John Zorn - Ipsissimus, 2010
Lineup:
John Zorn – alto sax, piano, composer
Joey Baron – drums
Trevor Dunn – bass
Mike Patton – voice
Marc Ribot – guitar
The shuffle begins mercifully, allowing me to revisit some
Moonchild Trio, a sect of
Zorn's work that contributes some of the most solid, singular, and approachable jams of his more extreme output. However that may be, the group is hardly a
John Zorn showcase, in fact his presence on this album is very sonically subdued, while the others are shredding out a neck breaking brutal prog/no wave effort of great intensity. It recalls
DNA and
Massacre and the like, but always considerably more beefy than the no wave founding fathers.
I'd have to pinpoint each musician here as a force to be reckoned with, except
Zorn, funnily enough, and although
Mike Patton is my favorite musician I'm more or less indifferent to his gibberish squealing that can be found flaked all over the
Zornography. Everyone here is striving to be as in your face and aggressive as possible and the album seldom ventures into the hastily charted waters of total free jazz.
Trevor Dunn brings his usual master bass work, with very prominent lines that manage to be both oppressive and catchy, and he does the most to stabilize the music here while still taking many opportunities to noodle about.
Joey Baron is in a constant state of full bodied cacophony, almost comically frenetic. And as if I even have to say it,
Marc Ribot is still in top form.
From stop to start,
Ipsissimus is hell bent on rocking, and even the occasional dynamic dip or textural trouncing hold high levels of intensity.
Moonchild's music hardly ever features an overbearing
Zorn element and that's no different here. Sure, we have his compositions, but more than anything here the band is the star. An insanely thick pairing of the rhythm section and guitar.