John Zorn: Filmworks Vol. VIII

At the rate he's releasing his Filmworks volumes, John Zorn is going to run out of obscure, underground films before he runs out of film music. The prolific iconoclast probably wouldn't have it any other way, either. So far, this series has seen the release of music from commercials, indie films, cartoons, gay porn, S&M trash, and any number of spontaneous sessions, and almost all of it has been challenging, often riveting listening. But none of the other seven discs are as consistently beautiful as Volume VIII. Pairing two soundtracks—one for a documentary about Eastern European Jews fleeing to Shanghai in the '40s, the other an aborted all-percussion score for the film Latin Boys Go To Hell—the album finds Zorn at his most focused. "The Port Of Last Resort" reveals a side of Zorn that's rarely exhibited, echoing the work of his subdued Masada chamber unit on the two-disc Bar Kokhba set. He makes the Eurasian connection by enlisting pipa player Min Xiao-Fen as a soloist alongside such familiar players as Mark Feldman, Marc Ribot, Erik Friedlander, Greg Cohen, and Anthony Coleman, thus bridging the two disparate cultures. Latin Boys Go To Hell is just percussionists Cyro Baptista and Kenny Wollesen cutting loose. As usual, the artwork is great, and the liner notes, by Zorn himself, are educational and enlightening.