Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman

Free demais pra mim esse jazz

Plainly, this is way outside of my normal quite eclectic musical boundary. Life's too short unfortunately.

Absolutely hectic bullshit that made me feel even more anxious than I normally do on a daily basis… hope I never have to listen again

The sound of an anxiety attack

Kind of cool if hard to listen to. Top trolling having this on here honestly.

Jazz

Not as abrasive as others have made out, but still a tough listen. There's probably something clever and meaningful in amongst the chaos, but I'll be damned if I'm going to try and find it.

What is this?!

Artsy, fartsy, knarzi. Ich bin ja ein großer Fan von solcher Art Musik, aber das ist einfach nur Schrott.

Rather annoying free jazz.

Is this album a joke? Its just jazz noise

John Zorn can fuck right off, but not in a hateful way. You hear the first track, you've heard them all. Best Tracks: Chronology; Good Old Days; Blues Connotation

Awful

Couldn't do it. Holy fuck. I was asked to turn it off by Mel which really was the only small push I needed.

I couldn't find this record anywhere. The only thing I could find was a Spotify playlist of the Ornette Coleman songs on this record. The playlist is titled "Spy vs Spy: Ornette Coleman Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman That John Zorn Would Later Play Faster." HAHAHAHA! So, taking this music on its merits - It's some great jazz. But I can't really rate Zorn's version, so I'll give it a 2.5, rounded down to 2.0 for not being available. And, for seemingly trying to improve upon something already great.

Nope. I mean, I realize there's and "art" to this and probably some transcendental poetic meaning to it all - but it's lost on me.

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.

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.

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.

In the words of Michael Scott. "No God, Please No! NOOOOOOOOOOO"

This album is utterly bizarre and could be effectively used as an instrument of torture. It's interpretations of old free jazz music but played much faster and less competently. This is album #73 and it's the first one I haven't been able to finish.

Noise

This was awful

I loved listening to this. It was surprising and sharp. Chaotic, yet organized. It kinda felt like my life, haha. I have a feeling that if I owned a coffee shop, this might be on rotation there. But, softly!

This is like listening to one’s brain deconstruct.

Spotify couldn't play this album for me, glanced over it on YouTube but what the hell was this supposed to be?? Terrible, messy and just plain grating to listen to.

I’d rather give this 0 stars. Discordant noise.

meh

I really didn't want to pile on by adding another 1 star rating, truly, I didn't. I read through the positive reviews hoping to hear it through their ears. Alas. Technically, what the band was able to accomplish together is impressive as hell. But my average daily anxiety is high enough as it is. It's too much, man. It's too much.

a cleverly crafted mess

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.

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.

unable to locate

Na

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.

I hated listening to this, but I respect this album for being what it is and just going for it

not my bag baby

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

Not a huge fan of this one

Quick chaos

Noise. No better than trashy garage rock or punk. No excuse for it just because it’s rooted in jazz. It is not a pleasant listening experience.

Awful, like having a class of pre teen music students play whatever they'd like all at the same time

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 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.

Hmmm

Ouch. What cacaphony

Dirty jazz

Fuckin' what?! Just dreadful. 0/5.

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

Couldn't find this specific album on Spotify but listened to a lot of Ornette Coleman. Great sax and stand up bass!

Please calm down.

pretty inessential zorn but still a pretty fun time.

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!!!!

Wtf

Didn't like tbqh

One of the most despised albums on this list. I understand the fact that it's strange that an interpretation of an artist (Ornette Coleman) is on it, but the original is missing. Maybe we could swap out an Costello album for him. And personally I would have entered an original album of John Zorn or one of his projects like Naked City (with songs like "Igneous Ejaculation" 0:20). Apart from these considerations this is still a great avantgarde jazz album. Not for the faint of hearted, I guess.

Not on Spotify

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.

This is so intense, I cannot concentrate. I respect this but I don't enjoy it. Does make me want to explore his music more though.

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 couldn't access it on Spotify but had to find an incomplete Youtube Playlist. Boy, barrage indeed. I think I'd like it more if it were more noisy, ironically? If it were more of a single tonality it might create more interesting tones, but as it is there's just tooooo much going on.

Crap

What a fucking din

What. In the blue fuck. Was that?

No songs available on spotify

Sorry but how does this album belong to this list?! It is nothing but noise.

1 point for just not existing on Spotify and having cool album cover

so glad i’m hearing this before i die. dumb chaos kinda love it. can’t give it more than a 3 though

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.

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.

Noisy, not huge on it, but that's mainly a style thing rather than an objectively bad record.

It’s a lot of racket. I’m sure the reviews absolutely dumpster this one and I gotta say I didn’t hate it. However I did feel lost at what I was supposed to gather from such raucous violent sax, it’s how I image what non Jazz listeners think what regular Jazz sounds like

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

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

Not good

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.

Not available for me on Spotify. From what I listened to of it on YouTube, this isn't for me. I'm not sure who it even is for. Literally just a wall of sound.

I like Jazz but this was too off the wall. 3/10.

is it even music at this point

Wow. Pain

Not my thing. I guess I don't get this kind of jazz. No emotional connection. It's forgettable.

This album was not on Spotify so I didn’t listen to the whole thing but I’ve heard enough to know this is not for me

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

What on earth is improvised music

This was the music they used to torture the branch dividians I assume.

What happens when you give a bunch of spazzes, that have only played with their instruments for an hour or so, a gigantic bag of cocaine. This chaotic dumpsterfire of "jazz" apparently.... 1/5.

Unlistenable Zero stars if I could

I didn’t know saxophones could have aneurysms.

Um . . . I said the previous album was unchallenging to listen to. That is not the case here. I’ve always found jazz a kinda gimmicky genre and never really felt the desire to do a deep dive into it, which I’m sure is what would give me an appreciation for it; and this is that only more so. In the global stats for the website I’m getting these album suggestions from, which lets you rate them, this is the 6th lowest rated album. Favourite track: “Good Old Days.”

Man I just can’t subject myself to this. The proficiency of playing is impressive but this is just too much loud, angry chaos.

Improv jazz? Just noise, couldn't even make it through the whole album

Just too freestyle for me unfortunately

listening to this on youtube like the old times. what an intro lol. chaotic as fuck, which is satisfying in a way lol. i've FELT like this. the album art is really appropriate. this is pretty new to me and idk if i'll come back to it but i'm certainly not bored atm. nvm i got bored at some point. they really did not stop one second until broadway blues lol.

Angry jazz...hated it

Well, this sure is Jazz lol. Idk why but this just sounds chaotic to me. I know that's part of what Jazz is, but holy cow. Didn't listen to the whole thing cuz it's hard for me to find, but it was good. Hard to work to though.

Wish I could award zero stars

Could barely make it beyond the first track. Terrible.

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

Intense as fuck

Meh. It’s decent but not very interesting

Puh

Nicht zu finden daher auch nicht zu bewerten

Just noise. And not good noise

Definitely not for me! How can they put this shite on the list and miss off Blind Faith, and HOTH and Presence?

Wow, I didn't know that music can make you so uncomfortable. I didn't like it at all, Korn was at least listenable and sometimes fun.

1/5 ouch! no way josé!

ouf hardcore jazz, not my tempo.

Just no

Nog maar drie nummers ver en ik ben het al beu.

Veel klonk hetzelfde, maar toch weer anders. Niet 100 % mijn ding, maar wel van genoten

To many sounds in the music on the album and wasnt a big fan

Production: 10/20 Songwriting: 6/20 Innovation: 12/20 Bangers: 0/20 Emotional response: 2/20 =30 It was very lucky to get two stars because it sounded like a fucking headache. I had to give it relatively high for innovation because I’ve literally never heard anything like this before, and I gave it half marks for production because I could only find are YouTube playlist of it, some of them are quite badly compressed so it was hard for me to tell what was going on production wise

Just frenetic jazz ! I’m afraid I can’t even be bothered to listen to that racket again ! *

I just didn’t get it. I could keep listening to it just to appreciate some of the technical proficiency (only reason I didn’t go 1 star) but it definitely didn’t appeal to me. Also I’m led to believe he maybe just ruined Ornette Coleman’s music lol ?

What in the literal fuck

Unremitting. I didn't mind it when I was concentrating/working but not the kind of thing I'd put on a lazy Summer evening.

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

Jazz rápido.

no

Nope

Cacophony of sound

First, the important business: Spotify can dine on a bowl of fat ones for not letting you play albums (even shuffled!) on the free version of the mobile app. Instead, you must listen with the other artist's stuff shuffled into your shuffled album. Google confirms this is a conscious choice to be insufferable. BIOYA. Second, the allegedly important business: this album. I feel like I'm being run over by a gaggle of saxophonists. This is jazz for crackheads. I feel like I'm in a manic montage in a Tom and Jerry cartoon being artfully brutalized in comic ways. These drums are a Stone Cold Stunner ad nauseam ad infinitum and my eardrums are the Rock bouncing around everywhere. I am far too besieged to score it highly yet far too amused to score it TOO lowly. Too, by way of its homophone two, is the operative word. An album I NEED to hear? In the immortal words of Squidward: "I didn't need to see that." 2/10

I was today years old when I discovered that Free Jazz is a thing and today years old when I discovered that I am not a fan.

Je n’ai pas ecoute, la 1ere chanson sur youtube etait too much pour moi. Et l’album n,est pas sur spotify.

Pretty much hated it. Jazz kinda stinks.

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.

I can appreciate it but I didn't really enjoy it

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

Way too intense jazz. Pretty much just noise and not music. Tough to listen to

Chinguen a su madre.

...Todo el maldito disco suena como si estuvieras viendo "Saturday Night Live" y estuvieran por irse a comerciales... he dicho

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.

Free Jazz is not my thing. But at least I got to know the term Free Jazz. But luckily there were some not that extreme Free Jazz song on there. Spotify did not work for me on this Album so I had to turn to YouTube.

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

Needed some jazz in m life

Can't feel it, pure torture. Impressive playing nonetheless.

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.

Hated this, I like jazz but i don't like the discordant clashing jazz i just don't find it pleasant.

Jazz, met lekkere muzikale ritmische nummers. Qua mastering lekker strakke mix.

Too chaotic for my taste.

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

This was a special album, chaotic jazz if I had to describe it. I liked it more then i excpected. 7/10

Jazzy

Not on Spotify

Wikipedia says the album "approaches free jazz from the perspective of hardcore punk, particularly taking note of the contemporary innovations of thrashcore and grindcore." FOH with that horseshit. There's a ton of technical skill on display, but it's masturbatory and painful. Those words shouldn't go together. Best track: Good Old Days

Not gonna lie, this one was a bit too jazzy for me