releasing his band’s reunion album
this summer.
The tracks on Ziltoid transcend the goofy sci-fi theme—most
of them could be radio hits if it weren’t for the mad ramblings
of Ziltoid: “Fooey! Indeed! Fooey!” “Solar Winds,” a track
reminiscent of Metallica’s Black Album with its huge chorus
of “Now it’s gone, gone away”—is both epic and moving, but
it also has the spoken introduction, “We now join Captain
Spectacular as he introspectively gazes out his starship window
on his way to find the 5th dimensional nebulo 9.” Devin Townsend
is officially my hero.
—David
King
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