| Band/Artist | Release | Record Label | Prem's Spew |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Ten O'Clock Scholar | Quietest | Grass | extremely grating noise-centered rock that brings in all kinds of strange twists from unlikely sources; don't try to listen to this album all at once or the barrage may overcome you--instead, try a track at a time and give yourself some time for digestion |
| Bang on a Can | Cheating, Lying, Stealing | Sony Classical | a classical chamber ensemble that tears apart the fabric of the "classical music" stereotype and careens from sound to sound with blinding intensity; includes both solo performances and ensemble arrangements |
| Bill Ding | Bill Ding and the Sound of Adventure | Hefty | the first full-length from this unusual band of distinctly unfriendly rock with harsh to twisty sound textures and mutating vocals; a smiling frown |
| Buffalo Daughter | Captain Vapour Athletes | Grand Royal | quirky rock mixed with unpredictable beat sequences and electro-strangeness; complexity under a veil of cuteness |
| Dos | Justamente Tres | Kill Rock Stars | the members of Dos, Mike Watt and Kira, construct eerie yet pleasant duets on their bass guitars, with a few quiet vocals here and there; subtle yet gripping |
| Mark Dresser | Invocation: Music for Contrabass | Knitting Factory Works | spooky, twisty, sometimes harsh & noisy solos for contrabass; don't underestimate the awesome power of this underappreciated instrument [1995 release] |
| Irving Klaw Trio | Irving Klaw Trio | Silly Bird (CD)/Imp (LP) | tweaked and contortionistic rock that wiggles its fingers around in your brain; unexpected influences weave themselves into the music with very peculiar effect [1995 release] |
| Jessamine | The Long Arm of Coincidence | Kranky | computerized wavy weirdness rock with eerie undertones; friendly and peculiar |
| Pere Ubu | Datapanik in the Year Zero | DGC | four discs of early Pere Ubu material of avant rock/jazz collisions from the Datapanik in the Year Zero EP, The Modern Dance LP, Dub Housing LP, New Picnic Time LP, The Art of Walking LP, and Song of the Bailing Man LP as well as unreleased live recordings plus an entire fifth disc of tracks by Pere Ubu-related Cleveland bands such as the Mirrors, the Electric Eels, Rocket from the Tombs, and others |
| Roscoe Mitchell (Sextette) | Sound | Delmark | re-release of this 1966 classic of tumultuous free jazz, among other things; Mitchell was one of the first to dish out this kind of utter experimentalism, and many have followed in his footsteps |
| Scissor Girls | S-T-A-T-I-C-L-A-N-D | Load | unnerving collisions of gyrating noise, rock, screaming vocals, and other such fun on this EP; brain a la mode |
| {various} | Succour | Flydaddy | this aberrant double-CD compilation in support of Ptolemaic Terrascope's continuance features a wide sampling of styles, though many tracks tend toward the surreal; appearing on this release are Coil, the Bevis Frond, Kable, and Current 93, among others |
| Supreme Dicks | This Is Not a Dick | Runt | nonchalant and continually decaying music on this CD EP; draws you into its chamber with each undulation |
| David Thomas and Two Pale Boys | Erewhon | Tim Kerr | Thomas whips out a melodeon to create a pseudo-theme for each track on this ballistic Ubu-esque offering; jolty abrasive fun |
| Zen Guerrilla | Gap Tooth Clown | Insect [re-issued on Alternative Tentacles] | psycho-blues rock mayhem; on this CD-EP as well as live on stage, they carve it up and spit it in your face |
| ZGA | Sub Luna Morrior | ReR/Recommended | experimental sounds on home-made instruments coalesce to sometimes approximate rock, but usually not; this Latvian band churns out highly percussive music that teeters between tonality and dissonance |
| Composer: John Zorn Performer: Masada Chamber Ensembles |
Bar Kokhba | Tzadik | a pool of talent including Mark Dresser, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, and others converges on this double-CD set to interpret Zorn's compositions, mixing reserved jazz with klezmer sounds and structures; peppy to brooding pieces |
