Quantcast
NEWS | New Jazz It Up! Episode Features: Chico Hamilton, Grace Kelly,...   Sign In   |   I'm New Here
HOME NEWS REVIEWS ARTICLES MUSICIANS GUIDES PHOTOS FORUMS MOBILE RADIO
Welcome Site Map Shows Daily MP3 Videos Podcast Upcoming Releases Editorial Calendar Contests  
Advanced
Contact Us   |   Advertise   |   For Contributors   |   For Musicians





Mystique
Amaryllis Santiago
No Worries
Larry Slezak
Dark Wood, Dark Water
Chad McCullough
Gettin' Blazed
Jermaine Landsberger
Hit It and Quit
B.D. Lenz
Advertise Here





"Mournin' Variations"
Charles Tolliver
Big Band With Love

Listen Now

More Channels



Ab Baars Trio & Ken Vandermark
Goofy June Bug





Rhino Records
Info | Enter
B.B. King DVD
Info | Enter
Jazzhead Records
Info | Enter
18th & Vine
Info | Enter
Jazz Eyes
Info | Enter

Sirius Intrigues
Ernesto Diaz-Infante and Rotcod Zzaj | Zzaj Productions (2002)


By Todd S. Jenkins Comments        

Futuristic free music from the Bay Area. A member of W.O.O. Revelator and The Abstractions, Ernesto Diaz-Infante is one of San Francisco’s most promising young improvisers. Rotcod Zzaj (you figure it out), aka Dick Metcalf, is a veteran experimenter and head of Zzaj Productions. They explore a wide variety of soundscapes and textures on this blissfully noisy and utterly fascinating release.

On occasion Diaz-Infante is reminiscent of fellow Bay resident Henry Kaiser, avoiding all hints of melody in favor of texture and effect. Some tracks are great pieces of engineering, with Diaz-Infante hammering out low, techno-sounding rhythmic figures or freely improvising while his cohort blasts urgent, fast-tempoed lines and samples alongside him. Other tracks are more haunting and spacy, with scattered harmonics and vocal snippets bubbling in and out of the mix, or ecstatically trippy, with fun drum-machine rattlings and disembodied voices. The rhythmic matrix seamlessly connects the next few tracks, weaving an abrasive continuum of fascinating noise. Aqueous burbles, scrapes, grindings and ominous chords abound throughout the whole project, constantly drawing one’s ears in new directions.

Fans of AMM and Erstwhile Records would find much to appreciate in this disc and other Zzaj releases. Diaz-Infante and Rotcod Zzaj are at the cutting edge of modern electronic improvisation and making their contributions notably more accessible to the virgin listener than many of their compatriots. Especially recommended for aficionados of extended guitar technique, who should keep a definite ear open for Diaz-Infante.

http://www.drimala.com


Track listing: Dog Star Afternoons; Battling the Bull; Beginning the New Year; Black Dwarf Beatnik; Chasing Lepus; Drought Days; High Density; Out Of Orbit; Irradiated Rhodes; Sirius Intrigues; The Pup; Two-Headed Beast; Voyage to Canis Majoris; Orthrus Obsession.

Personnel: Ernesto Diaz-Infante, prepared guitars, voice; Rotcod Zzaj (Dick Metcalf), Kurzweil 88 keyboard, voice.

Style: Modern Jazz
Published: February 21, 2003


Be the first to post a comment on:
Ernesto Diaz-Infante and Rotcod Zzaj's Sirius Intrigues

Signup & post a comment!



 
(18)









    Privacy Policy | Dedicated Servers | All material copyright © 2009 All About Jazz and/or contributing writer/visual artist. All rights reserved.