LP: McCoy Tyner - Sahara

Artist: McCoy Tyner
Album: Sahara
Label: Milestone Records
Release: 1972

Review: What starts out as a wanky sounding jazz record from the 1970's quickly evolves and reflects on itself, turning into a complex and beautiful album. The first track, Ebony Queen, stops treating itself as an action movie soundtrack about midway and finds a groove that carries it to the end. "A Prayer For My Family" is a deeply felt solo track that displays Tyner's unique sound that even the greenest of jazz fans will be able to tell apart from other pianists of the day while "Valley of Life" features his ability on the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument that resembles a miniature lapsteel. Hearing the musicians mastery of an instrument he is not known for will further your appreciation of this great who seems to get lost in the mentions of Monk and Miles. The last track on the A-Side, "Rebirth" features all four of the players on the album creating a wall of carefully improvised sound that squeezes the intensity of Coltrane's Meditations album into just over five minutes. When the record is flipped over, so is the music as the twenty-three minute long "Sahara" features each musician on an instrument they do not normally play. Throughout the song, saxophonist Sonny Fortune ties the textured, discordant melodies together with his improvised mastery of the flute. This album is a must-have for any free-jazz enthusiast. If not for the frenetic pace, then for the collaborative and incestuous musical practices among the musicians.

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Buy a copy of Sahara from Amazon.com: Consume.

EP: Prefuse 73 - Security Screenings

Artist: Prefuse 73
Album: Security Screenings EP
Label: Warp Records
Release: February 2006

Review: I'm not really sure if this is an album-length EP or an EP-length album. Created while touring for the Surrounded by Silence album, Prefuse 73 gets back to his off-kilter cut-and-paste roots by creating a frenetic 19-track record that expresses the frustration of the road as much as the desire to just kick back and have a drink. Alternating from woozy melodies to split-beat sprints, Security Screenings never bores. Highlights include two versions of a danceable, spinnable short called "with dirt and two texts" and "creating cyclical headaches," a discomforting squawk-driven collaboration with Four Tet. One interstitial track features an interview conducted during P73's last tour where an I-try-too-hard-to-be-a-radio-personality fool expresses his dislike of the last album. Taking the interview process in laughable stride, P73 tries to explain the collaborative nature of 2005's Surrounded in Silence which proves futile in the wake of the interviewer's misplaced ego. No need to explain Prefuse! Security Screenings stands on it's own as a worthwhile aural experience and a welcome hold-over until the next album comes out.

Rating: 4 / 5

Buy a copy of Security Screenings from Amazon.com: Consume.

EVENT: A Scratch Made In Heaven - Gallery Show Opening / Valentine's Party

Event: A Scratch Made In Heaven - Gallery Show Opening / Valentine's Party
Location: Heaven Gallery / 1550 N. Milwaukee 2nd Floor / Chicago, IL
Date: 02/11/2006

Review: Heaven Gallery resides in Chicago's hippest of hip hoods, Wicker Park, near the hippest record shop (Reckless Records) and Pan-Asian bar/music venue in hipster disguise (Rodan). Despite the influence of its neighbors, Heaven Gallery doesn't try to be anything it is not. Instead it stands as a space with art on the walls, interesting people on the floors and great noises in the air.

The reception on Saturday Night was a celebratory opening for the latest collection of art on the walls at Heaven as well as a ringing in of the upcoming day of love/lust/loneliness, Valentines Day. Currently, the visual collection consists of a show including several screen-print artists' work in progress. The minimal display includes a smattering of over twenty individuals' work. Many of the artist's sections include a few test prints and half-finished prints in contrast with the finished product. Some of the prints approach photo realism and to see the stages of production is not only beautiful, but inspiring. Some of the highlights of the show include Angee Lennard's miniature fabric-bound books containing separately screen-printed pages. Picking them up and flipping through the pages gave me an added feeling of intimacy not usually felt in art galleries. Local screenprinting legend Tony Fitzpatrick had a small piece titled "Charlotte" depicting a two dimensional Flower printed on tortilla beige paper in his unmistakable heavy-line style. Before noticing the piece's title, I gave it the name "Flower Tortilla" in my head. Check it out. It fits. My favorite pieces were those by Dolan Geiman, which each contained a small perched bird among atmospheric border printing. They reminded me of Joseph Cornell pieces, which may account for my attraction to them. Two pieces, one of a teddy bear floating among rooftops peaking from beneath a flood and another of sketchy building blocks with letters on them reminded me of the work of Albrecht Durer. Behind the DJ table hung a life-size print of a nude woman looking back at you over her shoulder. The skin texture was created with small cellular structures printed at even-spaced intervals giving the work a smooth skin texture from afar and a snake's scale texture up close.

Speaking of the DJ table, highlighting several musicians during the second half of the night, the massive jumble of cords, turntables, laptops and various other electronic devices made me wish that everything at Heaven Gallery was as interactive as Angee Lennard's books. Alas, I was only able to look on and scribble notes while the other musicians played.

First up was The Machinist, a young reserved looking man who alternated between sketchy and repetitive dance beats from a laptop and spoken word samples from a handheld cassette player which he manipulated with the fast forward and rewind buttons. The sound was akin to what I imagine video games on crystal meth sounding like while The Machinist's stage presence was that of a shy high schooler at a dance that would occasionally convulse and bite his bottom lip to the music in a spontaneous gettinintoit dance. The set was endearing and sonically interesting as it ended with a piece of dance music collaged together from bits and pieces of ska music.

Next up was Lord of the Yum Yum and his opening act (Yum Yum's equally maniacal alter-ego, The Fabulous Mr. Happy). His act was something I would expect to see only in a music lover's closed bedroom or a lunatic asylum with malfunctioning strait jackets. For his first song, he brought a large cardboard box equipped with a bass drum pedal and a toy tambourine on which he beat out a hilarious and brilliant stream-of-consciousness theme song for the gallery itself. When Lord of the Yum Yum took the stage, it consisted of the skinny bespectacled man dressed in a powder blue light yellow leisure suit armed with only a microphone and a looping pedal. The bulk of his set was made up of Yum Yum's free-form scatting and foot-stomping looped through the pedal and joined by his maniacal vocal renditions of popular songs by Guns N' Roses, Prince, Beethoven, The Eurythmics and others. Lord of the Yum Yum is something that must be witnessed by all fun-loving, music-loving and inhibition-tossing individuals at least once. Of course, after witnessing this crazed (yet ingenious) performance, I promise you will want more.

After Yum Yum came Dangergirl on the turntables, accompanied by Protman on a laptop. Dangergirl seemed nervous and hesitant during her performance, frequently flipping through her records, making tenative scratches on storybook read-along records and checking her notebook full of mix-notes (to many, a sign of a novice DJ. To me, a sign of a perfectionist and lover of musical collage). The set wore on the crowd as Dangergirl repeatedly announced that they were wasted. To her credit, each time a groove was found, the attendees in the gallery would dance a bit too heavily making her needles jump. I've been there, Dangergirl, and I felt your frustration. I would very much like to see Dangergirl perform again with a more stable stand for her instruments and less self-consciousness. Dangergirl (aka Mother Hubbard) is also a key player in the politically-minded dance-party website, Lifeduringwartime.net and will be hosting a monthly pro-femininity event at The Hideout called Pussy Galore beginning Feb. 23rd. All you Chicagoans should come check it out and dance the night away with a chance to win free sex toys and other good feelings.

The final act I witnessed was the local electronic-music workhorse, Quantazelle. Warning to all women out there: If your boyfriend is into electronic music on the obsessive, geeky level, you may want to watch him closely because he will develop an instant crush on Quantazelle upon witnessing her perform. As my friends pointed out to me repeatedly... she's cute and she knows how to sequence. Indeed. Quantazelle's set began with a glitched-out electronic rendition of what resembled The Battle Hymn Of The Republic (I too had some drinks in me by this time so don't quote me on that) and continued with several original compositions of electronic noise and danceable beats rocked from her laptop. Shortly, the rest of the gallery crowd were out on the floor, dancing and doing what resembled the Machinist's gettinintoit move while Quantazelle herself danced and smiled in genuine love for her music, lit solely by the glow of her computer screen. As most electronic music in Chicago is destined to do, Quantazelle's set began to venture a bit too close to house music for my tastes yet retained an emotional level that I couldn't turn from. Be sure to check out Quantazelle's website where you can learn about the gazillion other projects she has in the works such as her custom jewelry made from electronic components.

Throughout the night, I conversed with several strangers, friends and weirdos, realizing that I was among my ilk. The art, the music, the silliness and the craft table where people were busy making Valentine's Day boxes... it all added up to one great night. Though the Valentine's bash is over and done, the screenprints in progress will be on the walls of Heaven Gallery until March 11th. Be sure to check out these great works before they go back under the screen and are completed.

Rating: 4.75 / 5

Read my review of Quantazelle's album, Coaster, here: Link

Heaven Gallery: Link
The Machinist: Link
Lord Of The Yum Yum: Link
Dangergirl (aka Mother Hubbard / Life During Wartime): Link
Quantazelle: Link

BOOK: The Brief History Of The Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

Title: The Brief History Of The Dead
Author: Kevin Brockmeier
ISBN: 0375423699
Publisher: Pantheon
Released: February 14th, 2006
List Price: $22.95

Review: Perhaps it's appropriate that this book is being released on Valentine's day. The Brief History Of The Dead is author Kevin Brockmeier's love letter to memory and what it means to be human. We all remember people from our lives who have passed. In those memories, people live on. Not only loved ones, but every stranger you pass on the street, every passing attraction you see across a cafe, and every beggar who asks you for change. The dead live on... somewhere... but what happens when those who remember you pass on too? Do our regrets and hopes live beyond our memories? Is there any objective afterlife? Brockmeier examines these questions and weaves a memorable story through alternating points of view in his newest novel.

The last remaining person on Earth, Laura, struggles for survival in Antarctica after a deadly virus leaves the rest of the world empty. The dead remembered by Laura inhabit an expansive city much like the world we know where people arrive and disappear with little or no warning. Left with an unknown amount of time in this city, the victims of the virus struggle to learn where and why they are before their time is up, reflecting the idea that mankind's curiosity lives beyond death. But for how long? Laura's memories are fading fast and no one is sure how much longer they have or what will happen to them when they disappear from the world they have come to know after death. This book is a reminder of how many people influence our lives and how seldom we take notice.

Brockmeier has been an author worth watching ever since the release of his first book, Things That Fall From The Sky. With the beautiful prose of The Brief History Of The Dead, he cements his reputation. Brockmeier writes fairy tales for thinking adults. I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that he is the closest living talent to Nabokov the literary world has, weaving playful questions and profound sadness into his insightful narratives.

Brockmeier is a writer to pay attention to. I have a feeling people will remember him for a very long time... even if we don't know what comes next.

Rating: 4.75 / 5

Buy a copy of The Brief History Of The Dead from Amazon.com: Consume.
Image from Amazon.com

LP: Malik Flavors - Ugly Beauty EP

Artist: Malik Flavors
Album: Ugly Beauty EP
Label: Stones Throw
Released: 2004

Review: Jazz cats, soul freaks and hip-hop heads unite! When you get there, bow down to your lord Otis Jackson... I mean Madlib... I mean Malik Flavors! Ugly Beauty is yet another project from Stones Throw mainstay and red-eyed hip-hop producer Madlib's Yesterday's New Quintet project. It wasn't enough that Madlib wanted to bring traditional jazz instruments into his studio and teach himself how to play each one. It wasn't enough that Lib's dirty funky jazz took on a life of its own when he ascribed a different alias to himself for each part played on the records. No. Madlib had to take it a step further and create a solo release and a ridiculously fantastic back story for a few of his alter-egos and let them run wild, releasing their very own EP.

For those of you familiar with Yesterday's New Quintet, you know that each release or offshoot from the fabled group brings you a loosely played and tightly produced recording of some of the greatest jazz being released this side of Oz. For those of you not in the know, think Jack Kerouac literary riffs on jazz all fed through a sequencer and spit out on vinyl in it's base emotional form to keep you going when the benzedrine runs out.

The Malik Flavors EP displays a wide array of Madlib's influences, frenetically interpreted and thrown together as if they were played live in a dark jazz club to an audience of zero and a cast of thousands. Though by no means a cohesive release, the seven track Ugly Beauty EP contains some of my favorite Yesterdays New Quintet Music to date. With the song Dayscape, the sounds of Ethiopian music from the late 60s comes to mind with a beat that wavers but doesn't stop and a wild flute that overrides and strings along the other player(s). Storm sounds like a voice mail message left by Sun Ra from a club on Saturn with a tinkling twisting piano/percussion encounter that will have you lifting the needle and dropping it right back at the beginning of the song, just so you can figure out what is happening. The last track, Mind Expansion, calls upon the spirit of Pharoah Sanders to give the band an ethereal sound like a sweaty prayer.

Any fans of the freer side of melodic jazz will dig this hop-scotch of a record and finally have something that their most hardcore hip-hop buddies will be able to relate to. If this EP doesn't get the blood flowing and the generations joining hands, I'm not sure there is much hope in modern music left.

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Buy Ugly Beauty EP from TheGiantPeach.com: Consume.
Image from Stonesthrow.com

DVD: The United States Of Leland

Title: The United States Of Leland
Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge
Starring: Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, Kevin Spacey
Format: DVD
Production Company: Paramount
Year: 2004

Review: Though only one of the characters in this movie has a heroin problem, as a viewer, you get to witness all of the members of the cast staring into nothingness as if they had just tied one off. The United States Of Leland is a movie about mistakes. Mistakes that are caused consciously by the characters, mistakes that just happen and mistakes in movie-making.

The plot centers around Leland (Ryan Gosling) and his confessed murder of his girlfriend's (Jena Malone) retarded brother Ryan. Leland P. Fitzgerald is an intelligent teenager sporting a vacuous expression which may or may not be because of his alcoholic writer-father's (Kevin Spacey) apathy toward his son's life. When Leland is sent to a juvenile detention center, history teacher and aspiring writer Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle) takes special interest in the boy and tries to get to the bottom of why this seemingly moral and caring child would commit such a horrendous act. Exploration of motive is explored through Leland's own voice-over and flashbacks prompted by a secret journal he keeps while in the detention center.

With an all-star cast and thought provoking plot, The USofL should have been an interesting exercise in philosophical storytelling, but the muddle of moral exploration that is thrown into the plot quickly digs a storied grave that becomes nearly impossible to dig your way out of. First, you have the question of Leland's motivation for murdering his girlfriend's mentally retarded brother. Then (ready for the avalanche of moral conundrums?) Leland's famous and apathetic father comes out of estrangement to take interest in his son's problems which may be genuine or simply fodder for a future novel, Don Cheadle's genuinely interested teacher role is marred by his own desire to exploit Leland's story for a book as well as an infidelity to his out-of-town girlfriend and Leland's girlfriend is slipping dangerously back into her old heroin-addled ways while her sister's relationship with a live-in boyfriend is ravaged by the grief and numbing effects of the murder. If that isn't enough, both families affected by this seemingly meaningless crime are experiencing emotional tremors and outbursts among the parental units. Though each relationship and moral dilemma addressed in this film is moving and alluring, the lens of a movie camera is not wide enough to capture the vague connections of each story to one another. Hoge makes the mistake of portraying each character's unique flaw as the film's pivotal element.

Despite the overly ambitious nature of The United States of Leland, the film's primary mistake comes near the end when too many thinly masked deus ex machinas fall into place to not only provide us with an answer to why Leland chose to murder a child he cared for, but also exact revenge for the actions perpetrated by the characters.

The United States Of Leland is a film that should be seen for the cast's incredible performance and the interesting issues of morality it raises questions to, but you'd do better by enrolling in a class on moral philosophy than accepting the answers offered by the film's denouement.

Worth a rental, but don't expect anyone to keep this movie in front of the television for repeated viewing.

Rating: 2.25 / 5

Buy The United States Of Leland from Amazon.com: Consume.