Death Ambient

Drunken Forest

Tzadik




For those that are unfamiliar with John Zorn’s Tzadik imprint, the not-for-profit label is home to many gems of avant-garde music, and has been for many years. Based loosely around a cricle of well-known master musicians including Mike Patton, Fred Frith, Sylvie Courvoisier, Zorn himself, and countless others, Tzadik showcases a side of music that is unwilling to yield, and as experimental music continues to thrive, will do so well into the future. In the wide ranges of focus that the label covers (Radical Jewish Culture, a composer series, Oracles – which focuses on vivid musical output of various females, and countless others), Tzadik’s focus on new music hailing from Japan is one it’s strongest aims. Within the series, one will find countless releases from some of Japan’s rising artists such as Afrirampo and Melt Banana, as well as some of the country’s cornerstone noise forgers such as Merzbow, Ikue Mori, Keiji Haino, and Ruins. However, some of the releases that hold the strongest are numerous collaborations (of which Tzadik offers many), one of which is Death Ambient; a super-group if you will, comprised of Mori, Frith, and multi instrumentalist Kato Hideki. Drunken Forest is the trio’s third and latest release for the label, and features guest percussionist Jim Pugilese to round out the effort for a unique venture into electro-acoustic sound. The most noticeable aspect of this collaboration right off the bat, is the use of various instruments that create this musical window into the heads of the four players. The sound is delicate at times, and at others, crushingly intense as the calculated blending of such an instrumental array comes off deep and heavy. Most notably, “Belarus” shows this early in the recording, reeling off of the two opening tracks with a somber violin segue into a vast-but-tight weaving of carefully practiced electronics, ukulele and guitar that offers a glimpse into a stark existence of sinister darkness, carried off by what sounds to be Mori’s superb electronics. “Cocktail of Chemicals” follows nicely behind starting on a completely different note, with a fractured guitar line and what could be field recordings of birds—but with such a foursome at the helm here, it could very well be any of the instruments, played with such mastery. There are also some live recordings in the mix of liquids being titrated, for a much more blatant feel of a “cocktail,” accompanied by some low-end noise. At times it’s hard to pinpoint what is exactly going on, but Mori’s live laptop-ing shines through much of the recording, especially on “Yellow Rain,” as her work is chased around by distant banjo plucks and some distorted guitar sustains, but still manages to take precedent. However, others manage to let their craft shine as well, as does Pugilese towards the end of the track by percussively simulating rainfall, and also on tracks like “River Tigris” and the title track, with erratic but well timed rhythms. Hideki and Frith also shine on “Drunken Forest”, as they do for most of the recording offering a hypnotic intertwining of their instrumentation skills that creates a strong force of sound, resulting in one of the disc’s most solid works. The rest of the record remains as more force to hold the project up, as none of it is “filler” material but well orchestrated pieces of outer-limits ambience that will have fans of “noise-band” outfits like Tarentel and Bardo Pond finding a subtle new context to appreciate. This might be over the heads of folks expecting something a little more rock oriented, but for an atmospheric experiment into a dark, murky world, Drunken Forest excels with effortless composure.


Tzadik