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***Descriptions of Secret Chiefs 3 habitually begin with the main selling point - the Mr. Bungle tie-in - since four members from that band are involved, and who are we to flaunt convention? Though it's true that thrown-together side projects and uninspired avant-garde supergroups can attract respectable business, the Secret Chiefs 3 is anything but one of those. An instrumental odyssey, Book M features full string sections, an assortment of Persian, Turkish and Arabic stringed and percussion instruments (played by people who actually know how!), microtonally altered synthesizers, organs and guitars, innovative compositions and truly off-the-map production techniques. The album is deceptively focused and deliberate, making the out-of-control aspects seem perfectly natural. Even moments of violent aggression are merged with the tenderness and subtlety of the band's blatant otherworldly passions. It is a drama of dizzying complexity played out even more explicitly in the glowing artwork and textual rants of the impressive 16-page booklet. Present still are the unmistakable genius of violinist / Sun City Girls collaborator / Tzadik recording artist Eyvind Kang, percussionist William Winant (who has played and recorded with everyone from John Zorn to Yo Yo Ma to Thurston Moore to Anthony Braxton to John Cage), and the cast from Mr. Bungle (drummer Danny Heifetz, bassist multi-instrumentalist Bar McKinnon and producer / composer / multi-instrumentalist Trey Spruance). The addition of the Persian / Arabic instrumental expertise of Shamou on darbuka, zarb, riq, and zils, and Fatima on santur, take the SC3 to new heights far more impressive than earlier "ethnographic forgeries." |
