JILL KROESEN

STOP VICIOUS CYCLES

  1/  Wayne Hayes Blues                          (Kroesen)                     2.54
  2/  I Am Not Seeing That You Are Here          (Kroesen)                     3.00
  3/  Ride Your Pony                             (Naomi Neville)               3.15
  4/  Honey, You're So Mean                      (Kroesen)                     3.50
  5/  I'm Sorry I'm Such a Weenie                (Kroesen)                     2.45
  6/  I Am Not Seeing That You Are Here          (Kroesen)                     2.02
  7/  Alexander the Great                        (Kroesen)                     2.37
  8/  Fay Shism Blues                            (Kroesen)                     9.20
  9/  I'm Just a Human Being                     (Kroesen)                     6.23

          Tracks1,2 and 5 recorded at Right Track, NYC and Aquarius Studios, Switzerland
          Track 3 recorded at Big Apple Studios, NYC and Aquarius Studios, Switzerland
          Tracks 4,6,7 and 9 recorded at Aquarius Studios, Switzerland
          Track 8 recorded at Sundragen, NYC, Right Track, NYC and Aquarius Studios,
            Switzerland
          Engineer at Aquarius: Jean Ristori
          Engineers at Right Track: Josh Harris and David Stone
          Engineer at Big Apple: Kurt Munkacsi
          Engineer at Sundragon: David van Tieghem
          Produced by Peter Gordan and Jill Kroesen
          Master Lacquers cut by Howie Weinberg, Masterdisk Corporation
Jill Kroesen: vocal, Hammond organ (1), congas (2,6), percussion (3), piano (4,7,8,9), clavinet (5); Rebecca Armstrong (1): vocals; Peter Gordon: vocal (1,3), saxophone (2,3,8), Prophet 5 (3), organ (3), Hammond organ (8), sax mouthpiece (5), clavinet (8); Bill Laswell: bass (1,2,3,5), saxophone (8); George Lewis (1,2,5) : trombone; Tony Machine (1,2,5,8): Tama drums; David Van Tieghem (1,5): percussion; Don Christensen (3): drums; Jody Harris (3): guitar; Larry Saltzman (3): guitar; Fred Maher: drums (6), guitar (8); Arthur Russell (8): cello; Fred Smith (8): bass; "Blue" Gene Tyranny (8): piano.

          1982 - Lovely Music (USA), VR 1501 (Vinyl)

REVIEWS :

Like the albums of Ned Sublette and Laurie Anderson, this disc presents only the songs that make up part of the material for her extended and inventive performance pieces. Jill Kroesen, a performer as intense as Diamanda Galas and Lydia Lunch but more flexible, has made stage works, including a ballet The Lou and Walter Story, that reduce historical and social icons, like Alexander the Great and even The History of the World as an icon in itself, to the personal and emotional, thereby stripping away much of the pomposity and abstraction that often accompanies the cant of the historical imperative — one European fan said to her "You try to make everything so simple whereas we try to make everything complex." These songs with a beat also make use of electronic and acoustic noise, free-style brass playing, bizarre percussion and mixing, and a totally new approach to the idea of pitched/non-pitched singing. Some of the pieces are "I'm Sorry I'm Such a Weenie," "I Am Not Seeing That You Are Here," "I'm Just a Human Being" ("I'm just a human being who can hardly keep her own house clean. And I lie in bed and think how the president is just a human being and it scares me to think about the life he leads"), "Alexander the Great" ("...I want to travel all around and get lost conquering everybody's ground. And send plunder to my mother and kill my threatening brother, I'm Alexander and I'm pretty and I ain't in no hurry to get home"), and the legendary "Fay Shism Blues."

3 stars out of 5

"Blue" Gene Tyranny courtesy of the All Music Guide website