Bachdenkel - Lemmings
I was surprised to find a 6 on this album which is far too low, but I suspect it might be their later album, Stalingrad, that cross-eroded my opinion, as that album, from a few years later, is quite weak work. That’s not to say Lemmings is brilliant or anything, or putting it another way it has some brilliant moments mixed in with the pedestrian, something not uncommon for 1970 psych/prog crossovers (let’s toss that proto-prog thing out the window where it belongs). Anyway what I remember most is the guitar work, some very fine solos here (one or two making the song they were part of). I had to bump it back up to a 9, which means I’m keeping it. For now.
Masada String Quartet + Bar Kokhba Sextet + Masada - Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 6/25/99
This set of three related groups all performing for about an hour opens with someone, assumedly John Zorn or perhaps one of the string trio, pissed off with a photographer and getting graphic about it. I wonder about the difference between the assertive journalist and loving fan in these moments, but whoever it is is there to play music, dammit, and that’s that. And of course, by the ten minute mark you’re quite glad they’re there for that very reason even if they had to embarass a photographist in the process. The Masada String Trio play some pretty gorgeous music with Erik Friedlander, nice dark and avant garde, which always puts me in mind of Bartok or Stravinsky and with such sound quality it was hard not to be pulled in. Bar Kokhba follow, and they’re not quite half way between the string trio and the band, more an avant-ish take on some unidentified (to me) traditional musics. It might have been my least favorite of the three sets, cuz Masada come in and pound the audience into a pulp. The Warsaw crowd sure must have had a fine day, as this is pretty great from beginning to end.