NAKED CITY

I have been a huge fan of Mike Patton ever since I picked up a copy of the Tomahawk debut album back in 2002. After listening through most of Patton's collaborations I stumbled on a wonderful release called Six Litanies For Heliogabalus which consisted of some gorgeous compositions penned and conducted by John Zorn. The album also featured some off the wall drumming work by Joey Baron who, together with Zorn have previously worked in a band called Naked City.

Needless to say I read up on Naked City and after finding out that this project also included the legendary Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith I stopped everything I was doing at the time and just rushed to the nearest record store! Naturally I'm exaggerating, after all, we all know that an average record store doesn't include the works of John Zorn in their inventory.

This album is roughly split up between two different concepts/themes. The first theme consists of avant-garde covers of work by great composers like Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith and a few others. The second theme entails short compositions that at first felt like improvisational pieces but that was an incorrect assumption on my behalf and after exploring more of John Zorn's music I recognized certain patterns that existed within these tracks.

Since I am a fan of Ennio Morricone's music I was very skeptical of hearing Zorn's take on the theme of The Sicilian Clan but after hearing this track I definitely have to hand it to John Zorn for breathing new air into such a perfect piece of work to begin with. His saxophone solo here is just beyond words and gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it!

This is an essential album for fans of avant-garde music but I have a difficulty of calling it a masterpiece of progressive rock music since this material might be considered too extreme for the average prog listener. Approach with caution, but by all means do approach!

***** star songs: The Sicilian Clan (Ennio Morricone) (3:33) Reanimator (1:43) Demon Sanctuary (0:42) Obeah Man (0:20) Saigon Pickup (4:50)

**** star songs: Batman (2:04) You Will Be Shot (1:31) Latin Quarter (4:12) A Shot In The Dark (Henry Mancini) (3:13) I Want To Live (Johnny Mandel) (2:12) Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman) (2:45) Igneous Ejaculation (0:24) Blood Duster (0:17) Hammerhead (0:11) Ujaku (0:31) Fuck The Facts (0:14) Speedball (0:44) Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith) (4:28) Punk China Doll (3:06) N.Y. Flat Top Box (0:46) The James Bond Theme (John Barry) (3:06) Den Of Sins (1:14) Contempt (Georges Delerue) (2:54) Graveyard Shift (3:32) Inside Straight (4:17)

*** star songs: Snagglepuss (2:20)