Optometry (album)

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Optometry
Studio album by
DJ Spooky
Released2002
StudioTurntablism, free jazz
LabelThirsty Ear
ProducerDJ Spooky
DJ Spooky chronology
Modern Mantra
(2002) 		Optometry
(2002) 		Optometrix
(2003)

Optometry is an album by the American musician DJ Spooky, released in 2002.[1][2] It was part of Thirsty Ear Recordings' Blue Series of albums.[3] DJ Spooky considered it an example of Gesamtkunstwerk.[4] He supported the album with a North American tour.[5] A remix album, Dubtrometry, was released in 2003.[6]

Production[edit]

The tracks began as free form improvisations played by musicians recruited by DJ Spooky, who then altered, edited, and applied samples to the songs; he also played bass and kalimba.[7][3] Matthew Shipp played piano on the album; Pauline Oliveros contributed on accordion.[8][9] William Parker played bass and Guillermo E. Brown served as the project's drummer.[10] Joe McPhee contributed on trumpet and saxophone.[11] "Asphalt (Tome II)" contains a spoken word contribution from Carl Hancock Rux.[12]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
Philadelphia Daily NewsB+[15]
Pitchfork7.5/10[16]
The Province[4]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

Pitchfork wrote: "Rather than just make an album that merges a few different techniques or genres, Spooky has made a point of calling attention to it... Ultimately, Spooky casts himself as ringleader to a revolution that fails to happen—after the initial bustle of a few extremely strong tracks, Optometry wanders blindly for far too long."[16] The Gazette noted that the album melds "music and social theory with collage-like cross-referencing."[17] The Los Angeles Times concluded that "DJ culture does have its Zappa, its Stockhausen, its Cage, an artist defying fashion and changing the possibilities of music forever... Without vinyl pyrotechnics, Spooky reveals how free jazz is also the highest expression of outlaw classical composition."[14]

The Boston Globe determined that, "there may be programmed beats, samples, synthesizers, and even a bit of rapping on this disc, but it's free jazz at heart, it grooves throughout—and it just may be the Bitches Brew of its era."[18] The Independent said that "Optometry hangs around menacingly towards the 'free' end of the jazz spectrum, the intellectual end of the hip-hop one, but that doesn't mean it's an ugly bastard."[19] Rolling Stone deemed Optometry "a fusion exercise that's at turns pensive and frenetic but always richly textured."[20]

AllMusic wrote that "Optometry is fully a DJ outing and fully a jazz record."[13]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Ibid, Désmarches, Ibid" 
2."Reactive Switching Strategies for the Control of Uninhabited Air" 
3."Variation Cybernétique: Rhythmic Pataphysic (Part I)" 
4."Asphalt (Tome II)" 
5."Optometry" 
6."Sequentia Absentia (Dialectical Triangulation I)" 
7."Rosemary" 
8."Dementia Absentia (Dialectical Triangulation II)" 
9."Parachutes" 
10."Absentia Absentia (Dialectical Triangulation III)" 
11."Variation Cybernétique: Rhythmic Pataphysic (Part II)" 
12."Périphique" 
13."It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World" 

References[edit]

  1. ^ Graff, Gary (12 July 2002). "The musician creates his own free-form mantra". Friday Mag. The Plain Dealer. p. 12.
  2. ^ "DJ Spooky". Newsday. 2 Aug 2002. p. B34.
  3. ^ a b Roberts, Michael (Sep 2002). "DJ Spooky: Optometry". Jazziz. Vol. 19, no. 9. p. 58.
  4. ^ a b Derdeyn, Stuart (30 July 2002). "Ultrasound". The Province. p. B13.
  5. ^ Basquez, Anna (19 July 2002). "DJ Spooky lays new spin on electronic music". Fort Collins Coloradoan. p. B7.
  6. ^ a b (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 732.
  7. ^ Graybow, Steven (July 20, 2002). "Jazz notes". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 29. p. 33.
  8. ^ Reynolds, Bill (19 July 2002). "DJ Spooky Optometry". The Hamilton Spectator. p. D5.
  9. ^ Gold, Kerry (25 July 2002). "Master of media convergence, New York's DJ Spooky, holds court Aug. 1 at Sonar on the opening night of the second annual New Forms Festival". Vancouver Sun. p. D17.
  10. ^ McElfresh, Dave (Aug 9, 2002). "DJ Spooky Optometry". Goldmine. Vol. 28, no. 16. p. 23.
  11. ^ Harrington, Richard (10 Jan 2003). "Prolific DJ Spooky Mixes Media Projects". The Washington Post. p. WW6.
  12. ^ Hermes, Will (August 16, 2002). "Optometry". Music. Entertainment Weekly.
  13. ^ a b "Optometry Review by Thom Jurek". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b Kuipers, Dean (21 July 2002). "Pop Music: Record Rack". Los Angeles Times. p. F64.
  15. ^ Takiff, Jonathan (9 July 2002). "Fuse This". Features. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 38.
  16. ^ a b Pecoraro, David M. (August 27, 2002). "Optometry DJ Spooky". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  17. ^ Dunlevy, T'Cha (11 July 2002). "DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid Optometry". The Gazette. p. D5.
  18. ^ Greenlee, Steve (26 July 2002). "DJ Spooky Optometry". The Boston Globe. p. C14.
  19. ^ Coleman, Nick (18 Aug 2002). "Music CDs: Smoking Jazz-hop Improv". Features. The Independent. p. 14.
  20. ^ "DJ Spooky Optometry". Rolling Stone. No. 907. Oct 17, 2002. p. 72.
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