Splattercell
OAH (Celldivision, 2000)

It's always a treat to pick up an album that isn't what you expected because it's like nothing else out there. OAH is a disc like that. While it is essentially a David Torn album, it pulls in bits and pieces from so many places it is, true to its name, like a musical paintball gun.

David Torn is a guitarist who is pretty hard to classify. The AllMusic Guide says he's a jazz guitarist and in fact his early work was recorded for ECM. His resume covers a pretty wide swath having collaborated with the likes of Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, David Bowie, Mark Isham, kd lang, Mick Karn, John Zorn, Manhattan Transfer, and Tory Amos. He's done film soundtrack work. He's made two sampling music/soundscore discs. And lest you get the idea he's some sort of pyrotechnical guitar hero - he's actually more of a colorist using guitar to go to really extreme sonic realms. So what does Splattercell sound like?

Splattercell gets its name from Torn's technique of recording live improvised performances and then editing those tracks into "cells", small musical bits which are then twisted, processed and reconstructed on a computer into these songs. So what does Splattercell sound like?

Well, it doesn't really sound like anything else I'm aware of. There is definitely elements of tweaky electronica (think Autechre), rock, world music (esp. Arabic), jazz (oddly Bill Frisell is called to my mind several times), and ambient techno. Virtually impossible to pin down so if you like your music in easily sorted and digested bits, don't bother to stop here.

This had to be a fun album to make. It's sure a fun album to listen to. I think it has a lot to reveal and I look forward to many many listens trying to unravel its mysteries.

Posted 28 October 2005.