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Ambient Death|Death Ambient

Death Ambient

Death Ambient

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This project is a unique and strangely lovely set of improvisations by bassist Kato Hideki, drummer Ikue Mori (formerly of the legendary downtown trio DNA) and the patriarch of avant-garde guitar, Fred Frith. You might think that a guitar-bass-drums lineup would at least result in a familiar sort of noise, but in this case you'd be mistaken. For one thing, Mori is playing drum machines rather than actual percussion instruments here, and "machine" seems to be the operative term -- those water sounds and alien chirps were probably triggered by her rather than by Hideki's bass or Frith's guitar. The guitar is actually the most consistently recognizable sound, but only if you're familiar with Frith's work; he squeezes, scrapes, coaxes and pokes the guitar into realms that no one else has ever begun to explore. Hideki's bass is often difficult to pick out, but there are many noises that clearly come from his neck of the sonic spectrum. If all of this sounds less than immediately attractive to you, try to reserve judgment: though the music is rarely pretty in the conventional sense, there are moments of genuine beauty. "Imperial Thorn" is spare, lovely and smart; at one point the guitar imitates a shakuhachi (using feedback!) and the drums play in a style reminiscent of the music that accompanies Japanese noh drama. "Alchemy" sounds like it was recorded underwater. There's never a dull moment here, even though there's rarely a moment that feels like it was planned ahead of time. That's the difference between virtuoso improvisation and noodling self-indulgence.

© Rick Anderson /TiVo

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Death Ambient

Ambient Death

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1
Prophecy
00:07:23

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

2
Imperial Thorn
00:07:49

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

3
Hedgetrimmer
00:02:31

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

4
Alchemy
00:02:41

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

5
Heart Set 1
00:00:49

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

6
Rain
00:01:57

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

7
Broken Blue
00:02:17

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

8
Loquat Tree
00:02:51

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

9
White Eye
00:02:37

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

10
Coyote Got Away
00:04:43

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

11
A Dead Staphylococcus Looks Like A Skull
00:01:46

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

12
Heart Set 2
00:00:31

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

13
Loading And Running
00:01:14

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

14
Flash
00:05:33

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

15
Ways Out
00:03:54

Fred Frith, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Ikue Mori, Composer, AssociatedPerformer - Hideki Kato, Composer - Kato Hideki, AssociatedPerformer - Death Ambient, MainArtist

1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

Album review

This project is a unique and strangely lovely set of improvisations by bassist Kato Hideki, drummer Ikue Mori (formerly of the legendary downtown trio DNA) and the patriarch of avant-garde guitar, Fred Frith. You might think that a guitar-bass-drums lineup would at least result in a familiar sort of noise, but in this case you'd be mistaken. For one thing, Mori is playing drum machines rather than actual percussion instruments here, and "machine" seems to be the operative term -- those water sounds and alien chirps were probably triggered by her rather than by Hideki's bass or Frith's guitar. The guitar is actually the most consistently recognizable sound, but only if you're familiar with Frith's work; he squeezes, scrapes, coaxes and pokes the guitar into realms that no one else has ever begun to explore. Hideki's bass is often difficult to pick out, but there are many noises that clearly come from his neck of the sonic spectrum. If all of this sounds less than immediately attractive to you, try to reserve judgment: though the music is rarely pretty in the conventional sense, there are moments of genuine beauty. "Imperial Thorn" is spare, lovely and smart; at one point the guitar imitates a shakuhachi (using feedback!) and the drums play in a style reminiscent of the music that accompanies Japanese noh drama. "Alchemy" sounds like it was recorded underwater. There's never a dull moment here, even though there's rarely a moment that feels like it was planned ahead of time. That's the difference between virtuoso improvisation and noodling self-indulgence.

© Rick Anderson /TiVo

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1995 Tzadik 1995 Tzadik

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