CD Reviews

Mike Dillon's Go-Go Jungle

Battery Milk | Hyena

By JON GARELICK | February 20, 2007

3.0 Stars

The opening “Go-Go’s Theme,” with its heavy backbeat and bar-band tenor-sax theme, screams: “We’re jazz, but not boring!” But the band soon leave such obviousness behind — they get into trip-hoppy beats, trance grooves, backbeats that funk as much as they rock, and absurdist lyrics (usually sung with a subsonic growl by bassist J.J. Richards). Dillon, whose credits include Les Claypool and Garage a Trois, plays vibes with a metallic, distorted shimmer that has little to do with Milt Jackson or Bobby Hutcherson. “Lunatic Express” and “Lopsided Melon Ball” kick up an indie-rock racket, with actual jazz solos by Dillon and saxophonist Mark Southerland. And the slow groove of “The Blame Game” is irresistible, with Southerland swinging over slinky bass, tick-tock drum rims, and tablas — especially after two minutes or so, when the co-dependent lyrics kick in: “You’re right/Blame me.” There’s also political satire in “Bad Man,” with its George W. Bush clips, and, uh, “Stupid Americans.” But it’s not all tongue-in-cheek — a cover of Allen Toussaint’s “Hercules” (originally for Aaron Neville) is sung in a sweet, artless croon, an honest alt-jazz take on great black music, and maybe the most strident political statement on the CD.

Darrell Katz/Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra | The Same Thing
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Making it right
Whatever increments of recovery New Orleans has made since Hurricane Katrina, in many ways the city never changes. The only shocker was a lower-left-hand piece, "Crime is down sharply in N.O."
Close readings
The JCA has been at it since 1985, a collective of musicians who are primarily composers rather than players, in need of an outlet to hear their pieces.
Flashbacks: June 16, 2006
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Hannah Van-Susteren, Doug Fleischer and Sam MacLaughlin.
Rally ’round the flag
The United States is on the verge of joining China, Cuba, and Iran as the only nations in the world where “desecrating” the flag is a national crime.
Gays and the GOP
The latest chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans launched on December 30 in Portland.
Yayo for president?
Bad news for cokeheads everywhere: the chances of Bolivia becoming for cocaine users what Amsterdam is for pot smokers are slim.
Love and politics
In Boleros for the Disenchanted , Puerto Rican–born José Rivera looks beyond the fairy dust and sexual spark to probe the full meaning of “till death do us part.”
Vandal-in-chief
Shepard Fairey and his show "Supply and Demand" arrive at the Institute of Contemporary Art like a guerrilla general emerging from the jungle after his forces have taken the capital.
Amazing grace
The morning after I get back from the 41st annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, an oil executive is on the radio: “We’re throwing everything we have at it.” Meaning the exploded BP-leased well in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
2009: The year in books
Here, listed alphabetically by author, are 10 of the best books the Phoenix reviewed in 2009.
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Topics: CD Reviews , George W. Bush, Allen Toussaint, Les Claypool, More

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