Search - John Zorn :: Songs From the Hermetic Theatre

The sound of a computer killing itself

Jack Baur | Eugene, OR United States | 01/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to this album this afternoon I was suddenly struck by the tragedy that occured when Stanley Kubrick died having never done a film with John Zorn. Kubrick was a filmmaker who had a certain knack for utilizing music to unsettle the viewer, to push their buttons to the fullest, and, well, nobody pushes buttons like Zorn.
But.
Songs From the Hermetic Theatre is a curious album. Consisting of four tracks, I can say that in the handful of times I have listened to this album in the last couple of days, I have still yet to make it all the way through two of the tracks.
"American Magus" and "Nerve Key" rank among the most confrontational music i have let to hear from Zorn, and that's kind of sad to me, considering these are Zorn's first forays into electronic music. One track claims to be "Electronic music," the other "computer music" but as far as I can tell so far, both are nothing but static, computer gibberish, the odd scaled bleep or bloop, each practically indistinguishable from the other, and both 10 minutes long or more. If Autechre is the sound of computers making love (as I usually like to think of it), then this is the sound of a computer doing extreme violence to itself... or another computer... or the listener... or maybe it is the background static of our lives in the informational age. Then again, it could just be John Zorn masturbating, which is possible. Granted, I again admit that I have't been able to get through them yet, and I don't plan on giving up, but these are the first impressions.
However, the other two tracks on the album are amazing and warrant purchase all by themselves. "In the Very Eye of Night" is an unsettling ambient piece, mostly low drums which are guaranteed to rattle an eardum or two, and drops of water. The feeling is of being in a cave, or maybe a womb (the beginning commentary by the feminist filmmaker would support this claim). And Bueysbox is an astounding collage of the sounds of our life. Working mostly with found sounds, Zorn creates a tapestry of modern living, accentuated by the melancholy wailing of violins and a tinkling piano. It is an aural oddessy, a commentary on hollow modern consumer existence, truly challenging yet sadly soothing. These two tracks are among the best I've heard from Zorn, and should be checked out by any interested parties."

Fun Fun Fun

james i graham | reading, pa United States | 07/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yet another work bt Zorn. This time he takes the listiner on a trip inside the world of electronis music. Electronic music has been in the past, a home for some avant composers and finally Zorn steps into the ring to take a stab at it. Hugely fun, the 2 tracks are intricate and wonderful. One is classifed as electronic music and the other is computer music. (I cant tell the difference) The final selection has Zorn writing for a concoffiny of instruments ranging from strings to fat. Yes...FAT. Listen with headphones and turn out the lights for and extreme musical journey. The best part od this CD is that Zorn is performing his works. Always great to hear a musican perform his or her own compositions. Overall...Great cd...little short but hell...I wont complain."

Not recommended

Douglas S. Benson | Burlingame, CA USA | 04/27/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I've got around 30 Zorn CDs, but sold this one on eBay (thanks, whomever you were!). Gotta say, I wanted to like this one--the cover art and liner notes made it sound like other Zorn albums that I love. Unfortunately, um, no.I'd have to put this in the listen-proof category. Not that it's grindcore or anything--just that the sounds are very unstructured and unpleasant. It's like an electronic-avant garde student effort, where the student is trying hard to make folks leave the room. Much like I did, when I was a student. But I woudn't want to listen to me either."