(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Old Time Relijun, a surreal trio of roots-music, fronted by singer, guitarist and saxophonist Arrington DeDionyso, debuted with
Songbook Vol 1 (nov/dec 1996 - ? 1997),
devoted to a
primitive surrealism that attacks folk, country, rockabilly and blues like
a disease.
The brief songs of this album and the single Jail (1998) swing between
Holy Modal Rounders
(Sabertooth Tyger)
and
Pere Ubu (Baby Dragon),
from
Captain Beefheart (standout Mirror)
to
DNA's no wave
(Belly Belly), from
a delirious madman (Everything Is Broken and Maggie Charcoal)
to sub-demonic rockabilly (Scorpion Accordian).
The album is not even an album: it is just a provocation.
Uterus And Fire (K, 1999), the first album to feature drummer
Phil Elverun, focused on blues and jazz,
the way Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and
Doo Rag could do.
Archaeopteryx Claw is one of their masterpieces, a vibrant Delta-blues
guitar paced by booming drums while the singer howls to the moon his ugly
mantra.
Jail is the most electrifying track, almost punk-rock in the tradition
of the Birthday Party.
The shameless bacchanal of Casino sounds like the
Teenage Jesus jamming with a jazz quartet.
The voodoobilly Burning Head sounds like Cramps in a trance.
This is largely DeDionyso's show. His vocal histrionics turn each song into
a tour de force.
Dagger is primal Captain Beefheart neurosis coupled with Jello Biafra
hysteria.
The grotesque march of Giant Boat and the dramatic folly of
Johnny Appleseed approach David Thomas' eloquent paranoia, while
the dramatic rant of Office Building surpasses David Peel's
irreverent dementia.
Telephone Call is DeDionyso's masterpiece, as the voice growls,
creaks and squeals during a slow, bluesy number.
Only the six-minute Broken Water is perhaps too self-indulgent.
The solo of jews-harp on Khomuz and the frantic instrumental jam
Hot Oven prove their worth as musicians.
Atonal guitars and childish drums create a divine mayhem that stands as the
most spastic revisitation of Captain Beefheart's mission.
La Sirena De Pecera (K, 2000) collects old and unreleased tracks.
Witchcraft Rebellion (K, 2001) continues DeDionyso's adventurous journey
through the genres. The band's skills at composing musical structures out of
pure chaos have greatly improved and some of the songs actually sound like...
songs.
One is mesmerized to hear how the ebullient, feverish cacophony of
Mystery Language actually translates into a sort of uplifting
square dance, and how the the samples, the dissonances and the sheer nonsense
of The Book Of Life And Crime turn into a beautifully crafted
instrumental.
Most of the credit actually goes to the
fantastic rhythm section of
Phil Elverun (drums) and Aaron Hartman (bass).
The album even boasts relatively sane compositions such as
Vampire Sushi, a psychotic voodoobilly replete with swamp beat and
surf guitar, and King Of Nothing, a rockabilly number that would make
Elvis Presley commit suicide.
On the other hand, there is little the band can do to control the
absolute folly of Two Crows and Treasure Map.
In order to leave no stone unturned and to top the demented standard of the
album, DeDionyso also delights listeners with his trademark
saxophone solos, notably in Cuneform, Mercury Snake, the
two-minute sonata of Fermentatic and the grotesque jam of
Witchcraft Rebellion.
Enough to make generations of jazz players turn in their graves.
Hats off to a real genius.
The Arrington DeDionyso Quartet was an Italian-American quartet that
released The Album (Wallace, 2003).
Old Time Relijun's Varieties of Religious Experience (K, 2003) collects rarities.
Lost Light (K, 2004), featuring new drummer Rives Elliot, is indeed
a religious concept album, but one can hardly tell from the music.
The trio sculpts inspirational hymns out of deranged states of mind,
although the foundations are much less seismic than they used to be.
The method is now stronger than the madness.
The lopsided blues chant The Door I Came Through Has Been Closed links
back to their origins with a hint of Nick Cave,
an impressione confirmed by
the spastic crooning over subdued jamming of Pardes Rimmonim.
The influence of Captain Beefheart is always round the corner, helping to
pen hysterical fits like The Rising Water the Blinding Light and This Kettle Contains the Heart,
and grotesque calls to arms like War is Over.
But there's also the tradition of the Contortions and of early Talking Heads injected in "non-songs" like Vampire Victim.
The off-kilter instrumental interludes Cold Water Deep Underwater and Music of the Spheres could justify a separate album.
The apex of folly is the eight-minute blues rant of Cold Water, halfwar between Captain Beefheart's wild werewolf histrionics and the Doors' gothic melodrama.
The songs span a large spectrum of moods, rhythms and storytelling styles (down to none).
2012 (K, 2005) is inevitably "one too many" albums of the same idea.
Burial Mound captures the listener's attention for a few minutes,
but the other songs tend to appear and disappear hardly making any impression.
Since OTR do not exactly sell millions of copies of their CDs, one wonders
why they need to release one when they have not yet assembled enough good
material.
By the time they recorded
Catharsis in Crisis (2007), Old Time Relijun had become even predictable.
Arrington DeDionyso had already released solo
cassettes like Bobcatflamethroat (1993) and Orga Ar (1994).
He ventured into free-jazz improvisation with the
31-minute piece of
Abraxasaxophonic - Smooth Jazz Vagina (2000), followed by the combo
improvisation of
Creation Music Volume One & Two (2001) on which he played
bass clarinet and contra-alto clarinet assisted by
guitar, piano, violin, contrabass and drums, and by the duets of
Psicolomagicolo (2005) with pianist Nusch Werchowska.
After the solo albums
Breath of Fire (K, 2006),
an album for throat singing, bass clarinet and jaw harp
recorded on Christmas Day in southern Italy,
and
The True Folk Sound (2006), he concocted
Yamaneko Improvisations Or The Dogs Of Matsuyama (2007) with Tori Kudo
and the Low Clarinet Duos (2009) with Paul Hoskin.
He recorded several albums with pianist Thollem McDonas:
Intuition, Science and Sex (2008),
Songs Of Psychic Fire Vol 1 (2011),
and
Saturn Returns (2017), recorded in 2004.
After the solo I See Beyond The Black Sun (2008),
he formed the band Malaikat Dan Singa (2009), which sounds like
Captain Beefheart jamming with a gamelan ensemble, and the band
later released Suara Naga (2011),
Open the Crown (2012), that featured Nehemiah Danger on bass and organ, Markly Morrison on organ and keyboards, Ben Kapp on drums and Angelo Spencer on quarter-tone guitar and echoplex,
and
Honey and Poison (2019), originally recorded in 2013.
Music For Two Tape Recorders (2009) consists of two cassettes intended to be played at the same time.
Trance Music Of East Java (2011) couples his bass clarinet with Indonesian combos for lengthy improvisations.
An entire album was devoted to improvisations with an esemble named Singo Budoyo (2014).
Snowstorm Ragas (2013) contains duets between him on throat singing and on bromiophone (a home-made contrabass clarinet) with tabla player Ravi Padmanabha.
The Book of Angels (2013) was a collaboration with Graeme Smith on amplified pedal harp.
The cassette Lovers and Dragons (2014) contains a 49-minute improvisation for clarinet and exotic instruments with drummer Gal Lazer Shiloach.
The Lalove Of Central Sulawesi (2014) contains music for the bamboo flute of Sulawesi.
Sound Is The Medicine (2015) contains two lengthy improvisations, one for the Lalove bamboo flute and one for the Siberian jew's harp khomuz.
Blood Moon Raga (2015) features Oomung Varma on tabla and Nathan Gibson on synthesizer.
Aroma Kahayan (2017) was a collaboration with electronic musician Theo Nugraha.
He also recorded several albums devoted to Indonesian gamelan music.
Shouting Over Deep Water Blues (2019) contains solos for bromiophone recorded on a boat in the middle of the ocean.
This Mouth Drum is my Dragon (2020) contains improvisations for Siberian khomus and voice.
Lungs (2020) mainly contains the 29-minute Lungs - The Exorcism.
He launched a new project titled Ayahuasca Tasting Room (2020).
This Mouthdrum Is My Dragon (2020) is also an album of free improvisation.
The flood of releases during the covid pandemic included
The Dragon Raga (2020) and
Trance Music For Crows - Samhain (2020).
Trust the Drum (2021) is an album of shamanic drumming.
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