DAVID TORN, MICK KARN & TERRY BOZZIO: POLYTOWN

Sick, dark and dangerous... This disc can give you nightmares, good ones that you will want to have over and over.... for me at least. This is one of my favorite Bozzio discs. His drumming is very crisp and original. A lot of dry sounding toms that offset Karn's slinky wet sounding fretless bass. David Torn's guitar has a psychotic strangled tone of an unearthly beast wailing for release from the clutches of a tar pit. Eerie and hypnotic.

This disc requires some very close listening, the main melodies are actually carried by the bass. Torn and Bozzio seem to solo over, under and through the melodies. Torn has this Frippian vibe to his playing, but more controlled and menacing. He rarely plays fast, more ambient and restrained, make that painfully restrained. The album sounds like something KC should have created with Bruford and Levin.

Honey Sweating is a great opener and introduces you the players and their strengths immediately. You'll also get the idea right away that this is something unusual and special. Snail Hair Dune is the longest track and sounds like the title, slow and dry with an Eastern vibe. This is the Abduction scene is pure King Crimson fury with Karn's bass growling through the effects. Bozzio lays down a heartbeat ostinato on the Red Sleep, which reminds me of a Poe's Tell Tale Heart. Creepy. Warrior Horsemen of the Spirit Thundering Over the Hills of Doubt to a Place of Hope wins the most imaginative song title award for 1994.

Polytown predates Black Light Syndrome by three years and really is more experimental and gives off a completely different effect. Don't confuse the two. Polytown = Dark and Scary / Black Light Syndrome = Adventurous and Fun. Either way, you win!

Recorded over a 15 day stretch, this disc is a great addition to any collection and should be played on rainy nights, when you are home alone and just finished watching Eraserhead.