Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman

Hey, reader! If you can't find the full album anywhere, email me at sodaco3@gmail.com and I'll send a zipped file of the songs. John Zorn. Hmmm.....let's talk about John Zorn. He's a jazz artist (saxophone) who specializes in avant-garde jazz. This alone will turn away quite a few people, and I can't blame them: avant-garde art is inherently pretentious with it's "ooo, look at how I deconstruct certain pervasive elements in art and rearrange them for new experiences". It's pretty anarchist, and anarchists SUCK! Given this, I'm pretty surprised that Zorn is even on this list. I would've went with his much more popular "Naked City", but maybe that was too "jazz-rock" for 1001. Regardless, most people are going to walk away not enjoying John Zorn's work. So, what is he doing with this album? Well, he's got a 5-piece band built of two alto-saxophones, a bass, and TWO DRUMMERS! Neat. Double drummers is always risky but it's avant-garde so we'll let it slide. Cool production note: each saxophone is playing in a different channel (Zorn is in the right; listen for his licks!). Also of note is that everyone playing is improvising, giving a sort of full sound that surrounds the listener like a chaotic hug. Can you feel it? Zorn's compositions are interesting, as he opts to do these much shorter tracks that don't stick around for long before moving on the the next one. Zorn is heavily inspired by the hardcore punk scene in New York, London, and Tokyo at the time, particularly the rise in grindcore (see: Scum by Napalm Death). That sort of quick-and-dirty, attack on the ears is something that was very much inspired from grindcore and can be seen crossing over in jazz through Zorn. Again, most people will not like this, but for what it's worth I think it's a cool approach to jazz. By the 80's, Jazz had pretty well split; smooth jazz was on the rise with the likes of Kenny G, producing the most accessible, commercial music possible. Meanwhile, Jazz was being used more as a prop for other genres, such as acid jazz in the UK being a combination of electronic beats with jazz (great for clubs), or hip-hop producers incorporating jazz samples in their beats, leading to the rise of jazz rap in the late 80's and early 90's. This comes AFTER the prominence of avant-garde jazz actually, so Zorn is late to the party and very much on his own. Regardless, his approach to jazz with the mindset of hardcore punk makes for a fresh and thrilling listening experience. Overall, I think there's a lot one can take from this album, but they'll need to be open to the weirdness of it all. Do not expect structure, melodies, and rhythms that ground most songs. Instead, listen for how each instrument is playing off the others while also being totally independent from the song. There are times in this record where the stars align and you can hear the purposefulness of Zorn's band coming together in creating some really rad shit. But you gotta be open to it, or you'll just walk away thinking it's a total stinker. If you liked this record, consider listening to Ornette Coleman's stuff! I recommend "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and "Free Jazz", both records that did NOT make this list because Coleman ISN'T ANYWHERE ON THE LIST, DESPITE HIS NAME BEING HONORED BY THIS ALBUM. FUCK YOUUUUUUU 1001 ALBUMS!!!!

Sounds like the drums are beating the shit out of the saxophones.

What in the literal fuck

Tried to listen to this but there was something wrong with the YouTube file - it was just 40 minutes of a bunch of toddlers goofing around in a garage with an old saxophone and half a drum set.

You know what? Fuck you. 3 stars. After reading some of the more informative reviews here and putting this LP in context, I'm willing to give it a decent rating for being completely different than anything else I've heard on this list. While the first half is an absolute auditory mess (and I would bet more than a few of the people here don't even listen for more than 5 minutes), the back half shapes up into some pretty energetic improv work that had my toe tapping. It may not be an easy listen and it does take some understanding, but at least it's not another tepid Britpop or Bob Dylan album

Just really terrible, very hard to listen to, and I say this as a lover of jazz. "Like a migraine in music form" -my wife

John Zorn has made a work of genius that will transcend the ages. I went into this record completely blind and naive to what music could truly be. This damn incredible soundtrack feels like it has taken my aural virginity. My ears are bleeding for the first time, but it feels so good. My darkest desires have been set in motion, like a runaway train about to meet an explosive crescendo at the bottom of a rocky ravine. My windswept hair has Zorn's semen brushed through it and his dick is hanging out of my slack jaw as I listen in complete awe and adoration. I lust as it slithers its way into my psyche, into my trousers. If I could, I would marry this record so hard, that it would think that it's been fucked sideways by its own grandchild in the back of a station wagon heading 1000 miles an hour into the centre of the sun.

This album is possibly the worst album I have ever listened to, and that may be generous. I love experimentation, but this experiment should've stayed in the lab, John. From top to bottom, this was an assault on the senses. I had an ear infection listening to this, and I enjoyed the ear infection more. I cannot find a single redeemable thing about this album. I had to pause the album for about 15 minutes, and those 15 minutes were a sweet Oasis in a dessert of pointless cacophony without rhythm. How do you have two drummers and a bassist and use none of them effectively? All the great elements of any genre that could be compared were missing. None of the soul, punch, or craftsmanship of Jazz, none of the rhythm of thrash, no groove, no vocals, no variety. This sounds like vomit incarnate.

Its either a 5 or a 1. I do not know what to do with this.

I lasted 5 minutes. I now have a headache and the urge for some heroin.

I’ve listened to, and enjoyed, Ornette Coleman. I’ve listened to, and enjoyed, John Zorn. This sounds exactly like how I’d imagine Ornette Coleman played by John Zorn. This is music for masochists.

This sent me down the rabbit hole of music in psychological warfare. Truly an abomination.

That was fucking awesome. I love the intensity and the drums sound great! I typically learn towards fast-paced music, so this is right up my alley. This is basically the hardcore punk of jazz music.

12th July 2022 Listened while in the office, played life sized monopoly with Sav and Sal in the evening. At one point a fleet of police cars drove past the window with sirens blazing and I couldn’t tell if that was part of the music or not.

Wish I could award zero stars

Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz 2/5 I will say this: in some fucked up way, I do feel that I needed to hear this before I died. An absolute onslaught of noise, squealing saxophones and manic free-time drumming, sometimes so over-bearing and wild that laughter just spurted out of me, Spy vs. Spy is truly unique. It was fun playing the game, "Oh, There's The Song", where each song would start with a rushed take on an Ornette Coleman piece, go absolutely fucking crazy in the middle, then come on back to the song again, therein you'd say "Oh, There's The Song". Generally all in the course of a minute-and-a-half. And there's like 12 of them. The last few tracks slow it down big time compared to what preceded it, giving us a look at 4 really tremendous, classically trained jazz musicians, covering songs from a pioneer of their genre. Truthfully, the whole project showcases their talents. It takes a lot of training to be able to make saxophones sound like this, but it certainly isn't rendered in any way that makes it accessible. Put this on for a laugh next time you're in the car with someone, maybe The Disguise or Rejoicing.

Just noise. And not good noise

whoever gives this something higher than 1 star is off their fucking tits.

The overall effect is of speed and density. At least two LP's of musical material is compressed to forty minutes. I have only the lightest grounding in Ornette's discography, but it's enough to bring me into each tune. With the exception of Peace Warriors, which gets a bit vampy (not a good thing in this form factor), there's plenty of distinction to find aural purchase on. One saxophone or the other is often playing something slower, or they're both holding a tone, or the drums become legible, or a bass line emerges. This doesn't abstract the tunes as much as I thought it would: The rhythm section is weird, with the drummers departing from all tradition and creating the unique texture, but there are intact melodies galore.

I really enjoyed this! Of course, by enjoyed, I mean I tolerated it. By tolerated it, I mean I'd rather have all of my skin chipped off with a cheese grater, whilst my dad mixes lemon juice with his own urine and pours it onto my raw, skinless body. All the while piranhas bite away at my feet, the piercing shrill of a whistle is blown in my face relentlessly and a montage of my worst ever erection moments is broadcast on giant TV screens to every major city in the world, than ever listen to this ever again.

Truly horrible. Unpleasant and unlistenable, with an overall historical profile that suggests it has no business being on this list. It's a shame that this was included over so many other worthy albums.

What a thunderous cacophony! I'm surprised I've never heard this. I can't say I exactly enjoy a whole album of it but for a track or two this is kind of stunning in it's intensity. Two sets of drums recorded with some significant reverb and dueling saxophones going at it all at once is quite a unique arrangement. Really stopped me in my tracks when I first put it on. My ears took a minute to even be able to process what they were hearing. I like this but I'm giving it a 3 because I know I'd never put this on as an album or tolerate it if someone else did. There's very little variation of mood or relief from the intensity. Again, a track or two is exhilarating and would be mind blowing live but any more than that gets exhausting real quick.

I know many people, including some whose opinions I hold in high regard, really go for this side of Zorn's eclectic catalogue. This struck me as a little less beatnik-screamo than Naked City but still not my cup of tea. Of course this is coming from the asshole who gave The Doors by The Doors 4 stars. An exhausting listen for me and the first item my Youtube Music subscription failed me on.

meh

Bottled insanity. Not sure whether I like it, but I'm damn sure that it exists in the world. That someone said "how about Ornette Coleman...but hardcore?" and then executed this notion has helped me to love the human race just a little more.

It's loud, it's obnoxious and it's unsettling. But isn't that the point of jazz? John Zorn pushes the Avante Garde sound of jazz to the limits where it almost sounds like heavy metal - again, isn't that the point of jazz? To experiment? Spy vs. Spy is a great symphonic, catastrophic wall of noise that somehow flows into a very good album. 4/5.

Thrashcore jazz? What in god? Holy shit, I guess we are in for a violent, unhinged jazz onslaught. Good Old Days takes a little off the gas pedal for some more synchronized power. The drums are just SO BOOMY! They sound like they are 50 feet away! This is a fun album to just sonically surf through. Ecars is a fun tune with the heaviest end beat imaginable. Mob Job is like a pulling up to the station as the last act of this jazz rollercoaster of bodyblows and razor blades.

What the fuck did I just listen to? It's like whoever orchestrated this mess told all the musicians, "Don't worry about what everyone else is playing, just play whatever you want as loud, hard, and fast as you can." I'm sure there is someone somewhere who enjoys listening to this type of thing, but it's not me. 1 star.

I guess I needed to hear this before I die. I just don't know what to do with it now. An absolute onslaught of sounds that rained down on me relentlessly until my brain was utterly overwhelmed and rendered unable to comprehend what was happening, so I listened to the whole thing in one go. I don't know if this is hell or heaven. I don't know anything anymore. I feel like a biblically accurate angel just manifested in front of me and told me to be not afraid.

Weird as hell but strangely infectious! Don’t know what it says about me that I preferred this to any other jazz album I’ve had generated for me in the past 10 months, but I did. It’s fun and interesting and made me want to wiggle like a worm.

This is fucking mental, I love it. The longer it goes on the more I love it. Hilarious that I got this the day after Adele. Obviously it starts off sounding like a jazz band falling down the stairs, but then you adjust. Kind of glad for the Spotify fail as it forced me to listen on headphones, and you can really pick out the intricacies. Can't tell because YouTube smooshed it all together but the song I think is Good Old Days is absolutely banging. Several more bangers later on but I've fully lost track by then. Thrash jazz, fuck yeah baby!

😳

Unfortunately for the tasteless haters and losers on this website, this album rips. Good for sitting in traffic.

Finally, some jazz that doesn't suck ass!

This is an extreme musical example of the Marmite principle - and I wanted to slather it all over my morning bitterly toast, then lick the knife. Granted, you can’t listen to this all day, everyday: it’s an assault on your brain and ears which doesn’t leave you much choice other than to turn the volume firmly down then rip off the knob or jump right in and let the chaos wash over you. But. It’s chaos built on a foundation of incredible talent and musicianship. Two saxophone, two drum kits and a bass guitar all improvising and able to remain in some Free Jazz hive mind state. Most of the album is so perilously on the edge of descending and unraveling into an inaudible dirge - but they some how keep enough tension between them to keep walking along the tightrope. However there are also examples of more traditional harmonies and jazz rhythms (Ecars, Feet Music & Mob Job) to show that these are a group of musicians right at the top of thier game. And fuck me, rather this than Oasis, The Manics or The Stones. At least they won’t die wondering “What if…?”

Not for everyone, I suppose, but I love the organized chaos that John Zorn brings, especially when paired with Ornette Coleman.

What the actual f** … Ok, it is kinda funky … No wait, it hurts … Hm, but I like this bit … No, it’s horrible … Although that was kinda great … No, ears are bleeding again … But not in a bad way … Make it stop … Ok, one more minute A very s/m experience, this one.

Une incompréhension totale à l'écoute de cet album. Que cherche à nous dire John Zorn? Quel message tente t'il de nous faire parvenir? Je vais tâcher de percer le mystère John Zorn, et reviendrai vers vous dès que j'ai du nouveau.

Some music is much more enjoyable to perform than it is to hear.

I'm glad that someone made this and it exists. I don't ever want to listen to it again. There's something about it, like when you go to an art gallery and see some pretentious shit and think, "My toddler could do that." But there is some subtle difference. This is the musical equivalent of Tate Modern finger painting.

These people don't know shit and after over 500 albums, it's really starting to piss me off. Please do yourself and John Zorn both a favor and listen to his Naked City album instead. That's the Zorn album that should be on this list and it's not even close. Not. Even. Close. This record shouldn't be in even the 10,001 list. In the often bleak years between "Ford To New York City: Drop Dead" and Giuliani's broken windows cleanup campaign 15 years later, when the lower east side looked like a war zone, John Zorn almost singlehandedly kept NYC the leading edge of experimental music with everything he did downtown at the original Knitting Factory. Much love to him for that and he deserves a wider audience. But this album is a silly joke along the lines of that Marvel Comics series, What If? That's Zorn's schtick pretty much, a hipster musical version of the What If? comics. Only instead of what if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four, it's what if the double quartet on Ornette Coleman's landmark 1961 Free Jazz album were a hardcore punk band. A musical joke that doesn't stay interesting for even one set. And how the fuck can these idiots have an Ornette tribute album on their list and yet somehow not have any actual Ornette on this list? WTAF? Fuck these idiots

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should." 1/5 Key tracks: Good Old Days, Rejoicing, Feet Music

If I was on a desert island with only this album for company I'd choose to live the rest of my life in silence.

Sounds like 2 drummers kicking a saxophonist down the stairs, while another saxophone screams for help, and a bassist nods along. Not an easy listen, but certainly unusual. One I would probably like more after listening to it a whole bunch of times. But I don't want to, so I won't be!

It sounds like someone gave some random people some saxes and drums and said "go".

What. In the blue fuck. Was that?

I finally got this album on the 1001 Album Generator, and it’s definitely one of the most disliked albums on there. Honestly, I don’t see why, compared to a lot of other John Zorn albums, or even avant-garde and experimental music in general, this one is pretty straightforward. This album is essentially Zorn’s reimagining of Ornette Coleman’s free jazz compositions, but filtered through his own chaotic, high-speed avant-garde style. Rather than a traditional tribute, Zorn’s take is aggressive, noisy, and packed with punk energy. Zorn plays alto saxophone alongside Tim Berne, while Joey Baron handles drums. Baron, a longtime Zorn collaborator, is highly respected in avant garde circles. As for Ornette Coleman, I know his name well, but I haven’t really explored his music yet. Hopefully, I’ll finally get around to it one day.

Excellent jazz!

Finally, my prayers for one of the insanely weird and inaccessible albums from the low rated list have been answered! This is jazz on acid. Not acid jazz, jazz on acid. It does bother me that Coleman himself is not included, and I would cut this album to make room for one of his, but I would cut other albums first. It’s just insane and brimming with energy, too, especially the drums and sax. I can tell why people dislike this one, but I love it.

Waaa… I braces myself for this record being often at the bottom of the rankings but whoa this actually blew me away. Death Metal but jazz … the drum sound is earth shatteringly awesome and amidst the swirling chaos is order and precision. Not for everyone I guess but I loved it.

This was very unique, and kind of awesome. The only way it is that, though, is knowing that Zorn and friends went in to record a jazz album as if it was a hardcore album. Otherwise, this is just a bunch of noise.

Good jazz

TIDAL didn’t have Spy vs Spy but I listened to his top tracks and love it. Brought visions of the pink panther.

Jesus Christ.

It’s jazz

Intense, demanding and thrilling, it is safe to say nothing else will sound quite like this on this whole project. There is something special when artists make something fresh from the sound around them and here two alto saxophones, two drums and bass make this ridiculous album which throws everything out the window whilst remaining compelling and exciting. It’s definitely challenging but there is something powerful in the emotional response of the listener, whether positive or negative. I think this might be a classic for the ages.

I 100% understand why this is a bottom 10 album (10 at the time of writing) on this list. Reviews like "what the actual fuck" and "Sounds like drums beating saxophones" are 100% accurate, and made me laugh. Funnily enough, I, going in blind, decided to listen to this album (of all the ones to pick) while trying to lay down to start to go to sleep. I will say though, maybe it caught me on a good day, and especially after 10-15 straight albums of middling of the pack psychedelic albums, one off 2000's pop albums (Looking at you Ceelo) or British wannabes from different eras, trying to emulate Oasis, Blur, The Beatles, or even Radiohead. (Not to say there aren't great versions of these things listed) but this was incredibly refreshing to hear, even if sonically, it wasn't nearly as accessible. This is by far my biggest positive stray from the pack in terms of rating, and after all, is that not what this project is for?

Hard listen, but as someone who loves thrash, punk and hardcore AND jazz, this one worked for me. Cool experiment. Worth listening to. Probably won't come back to it but I enjoyed it.

"Spy vs. Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman" is the fifth studio album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn. This album features the compositions of Ornette Coleman (jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist and composer) performed in a brief, intense style. Another description is music that approaches free-form jazz from the perspective of hardcore punk. The band includes Zorn and Tim Berne on alto sax, bassist Mark Dressler and drummers Joey Baron and Michael Vatcher. "W.R.U." opens with ridiculously fast drums and saxophones. The drums are in the speed metal/thrash category. Oh, it keeps getting faster. "Word for Bird" has layered spiraling saxophones and chaotic drumming. People whistling. I had to play this album on YouTube and they played the video which had men dressed up as "A Clockwork Orange" gang members beating up people. Disturbing and somehow appropriate. "Good Old Days" slows things down a bit initially. A sax intro, underlying drum. More in the bebop category. "Peace Warriors" continues the fast pace. They do a start-stop-start style throughout the song. This is more jazz than punk. All the instrumentalists go off in different directions on the album closer "Mob Job." This is the definition of speed free-form jazz if there is such a thing. For the first half of the album I was like "what the hell is this." Then, for some reason, it clicked and I started to like it. There is no doubt as to technical ability of all these instrumentalists. I felt that the first half of this album is more hardcore punk with horns and the second half is ridiculously fast bebop jazz. Almost every song has some form of chaos in free-form. I have no idea who else might like this. If you like punk alone, I doubt you'll like this and if you like jazz alone, there's no way you're liking this. I guess this is for the open-minded and experimental sort of person.

Confident I will never listen to this again. But my mouth was agape at the sheer audacity of this album. Very fun

Despite the fact that I like Ornette Coleman, I was set to not like this album, since it's difficult to reinterpret the work of such a distinctive artist. I think what makes this album really work is the drums, which help bring focus to the chaos of each song. The drums thunder throughout and it makes everything seem much more coherent. I will say that the tone on the bass can be a little muzak-y for my taste, but it doesn't do much to harm the overall sound of the album 4/5

I like John Zorn, but why this album? Why not Naked City or Bar Kokhba? Anyway, it was delightfully chaotic and pleasantly unpredictable. "Good Old Days", "Enfant", the playful "Ecars", the romping "Feet Music" and the epic finale of "Mob Job" are my favs here. 4 Oh's out of 5 Yeah's

Maniacal in the best way. Not for everyone but I'm glad this was on the list, I've got a new avant-garde jazz catalog to dive into now.

Lolol!! I'm not sure what kind of mood you'd need to be in to listen to this. You couldn't need to concentrate because it takes over as a wall of sound. I guess it's interesting to listen to to spot any patterns or rhythm in the total chaos. Maybe you could use it to unwind tension or anger?? Weirdly enough there's a Radiohead track "The National Anthem" that ends like this so I guess i has influenced others?

I found this baffling, intense, gut wrenching, and cool as hell

When my mom complains that all jazz sounds made up, this is what she must be referring to. I love it

8/10

Bat shit crazy but wonderful

Explosive. Noise rock fused with jazz. Very energetic, very upbeat, very experimental and free. The album does not really have any sort of direction or flow, but it is fun to listen to and keeps me on the edge of my seat. At times it can seem like a battle of the bands between the two saxophonists, and at others they synergize well; I prefer the latter. A great showcase of talent here and it is good to hear something so experimental.

I like weird stuff! But i probably wouldn't listen again

Dirty jazz

Jazzy, funky fun It wasn't on spotify, I listened to it on youtube.

this specific album was not on Spotify, but John Zorn's songs were. I liked a lot of them, but the more out-there songs/instrumentals were not my favorite.

Exellent avant garde jazz sound but cannot get the album unfortunately.

It one of the strangest things that I ever listen to, but still very powerful and I don't know why I liked it, but I liked it. I'm not a jazz fan, but this kind of thing touches me in some way that is strongest than my comprehension

i couldnt find the studio album so I listened to the originals by Ornette Coleman. While my depth of knowledge of jazz music is limited I thoroughly enjoyed his work.

Hard to find an actual copy of this--not even sure it's on YouTube? But the jamz are great.

Needed some jazz in m life

This reminded me of a theater piece I saw once which consisted of six actors playing multiple characters as they enacted the last two minutes of all of Ibsen's plays. High concept doesn't make for great art but it is a thing to be appreciated, sort of.

Absolute madness but the ears adjust so it's worthy of being on the list

Not huge into free jazz, and I don’t *love* this, but it’s pretty damn interesting. Could grow on me one day. 2.5/5

Not as "extreme" as I thought it would be, honestly. This record having one of the lowest global scores on this app, I was already aware of its "reputation" through some of the reviews left here. I was expecting utter chaos. Well, chaos is there, there's no arguing about that. But good music is there too, as "tiring" as said music may be for some virgin ears. Oh, by the way: wikipedia rants about the supposed "grindcore" and "thrashcore" influences on those Ornette Coleman covers, but I gotta say that those influences sound quite superficial to me. Maybe I'm deaf to them, I don't know, but I'm relatively familiar with those genres, so I don't think I'm talking though my hat here... Indeed, it seems to me that the so-called "punk influences" on *Spy vs Spy* mostly came from the fact that John Zorn was hanging out with members of that scene at the time. But essentially, what we have here is more like an amped-up and sped-up version of free-jazz, which doesn't owe a lot to hardcore punk, except for a few quick, subliminal rhythm patterns once in a while. As a matter of fact, and for the first four or five tracks at least, you can easily link this work to the free-jazz giants of the preceding decades. You just need to add more amphetamines or cocaine to the mix. Symbolically speaking, of course... Things get even more hectic in the middle of the LP though, somewhere between "Enfant" and "Ecars". Zorn and company are making a mean and wonderful racket there, and aspirin is highly recommended by that point. Yet starting with "Feet Music", Zorn and his musicians let things breathe a little again. The proceedings are not exactly "mellow" there, mark my words--but there's a film-noir dimension to some of those cuts that's, well... interesting. Those last cuts would rather illustrate frantic action scenes, instead of melancholic ones, obviously. But once again, we're not so far from certain other jazz traditions that also hailed form NYC. Now the real problem with the presence of this record in Dimery's list does not come from the record itself, very ironically. As "weird" as *Spy vs Spy* is, it is what it is--not worse than plenty of other "experimental" recordings out there, and probably even better than many others. No, the real issue stems from the following situation: a) There's no Ornette Coleman album in the 1001 Albums book. Yet every jazz fan knows how much of a pivotal (and controversial) figure he was at the turn of the sixties. It's a little as if the book had selected an album made out of covers of Bob Dylan without selecting any of Bob's original albums. Including *The Shape Of Jazz To Come* in the book would probably have been enough. Yet, like so many jazz masterpieces--especially in the subcategory of free jazz--said album is conspicuously absent from Dimery's work. b) I'm no more of an expert about John Zorn than I am one of Ornette Coleman, but I happen to have a couple of friends who know him quite well. I can't say that I've dug any further after the evenings we spent together when they played some of Zorn's works to me (it was a long time ago, and I only have a blurry memory of what the music sounded like). Yet I'm adamant they never told me about *Spy vs Spy*'s existence. When it comes to Zorn's hardcore-free-jazz and film-noir-oriented work, they probably played *Naked City*, with its reference points going from Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to the Cramps and B52s gothic strands of 50s rock. And they surely played excerpts from the "world-music-oriented" collection of "Masada" albums--summing up a lot of the man's overall sense of sonic adventure. Those albums (*Naked City* and the *Masada" collection) have even been the starting point of two of Zorn's most famous side-projects as a group member--side-priojects actually named after those LPs. Which probably proves how important those records are in his discography. To put it in a nutshell, it appears that Dimmery's inclusion of *Spy vs Spy* is a disservice not only to *one* artist whose name is associated with the project, but to *two* of them, both Coleman and Zorn. Besides, it doesn't take an expert to quickly get that this record is a very poor entry point to know more about those two legendary musicians. It's too "niche", and not much more than an anecdote compared to the greater picture I'm sensing here--once again, both for Ornette Coleman and John Zorn. So I'm gonna have to do my own research elsewhere, I'm afraid... I'm still giving a 3/5 grade to *Spy vs Spy* according to the purposes of this list of "essential" albums (translating to a 8/10 grade for more general purposes--5+3). Because I feel like the record's global score is unfairly low, given what it really is and the sort of audience it aims at. Yet I can't argue with the innocent listeners who have been confronted to the album without having the slightest contextual elements in hand to understand the global works of the artists who originated this music, in one way or another. Which is why I don't feel like it's necessary to include this LP is a general list of "essential" albums. Let potentially interested people come to it through other (and longer) paths. Exposing it like this, without any preliminary caution or explanation, is only exposing it to ridicule from the masses. Which is pretty unfair. Number of albums left to review: 417 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 269 Albums from the list might* include in mine later on: 142 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 178 (including this one).

Because I had to go to YouTube to listen to Spy vs Spy, this ended up being a hilarious listening experience: Every 7 minutes or so, the completely uncommercial free jazz squall on this record was interrupted by YouTube ads, as if to say, “This atonal jazz nightmare acid trip was brought to you by 1-800-FLOWERS.” There was also a commercial for schizophrenia medication, which felt like an extremely cynical attempt at targeted marketing on YouTube’s part.

Absolutely anxiety inducing less than a minute in. He certainly is doing his own thing and I—kinda—like it, but also I one hundred percent understand how someone wouldn't. It sounds like every musician was given sheet music for the song and told to just get through it as fast as they fucking could. I don't think I'll ever listen to this again, but it was surely interesting to hear what thrash and jazz would sound like together. In that sense, he did a great job, but music is no good if you can't enjoy it and I can't imagine where this could be enjoyed or who would ever seriously put this on. The timing of the drums rarely match up with the brass, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't done particularly well on this album. Also gets a tad repetitive. It looks like people are really hating on this album and all I can say is that I get it, at least more than most people it seems. 3/5

Un album absolument effrayant quand on connaît le contexte dans lequel il a été enregistré. En 1989, alors que John Zorn sort d'un concert, celui-ci appelle un taxi. Il s'assoit sur la banquette arrière et remarque que la place à sa gauche est occupée par un fût métallique sur lequel est dessiné une tête de mort ainsi que le mot DANGER. Il donne sa destination au taxi qui se met en route. Quelques instants plus tard, la voiture entre en collision avec un poids lourd. À son réveil à l'hôpital, trois jours après l'accident, John Zorn est horrifié : son saxophone a été soudé à sa bouche. Il ne fait désormais qu'un avec l'instrument. Il sort alors de sa chambre puis du bâtiment et s'en va semer la terreur dans les rues de New-York avec ses mélodies très rapides et aléatoires.

Nice. Not my favorite Zorn album - I would have rather seen the incredibly fun Morricone deconstruction The Big Gundown or the somber and poignant Kristallnacht on this list, or if you're going for the hyperactive cartoon jazz specifically, the first Naked City album, or the jazz/grindcore crossover, Painkiller's Guts of a Virgin. With all that being said, this is still a great Zorn album, and I'd rather have this on here than nothing at all.

It should have been an actual Ornette Coleman album instead.

I don't understand jazz.

Well, that’s done And now I know what being on cocaine sounds like.

Voldsom middagsmusikk hos Guffa

Dette er en sjanger jeg ikke hadde gjetta at eksisterte... Lungekapasiteten imponerer en astmatiker. Skjønner godt at dette albumet ikke er på spotify.

I would rather have listened to this after I was dead! Would like to have put no stars

Not available on Spotify but fro lm what I heard on YouTube this is god awful experimental shite

Of all the genres, jazz has the greatest propensity to dip into the self indulgent. This is exactly that.

Couldn't listen past the fifth song. Very hard listen. Can't recommend unless you're really into avant garde jazz. This type of jazz often sounds like slightly organized noise.

Did I get through the whole thing? Dear lord no; this is an assault on the ears. But I did learn that "thrash jazz" is a thing, so there's that. Who knew you could make punk/noise-rock with saxophones? Neat! But also terrible.

John Zorn... I was dreading this day. My dad has made me listen to John Zorn before. He's a Jazz collector and buying John Zorn was the biggest regret of his collection because the store didn't allow people to listen beforehand. The majority of this album sounds like they were trying to speedrun recording an album, but not in a fun way. Everyone sounds like they need a chill pill. Well, maybe not the bassist. I can barely hear him over the absolute squealing saxophones. Admittedly, there are some listenable parts, but it's not enough to lift this above a 1. I almost hate the saxophone now.

1. If they cannot provide links,I am not going to try and search it

The first half of Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman is absolutely disastrous, it's like a drum and a saxophone are having a fight but really only in the style of Peter Griffin vs Ernie the Giant Chicken, and it's just the most awful impossible to listen to shit on this list, legitimately painful. The back half is a little more tolerable as it gets away from the assault on the senses just enough to offer some melody and tunefulness, but it's still not very good. A 1 and one of the lowest 1s I could possibly give.

Sounds like a box of instruments falling down an escalator.