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John Zorn - Spy vs. Spy

Dig'Em

By Dig'Em
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Dig'Em Newbie

Dig'Em

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AllMusic gives this disc four and a half stars, but the following less-than-stellar review:

Review by Scott Yanow

John Zorn teams up with fellow altoist Tim Berne, bassist Mark Dresser and both Joey Baron and Michael Vatcher on drums to perform 17 Ornette Coleman tunes which range chronologically from 1958's "Disguise" to four selections from 1987's In All Languages. The performances are concise with all but four songs being under three minutes and seven under two, but the interpretations are unremittingly violent. The lack of variety in either mood or routine quickly wears one out. After about ten minutes, boredom sets in, although, when taken in short doses, the performances have the potential of shocking (or at least annoying) most listeners.

I know Zorn gets mixed reactions 'round here, but I'm interested in any particular thoughts about this recording. Put another way, does anyone actually like this one?

I've got other Zorn that I like (e.g., Masada). I find myself liking the energy of Spy vs. Spy, when I'm in the right frame of mind, but being hard-of-listening when I'm not - even more so than I usually am with avant-leaning stuff. Clearly, this one will need a bit more time, though I'm not sure repeated listening will ever fully bring me to the point of consistent love or hate.

PHILLYQ Newbie

PHILLYQ

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To my ears this is one of those discs that is best listened to in small bursts, not all at once. I reach for it sometimes but I'll only play say, 5-7 cuts and then move on to something else. At that level of exposure it serves to 'clean out' my ears and I'm refreshed and ready to be a bit more 'open-eared'. I play handball on Sundays and my friends have dubbed me the 'maestro' because I make up discs every week and bring the boombox to play them on. I like to slip in a few cuts here and there from 'Spy vs. Spy' and my friends, who are not big jazz fans(but quite tolerant) almost always get a chuckle out of that. In fact, for this Sunday...

Nate Dorward Newbie

Nate Dorward

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I wouldn't take anything Yanow says about this one too seriously. It is not, as they say, pitched at his demographic.

It is a pretty remarkable album, though I wish it was available in a remastered Tzadik edition (I assume that like "Two-Lane Highway" -- another one desperately in need of a remastered CD -- it's still only available on Elektra/Nonesuch?). Very tinny digital sound. But I used to play this one all the time & even now I like it more than most of Zorn's Naked City output. The tracks I like most are "Ecars" and "Mob Job" on side B.

Unk Newbie

Unk

Posted
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I'm not a particular Zorn-o-phile, but I like both the Masada and Spy vs. Spy. I'll admit upfront that I haven't listened to SvS for a few months, but I didn't find it 'violent' so much as uninhibitedly frantic...in a generally good way. More sax unison lines than I originally expected, and sticking more closely to the head-solos-head formula - albeit with collective solos in many cases. If I can say it without sounding negative, it strikes me as cartoon music on hallucinogenic amphetamines.

Or some such thing.

I think it'll grow on you, provided you don't compound the effect by indulging in hallucinogenic amphetamines yourself before listening. Through headphones. On "11".

JohnS Newbie

JohnS

Posted
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I still have this one but it doesn't come out very often. I can't say I'm too fond of it. Best Zorn for me is the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet and the News For Lulu cds. On the other hand seeing Naked City live was quite an experience and one I wouldn't have wanted to miss - incredible. Can't say I'd want to replay it home though.

  • 2 weeks later...
Man with the Golden Arm Newbie

Man with the Golden Arm

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  clementine said:
Q: do ya'll wanna eat pussy or suck cock all the time? i mean the physical act, not desire... but it's dandy when we do, si?

I can only envision Ither of those to 'Spy vs Spy' as the soundtrack - "Mob Job", maybe, but makes a bit more interesting imagery than some Kip Hanrahanrahan thru the walls. Languid squamousilliciousness a tough sell with the former.

I sure do wish I had seen them Spy gigs w/ Sanborn, Berne and Zorn fronting two basses and Baron and Vachter going like a Harley parade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU-iR7kokE8

closest i could find.

Hot Ptah Newbie

Hot Ptah

Posted
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Has any artist recorded as much as Zorn while producing as much unlistenable music? If you put all of Zorn's output onto a continuum, Spy vs. Spy is actually on the sheerly enjoyable side of the Bell curve. Is Spy vs. Spy more than a novelty act, though?

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