NEW RELEASE BY SECRET CHIEFS 3

"Horrorrthon"
New release by Secret Chiefs 3
On  Bandcamp

CARL KING TALKS TO TREY SPRUANCE

Carl King Podcast Episode 14 : Trey Spruance

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - MALKHUT

Written by John Zorn, arranged by Secret Chiefs 3,
here's the "Malkhut" album by Secret Chiefs 3.

It's album number 10 in John Zorn's "Masada Book 3 - The Book Beri'ah" 11 CD box set.

The CD box is available for US $ 150 / € 132 (plus postage and customs, I guess),
complete download for US $ 75 / € 66.

https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/johnzorn

SECRET CHIEFS 3

Secret Chiefs 3 released a Halloween EP.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - LIVE AT THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL

• secret chiefs 3: live at the great american music hall
      (2009, dvd, usa, mimicry)

Adding data to the Secret Chiefs 3 discography.
"Live At The Great American Music Hall" got released in 2009.

From Midheaven.com :
Live at the Great American Music Hall captures Secret Chiefs 3 in concert with what many consider to be the best of their many lineups in 14 years of playing. Shot in 2007 at one of the band's favorite haunts, this DVD does justice to a group whose live energy usually exceeds the recorded medium. Renowned for their ultra-elaborate CD productions, Secret Chiefs 3 has also garnered a reputation for the power and immediacy of their live shows. Their fanbase has swelled in recent years and grown accustomed to this live incarnation (the Secret Chiefs 3 bootleg scene is thriving), and they demand an official release! Not just some audience-hand-cam and stereo-mic-job thing, this DVD boasts a pro six-camera shoot with live sound mixed by Billy Anderson, with the multi-channel outs mixed for DVD by Trey Spruance and Randall Dunn (producer of Earth, SUNNO))), Kinski, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc). And it comes with a really nice six-panel gatefold digi-pack with original artwork.

At the show, Secret Chiefs 3 performs a set of both familiar and as-yet-unreleased music. The line-up includes Ches Smith (Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog), Shahzad Ismaili (who also plays with Graham Haynes, Laurie Anderson, and Tom Waits), Timb Harris (Estradasphere), Rich Doucette, Peijman Kouretchian, and Jai Young Kim. Live at the Great American Music Hall also has an award-winning and seriously dimensionally altered 80-minute stop-motion animation feature film directed by Tawd Dornfeld that uses Secret Chiefs 3's live show as a soundtrack.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - BOOK OF SOULS : FOLIO A

• secret chiefs 3: book of souls, folio a
      (2013, cd, usa, mimicry)

Adding data for another fine album to the United Mutations Archives.

Book of Souls: Folio A is an album densely-packed with musical skyscrapers, Secret Chiefs 3's most elaborate work yet. Following the 7-band schemata laid out in Book of Horizons, Book of Souls establishes the depth of SC3's journey into otherwise lost musical possibilities. With productions based in studios in the SF Bay Area, NY, LA, Seattle, UK and France over the last 11 years, SC3 enlisted a small army of musicians -- or actually not so small, since the orchestral tasks demanded by the music seem effectively unlimited in number. On "Book of Souls: Folio A," it is evident that Secret Chiefs 3 continues to operate in blissful ignorance of current musical fashions, remaining enchanted only by what can be unlocked in modern mediums by applying a specific recipe of pre-modern (often ancient) processes to them.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - SATELLITE SUPERSONIC VOL 1

• secret chiefs 3: satellite supersonic vol.1
      (2010, cd, usa, mimicry)

Listening to experimental collective Secret Chiefs 3 always is an adventure. Led by Trey Spruance (Mr Bungle, Faith No More), the band records an tours with different line-ups and even under different names.
The 2010 album "Satellite Supersonic Vol 1" is sort of a compilation. It collects material from different Secret Chiefs 3 ensembles (satellites) that had only been released on 7" vinyl. The exceptions: one different version, one unreleased track, and one track that had only been released on a sampler.

The band will be in Ghent on November 9, 2018, to celebrate "John Zorn 65".
Next to Trey Spruance, the SC3 septet will feature a.o. Eyvind Kang on violin and Ches Smith on drums

SECRET CHIEFS 3

The Stone in Europe Series starts in September. Once a month, a band will come to Europe to hold an exclusive mini tour. To start the European Stone Odyssey, we asked John ZORN to mark his 65th birthday by choosing some of his most compelling works from his ample catalog in order to start the Stone series in Europe and there is no better way to celebrate his birthday than by celebrating his work and his music.

MARY HALVORSON QUARTET, BRIAN MARSELLA TRIO, SECRET CHIEFS 3 and Parisian band AUTORYNO will play Masada Books Two and Three (The Book of Angels and the Book Beriah) and the Bagatelles from September to December.
Sarajevo, Ljubljana, Vienna, Rotterdam, Ghent, Den Bosch, Amsterdam, Oslo... The Stone will roll into many European cities this Autumn. The Stone in Europe will continue in 2019 too. John ZORN will choose some of the most exciting musicians of our times who will play their original repertoire for The Stone in Europe Series.

paying tribute to John Zorn :

• BRIAN MARSELLA TRIO - October 11, 2018, at De Handelsbeurs, Ghent, BE
• SECRET CHIEFS - November 9, 2018, at De Handelsbeurs, Ghent, BE

JOHN ZORN / MASADA / SECRET CHIEFS 3

The Book Beriah is the third and last book of Masada compositions and features 92 John Zorn compositions recorded by eleven all-star ensembles on 11 CDs contained in a beautiful, limited edition boxed set.

One of theses ensembles is Secret Chiefs 3.

The box is made available through Pledgemusic.
https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/johnzorn

Here's a preview of the Secret Chiefs 3 contribution :

ISHRAQIYUN - PERICHORESIS

• ishraqiyun: perichoresis
      (2014, cd, usa, mimicry)

Ishraqiyun is (one of) Trey Spruance's project within Secret Chiefs 3.
In the mood for an oriental and microtonal escapade ? Try Perichoresis !

SECRET CHIEFS 3

Secret Chiefs 3 definitely needs a spin avery once in a while.

MOVIE / DOCUMENTARY - STUPOR MUNDI

• documentary: stupor mundi
      (2016, dvd, france, sycomore films / les éditions de l'octet)

December 2013, Sycomore Films started a crowdfunding campaign for a movie called "Ritual Of Pope Decapitation".

Sycomor adds:
The movie was born of our meeting with the producer Xavier Filliol, great connoisseur of the Freaks and friend of Carl Franzoni. Xavier Filliol introduced us to Gail Zappa in Los Angeles, who was very enthousiast in watching our movies. She gave us her consent and support to use musical materials from her husband. The crowdfunding campaign of December 2013 had to cover the investments in new shootings and post production costs.The minimum amount required was 35 euros. As a counterpart of this support, contributors received a box of 4 DVDs with 52 episodes of the serie The Apparatus. If contributors gave 50 euros or more, they'd also get the DVD of Ritual of Pope Decapitation. With this campaign, with your support (over 500 contributors), we reached the amount of 32,000 euros.

One year after, following shootings and a long editing time, we realized that we won’t « put our elephant in a shoe box ». So, it’s not one but 4 movies that we decided to release, gathered under the title STUPOR MUNDI. The topic is not only Zappa and the Freaks but « A History of EVERYTHING (and its monsters) ». And since last April, the two first episodes have been screened at several festivals.

To be quite  honest, I had forgotten all about this documentary and its crowd funding campaign. I did remember receiveing the box set with "The Apparatus" episodes in 2014, but the package with "Stupor Mundi" that arrived last week came as a surprise.
The box can hold 2 DVDs, but only 1 DVD was included. This disc presents the first two movies : "Ritual Of Pope Decapitation" (a reference to pope of LSD Timothy Leary, who has his head stored in a fridge somewhere), and "Men Who Devoured The Mountain" (being the yuppies who took over Hollywood and the music industry and everything else).
A film by Thomas Bertay and PacômeThiellement. Music by Frank Zappa.

Not the easiest stuff to watch but very impressive.
Includes interviews with Frank Zappa, Gail Zappa, Carl Franzoni (one of the early L.A. freaks) and Trey Spruance (of Secret Chiefs 3), plus some concert fragments of Zappa's band.

Great package with a superb cover mixing a shot of the "Freaks" movie with FZ's yawning face from "Chunga's".
Can't wait to see the sequel.

Those who missed the original crowdfunding, can still order this documentary.
Check out : http://stupormundi.tv/ for all the details.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 TRADITIONALISTS - LE MANI DESTRE RECISE DEGLI ULTIMI UOMINI

• secret chiefs 3 traditionalists: le mani destre recise degli ultimi uomini
      (2009, cd, usa, mimicry)

In 2009, Secret Chiefs 3 released an imaginary soundtrack entitled "The Severed Right Hands Of The Last Men".
Actually, they released it as Secret Chiefs Traditionalists, one of their many monikers.

A perfect way to start your day.

-

SECRET CHIEFS 3 UPDATE

It seems like the Secret Chiefs 3 discography over at the United Mutations Archives needed an update.
Album titles only. More info to follow soon.

• secret chiefs 3 traditionalists: le mani destre recise degli ultimi uomini
      (2009, cd, usa, mimicry)
• secret chiefs 3: live at the great american music hall
      (2009, dvd, usa, mimicry)
• secret chiefs 3: satellite supersonic vol.1
      (2010, cd, usa, mimicry)
• secret chiefs 3: book of souls, folio a
      (2013, cd, usa, mimicry)
• ishraqiyun: perichoresis
      (2014, cd, usa, mimicry)

SECRET CHIEFS 3

Secret Chiefs 3 will be performing at the Freakshow Artrock Festival in Würzburg next September.
25, 26 and 27 September 2015.

http://www.freakshow-in-concert.com/fsf15.html

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - BOOK OF ANGELS VOLUME 9

• secret chiefs 3: xaphan: book of angels volume 9
      (2008, cd, usa, tzadik records #7364) 

With a brand-new Secret Chiefs 3 album ("Book Of Souls - Folio A") scheduled to be released in October, it's about time to shed a light upon their excellent 2008 release: "Xaphan".
Subtitled "Book Of Angels, Volume 9", "Xaphan" is part of John Zorn's "Masada Book Two" series.

Some twenty years ago, John Zorn started writing a number of songs that were inspired by traditional Jewish music. These compositions are known as the "Masada Book", and they got performed and recorded by the Masada ensemble. The sequel of the "Masada Book" is called "Masada Book Two". These pieces are intended to be performed and recorded by other arists. The series of albums that emerged from "Masada Book Two" is called "Book Of Angels". It presents an impressive list of artists that perform compositions from John Zorn's "Masada Book Two".
This list of artists include Marc Ribot (Volume 7) and Pat Metheny (Volume 20) to name two, but also Secret Chiefs 3 (Volume 9).

This is pretty impressive. John Zorn's compositions fit the Secret Chiefs 3 perfectly.

Recommended listening.

Here are some samples.

SECRET CHIEFS 3

Adding data and pictures to the United Mutations Archives, here's three more excellent albums by Secret Chiefs 3.

• secret chiefs 3: eyes of flesh, eyes of flame
      (1999, cd, usa, web of mimicry wom-002)

"Eyes Of Flesh, Eyes Of Flame" is SC3's first live album. It was the second release on the Web Of Mimicry label and originally made available as a limited mail-order-only release.
Fortunately, it is back in print.

The mand behind the band (and behind the record label) is called Trey Spruance. He used to play the guitar in Mr.Bungle. With Secret Chiefs 3, Trey Spruance mixes of experimental rock, eastern rhythms and melodies and film music into something you've never heard before.

Recorded in concert somewhere in 1998, "Eyes Of Flesh, Eyes Of Flame" shows how the music sounds live. Incredible.

• secret chiefs 3: book m
      (2001, cd, usa, web of mimicry wom-006)

• secret chiefs 3: book of horizons
      (2004, cd, usa, web of mimicry wom-014) 

"Book M" and "Book Of Horizons" are my favourite SC3 albums.
On "Book Of Horizons", we get to meet the different sides of SC3 as SC3 is made up of 7 different bands, each of which has a unique sound.

And if I can't convince you, read this:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/148923-the-alchemist-trey-spruances-ongoing-quest-for-greatness/

http://www.prog-sphere.com/interviews/an-interview-with-trey-spruance-of-secret-chiefs-3/

Lesson learned : If Philippe tells you to check something out, you don't hesitate.

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART ONE : THE TRIP TO HAMBURG

Last minute changes had me going to Zappanale on my own. This did mean that the pre-Zappanale Hamburg show came back up as a possibility.

Checking Ticketservice did not make me happy. Ordering the ticket on-line would double the ticket price. Handling and sending the tickets would cost me about 25 or 30 €. Insane.

Fortunately, my friend and fellow Zappateer Steffen was able to help me out. He still had a couple of spare tickets. Lucky me.

Listening to VLEK (the latest Palinckx project), Nigey Lennon (the first edition of Re-Inventing The Weehl) and Secret Chiefs 3 (Path Of Most Resistance) made the trip to HH OK.

I don't like driving around in a town that I do not know. GPS makes me feel powerless. Subjected. Makes me feel nervous. That said, the "Katharinenkirchhof 1" is rather easy to reach. And it's situated next to the new hip area of Hamburg which makes it perfect to stroll around a bit when you've got a couple of hours to kill.

The St Katharinenkirche looked familiar. I have seen some very fine concerts there: the Ensemble Ambrosius, Sheik Yerbouti and the Bogus Pomp ensemble. If you want to check them out, all three of these concerts got released on CD. All in support for the church and the restoration of the church organ (that Bach once played).

Personally, I don't care about the church, the organ, or even Bach, but I did like the previous concerts. And the CD's.

• bogus pomp feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2009, cd, ger, s.j.s.-edition nr.3)

• sheik yerbouti feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2010, cd, ger, sjs-edition nr.4)

• ensemble ambrosius feat. napoleon murphy brock: zappa spielt für bach
      (2011, cd, ger, s-j-s-edition nr.5)

This year's St Katharinen concert would feature Dietmar Bonnen, Alexei Aigui and Lothar Burhaus, performing the music of Dylan, Hendrix and Zappa.

Dietmar Bonnen teaches music at the university of Cologne. He has an impressive discography, including various Frank Zappa  compositions.
I remember seeing him in concert in Brussels once, doing a Zappa tribute concert with a clasically trained vocalist. That was great. Still got vivid memories of that one.

The same evening also featured Frank Nuyts' Hardscore ensemble. What a night that was...

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE

• secret chiefs 3: path of most resistance
      (2007, cd, usa, mimicry)

Adding interesting data to the United Mutations Archives, here's another SC3 album.

Secret Chiefs 3's "Path Of Most Resistance" is a sampler, picking out tracks from "Books Of Horizons", "Book M", "Second Grand Constitution" and "Eyes Of Flesh".
It also features three bonus tracks. 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus', previously released on a Japanese promotional sampler, and 'Good Vibrations' plus 'Heroes And Villains', both previously released on a Japanese Beach Boys tribute album.

Wouldn't call it a 'best of' as that wouldn't do justice to SC3's output, but it's a fine sampler and a perfect introduction for those who aren't familiar with SC3.

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - HURQALYA (SECOND GRAND CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS)

• secret chiefs 3: hurqalya (second grand constitution and bylaws)
      (1998, cd, usa, amarillo records acm-609)

"Hurqalya", the second album by Secret Chiefs 3, got released in 1998. The concept stayed the same, but the focus is put on eastern melodies and instumentation.
Great stuff.
The 2000 re-release on the Mimicry label is a remastered edition and has one bonus track.

Recommended listening.