Kramtones and Rotcod Zzaj - "Dangerous Revisions"
(Zzaj Productions 2002, ZP-76)
Kramtones and Rotcod Zzaj - "Dangerous Revisions"
(Zzaj Productions 2002, ZP-76)
From Aural Innovations #23 (April 2003)
Dangerous Revisions consists of mail collaboration recordings between Kramtones (aka Harlan Mark Vale) and Rotcod Zzaj (aka Dick Metcalf) during 1989-1990, and some of the spoken word from Zzaj includes poetry from Clarke A. Sany. The music is keyboard dominated and is a very cool blend of jazz, symphonics, sound collage, and spacey atmospherics.
"Polarity Shift" and "Gravitational Waves" are the tracks with the most symphonic sound. At over 10 minutes "Gravitational Waves" is the one stretched out lengthy track of the set and includes spaced out jazzy keyboards that get cosmically symphonic, along with fiery spoken word. Among the more experimental sound collage tracks are "Birds", "It's Sticky Shoes" and "My Anthem Seize". "Cheri Red" is one of my favorites along these lines, being a playful and sometimes intense experimental collaged music and spoken word piece. "Tv" is another standout sound collage piece with multiple voices and strange samples.
"Derebmun Ddo" and "Funk Bicycle" are highlight tracks that are just a cool boppin jazz instrumentals. "Strange Attractors" is another excellent tune with LOTS happening. Jamming jazz keys, atmospherics, and a meteor shower of freaky alien sounds. "Jabberducky" is a cool jazz jam that gets MUCHO spacey! And "Gyoto Monks" features psychedelic chanting and didgeridoo styled drones. Overall an enjoyable set of Zzaj styled jazz, but far deeper in the cosmos than usual.
For more information you can visit the Zzaj Productions web site at: http://home.attbi.com/~rotcod.
Peruse the Zzaj Productions catalog at: http://www.homemademusic.com/~zzaj.
Contact via snail mail c/o Zzaj Productions; 5308 65th Avenue; Lacey, WA 98513.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz