GILGONGO RECORDS

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ZS - "Buck" CD (GGGR-013).
expanded (50+ minutes) CD version of a live cassette originally released on Folding.

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ZS.
Fifty minutes of live recordings from New York City prog/jazz/math kings Zs. Previous releases on Troubleman and Planaria. Pieces which range from long and scattered minimalism to pieces which showcase their ability to craft fast paced mind-numbingly complex compositions. For fans of everything from Upsilon Acrux to Steve Reich to Flying Luttenbachers. MP3: ZS - "Pendulum".

select reviews:

Ground and Sky:
Zs is an avant-rock band whose music relies heavily on extremely repetitive instrumental unison lines that barrage the listener in odd and almost constantly shifting time signatures, generally at high speeds. The whole band — whose lineup fluctuates but currently (and I think on this live CD) consists of two guitarists, one of whom doubles on keyboards, a saxophonist and a drummer — runs through these lines as if they were one, an impressive feat given that the music so frequently takes wild twists and turns, modulating weirdly and speeding up or slowing down unexpectedly. The technical virtuosity required to play this stuff is through the roof, and seeing them live is one hell of an experience as a result. Buck is a live recording of Zs' 2006 tour stops in New York and Pittsburgh. Originally released on cassette (those still exist? really?) in 2006, it was issued on CD in 2007 and shows the band at the powerful peak of its game. Featuring four tracks from the band's self-titled debut, two or three from 2007's Arms, and "Bump" from the Karate Bump EP, Buck offers a nice cross-section of the band's material, although it's difficult to tell whether or not there is a coherent evolutionary arc to their music since each studio album seems to have a bit of its own feel.

In any case, not surprisingly, the most enjoyable stuff here is the more intricate material where the mindblowing tightness of the band really shines through. "Retrace a Walk" from Zs is particularly fantastic (as of this writing you can hear it on the band's MySpace page) — it's amazing that a band can rock this much while concentrating so hard on their charts. There is absolutely no room for sloppiness in most of these compositions. "Nobody Wants to Be Had" is another good example; taken from the new Arms album, it incorporates vocals into the mix — but instead of being sung, they're chanted, with words tumbling forth from the two guitarists' mouths in rapid succession and, of course, in shifting meters. The vocals were a bit of an acquired taste for me, but it's great to see a group whose music doesn't get dumbed down when vox are added in; instead, these guys just do the same thing with their voices as they do with their instruments.

A "brutal prog" (or "brutal chamber") band like this naturally plays to tiny live audiences almost as a rule, and these recordings reflect that. Throughout the disc you can hear individual fans clapping, laughing, or yelling, although only on one occasion does it become intrusive. As the band flits its way through "Bump," a quieter if no less intricate composition than much of the other material, you can very, very clearly hear a guy yell out, "Slayer!" Audience members chuckle, the guy gets kicked out (which you can also kind of hear), only to return a few minutes later to scream, "Sheet music rules! Yeah fucking college!" and then get kicked out again. All this is actually pretty hilarious, and through it all the band never misses a beat, which is maybe the most impressive thing about the whole episode. If you have a soft spot for minimalist chamber-rock and don't mind a total lack of melody, Buck is as good a place to start with Zs as any. Of course, pretty much any of their recordings are more or less astonishing. Sheet music rules, indeed. (Brandon Wu).

Math and Noise:
In addition to releasing a new album Arms on Planaria records this year, Zs have also released Buck, a compilation of two live sets. I'm still waiting on Arms, so I can not vouch for it, but I have listened extensively to the Karate Bump EP and Zs, the 2003 self-titled. Both of these releases are excellent examples of what the band is capable of, and parts of both are featured in Buck, which is why it deserves a special highlighting here.

Part of what most allured me to Zs initially was the rhythms they create by lightly blowing into the reeds. That a band would accent this nearly inaudible effect and put it into the forefront of their sound was very exciting to me. But that it works so well in the live recording is what really blew me away. The tracks are all very complicated, have no obvious patterns, are by no means brief, and somehow are all performed flawlessly.

Mashnote:
From the label that gave you: Gang Wizard, Raccoo-oo-oon, James Fella and night wounds... here's a new curiousity calles "ZS". ZS have 2 tenor saxophones, 2 guitarists and 2 drummers. You have no idea what to expect right? Well, I listened to this album 52 times and I still don't know what to expect. ZS plays something that is compared with freejazz but actually it's very well structured. I guess it can be best compared with an avantgarde jazz version of King Crimson. It could've also been King Crimson who on a certain moment become obsessed with Jackson Pollock. Buck live is a well structured, weird and middle finger progish album that makes me stunned every time I hear it. What makes this album even more stunning is that this is a live album, where you are supposed to hear every little mistake the well studied mathmusicians make. Nope! The only thing you hear on this album is a guy screaming "Slayer!!" and (probably) the same guy screaming something like "sheet music rules" a little bit later. "Buck live" is in fact a nice album inbetween all these psyche things I'm getting lately. Every psych and dronefreak must have this to get their heads clear for a few minutes. To be honest... every fan of inspiring music should have a ZS release in their collection.

The Z Gun:
Good fun from New York City, Zs hit a few different distinct styles while managing not to sound like a hodge podge sampler of various sounds. There’s a stripped down free jazz straight out of early 70s St Louis, some of that art-punk/prog that RRecommended dwelled in during the late 70s, Reich-style minimalism, and a little Magic Band. Some of it even reminds me of the French psych artist Areski. From what I gather, most, if not all, of this is culled from 7 years of live shows, so not only do you get strong, intense playing, but crowd noises and heckling (unfortunately really shitty heckling “Slayer, man!”). Not sure how many times I will spin this pup, but it certainly will get me out of the house if Zs ever comes to town. -- Scott Soriano

Blake Solomon / absoultepunk.net:
Who? Zs is a Brooklyn rock orchestra playing monster mashes of prog, jazz and avant-garde. Minimalist inclinations keep things eerie and, well, weird. How Is It? Buck is actually a collection of live songs recorded from as far back as 2000. The record’s production values are top-notch and audience noises rarely detract from the listening experience. When a dude yells, 'Sheet music rules!' on much too long “Bump”, he unintentionally sums things up quite nicely. I’m going to take his comment as sarcasm and say that tracks with any sort of guitar and drums (“Nobody Wants To Be Had” and “Mimesis”) greatly outshine those without (“Arms”). And after 50+ minutes of strange saxophone grooves and eccentric drum banging, the only-vocals track, “Zs”, is melodically pleasing and simple. Not only can they create complex, ethereal arrangements, but Zs can also channel my grandfather’s barbershop quartet. Leave it to the pop-punk kid to love the only song that keeps a tune. I'm definitely not the demographic Buck intends to please. Recommended If You Like: Unknown Instructors, Aa, people that yell 'Slayer!' at shows, chamber rock

Skyscraper #25:
The first time I heard "Karate Bump", someone I was with listening to it with stated, "Aw, who's hurting that poor cat?" And I have to admit, that's a pretty accurate representation of what a lot of Zs music sounds like, thanks to their two tenor saxophonists who have an affinity for long squeaks. However, there's also a lot of incredibly technical and mathy songs in their catalog that make you think, "How could they possibly remember all this?" If you've already been broken in but John Zorn or anything on that side of jazz, then this should fit into your auditory repertoire. "Buck" is a reissue consisting of live tracks recorded in New York and Pittsburgh between 2000-2005. As a former resident of the Iron City area, I wish that I could have been there to see how the yinzers reacted to such oddness. From the sound of the crowd on the recordings, they seemed to like it fine. In between two of the songs, someone shouts out, "Hey, give these guys some money, they're from New York. If you were on tour wouldn't you want people to give you money? They need to get some Primanti's" Priceless. The performances of the songs and the sound of the crowd is great, however the actual audio recording is rather lo-fi. (John Vogal).