Overheard Songs

raven is originally from fort defiance, arizona, but now finds himself (north) hollywood swingin’. is north hollywood less swinging than hollywood itself? not sure. he has the distinction of being one of precious few american indian classical composers (he’s worked with/studied under james tenney and wadada leo smith) and most likely, he’s one of one when it comes to making noise music. in regards to that particular genre, raven keeps himself involved in a few groups: kilt (with bob bellerue (redglaer, halfnormal, anarchymoon recordings), dog shit taco (like ruins? you’d probably dig this group, which features far too many people) and cobra//group. according to the latter’s myspace page they were influenced by ellipses and they sound like a million of these: “/”. that last one, i could see, since it’s harsh noise / experimental / avant-garde / marching band jazz slash slash slash ad infinitum. once again, waaay too many people i’ve never heard of before involved in this one. go to their profile and find out for yourself, lazies. my prior knowledge of raven chacon’s music exists in memory form, that of an impressive turntable orgy with bob bellerue, lob (instagon) and amk, as well as in physical form, by way of the split that he did with shanghai’s torturing nurse. for those who are familiar with the incredible 17000 km split, there’s certainly some common ground between that cd and this album. that’s most true of the incredible’s bandolero, a definite touchstone for a few tracks on overheard songs. i think that it’s also worth mentioning that neezná (with mask) makes an appearance on both discs. overheard songs is for fans of noise who like the experimental value in it just as much as they enjoy the violent aspects. the closest that raven gets to virulence this time out would be with naakits’áadah, which features some subdued noise in the back and then there’s some high pitched squeals over the top of that. there are times during that piece where it can induce ringing ears, but it’s really the only instance where you need to worry about the future of your hearing. there’s actually a less harsh loud whine, compare it to a tea kettle left unattended for about twenty minutes, that appears as a recurring noise theme throughout the album. raven also adds some live instrumentation on a few songs, too, most notably in the field of percussion. tracks like rattle game, americana and my baby’s seen an evil being add unique native american flavor along with great noise and provide excellent changes of pace. the wind instrumentation which closes out rattle game was one of my favorite moments on overheard songs. raven’s got an outstanding thing going with this fine piece of work. it’s unique, noisy, extremely interesting and happens to be an all around rewarding listen. plain and simple.

– avant gardening, Smooth Assailing