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"Best of" Lists
Dirty Jazz
Selected:
Best CDs of 2010 The 25 Best
Jazz Albums of 2011 (#11 Dirty Jazz)
"Over the decades, Iconoclast has maintained a formidable international touring schedule while releasing a dozen albums that capture the throttling core of free jazz as it walked the lonesome '80s Alphabet City. That heritage and current strain are clear right from Cobalt Confidential's opener 'Noise of Assumption.' It pairs Ciesa's effects-rich keyboard and inexhaustible drumming with Joslyn's bristling alto saxophone, fed through a seeming bank of electronics. This music has a formidable raging beauty all its own and within: the listener can't help but hear the ghosts of avant garde past.
"Iconoclast's multi-instrumentalism gives their music a broader sonic palette than one might expect from a duo, and they seamlessly incorporate acoustic and electronic textures, composed material and improvisation, and sounds from the worlds of New Music, jazz, and rock. Having performed together for so long, their musical communication is near telepathic. They produce a tempestuous sound, well suited to our turbulent times."
"I knew of Iconoclast before there was an internet. …Iconoclast & I go back over 30 years, to the times when art loft events were still a thing. They had – and have – a physical presence to go with their noir-ish image. They can alternately scream the bejesus out of you or soothe you with drunken sailors lullabies. I am happy to report the Internet has not tamed them….Point is, internet or no, this out-there outfit is wondrous."
Interview in Black Syrup (Serbia): “Leo Ciesa and Julie Joslyn demonstrate with their ninth opus [Naked Rapture] that they are as determined as ever, and that the two of them—and only the two of them—offer us music as dynamic as always . . . The listener feels throughout the disc a lasting search for virgin territory, as well as the promise of adventures to come, which will be just as exciting.”
"If you are leaving for the holidays and want to bring something really strong and love Frank Zappa, John Zorn and the Lounge Lizards then Iconoclast is for you. . . .This is Naked Rapture . . . dirty jazz at a very high volume: a wall of unsettling sound that hits the listener’s auricles and nerve centers like a Frecciarossa going more than 300 km/hr. A disc for militants of the alternative."
“Iconoclast are Leo Ciesa and Julie Joslyn, a New York based improvisational
duo who have been together since 1987. Their music is a wild hybrid of
various styles including free jazz, progressive rock, hardcore and cabaret.
Their latest offering The Dreadful Dance serves up an equally
diverse mixture of musical styles that are probably not for the faint
of heart. Pounding drums, snake charmer sax interludes and scary vocals
all come together to produce a heady musical brew.”
"With Naked Rapture, New York’s no-jazz ultra indie duo releases the eighth studio album in 24 years of proud militancy on the frontier of music without compromise . . . What comes now with this eighth album Naked Rapture: as many as 25 pieces and 75 minutes of music, as always radical and unsettling."
"If your ears have been
begging for something different, it's time to check out Iconoclast. A vibrant
duo consisting of Julie Joslyn and Leo Ciesa . . . With their film noir
visuals, irreverent humor and fabulously devious imaginations, Iconoclast
is a group deserving of its name." “The duo known
as Iconoclast, (comprising drummer Ciesa and alto saxophonist/violinist
Joslyn) has been playing as a unit for over two decades. As is typical considering
the group's previous output, Dirty Jazz (presumably an ode to “Jazz
with a little dirt on it”) covers a variety of approaches, with a tally
of eighteen pieces of mostly brief lengths. An agitated mood inspires the
opening “40 Seconds With You,” a galloping alto/drum duet, a setting where
the duo seems to work best. This alto/drum axis also forms the core of the
joyful “Samteque,” the Jazz-like “Black Jack” and the intensity that turns
to the sweetness of “Zappo.” Punk and Rock influences are a large part of
the group sound . . . For instance, Punk inspires “Razoresque” and the tumultuous
“Boiled Kneepads,” both fitting snapshots of the group's fervency, while
Ciesa's vigorous playing also provokes Joslyn's effects-drenched sax work
on both “You're In Distress” and “Burn and Solidify. . . . they should be
applauded for their quest for originality and a personal path. . .” “Iconoclast at
Bowery Poetry Club--sometimes band names seem random but other times they
don't even tell half of the story.” ". . . [T]hey create rugged, angular sound sculptures with a metallic
sheen and gripping nervous energy. Not for the fainthearted."
"Drummer Leo Ciesa and saxophonist Julie Joslyn bare sharp teeth in
their electronically augmented duets; their sometimes disturbing neon-noir
effects always demonstrate more harnessed musicianship than your garden
variety noisemongers." “Iconoclast's Noir Jazz Vibe is Unstoppable: This is what happens when
you sleep on a great album--other people review it first. All About Jazz
liked New York duo Iconoclast's latest album Dirty Jazz; we love
it. It unwinds like a good noir film score, which is unsurprising considering
that noir has been their signature style pretty much since they played
their first gig at CBGB. There's a lot going on in this movie for the
ears: gritty cityscapes, a menacing cast of characters, pretty much relentless
suspense, occasional brutal violence and sudden shifts from one to the
other. It's picture perfect . . .” “Duets between saxophone and drums typically invite the former to become
more rhythmic and the latter more tuneful in an effort to make up for
absent accompanists. However stripped down to the bare essentials, intense
communication becomes the order of the day, although less in the sense
of conversation that requires sequential input than as simultaneous arcs
of proclamation that combine to form a whole, greater than the constituent
parts. "Since 1987, saxophonist Julie Joslyn and drummer Leo Ciesa have been
honing a surprisingly rewarding performance style built around short,
sharp works that pick you up and throw you against the wall over the course
of about two minutes. The Dreadful Dance is their latest set
of jagged tonal tantrums." "Their 17 pieces last 40 minutes and each is a perfectly sculpted rock
vignette with as much structural integrity as any two-minute workout could
need. Their hard-edged energy is nonstop, but, refreshingly, doesn't slide
into ruts; it jumps, it turns corners, and changes tempo with finer attention
to detail than you expect from such Downtown noisemakers." "All the way from New York City, headlining act Iconoclast was simply
amazing. . . . The raw power is entrancing, the performing energy of the
duo is untamed. Julie Joslyn pumps the notes out of her saxophone like
a high pressure fire hose. At other times, her saxophone's sound is melodious
and pure. Leo Ciesa's lightning percussion work is enough to stir anyone's
blood. The music is seamless. When they play they're incredibly sensitive
to each other's playing direction, breathing as one individual." "These are two mighty dextrous musicians. Like beatniks on speed, they
create stark, jagged-edged music, tunes located at the intersection of
atonal punk-funk, be-bop, and free improvisation. . . . Kind of like drinking
12 cups of coffee, but nice."
"Iconoclast has spent the last 25 years or so consistently falling between the genre cracks of Western Music. Neither fish nor fowl, they do their own thing on a consistent basis. That enough people get what they do is a small miracle in itself. You can pick out bits of jazz, orchestral bits from the past three centuries, speed metal, kitsch exploitation soundtrack music, and all sorts of stuff in their musical make-up if you’re clever. . . . Naked Rapture is the name of their new recording, their tenth in more than 25 years. It has all those titles I mentioned before, plus 18 other big and small Iconoclast hits, plus their renditions of “Night in Tunisia” and “The Revolutionary Etude.” Neither Dizzy Gillespie or Chopin could be reached for comment, but I feel safe in saying the authors never imagined their work done up like that."
“Leo Ciesa and Julie Joslyn arrive hereupon [In the Vodka Garden
] with a widescreen, very Easter European attitude without sacrificing
any more of their post-avant-;punk energy than they need to. I’ve
actually looked upon Iconoclast as a near-direct descendant of the original
No New York bands . . . they began from the platform of a chaotic music
(rock) and bled greater and greater complex language into it, as if trying
to show that the chaos was actually carefully scripted. . . . Iconoclast
retains their laser-gunshot ability to amaze.” “[M]ulti-instrumentalists Leo Ciesa and Julie Joslyn, on their
sixth outing as Iconoclast. It’s [The Dreadful Dance] a
strange little record, to be sure, consisting of twenty separate tracks
of variable length with wacky titles. They’ve built up their own
eclectic sound over twenty years of working together, with an approach
that is a quite varied mix of composition and improvisation. A sample
of this diverse weirdness, one need only ponder the first track, “Cranium
Mist,” merging Ciesa’s rolling tom work amidst the clattering
of keyboards and Joslyn’s alto saxophone that sparks frightening
death metal vocalizing. Some of the strongest tracks include the melodic
“You Know Too Much About Me” or “L’Orange,”
the groove of “Midday Romp,” the Eastern influence, interrelated
“Woman With an Index” and “Lonely Courtesan” or
the thrilling sax-drum duet, “Tom Colada.” "Rich in motivic material, this duo conducts a ballet of modern mechanistic
musics. Iconoclast's debut grows ever more engaging." "Like Iconoclast, a New York-based avant-garde jazz duo, who've definitely
got a distinctive sound. What does it sound like? Imagine you're a hard-core
speed freak. You haven't slept in weeks. Psychosis is setting in. You
begin to hallucinate. There are millions of little bugs beneath your skin,
crawling madly over your ruined veins. Now imagine if each of those bugs
was playing an alto saxophone. That's Iconoclast. Pretty cool, huh?" "Some say they're descendants of the late 1970's No New York semi-wave;
others scratch their heads and shrug. But Julie Joslyn and Leo Ciesa merely
continue to spread their impish humor and no-holds-barred musical message
throughout their new CD, entitled Paradise. What I really like
about Paradise is that though it's in 24 small bits it comes off
to the ear like a suite, and in repeated listenings you always go somewhere
different. You might hear a whiff of Ellington jungle music here, a hint
of Stravinsky there. Also there are these wonderful contrasting arrangements,
like one piece with a hurdy-gurdy, kalimba and a sax melody not unlike
Ravel. Elsewhere there's a piano being played like a trap kit's cymbals
. . . and elsewhere a violin is being played like a washboard." "Two musicians performing multiple instruments over 24 tracks in just
over an hour of time. . . . How can so many largely unrelated tracks be
crammed into one recording? Leo Ciesa and Julie Joslyn do it with humor
and constantly changing moods. . . . How to describe the music found on
this disc [Paradise]? All over the lot. On some tracks, such as
"Wonder Wheel," Joslyn blows sweet, repetitive, simple riffs at medium
volume over a pleasantly forceful drum background. Others, such as "Machinery
of the Flowers," have an Oriental feel. "Ultramort," on the other hand,
starts with droning sax and segues to wild electronics and voice. "She
Said Hello" finds Ciesa whispering over Joslyn¹s mournful sax. Along the
way, there is lots of variety, as one piece may be pleasantly melodic
and the next bursting at the edges. . . . Occasionally, the duo seems
comfortable with vocal shrieks and cries, coupled with harsh avant-garde
squeals, while on others, such as "Move it Smartly" and "Flan is Like
a Woman," African drums lay the backdrop. Several of the pieces were evidently
part of soundtracks. Moments of intense interest appear, interspersed
among slowly developing interludes." "The key to Iconoclast's success is in keeping the listener off guard
with a diverse palette of rhythms and sounds." "The duo end up with an approach that is reminiscent of Meditations-era
Coletrane sliced into itty-bitty slivers and chased around the room by
munchkins wielding tiny rubber mallets. The results would not be out of
place on certain segments of Frank Zappa's 'Uncle Meat' LP. I think the
key to understanding all of this is summed up in the selection titled
'Take off your shirt and scream' . . . [W]ould that there were more topless
blowers and levellers like Iconoclast to grace the world with." "There exist far too few truly 'progressive' bands performing music
in present American culture, and even fewer full-blooded rich-sounding
duos. New York's Iconoclast fuels a universe of melody, unique arrangements
and rhythm patterns, of which the best are forward thinking. . . . As
moods vary, tumble and hover throughout the course of a frenetic living
human being's daily breathing moments, so too do Iconoclast's musical
moods behave." "If you threw Ornette Coleman sax, punk songlengths and aggression,
new wave synths, and Knitting Factory anything-goes experimentalism into
a blender and hit the puree button, it might sound like Iconoclast, except
your blender would break down long before reaching the puree stage of
smoothness. The atonal keyboards and barking sax of early Lounge Lizards
are an obvious comparison on several songs, but the irony of the Luries'
'fake jazz' is replaced by a glee in creating a frothingly dissonant sound
sculpture. . . . Very rarely does anybody in this scene escape to great
recognition, but Iconoclast deserves to." "Hailing from New York, what sounds like a large ensemble is merely
the creation of two people's amazing energy and ability. . . . Compared
with other duos, Iconoclast are a pretty unusual outfit. With the speed
of amphetamine addicts they juggle an incredible array of instruments
without appearing overly insane, while still coming up with a full, diverse
sound which plows through funk, avant garde jazz, rock and other genres.
. . . Iconoclast. They defy classification and render workout gyms useless." "As part of the Festival of Women Improvisers . . . Iconoclast splattered
fragments of jazz (from bop to free), noise, prog-rock, humor, and various
uncategorizables, sculpting intricate, energetic sound structures in which
new textures flew by as though inventing new vocabularies of sound is
something they do every day." "Sax and drums geek-funk, electronic nocturnes, dance-rock spoofs reduced
to ectoplasmic pandemonium, Cab Calloway at 156rpm. . . . And they don't
cheat with multitracking; a live performance would be no less insane.
Amphetamines and raw milk. Tight, cool, and fun." "The emotion on the band's recently released CD ranges from fun and
frivolous to downright disturbing. . . . As raucous and riveting as a
noisy neon sign, this sonic poetry is brimming with energetic insight." "This hard-edged sax/drums duo builds industrial sound sculptures by
hitting notes and noises all over the range, but they'll surprise you
with vulnerable moments, too." "A hardy CD #2 from multi-instrumentalists Julie Joslyn and Leo Ciesa,
further blurring the lines between madness and genius stirring up a wilderness
of genre-collision and volatile energy in a cosmic dreamscape of impossibly
fervent derangement." "Saxophonist Julie Joslyn and drummer Leo Ciesa enhance their instruments
with various devices--which can collectively bootstrap a duo improvisation
into a real tight quartet. What makes this of more than academic interest
is their sense of time, and of humor. Joslyn potentiates a sinuous lyricism
with fearless exploratory outbursts and Ciesa's tough and resilient. It's
avant-gardism that boogies." "On its second CD, this Avant-garde duo gets even more far-out than
before. Their sax and percussion based tunes weld the manic energy of
Looney Tunes soundtracks to part post-Bop, part Ornette Coleman blowing
and dissonant weirdness. Exquisitely eclectic." "In a better world, the slap-happy urban experimentalist approach of
this Gotham improv duo would reap ample rewards. Anybody who makes hip-hop
tracks from mouths of rubber duckies and spins out spazzed-out energy
blow outs like "EKG" deserve your undivided attention." "Lest you think this is strictly a cerebral aerobics class for loft-dwelling
eggheads, this duo can, as they say, get down and boogie, too." "Joslyn and Ciesa are flexible, mischievous musicians. . . Blood
is Red is actually their fourth recording, bristling with gritty
urban workouts, bare-bones avant-jazz, horns squeals and even some violin
thrash. . . . [T]he trade-off vocals stick out on the title track, "Blood
is Red, Bruises are Blue." Ciesa's raspy narration is punctuated by shattering
screams from Joslyn. The pair work hard here and manage to earn their
name's distinction." "Dynamic syncopation. Devious melodies. . . . Infectious rhythms, unsettling
yet hypnotic. Ecstasy in a blur, Blood is Red has all the wiles
and subtlety of a snake charmer, . . . You've been threatened without
knowing it and you enjoyed it didn't you? The uneasy, queasy feeling that
makes you squirm. Exciting isn't it?" "Iconoclast is comprised of two very talented people with musical ideas
culled from another dimension. . . . This stuff is out! If you're
into the avant garde, the strange, the little bit of mind-bending, this
is for you. Park your space sled, fix yourself an Io cocktail, sit back
and dematerialize." "What can I say about Iconoclast? They are a duo from N.Y.C. that takes
elements from free jazz, funk, rock, film noir soundtracks and other less
easily tagged sources, strips them down to their barest bones and puts
them through horrifically comic (or comically horrific) dance routines." “Only by constantly looking at the photographs is it possible to keep
in mind the fact that there are only two of the “iconoclasts”. It's one
of their special tricks - to sound like a large ensemble. The sounds crash
from everywhere as it fighting off the attack, electronic and acoustic,
furious like wild horses, and yet skillfully controlled. The vocals sometimes
cut in - mixed with laughter, growling and teeth grinding. All this creates
an extremely intense musical picture that radiates with hundreds of elements.
The main advantage of Iconoclast is that by taking material from all sources
and combining improvisation with carefully thought-out composition they
manage to demonstrate the talent of melting all elements into one simple
sigh - a furious percussion heartbeat with a quiet squeaking of toys;
the warm, breathing sound of instruments with a general image of schizophrenic
horror. Few can reach what Iconoclast handle with ease. That is to play
overtly intelligent music with a completely teenager-like fever.” "Leo Ciesa et Julie Joslyn démontrent avec ce neuvième opus [Naked Rapture] qu’ils ont toujours la même détermination, et qu’à eux deux, et seulement eux deux, ils nous offrent une musique toujours aussi dynamique. . . On sent à travers ces thèmes la recherche permanente de terrains encore vierges, avec la promesse de nouvelles aventures à venir, toujours aussi excitantes."
"Le duo explore diverses formes musicales aventureuses, plutôt enlevées,
mais jamais ennuyeuses ou gratuites. La virtuosité de ces deux-là n'a
d'égale que leur curiosité et leur goût du risque. . . . L'énergie déployée
est impressionnante. Le duo est créatif, swinguant et techniquement monstrueux." “Décidemment notre couple américain persiste et signe.
Pour leur huitième album [Dirty Jazz], Leo Ciesa et Julie
Joslyn poursuive leur radicalité improvisée avec autant
de Bonheur, tout en développant et élargissant leur champ
musical vers d’autres forms d’expression, dont un certain
lyrusne ('Après vous'). Une manière contemporaine d’utiliser
le chant et une utilization de l’alto proche d’un classicism
mélancolique. L’utilisation du violon à travers l’électronique
rapproche le duo de ses experiences passes, son image de marque, à
savoir qu’il n’est nul besoin d’être nombreux
pour faire grincer les tympans des plus réfractaires aux douces
mélopées!” “Le duo nous vient de New York où, depuis vingt ans et une
sept d’albums bien sentis, il continue de defrayer la chronique
par sa réelle énergie, son éclectisme sincere et
une once de provocation bon enfant fondée sur une punk attitude
plus facétieuse que revendiquée.…Ils semplent, l’un
comme l’autre, se livrer à une sorte d’orgie sonore
paienne et dionysiaque où les sens ne sont plus que des chiffons
entre leurs mains, ballottés d’un bord à l’autre
du spectre sonore et totalement désarmés. “La muisique des deux Iconoclast [The Dreadful Dance]
est éclectique et bouffe, certes, à tous les râteliers,
mais avec un appétit qui fait plaisir à entendre. Qu’ils
s’immergent dans la fusion, plutôt rare, somme toute, du jazz,
de l’opéra et du death metal ('Bert holds breast') avec voix
d’outre-tombe et rythmique assassine (qui d’autre que Mike
Patton osa cette alchimie?) ou qu’ils esquissent des harmonies impressionnistes
très début du siècle (le XXeme, bien sur) comme dans
'Insurmountable you,' qu’ils glissent tout schuss d’un free
style incendiaire à une envolée lyrico-pompiériste
à faire pâlir Wagner et Iron Maiden eux-mêmes ('EKG
revisited') ou qu’ils entonnent des rengaines newyorkaises qu’auraient
pu cosigner Tom Waits et Jim Jarmusch, Ciesa et Joslyn font montre d’une
culture réjouissante et prevue de bon goût dans la provocation.
C’est-à-dire qu’il visent juste et atteignent leur
cible." "Su música es enérgica, a veces un pelin salvaje y se codea de igual
modo con fases de improvisación y momentos perfectamente organizados en
una continua pugna entre variadas experiencias de jazz en desintegración
y rock inteligente. Blood is Red es un disco fresco. . . ." “Iconoclast è un duo formato dal batterista (tastierista) Leo Ciesa
e dalla sassofonista (violinista) Julie Joslyn che dal 1987 frequenta
festival d'avanguardia di mezzo mondo, scorazza per club e cantine, compone
per documentari e cortometraggi (tra cui l'italiano "Con gli occhi di
domani") e come un tornado spazza via convenzioni, ipocrisie, melensaggini,
furbizie, e arroganze che da tempo aleggiano sul grande circo della musica
chiamata jazz. "Se state per partire per le vacanze e volete portarvi dietro qualcosa di veramente forte e amate Frank Zappa, John Zorn e I Lounge Lizards allora gli Iconoclast fanno per voi. . . Si tratta di Naked Rapture . . . di dirty jazz ad altissimo volume: un muro del suono spiazzante che arriva a colpire padiglioni auricolari e centri nervosi dell'ascoltatore come un Frecciarossa lanciato ad oltre i 300 km/h. Un disco per militanti dell'alternativa." “Con una strumentazione ridotta all'osso, i due membri degli Iconoclast
riescono a comporre una musica che rivela un'ampissima gamma di sfumature,
aggressiva come impone certo jazzcore di matricetipicamente newyorkese
(Leo Ciesae anche batterista dei Doctor Nerve), ricca di calore e carica
comunicativa (la voce melodica del sax di Julie Joslyn in "Samteque"),
violenta e dalle connotazioni fortemente metropolitane (le risonanze da
incubo di "Animated Flesh"), spirituale e "coltraniana" ("The forbidden"),
dissonante e drammatica (il violino in distorsione di "The Punishment
Office"). Tutti i brani che compongono l'album hanno una propria ben definita
identita, frutto del perfetto equilibrio fra improvvisazione e composizione
raggiunto grazie al rapporto simbiotico istauratosi fra i due musicisti,
che lavorano assieme dal 1987 con vari album gia pubblicati alle spalle.Mai
titolo poteva essere piu azzeccato: "Dirty Jazz", spurio, imperfetto,
anomalo, meticcio ma ricchissimo di idee, sorprese e significati. “ ". . . [A]crobati in quel buio che sta fra tango e trash funk, nonché
sperimentatori del lato selvaggio della metropoli, che fanno tutto da
soli, rigorosamente live, ma in studio. I loro album riflettono il suono
del concerti: nervi tesi su tecnica inossidabile, anche quando il caos
sembra sovrano." “Trent’anni .di suoni originali e indomiti sono un bel viaggio ed è bello pensare che nel tempo lascino un segn.” "Se l'energia di una formazione potesse essere espressa in termini di
quantità, il duo Iconoclast, composto da Julie Joslyn e Leo Ciesa, distruggerebbe
lo strumento di misurazione! Poco male perché in oltre vent'anni di venerata
carriera questa minimale, ma essenziale, formazione ha dato dimostrazione
di poter essere essa stessa ricettacolo di tali energie e forze infuse
in ogni registrazione ad libitum. "Con Naked Rapture il duo newyorkese del no-jazz ultra indie pubblica l’ottavo album in 24 anni di orgogliosa militanza nella musica di frontiera senza compromessi. . . Che arriva ora all’ottavo album con questo Naked Rapture: ben 25 brani per 75’ di musica, come sempre radicale e spiazzante." ". . . [F]orse la migliore si trova nel nome che Leo Ciesa e Julie Joslyn
si sono scelti. Iconoclasta: critico spregiudicato e irriverente di principi
e credenze comuni. Spinto e motivato da una indiscriminata polemica distruttiva.
Blood is red segue di tre anni The Speed of desire e
di cinque City of temptation, lavori che hanno fatto guadagnare
rispetto al gruppo ma scarsa o nulla attenzione, almeno qui in Europa.
Peccato, perché la musica offerta dal duo è tagliente, fredda e fresca,
con punte di tribalismo metropolitano parecchio interessanti. . . . Blood
is red (ma è l'attitudine del duo in genere) sia ancora piú cannibalesco,
tenendo conto dei segnali attuali che gravitano dentro la Grande mela,
penso a certi inserti di classica contemporanea, piú un free imparentato
con Coleman e alle cavalcate dei Lounge Lizard, ma anche al tiro soffocato
di certo hard-core punk. Non si fanno certo scrupolo di appartenere ad
una corrente gli Iconoclast. E hanno ragione, perché alla fine il disco
funziona e suona bene, Scomodo, scontroso, umoristicamente arrabbiato,
ma è lo specchio dei tempi." "Quarto album er il duo newyorchese Iconoclast composto a Leo Ciesa
(batterista dei Doctor Nerve) e Julie Joslyn, "Paradise" ne tradisce l¹apparetnenza
downtown coniugata con inconfondibile vigoria avant-jazz, divisa tra scrittura
e improvvisazione,febbrile impeto zorniano ('Fit for Surgery,' 'The Worst
Woman,' etc.) ed emozionalita` di matrice coltraniana (ma nella dieta
di svezzamento dei nostri c¹e` stata sicuramente anche la vitamina C(oleman).
. .), sound design cinematografico ('Violent Keys,' le musiche per i documentari
della American Social History Productions)e suadenti tratteggiature etniche.
Per di piu i due titolari si destreggiano perfettamente nella congerie
dei differenti strumenti impiegati (percussioni, tastiere, sax alto, violino,
live electronics e cosi via), benche poi le cos migliori arrivino quando
il gioco passa al drumming muscolare dell¹uno e al fervore fiatistico
dell¹atra, segno (non bastassero le foto di tutti I loro dischi) del curioso
attaccamento cutaneo ai primigeni ferri del mestiere." “Iconoclast e' un duo che vede uniti dal 1987 i polistrumentisti Julie
Joslyn (sassofono, live electronics, violino, voce) e Leo Ciesa (batteria,
percussioni, piano, tastiere, voce). Occhiali neri lei, occhiali neri
lui. Sguardo intenso lui, sguardo accattivante lei. Newyorchesi entrambi,
hanno registrato da sempre l'etichetta indipendente Fang. "'Una proiezione della realtà in un'atmosfera obliqua e surriscaldata,
su un piano di riferimento irregolarmente ondulato e un poco distorto.'
Queste parole di Boris Vian sono la migliore fotografia del contorto magma
sonoro degli Iconoclast. . . Terzo album ufficiale che in 55 minuti spara
18 originali schegge di futurismo sonoro--fra Beefheart, John Zorn e Laurie
Anderson, tango, free e trash. Composto, suonato, urlato in assoluta autarchia,
Blood is red è la 'fine di un orecchio' per chi pensa che l'underground
sia morto." "Amplifikowany saksofon i skrzypce Julie Joslyn oraz instrumenty perkusyjne
energicznego Leo Ciesa z nowojorskiego 'Iconoclastu' zabrzmialy w kilkunastu
krótkich utworach balansujacych na granicy improwizacji i zamierzonej
kompozycji. Geste granie, organiczny rytm z pogranicza rocka, jazzu, afroobrzedu
i balkanskich 'aksakow' (rytmow kulawych), przeciwslawial sie dosadnej
liryce barwy saksofonu. W melizmatycznej podrozy na Wschod odzywala sie
turecka zurla na przemian z kontrolowanym liryzmem kieczowatego saksofonu.
Diaboliczne sensy magli i transu wyzwalone zostaly przez artystke w feeril
elektronocznego 'szczypania' skrzypiec, a dopelnione 'brudnymi' glissandami,hukiem,
wyciem bliskim wykonaniom heavy metalu. Caly wystep intensywnie budowal
napiecie w kilkunastu krotkich formach, balansujac na osi ogromnej mocy
dzwieku jako oczyszczenia oraz lirki,chociazby w postaci zdeformowanej
melodii tanga." "Na koncercie dominowaly ostre, niezwykle dynamiczne, nieco hipnotyczne
ale mocno osadzone w rocku kompozycje. Leo Ciesa jest niezwykle sprawnym,
z duza wyobraznia i ogromnym temperamentem, perkusista. Uzywa olbrzmiej
ilosci uderzen podstawowych i ozdabiajacych i jest przy tym niezwkle precyzyjny.
. . . Julie Joslyn uzupelnia go wprowadzajac linie melodyczne, plamy dzwiekowe,
zgrabne riffy i improwizacje. Tworzy tez rytm kiedy. L. Ciesa rozplywa
sie w przestrzen. Wspiera sie ona elektronika znieksztalcajac oryginalne
brzmienie saksofonu i skrzypiec, poszukujac w ten sposob szerszego pola
do swojego wedrowania i opowiadania. Muzyka na koncercie najbardziej zblizona
byla do materialu z ostatniej plyty Blood is Red. Rowniez na
niej dominuje ostre rockowe granie z wlasciwymi zakretami i odpowiednim
polamaniem. To bardzo energetyczna muzyka. Na poprzednich dwoch plytach
material jest bardziej zroznicowany i bardziej awangardowy. Znajduja sie
utwory calkiem eksperymentalne, electroniczne kolaze na dzwiek preaprowany,
szorstka muzyka noise, wywrocony pop, awangardowy jazz i poskrecany rock.
Rytm na nich nie jest az tak dominujacy." "Naked Rapture: miniaturowych, glownie ekspresyjnych, dynamicznych, awangardowo skreconych i intrygujaco uporzadkowanych, wirtuozyjnych piosenkach instrumentalnych nasyconych namietnosciami niepokornego jazzu, wywroconego punka, odkreconego popu, zamieszanego rocka i poszukiwan muzyki eksperymentalnej." (Innova Recordings) ICONOCLAST was chosen for inclusion in the prestigious 2010 compilation
The NYFA Collection: 25 Years of New York New Music (Innova Recordings).
Two of ICONOCLAST's tracks were selected for the collection: “Accidental
touching” (2010) and “No Wave Bitte” (2005). “The compilers, composers Cristian Amigo and Philip Blackburn, have
thoughtfully programmed the five CDs to make listening flow and to convey
a sense of coherence, but the range of the material is still extremely
wide. . . .The plurality of voices is unquestionably healthy; there's
no prevailing orthodoxy nor air of a narrow clique. “The new NYFA Collection, just out on Innova, aims to be the Rosetta
Stone of cutting-edge new music in New York . . . by any standard, this
massive five-cd set is extraordinary, a genuine classic. . . . it's a
brain-warping, provocative feast for the ears, a triumph of smart curating
and reason for absolute optimism for this generation's composers. The
collection opens with . . . and an acidically crescendoing chamber-metal
piece by Iconoclast. . . . It wouldn't be a difficult choice
for best album of 2010.” “This five-CD set by The New York Foundation for the Arts provides an
expansive, refreshingly open-minded overview of the new music scene in
New York over the past two-and-half decades. . . . sax/drum duo
Iconoclast's “No Wave Bitte” moves with lively mechanicality
. . . 25 Years is a fascinating, thought-provoking, educational, wonderful
resource.” |
