Naked City - 1990 - Torture Garden

Naked City 

1990

Torture Garden

Side Sado

01. Blood Is Thin 1:03

02. Demon Sanctuary 0:42

03. Thrash Jazz Assassin 0:48

04. Dead Spot 0:35

05. Bonehead 0:56

06. Speedball 0:39

07. Blood Duster 0:17

08. Pile Driver 0:37

09. Shangkuan Ling-Feng 1:18

10. Numbskull 0:31

11. Perfume Of A Critic's Burning Flesh 0:28

12. Jazz Snob Eat Shit 0:27

13. The Prestidigitator 0:48

14. No Reason To Believe 0:27

15. Hellraiser 0:42

16. Torture Garden 0:39

17. Slan 0:26

18. Hammerhead 0:12

19. The Ways Of Pain 0:36

20. The Noose 0:12

21. Sack Of Shit 0:48

Side Maso

22. Blunt Instrument 0:56

23. Osaka Bondage 1:17

24. Igneous Ejaculation 0:24

25. Shallow Grave 0:43

26. Ujaku 0:31

27. Kaoru 0:54

28. Dead Dread 0:49

29. Billy Liar 0:15

30. Victims Of Torture 0:26

31. Speedfreaks 0:52

32. New Jersey Scum Swamp 0:43

33. S & M Sniper 0:16

34. Pigfucker 0:27

35. Cairo Chop Shop 0:26

36. Fuck The Facts 0:14

37. Obeah Man 0:20

38. Facelifter 0:59

39. N.Y. Flat Top Box 0:45

40. Whiplash 0:23

41. The Blade 0:42

42. Gob Of Spit 0:20

Alto Saxophone, Vocals – John Zorn

Bass – Fred Frith

Drums – Joey Baron

Guitar – Bill Frisell

Keyboards – Wayne Horvitz

Guest, Vocals – Yamatsuka Eye

Recorded in Brooklyn, NYC, Tokyo 1989 - 1990

I remember first hearing about this album back in my "thrash/grind/death metal" days circa '89-'90. I got into John Zorn as well through listening to this, but at the time I was pretty much a metalhead and at the time of this release bands like Sepultura, Slayer, Obituary and Nuclear Assault were among my favs. "Torture Garden" can definitely be categorized as "death metal" but it would also weirdly fit under avant garde, jazz, lounge and hardcore! I loved this album for it's sheer NOISE level, Zorn's horn is the same as a shrieking death metal vocalist, in this outing Boredom's frontman Y. Eye doing the shreds! I can't say I was too thrilled to find out that John Zorn, the man responsible for the madness here, was actually on the downtown avant garde jazz Knitting Factory scene...at that time that was not me att all, those guys were lame! I later expanded my horizens however and "got it" but in 1990 it was metal and this is a piece of work thjat deserves a listen if you at all consider yourself into "metal." Loud music is more like it as any fan of punk or hardcore or grindsore or whatever would raise an eyebrow and take notice. This is certainly an almost parody of bands like Napalm Death who started the whole 40 second blast of noise, but at the same time Zorn and Co. are dead serious with it. Zorn has gone onto to do numerous projects with former Napalm and grind alumni, and it is no secret that Zorn is a huge admirer of those bands and grind in general. For the people that just don't get it...well you probably never got Napalm Death or Slayer or even Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock for that matter. A definite must for purveyors of the strange and loud.

Incredibly neurotic arrangements - noisy, crazy, garbled Japanese vocals courtesy of Eye Yamagata, ex of the Boredoms; surgical sax riffs slicing gray matter in pulsating peels by John Zorn; and a tsunamic disaster area of a backing band with sparkling pools of serene melody to counterpoint the rabid chaos of this album. This is what Erich Zann would sound like if he played the sax. "Normals" for whom I've played this CD have despised it, calling it worse than a lawnmower vasectomy. It is indeed ear torture, yet it is so beautifully composed and precisely implemented that a work a "mad genius" is it's only fitting description. Truly a rare grotesque jewel. Cool S&M photos inside too. Don't leave for a party without it.

One of the most insane sonic outbursts you’ll ever come across, “Torture Garden” takes jazz and grindcore to their logical extremes and ejaculates all over you with molten lava. It burns. Purely amazing noise from John Zorn and his cast of merry maniacs Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Fred Frith, Joey Baron and ear splitting vocal magnificence provided by Yamataka Eye. Forty-two quick bursts with so many micro-movements contained within, your mind delightfully struggles to keep up. Probably the most directions any 26 minute album has ever gone. Oh yeah, you’ll be exhausted at the end. You won’t be able to take anymore. You’ll be glad as fuck you took that ride though. Creative perfection!