Search - Ken Jacobs/John Zorn: Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise on DVD

Avant-Garde/Experimental, Indeed...

07/05/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ouch.

Not really bad per se, but extremely disorienting at times. Remember the first time you saw David Lynch's "Eraserhead," and the amount of times you scratched your noggin trying to figure out what it all meant, especially that crying kid-lizard thing?

Get ready to do it again.

Some really cool visuals at times (the front cover is representative), but for me, a lot got lost with all of the flashing white-light. I'm one of those concert-goers that loathes the strobe lighting, and that's what this felt like. After about ten minutes, I shut the TV off and just listened to the sounds over the speakers. The visuals, like I said, are interesting, and the techniques used are fascinating. Me, however? I get nauseated by the flashing light trickery for some reason. No, thank you, sir.

The music? Ah, yes, there is music. And since it's Zorn, it was worth picking this one up,even after realizing the head trauma, and it still ends up being something I cycle through despite the amount of Excedrine I chomp down in an effort to cure the image-inspired migraines. The music is definitely not Masada or Bar Khokba-esque, sounding more like the stuff he did on his "IAO" album, reminding me of the electronic/sample moments off of the Hemophiliac releases, likely due to the presence of Ikue Mori.

If you're a Zorn buff, you're probably buying this regardless of what is said, but don't expect Masada: Live At The Tonic.

My recommendation? Unless you dig epileptic fits, leave the tube off and pump the audio system. It's interesting stuff, as long as you're into Zorn's quirky, experimental leanings.

"

Uncompromising Avant-garde Masterpiece

Peter Williamson | London | 08/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Incredible black and white abstract image manipulation from NY Avant Garde film legend Ken Jacobs, accompanied by John Zorn and Ikue Mori on laptop sounds. Completely uncompromising (and at first near-unwatchable until the eye adjusts to the relentless throbbing effect of the Nervous Magic Lantern improvising system) this is beautiful and demanding stuff. Accompanied by eerie, relentlessly experimental 'music' that works Zorn's 'Redbird' and 'Absinthe' pieces into the outpourings of Mori's sublime laptop genius (and also offers an intriguing suggestion of what the Zorn/Mori/Patton Hemophiliac project could have been) this is, at times like a surreal ghost film, at others like a malevolent vision from inner space, at others like a stunning documentary from unseen areas of the natural world.
Sometimes gruelling, always fascinating -and a draining experience even on the small screen - this is an essential piece of experimental art from three absolute masters of their genre."