All At Once At Any Time

Recorded live in May 1994 at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, All at Once at Any Time features two members of the Dense Band, drummer David Moss and guitarist John King, and an experimental DJ largely unknown at the time: Otomo Yoshihide. In the course of the next six or seven years, the first two names became less and less heard, while Yoshihide arose as a leading creative force in avant-garde music. The trio's music is made of fragmented bits of rock songs with tons of plundered cultural references. Funk, punk, junk culture, defaced icons, rock-solid grooves, and moments of unbridled free improv collide in a dizzying maelstrom. On "Baby Blues for Marilyn," Yoshihide digs out Monroe's "I Want to Be Loved By You." After a first spin of the chorus, the trio locks into a delightfully irreverent 2/4 hardcore beat. Other entertaining moments include "DJ Polka," where all three follow Yoshihide's demented samples, shouting "Hey!"; King's allusion to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in "No Name for Now"; the infectious funk riff appearing later in the same song and strongly recalling King's group Electric World; and Moss' vocal performances, especially the introduction of "Choto Mate" and his cheesy half-operatic half-crooner interventions in "Surfing the High C's." All at Once at Any Time documents a strong show at a time when rock was still fashionable in avant-garde circles. The sound quality is a notch or two under the Victo label's high standards: The listener feels like he's standing at the back of the hall — the recording lacks "oomph." However, the CD is still recommended, especially for fans of Yoshihide who would like to hear him before Ground Zero made him an international avant-garde star. ~ François Couture, Rovi