Personnel: John Zorn (vocals, soprano & alto saxophones, clarinet, sound effects); Arto Lindsay (vocals, guitar); Peter Blegvad (vocals); M.E. Miller (vocals, acoustic & electronic drums, congas); Wayne Horvitz (organ); Anton Fier, Ikue Mori (drums); Christian Marclay, Whiz Kid (DJ).

Engineers: Michael Lytle, Martin Bisi, Stevie McAllister.

Recorded at Transistor 8 Studio, New York, New York in February 1983; OAO Studio, Brooklyn, New York in April, May & September 1983; Live in April 1983. Includes liner notes by John Zorn.

Digitally remastered by Bob Ludwig.

Personnel: John Zorn (whistling, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Arto Lindsay (vocals, guitar); M.E. Miller (vocals, drums, congas); Peter Blegvad (vocals); Christian Marclay (recorder, turntables); Wayne Horvitz (organ); Ikue Mori, Anton Fier (drums); Whiz Kid & YSL (turntables).

Audio Mixer: M.E. Miller.

Audio Remasterer: Bob Ludwig.

Recording information: Oao Studio, Brooklyn, NY (04/1983-09/1983).

This captures over an hour's worth of John Zorn's search for the improvised song form. Several lineups from 1983 are documented here. The first eight tracks feature Zorn with Christian Marclay spinning and Peter Blegvad speaking. The text is unremarkable (for example, Honey-Cab's "...tell her everything I know/ In ink as black as carbon/ On paper white as snow"), but Blegvad's sonorous delivery works well with the chaos that the other two musicians spit and spin out, combining into tides of noisy mischief. Tracks 9-15 find Zorn with Arto Lindsay providing lyrics and guitar, and Anton Fier on drums. Zorn squawks and spurts an array of sounds, from birdcall to babydoll. M.E. Miller replaces Fier on drums for the next set, which features a driving rock beat. This is followed by eight pieces from Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and Ikue Mori. The final fifth of the album captures the walloping interplay of Zorn, Miller, and turntablist Whiz Kid. Overall, an album of short, angular, experimental energy tracks. ~ Joslyn Layne

John Zorn is surely one of the most singular, fascinating and confounding figures on the cutting-edge of contemporary music. Jazz, rock, experimental, hard-core punk, modern classical--all have been used to describe Zorn's musical output. No tag is really appropriate, however, because Zorn jumps from--and combines--a staggering variety of styles and genres of music, from the notated (written-out) to the totally improvised. LOCUS SOLUS is a crazy-quilt example of the latter.

Here Zorn gets together (in the early 1980s, when this album was originally released) with assorted fellow travelers. The cast of characters includes jazz and improvisational players like keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, rock drummer Anton Fier (of the Golden Palominos, formerly of the Feelies and Pere Ubu), noise-rock guitarist/Brazilian music producer Arto Lindsay and hip-hop turntable-player Whiz Kid. The results are fleet, nightmarish, feverish, daffy, contorted, scary, exhilarating, bizarre and twisted: Everybody makes it up as they go along. It's not for everyone, but for lovers of extreme (think of Frank Zappa or the Residents more "out there" material), LOCUS SOLUS can be one wild ride.