From R. Lim Sent Mon, Jul 19th 1999, 19:10
From R. Lim Sent Mon, Jul 19th 1999, 19:10
On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, Julien Quint wrote: > "Guitar, Drum & Bass" was released on Avant, so it might be more > expensive/difficult to find than if it were on Tzadik. Derek is as > good as always, but Ninj sucks big time, so the result is very > disappointing in the end. The CD to track down is "Play Backs", > recenlty out on the Bingo label, where Derek plays along beats/tracks > prepared by Sasha Frere Jones, John Herndon, Bundy K. Brown, Tied and > Tickeld trio, etc. Excellent stuff this time. I've heard this opinion voiced several times (about G, D&B) and I always felt that its owner was missing part of the point. After all, the album's inspiration came from Bailey playing along with the pirate jungle stations in London; as such, I never thought it to meant as a collaborative project. The charm of the album (for me) has always been how Bailey manages to squeeze himself into the predictable, quotidian beats and pop back out, making it into something interesting and unlike his other 100+ prior records (session work aside). That said, Playbacks is also worthy of listening time (besides its glaring technical flaws as detailed by Henry Kaiser, har har- kudos to Sasha for brokering such a meeting of the minds). I just think it's funny that Bailey's name carries so much baggage that people automatically assume that Ninj has to fit into some sort of auteur/voice model for the record to be successful. -rob