Customer Reviews

Optometry

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my third DJ Spooky CD (File Under Futurism, Modern Mantra, and Optometry) and I like it a lot!

File Under Futurism was garbage except for a few songs. Modern Mantra is absolutely spectacular, and I have listened to it over 20 (yes, twenty) times in that last week! This CD fits between the two. Some of the songs are great, some are just OK. The first few tracks are kinda toned down acid jazz, but after those are over, the CD starts to pick up. Some of the songs are a little too slow, but it all works together in the end. Some rap, some techno, some real imagination on the behalf of Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky.) I would not recommend this as a first DJ Spooky CD (that job goes to Modern Mantra in IMO), but if you like DJ Spooky, this is definitely a must have!

This is such a successful fusion of jazz, acid jazz, trip-hop, and illbient that the CD deserves a genre of its own.

The work here is such a thick soup of sound that it takes numerous repeats to savor all of the flavor. Yet, it all meshes into such a tight seamless whole that its hard to imagine that any element was ever intended to be part of anything but these finished pieces. DJ Spooky moves tracks effortlessly from free jazz piano figure intros into pulsing thick funky grooves, loose and atmospheric like his best trip-hop underneath, smoky, moody and grooving like a hot jazz club on top.

"Asphalt (Tome II)" with its beat poet throw-down, and "Optometry" with its late 70s jazz clavinet are raw, burning, funking masterpieces. Ordinarily, a track like "Asphalt" with its spoken word center piece wouldn't get many repeat listens from me, but the vocal performance is as brilliant and exciting as any of the playing or mixing supporting it. After weeks of repeat listens, I'm still not burned out on this.

As other reviewers have warned, DJ Spooky is really stretching himself on this one. It's hard to believe this is the same artist who produced "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" or "Riddim Warfare" or "The Quick and the Dead." But what a successful stretch! Paul D. Miller is one of the sharpest most creative minds in current music, and this is some of his best work. Too bad this CD will never get the attention it truly deserves.

This great CD makes you sit up and listen! I am a jazz fan of long standing, preferring Miles, Trane, Monk, Rollins, etc..but I like to keep my ears open for new interpretations. This is a fascinating blend of great drum licks, keyboard and reed improvs, combined with beautiful, spacy, delicate mood pieces. Even the rap tunes, and I have not been much of a rap fan (until now) are extraordinary! I can hear Miles saying "yeah, man!!" Go buy it!

DJ Spooky, the stage name for Paul D. Miller, is an electronic and experimental hip-hop musician who has created many complex and well-known albums. One of his most famous albums is "Optometry", which was created in 2002 in collaboration with several other jazz players including Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Guillermo E. Brown, and Joe McPhee. This CD, full of surprises and unique sounds, is a highly acclaimed CD of fresh sounds.
The genre of this CD has been debated for there are constantly new ideas and instruments being introduced throughout. "Optometry" is both fully a DJ outing and jazz album. The beginning of the album "Optometry" consists of free jazz with soul as well as DJ squabble. Yet the pieces steadily change into more meditative moods. DJ Spooky uses his mixing board and turntables and plays the kalimba, and bass.
The opening "Ibid, desmarches, ibid" begins with traffic sounds and then a snare-heavy rhythm begins. This beat continues throughout while a bass begins to play a catchy sound and soon followed by piano chords to bring them all together. The sound is intense and makes you want to tap your foot.
On "Reactive Switching Strategies for the Control of Uninhabited Air", snares, toms, and cymbals are used to create a unique rhythm. The time signatures vary between four and eight, and there are various timbres and harmonics emitted by the individual musicians, also producing the quartet sound. The major focus of this song is the keyboard sounds between the lines and the varying gaps between segments.
"Variation Cybernetique: Rhythmic Pataphysic (Part I)" is next and begins with speedy piano notes that produce a reverberating sound. A violin begins to play and percussion begins to produce noises soon after the violin comes in. I highly enjoyed the bell sounds that ring through your ears and I felt as if I was sitting in a garden listening to the beautiful sounds of wind chimes. This song is beautiful and sounds eerie at some points throughout.
The title track somehow keeps your attention despite being twelve minutes long. There are constantly new instruments, melodies, and sounds introduced throughout the song. The song begins with abstract saxophone sounds that change to some combination of funk. Simultaneously a bass is played alongside for an obscure effect. As Thom Jurek states, "DJ spooky samples all the proceedings and mirrors them back slightly altered while adding loops and found sounds to break down even the most innate structure in the tune so it has to be built according to memory." However, the sounds of an acoustic piano come in soon after to keep the newness alive. Each participant in this song brings his or her own unique, creative aspect to it.
"Periphique" is one of the mot interesting works on the album because at the beginning it appears to have no direction, almost as if you're lost in a dessert with no end. However, the trumpet begins to sound and it creates a sense of unity and purpose throughout the rest of the piece. "It's a mad, mad, world" is another piece I found very interesting. It begins with voice samples that are silly and intriguing and then some quick melodies.
DJ Spooky's uses musique concrete, begun by Pierre Schaeffer, which is simply sample sounds from the world that are edited to produce tracks in a studio. He also has collaborated with the ST-X Ensemble in performances of the music of Iannis Xenakis. On the CD, DJ Spooky uses turntablism, which is an approach to DJing and hip-hop.
I would definitely recommend this CD to anyone interested in a CD with interesting jazz sounds for both chill music and background music. Thom Juerk, speaking of "Optometry" states, "Riff, vamp, timbral fractures, lyrical tension, splintered harmonics, and a constant, seductive sense of groove permeate this jazz album, opening up a door onto a brave new future for a free jazz with soul -- Spooky has exceeded all expectations here." The CD is fundamentally instrumental, and the lyrics are not central to the song. All in all, this CD is a beautifully put together piece of work with pleasing sounds and unique beats. There are melodies that continue throughout, however new sounds are always being thrown at us.

This is a fine piece of work. DJ Spooky is tops in my book. What better way to create a master work than to hire the help of musicians like William Parker, Matt Shipp, etc...

Great, great album!

This is a very interesting album. Most hip hop/jazz projects fail to be ingaging, but optometry is different. It combines the talents of such great avant-garde jazz musicians as Matt Shipp and William Parker, as well as the interesting effects Spooky adds to the mix. Although this album lacks in some places, There are tunes, especially tracks 4 and 5, that bring the piece to another level. Track 4 features intense spoken word over a nice combination of sax and cuts from spooky, and the title track is an insane mix that samples herbie hancock that goes on for over 9 minutes. It's interesting how spooky sampled playing from shipp's nu bop, which actually fits in quite nicely. although spooky adds nice effects, his beats aren't exactly spectacular. This may be a good thing though, as there is already so much going on. More of these types of projects are expected to be released on thirsty ear, including matt shipp's collabs with anti pop consortium and el-p, which should be exciting.

I'm not familiar with any of DJ Spooky's previous work, but I decided to take a chance and buy Optometry one day in a CD store. I don't regret it. The album is very varied in its content, with tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, and 13 being jazz-oriented (though 7 is quite spacey). Track 4 features Carl Hancock Rux doing some beat poetry, and is good. 9, "Parachutes," is a rap number. But this album has some weaknesses, as well. The multiple tracks entitled "Variation Cybernetique: Rhythmic Pataphysic" and "Absentia" are fairly weak sojourns into the realm of the purely experiemental, and are good only for their experimental value. I like this album overall, but I wish the two "Variation" and three "Absentia" tracks had been cut and replaced with more complete-sounding music.

Spooky seems to blow any original techno-jazz goodwill mapped out on an excess of attempted artsy electro focused on mumbled atmosphere.

I'm not familiar with any of DJ Spooky's previous work, but I decided to take a chance and buy Optometry one day in a CD store. I don't regret it. The album is very varied in its content, with tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, and 13 being jazz-oriented (though 7 is quite spacey). Track 4 features Carl Hancock Rux doing some beat poetry, and is good. 9, "Parachutes," is a rap number. But this album has some weaknesses, as well. The multiple tracks entitled "Variation Cybernetique: Rhythmic Pataphysic" and "Absentia" are fairly weak sojourns into the realm of the purely experimental, and are good only for their experimental value. I like this album overall, but I wish the two "Variation" and three "Absentia" tracks had been cut and replaced with more complete-sounding music.

Not that the music is bad but its a little to soft DJ Cam in most parts. If you like light jazz sort of beats then you'll really enjoy this, but as apposed to most of Spookys other beats its really on the light side. Asphalt and Parachutes are 2 tracks of special mention. The former is a nice piece of trippy hip hop while the later has a really funky groove.