NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES  
NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES NEW RELEASES :  
 

• 1.JOHN ZORN-Angelus Novus (Tzadik 7028) Outstanding! Zorn tops himself once again. Four compositions for chamber ensembles and solo piano, spanning 20 years of his composing talents. Superb performances by Stephen Drury & New England Conservatory. Serious, challenging & deeply rewarding. $14.
• 2.KRAMER-"Let me explain something to you about Art" (Tzadik 7119) A great departure & success for one of my favorite producers, musicians & friends. A haunting, somber & engrossing 3-part meditation on aging. A duo only with Deni Bonet on strings & accordian, and two old Jews talking of life & death. Not unlike Steve Reich's "Different Trains". Bravo! Kramer will have a new cd out shortly on Shimmy/KFW. $14.
• 3.IKUE MORI-B/Side (Tzadik 7508) Ikue is the master of the sampler. Each gig & each cd continues to show how rich & selective her sound really is. This is her fourth incredible release for Zorn's labels, but her first in the filmworks series. Guests are Erik Friedlander, Tenko, Zeena Parkins, Kato Hideki, Andy Haas, Anthony Coleman & David Watson. Remarkable soundscapes throughout! $14.
• 4.GOLDBERG/SCHOTT/SARIN-What Comes Before (Tzadik 7120) Featuring clarinet great Ben Goldberg from the New Klezmer Trio, fine guitarist John Schott from T.J.Kirk & excellent drummer Michael Sarin from Thomas Chapin, Myra Melford & Dave Douglas bands. Spare, stark & introspective pieces inspired by Jewish life & philosophy. Subtle, yet succulent. $14.
• 5.TIMEBOMB-Live at the Clocktower Gallery (PS1 1) Stimulating live compilation produced by Elliott Sharp & his partner Janene Higgins. Opening w/ an 8 minute assault by the E. Sharp/John Zorn duo, plus sonic gems by Zeena Parkins & Lin Culbertson/Katie O'Looney. Mostly this cd features powerful spoken word performances by Maggie Estep, Rebecca Moore, Bob Holman, Todd Colby, Judith Ren-Lay & more. Only $10.
• 6.DANIEL GOODE-Tunnel-Funnel (Tzadik 7029) Mr. Goode is the director of the Electronic Music Studio at Rutgers. This music is warm, lovely & trance-like, composed for the Crosstown Ensemble, a large chamber unit. A somber glow turns mysterious. Superb stuff. Take a trip through the tunnel...$14.
• 7.THOMAS CHAPIN TRIO-Sky Piece (KFW 208) Whilst my main man Thomas convalesces, KFW releases his best trio offering yet! This is the perfect trio, at their zenith! Monster bassist Mario Pavone, whose own KFW cd made my top 10 of '97, is solid throughout. Mike Sarin, no less impressive. Thomas' amazing & often haunting flute playing is featured more than usual. When this trio starts burnin', watch out! "A more beautiful soul doesn't exist" says our reader-Olivia about Thomas. We must agree. A gem. $13.
• 8.DRUMS OF DEATH-Field Recordings in Ghana (Avant 062) Scary! Ghanian funeral music for the drums, hypnotic, thunderous, trance inducing & altering our states of consciousness! Both Milford Graves & DJ Spooky are raving about this disc. Great pix & line notes, as well. $18.
• 9.BERNARD WOMA-Live at the Pito Bar (Avant 063) Wow! Incredibly spirited & intense jamming! Woma is one of best balaphon (large 18 note marimba-like instrument) players alive, his percussive trio wailing like ghosts exploding. Often dense & riveting! $18.
• 10.BILL FRISELL -gone, just like a train (Nonesuch 79479) After two cd's of mostly restrained sounds, Bill is back with an all new trio, that covers his darker, edgier side, as well as the softer side. He's backed by Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett band) on acoustic bass & master LA session drummer-Jim Keltner (Ry Cooder's main man). A 70 minute sojourn that continually utilizes this perfect rhythm team, solid grooves that keeps Bill on his toes throughout. So nice to hear Bill getting that nasty tone again! $14.
• 11.IVO PERELMAN & MATT SHIPP-"Bendito of Santa Cruz" (Cadence 1076) A solid offering of mostly Brazilian folk tunes & originals by Ivo. Matt & Ivo push these innocent tunes to their limits with powerful results. In under two years, Ivo has put out a half dozen cd's of duo, trio & quartet performances. All very spirited sounds. $14.
• 12.CURLEW-Fabulous Drop (Cuneiform 105) 7th outstanding release from the longest running downtown unit. Led by sax great George Cartwright & once again featuring the double guitar terror of Davey Williams & Chris Cochrane, el. bass god-Ann Rupel & newest addition-Kenny Wolleson, downtown's most in demand drummer. Loads of wacky guitars, great sax solos from George, an ever inventive rhythm team & great tunes by all! $14.
• 13.LEE RANALDO/WILLIAM HOOKER-Clouds (Victo 054) Also featuring Jim O'Rourke on table top guitar manipulation & Gianni Gebbia on soprano sax. Live at the Victoriaville festival in Quebec & partially recorded by yours truly, amazing improv that totally connects! This was the first concert of the final day of the last Victo fest & it really uplifted all our spirits. There is a cosmic ebb & flow going on, not all loud wailing. $15.
• 14.ONE WORLD ENSEMBLE-Breathing Together (Freedom 001) Consisting of an all-star quintet with Daniel Carter & Sabir Mateen on saxes, Yuko Fujiyama on piano, Wilber Morris on bass & everyone's fave Susie Ibarra on drums. This is a new label from Newark, NJ, an obvious labor of love, featuring free jazz at its best!! Each piece unfolds slowly, building into denser sections, taking us a long & thought provoking journey! $14.
• 15.SOFT MACHINE-Virtually (Cuneiform 100) Incredible!! Soft Machine were the ultimate progressive/ jazz/rock/avant band. Constantly evolving, each release different personnel & sound. Most fans would pick this quartet as their fave-Mike Ratledge on fuzz organ, Elton Dean on alto sax & saxello, Hugh Hopper on el. (fuzz) bass & Robert Wyatt on drums & vocals. This cd is a live gig from just before Wyatt left, so the Softs are at the height. An entire 78 minute gig with superb sound, it doesn't get any better than this. Bravo!! $14.
• 16.BOB OSTERTAG & OTOMO YOSHIHIDE-Twins! (Creativeman 00030) Two master sound manipulators sampling Chris Cutler, Herb Robertson, themselves & each other. Often wacky, hilarious, bizarre, layered mutant sounds, fascinating manipulations. $20. for jap import
• 17.MIRIODOR-rencentres (Cuneiform 108) Excellent reissue of their first rare lp from '84, plus more unreleased classic prog from Quebec. Strong 70's classic Brit/Euro prog rock w/ refreshing reeds, strings, synths & even occasional warm vocals. A long lost gem w/ over 70 minutes of adventurous music. $14.
• 18.PRESENT-Certitude (Cuneiform 107) Aggressive progressive quintet w/ 3 members from the colossal Belgian prog giants-Universe Zero! Burning double guitars, powerful keyboards, tight as hell & cool bent vocals. Prog heaven! $14.
• 19.TROUSERS-s/t (Cellar 101) Mesmerizing sounds from this nifty/weird trio of Elise Kermani on bizarre/manipulated vocals, Elaine Kaplinsky on cosmic electric keyboards & Christine Bard on odd percussion. Like the United States of America jamming w/ Silver Apples. Totally groovy! A 15 min. ep for $8.
• 20.ELISE KERMANI & DON MALONE-Dreadmonad (Ishtar 101) I have a soft spot for strange female vocals-Yoko Ono, Patty Waters, Joan LaBarbara, Ellen Christie, Diamanda Galas, Sainko Namchylak...My friend-Elise Kermani also is part of that long list. This ep is a duo w/ Don Malone on FM synthesis & Elise on treated vocals. Like traveling in inner space w/ our alien buddies. Subtle, but very strange. An $8. ep, too.

THOMAS CHAPIN is finally doing a little better, we are so pleased to report. Thomas chose to follow his heart & not give in to chemo again. He worked on natural therapies-Tibetan medicine, acupunture & chanting monks. It ain't over yet, but there is a beautiful light at the end of the tunnel. So keep praying. There will be another benefit concert for Thomas on Sunday, Feb. 1st at 5pm @ Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Rd., Manchester, Conn., call 860-647-9824 for tix.  

I spoke with my old friend FRED FRITH at the Knit this past weekend. His solo guitar sets were as amazing as always! Fred has a new band called Tense Serenity which consists of Leslie Dalaba on trumpet, Chris Cutler on drums, Claudio Puntin on clarinet & Daan Vandewalle on piano. No recordings yet, just a few gigs. Fred is also in an improv unit w/ Swiss musicians, including Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, who currently lives in NYC & plays with Mark Feldman & Thomas Chapin. Turns out Fred was in town to work on a pop record of mystical soul west coast vocalist Percy Howard, produced by Bill Laswell & Charles Hayward!?! Next year will be Fred's 50th birthday celebration, with loads of surprises for all of us. Maybe 5 nights at the Knit of special events? Fred now lives in Struttgart, Germany with his family. He has a web site & his e-mail address is Fred Frith @ Schwaben.ge  

That's about it from yours truly. Hopefully the next transmission from DMG will my top 100 lists, they are almost done. A few more weeks of intense listening & then mucho typing. Take care, bubbies, love BLG  

Happy New Year to all of you out there, here's a wish that this year is in all ways better than all of those that preceded it. Welcome to the first edition of MIKESSPACE for 1998. For starters I'd like to introduce myself to the newer list members and get you all up to speed on the raison d'etre of this column and myself. I am Emperor Mike I, Future Leader Of America. I plan on ascending to power in the year 2001 and would prefer to be addressed as OBL Mike (OBL= Our Benevolent Leader) during my reign. I hope to return this country to its former God-fearing greatness (don't worry, I'm a liberal). More on my views as my campaign wears on.  

My column usually consists of FLUFF- such as Desert Island _________, which is an interactive area in which I will gush about 10 or so of my favorite things in some category. I will also feature, verbatim, any lists you folks send me, so get crackin'. Also, there is Actually Seen, in which I relate true tales of things I've seen that are funny enough to share. There's Tips, where I pass on fun little... well, tips on stuff of interest including TV shows, websites, magazine articles, etc. The other part of my column is MEAT- which consists mostly of reviews, but not just any reviews. These reviews are Critique Poetique- my way of trying to get you to buy stuff here. C.P. usually consists of either Haiku or more Western-metered poems in which I try to distill the essence of the new and sometimes noteworthy stuff that comes across our counter in as few syllables as necessary. What kind of stuff gets reviewed by me? Death/Black/Industrial Metal, Dance/Noise Industrial, Dark and other types of Ambient music, Electronic- from Krautrock to Trip-Hop to Big Beat, Hardcore, Gothic, Dream-Pop and anything else that just happens to catch my ear. I like everything from Meshuggah to The Sundays. In my reviews I always try to be helpful and include- Artist- Title [Label] and (RIYL= Recommended If You Like...).  

At this point most of you are probably wondering when I'll get on with it and begin my column proper, well, I won't. I have nothing to say... nothing, no new product to review, no new tips, no DI________. Sorry. I will however give you filler and feature some of my fave highlights of this column from 1997. Stop your whining, it's free!!!  

First up is Desert Island... Stuff- (from Newsletter 8)  
 

• 1. Rebecca Romijn
• 2. Skinny Puppy's "Too Dark Park"
• 3. William S. Burrough's "Junky"
• 4. Everything But The Girl's "Walking Wounded"
• 5. My 6 year old pair of Jordache Jeans.
• 6. The Bible
• 7. My Dying Bride's "Turn Loose The Swans"
• 8. My $10 pair of fake Oakleys

Broken Hope- Loathing- Metal Blade $13 
(RIYL: matricide, genocide, homicide, pesticide, necrophilia, everything hateful and worthy of disgust, incredible cover art)  

brilliant raging death 
strangely it trudges quickly 
killing in it's wake 

Cradle of Filth- Dusk and Her Embrace- Mayhem/Fierce $14  
(RIYL: seances, Dracula, funerals, Emperor, Immortal)  

vocal shrieks from Hell 
vampire cultists write well 
hyper speed bloodfest 

Anathema- Eternity- Mayhem/Fierce $14 
(RIYL: Candlemass, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus, depression on psychedelics)  

where once there was hope 
sadly all they are now is  
doom laden Pink Floyd 

My GO OUT AND BUY IT, TOO GOOD FOR 17 SYLLABLES review of the month goes to Heavy Water Factory's "Author of Pain". Kudos also, to Energy Records for snatching this band up. This amazing disc combines Industrial elements with Trance/Ambient sparklings to produce a consistent disc that seems to be 2/3 Doubting Thomas and 1/3 Orbital with a little Depeche Mode sprinkled on top. Maybe I like it because it reminds me of Skinny Puppy circa '89 (remixed by Moev) in places or maybe it's because I'm a bit out of the loop as far as Industrial Dance stuff goes these days and it's all this good but no matter the reason, I still say "BUY!!!". (from Newsletter 9)  

Naked City- Black Box- [Tzadik] 
(RIYL: as if!!! what can be compared to Naked City?)  

Leng Tch'e re-issued  

Torture Garden included! 
God truly loves us 

ZOAR- Cassandra- [Point Music] 
(RIYL: PBS, Progressive wanking)  

Erik Friedlander 
jamming with John Tesh or Yanni 
i'll spare my judgements 

Death Squad- theological genocide [Spastik Kommunikations] 
(RIYL: pre-dental visit anxiety, nerve damage)  

recommended if 
Namanax raping Merzbow 
is your cup of tea (from Newsletter 10) 

Arto Lindsay Remixed- Hyper Civilizado- [Gramavision] 
(RIYL: illbient- whatever that means) (from NL 12)  

Arto here gets chopped and looped/tossed in and boiled in the sonic soup and when it came out i liked what i tasted/dubby and blunted and totally wasted  

Satyricon- Nemesis Divina- [Century Media] 
(RIYL: top o' the heap Black Metal)  

this disc amazes and that ain't funny/giving Emperor a run for the money gettin' me hyped up to rage and holler/and willing to part with my hard earned dollar  

Sub Dub- Dancehall Malfunction- [Asphodel] 
(RIYL: DJ Spooky, We, Byzar, etc.)  

ambient dubby mushroom trip/illin' on your ears left me too wasted to drive alone/so i'll get the gas, you steer  

Skinlab- Bound, Gagged and Blindfolded- [Century Media] 
(RIYL: later Sepultura, Neurosis, Fear Factory)  

These guys love Machine Head is what the clues tell me/that's all right with me, you don't have to sell me but flattery is one thing... this band's absurd/is this their first album or Machine Head's third ? (from NL 13)  

My own DI__________ for this issue will be DI videos. (from NL 15)  
 

• 1. Romeo Is Bleeding (2 words- Lena Olin, 2 other words- good movie)
• 2. Strange Days (2 words- sick, sick. 2 other words- Juliette Lewis)
• 3. Sting- Bring On The Night (In case I find myself not so alone some night)
• 4. 9 1/2 Weeks (no comment)
• 5. Skinny Puppy- Ain't It Dead Yet (I'm not going without it)
• 6. Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Death as Little Bo Peep... sublime)
• 7. The Blues Brothers (shut up!)
• 8. The Alien Trilogy Box Set (for when the guys are over)
• 9. Reservoir Dogs or Desperado or True Romance (gotta have Quentin)
• 10. The Princess Bride (funny!)

Portishead- Portishead [Go Beat/London] 
(RIYL: film noir soundtrack over Wu-Tang type beats)  

Very, very good but darker than before/singing style is cynical to boot I guess it's 'cuz they started this "musique noir"/and the Sneaker Pimps have gotten all the loot  

Brutal Truth- Sounds Of The Animal Kingdom [Relapse]  
(RIYL: Grindeathateviscerationsickness)  

What can I say Kevin is back/with Danny and friends for another attack Of bone-searing grind riffs and death metal vocals/that are shoved down your throat until you... chokle? 

Well, enough of that. I'm done and I hope you've enjoyed this little introduction/highlight tour of MIKESSPACE. Was it lazy of me? Yes. Was it indulgent of me? Yes. Did you have to read this far? NOOOOOOOOO!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
but thank you for doing so.  

EM2K (1)