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Xaphan: Book of Angels Vol. 9

Artist: Secret Chiefs 3
Label: Tzadik
Category: Music

List Price: ~~Ł13.99~~
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

1 reviews
Sales Rank: 34078

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.3

UPC: 702397736424
EAN: 0702397736424
ASIN: B000VAQXFK

Release Date: June 16, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW PRODUCT Factory Sealed - Ships via Airmail from the USA - Average 5 to 14 workdays delivery time - Excellent customer service - Buy with confidence!

Tracks:

•	Sheburiel
•	Akramachamarei
•	Shoel
•	Barakiel
•	Bezriel
•	Kemuel
•	Labbiel
•	Asron
•	Balberith
•	Omael
•	Hamaya

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Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

Party Time for the "Accredited Genius" Set June 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Back in 1991 John Zorn produced the first album by Mr. Bungle, featuring Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Trey Spruance. Although Patton and Dunn have remained as regular contributors to Zorn's Tzadik label, Spruance has been content up to now to concentrate on developing his particular brand of Middle Eastern postmodernism on his own under the project title of Secret Chiefs 3. Xaphan is a splendid return to the Zorn fold.

Spruance is, like Zorn himself, a brilliant arranger, and - unlike, for example, Koby Israelite on the series's fourth volume - he has managed to build complex, layered orchestrations here that perfectly enhance Zorn's basic musical material. Moreover, while recent volumes by Erik Friedlander and the Bar Kokhba Sextet have tended to satisfy themselves (and, it must be said, the listener) by providing a compelling and sympathetic performance, Spruance has taken the music a step further and effectively re-composed it. Although he doesn't get a composing credit on the album, I don't doubt for a second that he takes these themes in directions that Zorn himself never imagined when he wrote them. The result is greater musical depth and a more satisfying album all-round.

While Spruance laid down a lot of the basic material himself, he is not a one-man band and benefits here from some great additional performances. Rich Doucette on sarangi (bowed lute) brings an authentic "World Music" feel to the proceedings which is nicely balanced by Adam Stacey on clavinet and Jai Young Kim on B3 organ, who prevent things from descending into pastiche. Other instruments - such as violin, viola, cello, harp, voice and trumpet - are called upon sparingly, while Spruance himself shares duties with other members of the ensemble as percussionist, guitarist, keyboardist and bass player. Overall, the sound of this album is upbeat and energetic.

One highlight here is "Barakiel", which begins with a very Morricone feel and then suddenly shifts into something that sounds like an early John Barry TV theme (presumably for something about a Jewish gumshoe). "Balberith" has a big band, Lalo Shifrin sound which evokes a slicker thriller environment: it could score the Bullitt car chase without alteration. Soundtrack cues are often the point of comparison, but this isn't background music: it's too in-your-face for that. If the next James Bond features frantic chases through crowded bazaars, David Arnold will probably be lifting a lot of ideas from this album.

Sound quality is not quite as good here as others in the series, sounding synthetic and relying too much on artificial reverberation, but the mix is very detailed and there is a certain amount of fun to be had on headphones picking apart the clever arrangements.

I don't love this album - maybe it's just too intense and frantic for that - but it's a remarkable achievement and deserves to be heard. Spruance fans will be in heaven, Zorn fans will have reason to celebrate ... the rest of you need only apply if a really CRAZY Middle Eastern album sounds up your street.