Reviews by Christian Llewellyn-Hardy at http://heavyvibes.blogspot.com/

Owl Xounds - Gypsy Monks on Holiday, c30

For those spirited heads who like their free-jazz with a touch of the cosmic, and their feet dipped wet with infinity, Owl Xounds' exuberant outer-space jams are as awesomely pleasing as they are wildly unpredictable. On "Gypsy Monks On Holiday," the usual Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy duo of Adam Kriney (drums) and Gene Janas (upright bass) are joined by Mario Rechtern (saxophones, electronics) and Gene Moore (electric guitar). This high-bias C-30 boasts three sprawling live improvisations from two separate performances. The bombastic and wild-eyed "Sambs Samosa And The Circular Saw" and the brief attack of "We Are But Three Small Faces" were both recorded live at SUNY Purchase , NY on 2/19/7, while the organic mutant jazz "Are Those Your Graham Crackers From The Wiccan Ceremony Last Week?" was cut live one day earlier at the Flywheel in Easthampton, MA on 2/18/7. Mario Rechtern's saxophone threatens a savage mutiny on "Gypsy Monks..," but Adam Kriney is so at the top of this game on this one he's shot straight through Maslow's pyramid of needs and wants and wound up blasting somewhere through a stratosphere of technical wizardry. Keep an eye on Owl Xounds, these space-jazz cadets are headed somewhere brilliant, sparkling, and totally uncharted.

Liz Allbee/Sharon Cheslow/Weasel Walter - Plants That Kill, CD-R

A three-way collaboration between Liz Allbee, Sharon Cheslow, and
Weasel Walter, or the sound of a tropical disease as it seeps through your
pores, peeling away the last remaining layers of your earthly senses and
leaving only a caterpillar filled brain-case behind in Peruvian
nightmares? "Plants That Kill" is a now-wave trip into endless reverbrations
of Ayahuasca dreaming and toxic tropical free-jazz. An electric brew
of poisonous improvisations whose exotic variety of tone and colour
lure you inwards, just as the venom seizes your nervous system, leaving
you frozen in place, sweating to the sounds of an immense rainforest
totally indifferent to your desperation and impending decomposition.
Each of "Plants That Kill"'s ten tracks are named after a particular
sample of fatal flora, a concept credited to Liz Allbee. The cd's sleeve
art also reflects this concept, with a leafy green aesthetic that is as
enticing as it is forbidding. I'm completely blown-away by the music on
this disc, and I would be in a state of total shock if this cd didn't
sell-out soon.