From: hellers@cs.wisc.edu (Joe Hellerstein)
Subject: Re: Zorn: Spillane and the recent Japanese releases
Organization: Univ. of Wisconsin @ Madison, CS Dept.
	<1jgsh5INN3oi@specialist.genrad.com>	<RSHAPIRO.93Jan19125647@kariba.bbn.com>	<1jhgcsINN433@specialist.genrad.com>,<SMEHTA.93Jan20114818@kwela.nynexst.com>
	<C162Lx.4xI@news.iastate.edu>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 16:51:39 GMT

In article <C162Lx.4xI@news.iastate.edu> s1mbm@isuvax.iastate.edu (michael bruce mcdonald) writes:

>   In article <SMEHTA.93Jan20114818@kwela.nynexst.com>, smehta@kwela.nynexst.com (Sandeep Mehta) writes:
>   >Incidentally I was mildly surprised by Richard Cook's description of
>   >SPY VS SPY in the Penguin Guide. He described it as among the best
>   >treatments of Ornette's music in that despite the hardcore thrash
>   >feel to the album it retains the melodic germ of Ornette's
>   >compositions. Or some such thing...
>   >
>   >Any comments on that aspect of SPY?
>
>   sandeep, the melodic *germ* may still be present on SPY, but the wonderful
>   thing about Ornette is that no matter how "free" he plays, melody always, or
>   almost always, remains in the foreground, even when it is implied rather 
>   than explicitly stated.  I'm a Zorn fan, but really haven't been able to
>   sit through all of SPY at a given time.  I admire the sheer, assaultive
>   energy of this recording, but something is missing to my ears, and I think
>   that this missing element is perhaps indeed some more explicit melodic sense.

I'd have to agree with Michael here, that the Penguin review has
missed the point.  Ornette is certainly a melody-based
player/composer.  SPY vs. SPY is mostly about *texture* or timbre, at
least as far as I'm concerned.  You don't employ two drummers and play
as loud as possible to work on melody.  I think SPY vs. SPY succeeds
in what I perceive to be its goals, i.e. exploring a body of already
unusual music, but with a contrary, or at least non-native texture.  I
don't listen to it a lot, though, because it's "assaultive" (good
word, Michael!), and the texture gets a little monotonous by the end
of side 1 or so (yep, I have it on vinyl.)  Actually, when I first got
SPY vs. SPY I *fell asleep* listening to it.  Not because it was dull,
but because it was sonic overload, my circuits couldn't cope and just
shut down.

(I had a similar experience around the same time watching a film called
something like "Twenty Minutes Across America", which was a time-lapse
film of a guy's car trip from Boston to SF, a frame a mile, or
something like that.  It was an exhausting, hyper-kinetic film, and I
couldn't keep my eyes open, I just fell asleep.  Information overload.
The soundtrack was done by my electronic composition teacher, Ivan
Tcherepnin.  Anybody else seen this?)

Back to the point, one of my favorite things about SPY vs. SPY is that
it's so damn funny.  I like to play it for friends for about one track
or so, it freaks them out.  Especially people who recognize the
Ornette tune.  This pleasure does wear off kind of quick, though.
(Which is something I never understood about serious thrash fans --
how does this stuff stay interesting in the long run?)

Joe (parenthetical aside) Hellerstein

Newsgroups: rec.music.bluenote