Quit Your Unnatural Ways
1. Quit Your Unnatural Ways 3:30 -- 2. First Time Shapeshifter 6:48 -- 3. Jake's Song 8:15 -- 4. Shadowtrapping: Unnatural Ways 10:27 -- 5. Penumbra: i. Fake Funeral Song 2:09 -- 6. Penumbra: ii. Second Shapeshift 4:30 -- -- --- -- No doubt Ava Mendoza's star is on the rise and deservedly so. Her technical virtuosity and broad artistic vision defies easy genre classification. Guitar World magazine recently spotlighted her to its shredhead readers while a recent collaboration with tUnE-yArDs brought her to the attention of indie rock fans. While the music world is just beginning to learn about Mendoza, I first jammed with her over a decade ago and knew straight away how amazing she was. Since then, she's graduated from Mills College vaunted music program (graced by the likes of Fred Frith and Pauline Oliveros) and gone on to work with such diverse artists as Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Nels Cline, Weasel Walter, Liz Allbee, Henry Kaiser, Mike Watt and many, many others. -- -- -- -- "Quit Your Unnatural Ways" is all fire and brimstone with Mendoza and Tamburro accomplishing a rare feat -- marrying the intense energy of free jazz to instantly memorable tunes anchored by Mendoza's monstrous riffs. While most songs here follow the familiar head-solo-head jazz structure, the album feels closer to a marriage of free jazz and metal. Every song, save a brief musical interlude, features a heavy, glorious riff serving as a springboard for Mendoza's dazzling guitar pyrotechnics. While Ava's guitar is at the center of proceedings, Tamburro's contribution is essential as his drums provide much of the ecstatic energy, somehow propelling the songs forward without losing the beat and going completely free. The end result is a wild, exhilarating ride that's sure to appeal to music fans of all stripes. -- -- -- -- -- -- The Amazon ASIN for the mp3 version of this CD is B008MZT196 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Another listing by Zip
Ava Mendoza with Nick Tamburro  (Artist),     Ava Mendoza  (Artist),     Nick Tamburo  (Artist)    &                   0                  more   Format: Audio CD
{"Manufacturer": "Weird Forest Records", "Run time": "36 minutes", "Date First Available": "September 18, 2012", "Label": "Weird Forest Records", "Number of discs": "1"}