Zohar (album) explained

Zohar
Type:studio
Artist:Mystic Fugu Orchestra (John Zorn & Yamantaka Eye)
Cover:Zohar (Mystic Fugu Orchestra album - cover art).jpg
Released:1995
Genre:Avant-garde
Length:23:38
Label:Tzadik TZ 7106
Producer:John Zorn
Chronology:John Zorn
Prev Year:1995
Next Title:First Recordings 1973
Next Year:1995

Zohar is an album by the Mystic Fugu Orchestra (John Zorn (as Rav Tzizit) and Yamataka Eye (as Rav Yechida) who perform a range of music inspired by historical recordings of ancient Judaica.[1] To simulate the "antiquity" of these recordings, a heavy layer of surface noise was overlaid on the music to represent the playing quality of a 78 rpm gramophone record.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 1.5 stars stating "Just under half an hour's worth of old record spin-and-crackle sounds in the foreground, with a faint background of John Zorn adding small amounts of harmonium and Yamantaka Eye voicing occasional hums and tones. Most of what you hear, however, is record surface static and the revolutions of the vinyl. Zohar could only be of use to completists, or as a layer for mixing".[2]

Track listing

  1. "Alef" – 0:40
  2. "Book Of Splendors" – 3:48
  3. "Frog Doina" – 2:02
  4. "The Dybbuk" – 2:28
  5. "2000 Years" – 0:59
  6. "Goniff Dance" – 2:17
  7. "Rav Nova" – 7:44
  8. "Zayin" – 3:37

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7106 Tzadik catalogue
  2. Layne, J. Allmusic Review accessed June 6, 2011