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| | Moonchild | | | Music Artist : | | John Zorn | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Tzadik | | Release Date : | | 2006-05-23 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $14.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Hellfire
2. Ghosts of Thelema
3. Abraxas
4. Possession
5. Caligula
6. 616
7. Equinox
8. Moonchild
9. Part Maudit
10. Summoning
11. Sorceress
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Breaking new ground
Submitted on: 2007-03-08 |
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| This group of musicains are always coming up with unique work on their own, but as a group they really break into something special. Great concept by Zorn and preformances by the band, really exciting stuff! |
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 zorn release #22939488282 shows signs of a pattern forming...
Submitted on: 2006-09-08 |
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if you've been a fan of zorn's stuff for a while now, and have had this creeping feeling as of late that he seems to be releasing everything but recordings of his own farts, this record isn't going to do anything to boost your confidence.
another release that talks about how highly artistic it is, yet seems to have very little soul. very little that makes you want to come back for more. what's on here is interesting - and sometimes quite good - but honestly there aren't many 'sparks' to be found here. in ten years nobody's going to list this as a zorn classic, that's for sure.
i love zorn, and really like some of the far out stuff he's done in the past - be it in the realm of jazz, ambient, chamber, etc. but i'm starting to get the feeling that he's creating albums to fulfill some type of experimental checklist in his mind rather than follow his musical intuition. and in the process he's recently put out more than his share of "interesting but not captivating" albums. here's another one. i'm becoming very skeptical of tzadik releases as a result, which is unfortunate.
this is of cursory interest by zorn standards, heavy metal standards, experimental standards, and so on. you're much better off exploring his better works - there are a lot of them. |
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Zorn's Triumphant Return to Loud Music
Submitted on: 2006-08-18 |
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John Zorn, previous to this release, and his Masada days, was quite keen on the whole "noise" thing. Back in the eighties, he lead a band called "Naked City" which released five dynamic, explosive albums, most of which contained songs under a minute long. These cuts were made up of high-pitched alto sax wailing, screaming guitar riffs, and powerhouse drumming. Especially for the 80s, this was very progressive, unique music. When the band broke up in the early 90s, Zorn began composing more serious music, and began his incredible "Film Series", a continuously growing collection of his film scores.
When Moonchild came out, it was a surprise to most John Zorn fans, but it signaled a return to what used to be his absolute speciality. Zorn has been quoted explaining the significance of metal/hardcore music, and how he will die trying to understand how those musicians experss themselves. "Moonchild" is an incredible, dynamic exploration of this type of expression.
"Moonchild" is comprised of a drums, bass (with lots of effects), and voice trio. The vocalist is none other than Mike Patton, one of the absolute most talented singers of the present era. His post-modern compositions, incredible octave range, and hauntingly strange sounds that he can make with his voice, make him one of the most unique artists of today. His performance on this release is absolutely outstanding - full of fury, weirdness, and pure emotion. There is lots of screaming (musical screaming, that is) as well as coughing, low-pitched chanting, and nonsensical rambling. Mike Patton deserves many acolades for this performance, as he impressively sets a strange, ambient mood for the listener to enjoy.
The other musicians enhance the experience even further. Much of the music was improvisational, so to see these two working at it with such spine and formality was an incredible surprise to me. But the music simply worked - it perfectly complients the insanity held behind Patton's vocals.
This is the kind of album which is just crying to be heard - hear it any way you can, but if you ever have the chance to sit in a dimly-lit room with your eyes closed, simply listening to this album, I can guarantee you that you will walk out of that experience with a smile on your face and a great feeling of gratification, as if you had just experienced a contemporary art masterpiece. And that is truly what this album is - a contemporary masterpiece. But hey - what did you expect from John Zorn? He takes all of his music, especially his noise/metal/hardcore music, VERY seriously. He doesn't just copy what other similar musicians do - he continues to innovate and make music which simply is so unique that it holds the door open for NOBODY ELSE when it is released.
This may not be the perfect introduction to John Zorn's music for newcomers, but then again, what is? His music has spanned from "thrash jazz" to chamber orchestral pieces. If you want to hear the new face of metal from John Zorn, however, this is the album to check out. HIGHLY recommended! |
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Zorntomas
Submitted on: 2006-07-16 |
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| I am sorry , i want to like this album allot more than i actually do . First off , it just sounds like a cheap , uninspired Fantomas re-tread . Mike Patton is my favorite musician , and John Zorn is someone i have appreciated for years . Which is why i am giving this album two stars instead of one . Although , i do enjoy the title track " moonchild " immensely . If the rest of the album operated on that wave-length , instead of trying to be the less talented little brother of Fantomas , then i would have enjoyed this album allot more . |
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 tedious metal cliches
Submitted on: 2006-05-30 |
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Overall this album sounds to me like typical mid 1990's death metal (eg Pungent Stench's "Been Caught Buttering"). The only significant difference is that the lead vocalist, Mike Patton, often sounds like a carbon copy of Phil Minton or a cross between a traditional death metal vocalist and Phil Minton. I guess listeners who are unfamiliar with Minton's vocal techniques will be impressed - if this is the case with you I'd recommend this CD wholeheartedly for the vocals alone which are really well done and often quite comical in the best metal and Minton traditions!
As Zorn states in the liner notes " ..it captures both music, musician and composer in the white hot moment of discovery". In other words, I guess, it was an experiment with a large element of improvisation: for me much of the improvisation is unexciting and lacking in dynamic nuance, even for the metal genre. (Is this also partly the result of substandard recording and mixing?) Plus the musical language is so derivative, abounding with metal guitar and metal drumming and metal vocal cliches. (Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a formulaic language if something interesting is being said).
Trevor Dunn is a deliciously creative bass player and there are moments on this album where he really shines. The same can't be said for poor old Joey Baron, my favorite drummer in the world, due to the subservient role he plays both compositionally and in the (deliberately?) muddy sound mix of his drums.
The Cd packaging by Heung-Heung Chin is beautiful and compensates a bit for the mediocre music. I only wish John Zorn had been a bit more experimental with musical form or at least imposed more defined and interesting structure against which the improvising players could have worked.
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