(Disaster Amnesiac) Hey there! It's been FAR too long since Disaster Amnesiac has posted anything. Suffice it to say, I've been very busy with other aspects of my life. That said, when Bryan Day comes a callin' with promo packages delivered to chez Amnesiac, I just have to get off of my butt and get to describing and enthusing. This brings me to 2018's LA Blues, a righteous duo set of Free Improvisation from Patrick Shiroishi and Arturro Ibarra. Keying off of lessons learned from Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, Shiroishi and Ibarra set down some seriously locked in interplay for alto sax and electric guitar. Projection 8 sets the tone for the tape as the two wail and scream at all surrounding entities. It's very heavy, the way that their blasting tones leap right out of the gate, with zero letup for the duration. Upon first listen, Disaster Amnesiac was sure that the sax was a tenor, and this should show the raw power of Patrick's lungs! Arturo's guitar sounds wonderfully free of effects as he draws these giant chords from the strings. Side A's second track, Projection 14, starts off with a bit more space being given between the players as they chatter together. Eventually the conversation picks up steam as Ibarra and Shiroishi ramp up the energy. This one is based upon Takayanagi's concept of "gradual projection", and its somewhat more stated minimalist elements definitely show. When they start throwing the tones around, though....worth the wait for any Free Jazz fan. On the flip side, we get Projection 3, another gradual one on which Ibarra starts off with a cool line, over which Shiroishi floats some more of those lower notes on the alto. It's not long before the lines get more intertwined and the listener finds their ears following the fast ideas streaming forth, albeit in a slightly more restrained manner. Still, there's much sound to be digested as this duo gets down to the action of playing. A real sweet ending statement from Shiroisi, too. Last up is another "mass projection", much like LA Blues' opening track, Projection 58. As the liner note describes it, it's "...marked by bombast, [and] intensity...." Ibarra and Shiroishi slam and tear at the air on this one, with the former sounding especially keyed in to some higher directive. The latter responds accordingly, and the result is a feast of energetic, storming Free Jazz that splatters and coats the brain with delicious sonic colors. Let's face it, it takes some balls to call your release LA Blues. Putting your stuff on the level with the fabled Stooges skronk masterpiece should not be done lightly. Patrick Shiroishi and Artuo Ibarra rise to the challenge in ways that would surely put smiles on the faces of Steve Mackay and Ron Ashton. LA Blues delivers in much the same way as the song that it takes its name from did. Powerful stuff here. - Mark Pino

(Tabs Out) When I first heard that Patrick Shiroshi and Arturo Ibarra were going to mash together my two favorite songs by The Doors – “LA Woman” and “Roadhouse Blues” – I couldn’t believe my luck: instead of having to listen to TWO songs, I’d get a single tune with all the best parts of each. I wouldn’t have to wait for one track to end for the other to begin. Imagine my surprise, then, when “LA Blues” began to play and it wasn’t even REMOTELY what I thought it was going to be. However, instead of giving in to the brief flare of white hot rage that passed like an energy cloud across my consciousness, my humors quickly abated as if they were hit by a sudden cold front as I decided to give this a chance, regardless of how easily my foolish and completely misguided expectations had been dashed. The urge to chuck my cassette deck out of the second-floor window disappeared before I had the chance to yank it out of the wall. That’s not to say the music I was hearing wasn’t white hot. “Loosely inspired by the forms of Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi,” “LA Blues” from the get-go rends physical space like a swiftly fissioning star, finding alto saxophonist Shiroshi and guitarist Ibarra swirling about each other like primordial starstuff, their notes atoms trying to form bonds at velocities approaching light speed. Dangerous, dangerous stuff, and something you don’t want to get too close to if you find such things disturbing! Tracks 1 and 4, “Projection 8” and “Projection 58,” respectively, are “‘mass projections,’ marked by bombast, intensity, and a total disregard for anything approaching conventional melody or structure.” The Doors, or the idea of listening to them at this specific time, turned into Huxley’s actual “Doors of Perception” and flung themselves wide to welcome me into cosmic embrace of chaotic functionality. These performances masquerading as neutron bombs sandwich “Projection 14” and “Projection 3,” in which Shiroshi and Ibarra’s considered interplay is more readily apparent. But neither is a break or a reprieve, just a slower eruption of plasmic materials. The duo’s live takes are physical workouts, as if the players’ are lifting weights with their lips and fingers or running a marathon with their lips and fingers. Regardless, they probably have to sit down after a while to recuperate, let their lips and fingers slowly regain feeling again after all that energy expulsion. Not unlike Ray Manzarek after “The End.” Edition of 100 from Eh?/Public Eyesore. Not a lot left…

(Chain DLK) I received several tapes from the label Eh? which is a side label of Public Eyesore. I have been familiar with Public Eyesore for a while now and was pleased to check out some of what they were sending my way. This tape is a duo of Patrick Shiroishi & Arturo Ibarra. Patrick Shiroishi is a Free Jazz saxophone player who also performs in several groups. I was not familiar with his work before this release but it does remind me of a bit of John Zorn at times. Arturo Ybarra spelled on this release Arturo Ibarra is also someone I was not familiar with previously, he is listed on Discogs as a Guitarist from Mexico. This is currently the only release he is listed on as the main member. He has contributed to several other rock albums over the years it seems. The liner notes state that this release is loosely inspired by the forms of Japanese Guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi who performed as part of the New Direction Unit. LA Blues is the title of this album two tracks "Projection 8" and "Projection 58" are considered mass projections which are fairly chaotic, while "Projection 14" and "Projection 3" are considered gradual projections and build into chaos slowly. Overall, I would recommend this release to anyone who enjoys this type of "free" or "psych" jazz music. It is well composed and for sure a great addition to any collection! - Marc Benner