| | Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble Dreams CD Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble Discography of CDs
Since the disbanding of his 1990s group, Ground Zero, Otomo Yoshihide has made it a life philosophy to keep his fans in a constant state of surprise. After his conversion to ultra-minimalist electronics and his return to jazz (but still a very warped form) with his New Jazz Quintet, he offers Dreams, billed to Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble. Even though the membership is similar, the difference between the quintet and the ensemble (the quintet plus Sachiko M on sine waves and Masuko Tatsuki on electronics) is night and day. Dreams is a set of soft, adult jazz-pop songs -- or at least they would be if the bandleader was anyone but Yoshihide. Phew lends her sensual voice to six of the seven pieces. In "Eureka" she duets with Togawa Jun, who in turn performs solo in "Preach." Jun is a high-pitched, broken, off-key singer, absolutely irritating. She makes Phew's presence all the more delectable. Only one of the songs is a Yoshihide composition. The others are taken from the repertoire of Eto Naoko, Yamamoto Seiichi, and, surprisingly or not, Jim O'Rourke. Dreams is a beautiful album filled with fragile melodies and odd arrangements, but it is so different from what one can expect, you will have to come to terms with it and shed your expectations before you can freely appreciate it. "Yume" and "Toi Hibiki" are touching pieces. Yoshigaki Yasuhiro's hesitating trumpet solo in "Eureka" recalls Mel Collins' sax solo in King Crimson's underappreciated "Islands." The chaos crescendo that follows it for the next seven minutes and the unchained maelstrom of noise that is "Hahen Fukei" save the project from sticking like bubblegum -- although that last-minute wake-up call sounds just a bit gratuitous. Another stroke of genius. ~ François Couture
Full performer name: Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble.
Personnel: Otomo Yoshihide; Togawa Jun, Phew (vocals); Yoshigaki Yasuhiro, Tsugami Kenta, Kikuchi Naruyoshi, Masuko Tatsuki, Mizutani Hiroaki, Ando Hiroshi, Sachiko M.The Wire (06/02, p.55) - "...The record capture's Otomo's exuberant, open hearted love of music....Such a quality is restorative, optimistic, the stuff of dreams..." Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble Dreams Songs Dreams Review
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Purchase Dreams CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Bill Laswell Sacred System Chapter One: Book Of Entrance CD (1996)
Dreams album
 $10.69 
Fans of Bill Laswell will salivate at the prospect of an all-reggae outing from the master producer and bass god. And at first listen, he bears out most expectations: the grooves are heavy, intelligent and well-constructed. But as the disc wears on, it also becomes increasingly clear ...
| | Arne Nordheim Dodeka CD (2003) (Import) Import; Norway
Dreams CD music
$15.75
The material on Dodeka comes from the same reels as Electric, released in 1998 by Rune Grammofon. Between 1968 and 1972, Arne Nordheim often traveled to Warsaw, where the studios of Polish radio were better equipped than their Norwegian counterparts. There, the composer experimented with electronics, but the 12 three-minute pieces on this CD never sound like experiments. They ...
| | Merzbow Venereology CD (1994)
Dreams music CDs
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| | Merzbow Sphere CD (2005)
Dreams songs
$13.39
Merzbow in the 21st century has been an interesting ride for listeners. He conquered noise mountain, retired the analog gear (mostly) in favor of a laptop computer, and continued to expand the once reductive palette of sound at his disposal. In the analog era it was just electronics (sometimes identified as synthesizer or theremin and sometimes not) along with tapes or metal objects, but more and more Masami Akita has gone out of his way to identify his sources in this phase of his Merzbow work. Sphere credits computer and percussion, and there is some electric bass here as well. There are four tracks, with the title track separated into three parts. The album opener, "Sphere, Pt.1," starts with drums that sound closer to traditional Japanese drums than the drum kit employed on 2001's Doors Open at 8 AM. A wash of steady midrange static soon enters the picture and the drums become the foil of Merzbow's filtering. Pitch and tempo fluctuate wildly for a while, with a single low drum slowly pulsing in the background. Eventually, the chaotic modulations achieve ...
| | Afrirampo Kore Ga Mayaku Da CD (2005)
Dreams album
$13.39 
Osaka experimental garage punk duo Afrirampo's Kore Ga Mayaku Da, released on John Zorn's Tzadik label only a couple of months after their full-length debut, Urusa in Japan, had come out in Japan, pushes the boundaries of the group's sound even further than their previous work. Opening with the 13-plus minute "I Did Are," Afrirampo hit you with their trademarked brand of heavy garage riffs and nonsensical vocal meanderings, but show that they won't be ...
| | Electric Wizard Dopethrone CD (2000) Bonus Tracks; Remastered; Digipak
Dreams CD music
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As Deep Purple's Roger Glover once said, "Heavy isn't about volume, it's about attitude." And no band better illustrates this statement than England's Electric Wizard -- the reputed heaviest band in the universe -- whose every album has managed to push the boundaries of down-tuned, grinding, monolithic doom metal to unprecedented depths. Sure, they pack plenty of volume as well, but none of it could possibly work without the band's uncompromising worship of weed and all things gothic and malevolent. ...
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Dreams music CDs
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| | Ancient Brotherhood Dances For The New Millennium CD (1997) (Import) Spain
Dreams album
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| | Om 100: A Celebration Of The 100th Release Of Om Records CDs (2002)
Dreams CD music
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Om 100, which celebrates the 100th release of Om Records with a two-CD set of previously unreleased material, starts off with King Kooba's "Salvation." It's an appropriate track to begin this kind of collection -- worthy of dancefloors and living room chill-outs -- because it seems to look back with fuzzy-at-the-edges beats and jazzy keyboard orchestration that seamlessly evoke some lost vintage sound. Afro-Mystik ...
| | National Anthems & National Favorites CD (2002) (Import) Germany
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| | Bill Evans Complete Gus Wildi Recordings CD (2005) (Import) Bonus Tracks; France
Dreams songs
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| | Warren Commission Lessons Of Love CD (2005)
Dreams album
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| | Loose Salute Tuned To Love CD (2007) Digipak
Dreams music CDs
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The Loose Salute's debut album Tuned to Love is a low-key gem that combines country-rock, indie pop, the sunny pop of California in the '60s and '70s and Laurel Canyon songcraft in a fashion not too terribly different from Mojave 3's recent output. No surprise there since the band is helmed by Mojave 3's drummer Ian McCutcheon. He proves himself a fine songwriter and vocalist throughout, taking about one-third of the vocals and sounding especially good on the whispery ballads like "The Mutineer" and "Ballad of the Dumb Angel." The rest of the vocals are handled equally well by Lisa Billson, who has a big voice that she has total control over. She knocks off melancholy tunes like "Photographs and Tickets" or "Why'd We Fight?" with finesse and downhome soul, and charges through the rockers ("From Head to Sandy Toes") with a light and breezy touch. You know she could be doing time as a backup singer in Nashville; McCutcheon is lucky to have her in his band. Speaking ...
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