This is a fan site, see blog.
-Text taken from www.omnology.com/zorn03.html and www.tzadik.com
This is John Zorn's infamous turn-on-a-dime band. Although they can
play any style of music, the majority of their songs are noisy and
complex. At any moment, a beautiful melody can degenerate into a
hurricane of white noise and then suddenly switch to something else.
They've taken everything aggressive about jazz and heavy metal,
blended it together, and tightened it. They are disciplined players, but
the music is a lot of fun.
They look like a rock band: drums, electric guitar, bass, keyboards, and
saxophone. On four of the albums, Yamatsuka Eye adds his unique
vocals. He howls and snorts like a maniac instead of singing. It's very
entertaining. (He is sometimes credited as "Yamataka Eye.")
The band formed in 1989, playing live before they recorded their first
album. They recorded their final album in December of 1992.
Probably Zorn's most popular and most controversial musical project, the music of Naked City has been debated, analyzed, adored and reviled by fans, critics and academics alike, but nothing can replace the experience of hearing it in all its frightening glory. Most people know this music from the single domestic release on Nonesuch, but the major portion of their studio recordings were issued from 1989 - 1993 on the hard to find Japanese labels Avant and Toy's Factory.
The series includes an album of ambient music (Absinthe), the
soundtrack for an SM film (Heretic), an album that consists of a single
30-minute track (Leng Tch'e), a live album (Knitting Factory 1989), and
four albums of hardcore/jazz/rock fusion (Radio, Naked City, Grand
Guignol, Torture Garden).
Every member of the band has released a number of solo albums and
played on other Zorn projects.
goto Tzadik Records
Purchase Naked City albums
