<a href= "http://downtownmusic.net/pictures/showpicturerhtml/96480170612/show.3/default.htm">Hamid Drake / Bill Laswell / Mike Patton / John Zorn </a>
Recorded in September 0f 2003 During JZ's 50th B-Day Party series of cocerts @ TONIC NYC:
The following blurb is a press release from the <a href =http://www.tzadik.com/new_home.php?monthsback=1&first=true">TZADIK</a> website:
Painkiller: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Twelve #5012]
A powerful and breathtaking meeting of masters. With the tight rhythm section of Laswell and Drake, who have a long history working together in a variety of bands and contexts, and the empathetic insanity of Patton and Zorn, this set was as much of a surprise to the musicians as it was to the pumped up crowd that were lucky enough to hear it that night. Although billed as Painkiller, this once in a lifetime unit was really something completely different. At times hilarious, exhilarating, outrageous and transcendent, this is music only the New American Underground could create. East Coast meets West Coast meets Midwest: New York, California and Chicago come together in this twisted, funky improviser’s paradise.
It's like the holy trinity.
Hamid Drake?
<img src ="http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/thumb-0740.jpg">
Holy trinity my ass!
Anyhoo, The drum seat in Painkiller is usually occupied by Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn) and Mr. Harris was a lot more technical and precise in execution w/ a lot of reverberating thuds of the tom (the well miced drum effect you hear of Dave Lombardo's work in Slayer comes to mind).
Mr. Drake, is more "swinging" and fluid and has leant a new outlook to Painkiller.
Ive had bootlegs of this show for awhile, but am extremely excited to a get a better recorded "legit" copy if you will...
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FUCK ALL YALL
<img src="http://www.oldschoollive.com/artistbios/biopics/icecube.jpg">
SWITCH!
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I thought so...
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review to follow shortly...
<img src="http://static.flickr.com/33/49644049_d00296e06a.jpg?v=0">
<img src="http://static.flickr.com/29/49645106_a52ef821dc_o.jpg">
These photos are from <a href="http://downtownmusic.net/pictures/showpicturerhtml/96480170612/show.3/default.htm">Downtownmusic.net</a> which I would highly reccomend checkin out, BTW.
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a bit of background first:
If ever there was a free improv group to thrash around to, Painkiller would definitely be it.
Painkiller came to be after John Zorn's adoration of grind-core pioneers Napalm Death in the late 1980s. ND (in its original lineup of Lee Dorian / Bill Steer / Mick Harris) played a final set of farewell gigs in Japan that Zorn attended and became fast friends with drummer Harris.
Harris visited Zorn in NYC, where the two talked about playing music together. Harris listed soundscape / ambient / bass player extraordinaire Bill Laswell as a key influence, and Zorn suggested they call him up directly and get to work.
As Harris had only played in hardcore and thrash groups, Zorn and Laswell had to help Harris accumulate to an improv environment.
Painkiller quickly became an excellent mix of three very distinct styles: Zorn's screech/skronk intensified with bursts of circular breathing punctuated with "Rahsaan Roland Kirk on PCP" guttural growls and yelps through his sax, Laswell's thick reverberating dub-influenced bass lines (complete with cheeky Black Sabbath references in live performances from time to time) and all kinds of fun under-waterish sound effects, and Harris's industrial creepiness: a kind of Napalm Death meats Godflesh meets ambient doom (after hearing Painkiller Harris, you can see how he built on this style in his other group SCORN)... Finally, throw in Zorn / Harris trading castration-without-anesthesia-caliber vocal stylings and there you have it.
Painkiller toured and recorded sporadically throughout the first half of the 90's, releasing records on Napalm Death's Earache label in the US and UK as well as Toy's Factory in Japan. Pankiller also had a short-lived stint on a Laswell label subsidiary of Caroline called Subharmonic.
Each recorded improv was named on the spot, sometimes for events going on in the world at the time (1991's 'Scud Attack', some to just alarm and offend 'Purgatory of Fiery Vulvas'. Photos of disemboweled bodies accompanied with insanely detailed oriental-rug style borders (framing said medical disaster photos) ensured controversy / revulsion from the mainstream and even got banned / confiscated by Scotland Yard - how's that for free publicity??..
Painkiller then became dormant, with some posthumous Tzadik releases in the latter half of the decade here and there to satisfy Zorn's minions.
Enter September 2003, where NYC nightclub <a href="http://www.tonicnyc.com/">TONIC</a> had a "Zorn's 50th birthday" feature / gimmick. 30 nights of various Zorn performances: Masada (mutations of performed Masada included chamber, electric, acoustic), Cobra, Locus Solus, game pieces such as fencing, lacrosse, hockey, film scores, Kristallnacht, and most conceivable past Zorn projects, with the exception of Naked City, were on the bill.
Painkiller, at least in name, was naturally on the roster. Featuring Zorn and Laswell, with Harris absent. While many were sad about Harris's absence, many percussion lovers listening to 'out jazz' flipped when it was announced <a href="http://www.indiejazz.com/ArtistDetail.aspx?ArtistID=95">Hamid Drake</a> would be the drummer for this performance. Finally, a certain Mike Patton on guest vocals didn't hurt the attendance that evening either.
The live recording "John Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration: Vol 12 Painkiller" (Tzadik TZ 5012) documents this performance of a (mutated) but still crushing and fucking awesome (lets be objective here) band.
While Harris's drumming could center much more around violent and/or attack oriented blasts, the varied textures and dynamics of Drake's drumming not only provide Zorn and Laswell with an excellent foundation to improv with, but also gave the sessions a rich pallate of percussive variety: poly rhythms, snare / hi hat pyrotechnics ,etc.
Drake and Harris both seem to have telepathy playing with Zorn and Laswell, but Drake responds with his drums to the playing of Laswell and Zorn in a multitude of ways, whereas, Harris's telepathy was always focused to a handful of distinct styles.
Patton, while doing all the aggro vocal duties one comes to expect from Painkiller (along with many of Patton's other outfits for that matter), also adds sounds reminiscent of shortwaveradio transmissions, syncopated syllables further assisting the rhythm section, and some good ol' fashioned enthusiasm and humor to preclude an academic or clinical feel to the performance (a spoon full of sugar helps the (free-improv / naval gazing) medicine go down for the masses attending this event)
Zorn is pretty much Zorn on this recording. Scrawls, bleeps, some hardbop-ish strands of notes from time to time. Normally, Zorn's miked sax sounds pretty clean, but Laswell must have some influence over the soundboard of the recording, as there are massive delay effects going on to accompany the murky underwater asthetic.
finally, the real star of the evening would have to be Laswell. In addition to the melodic, brick shit house thick bass lines, the warbles, wavers, hums, and drones Laswell adds to the horizon of this music makes it a treat to listen to.
here's hoping the new version of Painkiller does a followup to its last Cambridge appearance in 1995 @ the Middle East...
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<img src="http://www.oldschoollive.com/artistbios/biopics/icecube.jpg">
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Hang on:
Fuck all y'all Zorn!
There!
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