Tony Green
Tony’s Contributions
January/February 2001 Grooves
Giant Robot
Buckethead
Some things just, you know, well, go together. Psycho-shred guitarist Buckethead's latest, Giant Robot, originally released in Japan in 1994, is the perfect companion to, say, a weekend of watching nothing but Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing. And just as manga...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Dub Chamber
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell projects can range from the fascinating to the merely interesting. Dub Chamber falls closer to the favorable side of the ledger. Laswell isn't moving into any different fields on Dub Chamber-it's tough to find a Laswell release that doesn't...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Out Through the N Door
Broun Fellinis
Creative groove music has come a long way and changed a lot since the mid-'90s. Which makes The Broun Fellinis' Out Through the N Door that much more enjoyable. Horn player David "Black Edgar Kenyatta" Boyce, drummer Kevin "Boris Karnaz" Carnes and bassist...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Our Point of Departure
HIM
Him explore interesting territory on their fourth release, Our Point of Departure, though they don't shy away from the aforementioned electronic textures. Assembled in much the same way Teo Macero put together the epochal electric Miles releases (multi-instrumentalist...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Money Shot
Robert Walter's 20th Congress
Between his debut release, Spirit of 70, and the new Money Shot, keyboardist Robert Walter is developing a catalog as impressive as that of the group he first gained notice in, the Greyboy Allstars. Surrounded by a team of wicked beat junkies in the 20th...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Loa Project (Volume II)
DJ Cam
DJ Cam's Loa Project (Volume II) is an on-disc refutation of the electronica-era model of musical progression. Just as artists continued to make terrific bebop records long after the bebop era ended, artists like Cam have continued to make trip-hop records...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Planned Penetration
Kozo Ikeno
Most folks see chill-out music as a stress moderator, a stiff-ass brandy after an I-gotta-be-everything-to-everybody workday. Japanese trumpeter Kozo Ikeno's take on chill-out music is more like a Demerol cocktail. On Planned Penetration he floats wistful...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Salvage
Another Fine Day
The world could have done without a New Age-y disc-opening version of the folk standard "Scarborough Fair." And while the use of the African kalimba (thumb piano) on tunes like "Twisted Standards" is interesting, it is by no means a new idea (can you say...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Tourist
St. Germain
The lounge movement didn't die, at least not completely. It wound up getting absorbed into dance music. The result? A pleasant, though not-too-challenging hybrid that hints at some of the more airy segments of acid jazz without turning into a complete snorefest...
January/February 2001 Grooves
The Mirror Conspiracy
Thievery Corporation
Thievery Corporation's The Mirror Conspiracy offers pleasures that run toward the head-rush variety, the kind that make groups like Portishead and Massive Attack such fun to listen to. From the ragga vocals that kick off the dreamy "Treasures" to the Eastern...
January/February 2001 Grooves
The Eternals
Eternals
Filled with jarring bursts of sound and appealingly clunky vocals, The Eternals' self-titled release, fits the bill for those who are still jonesing for the classic no-wave sounds of the '80s. If there is a central aesthetic here, it is calculated randomness...
January/February 2001 Grooves
Rebel Radio
Up, Bustle and Out
Up Bustle and Out's beat inspiration draws heavily from the hip-hop universe, with hard Bronx-style drum sounds that run through the first two cuts on Rebel Radio. "The Educators" and "Hip-Hop Barrio," as well as others, like "Kennedy's Secret Tapes," quote...
December 2000 Albums
The Dropper
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Over the course of seven proper albums, Medeski, Martin and Wood have traveled to lands as far flung as free jazz, experimental hip-hop and funk. On their latest, The Dropper, they take stock of their various influences and come out with arguably their most...
November 2000 Grooves
Big Fun
Miles Davis
Though its offshoots have produced countless approaches, the high-volume, 64th-note-oriented style is the one most folks identify as fusion. That's partially because fusion is often short for jazz-rock fusion in a lot of folks' minds, even though much of...
November 2000 Grooves
Birds of Fire
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Guitarist John McLaughlin's career has taken him to pretty much every area of the interpretive universe, from Lifetime with Tony Williams to Miles to the Far East and post-hard bop. Still, to some, none of his directions have the impact of the original Mahavishnu...
November 2000 Grooves
Compressed Light
P'Taah
Many have taken up the challenge put down by John McLaughlin and others, with varying degrees of success, winning some attention with its "back to real instrumental skill" stance. But instrumental skill cuts both ways; sometimes it can be used to enhance...
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