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Written March 24, 2007
Several new releases at the end of the week, probably the best by my taste are the two Sonic Arts Network releases: "Frankfurter Ahnung - Curated by Ben Watson" and "The Topography Of Chance - Curated by Stewart Lee". For those unfamiliar, these are very eclectic various artist releases, featuring great sets of musicians known and unknown, with spoken word interludes and other odd chatter. On both of these releases Derek Bailey features prominently, mostly speaking over his playing, with one piece about the build-up for the current Iraq war. The books are half-magazine size booklets that detail the recordings, and otherwise frame the concept of the book, using clip art construction or, in "Topography," maps, as a motif for the package. Previous releases that we still have in stock are the excellent "Big Ears: Fitzgerald's Manifesto" about the proposed 1931 manifesto that Charles Fitzgerald recommended all broadcasters to follow, and "The Agents of Impurity" about guilty pleasures in the historic avant-garde. There are very few VA releases that I'd strongly recommend, but these radio-oriented packages are extremely interesting collections. (Another strong recommendation is the Oregone package which we also carry, another fine eclectic mix!)
Also, here's a reply to a customer asking about John Wall:
John Wall's pretty amazing, his music is remarkably dynamic and obsessive, I've been a fan for many years. They're all very interesting releases, so it's kind of hard to select one. Fractuur and Alterstill are both excellent compositions, if I had to pick between the two I'd go with Fractuur. If you want to hear more recent material I'd go with the Hylic EP, which will save you a couple of bucks on the listen, and is probably a good amount of material to take from Wall at one go.
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Phil Zampino 2007-04-15
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