Radio (Naked City album)

Radio is the fourth studio album by the band Naked City, and their first to be composed entirely by bandleader John Zorn. The album was also released as part of Naked City: The Complete Studio Recordings on Tzadik Records in 2005.

Radio marked a return to the eclectic, "jump cut" style of the band's 1989 debut album, making drastic shifts from one musical style to another often every few seconds. The liner notes cite a wide range of musical influences including Charles Mingus, Little Feat, Ruins, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Colin Wilson, Albert King, Chuck Brown, Orchestra Baobab, the Accüsed, the Meters, Tony Williams' Lifetime, Anton Webern, Sammy Cahn, Frank Sinatra, Morton Feldman, Igor Stravinsky, the Melvins, Beatmasters, Septic Death, Abe Schwartz, Ivo Papasov, Naftule Brandwein, Repulsion, Led Zeppelin, Bernard Herrmann, Santana, Extreme Noise Terror, Conway Twitty, Siege, Ornette Coleman, Corrosion of Conformity, Massacre, Quincy Jones, Sam Fuller, Funkadelic, Carcass, Liberace, Jan Hammer, Eddie Blackwell, Charlie Haden, Mick Harris, Carole King, Red Garland, Boredoms, Jerry Reed, SPK and Roger Williams in addition to Zorn's previously identified touchstones.

Reception
In his 4 star review for the Allmusic website, Maurice Rickard states "Several genres and bands are skillfully evoked... and helpfully listed in the liner notes in order of occurrence. Jazz, surf, R&B, death metal, funk, acid rock, and serialism are grafted together in this collection, often into the same song, and the band shifts genres, tempos, and arrangements on a dime. Supposedly, Radio was conceived as a set for a college radio program, making it a kind of "Young Person's Guide to Naked City," beginning with accessible tunes, gradually building up listener tolerance to dissonance, and finally sandbagging the listener with evil blasts of dissonant metallic noise and convincing perpetrator-and-victim screaming."

Track listing
All music composed and arranged by John Zorn.

Personnel

 * John Zorn – alto saxophone
 * Bill Frisell – guitar
 * Wayne Horvitz – keyboards
 * Fred Frith – bass
 * Joey Baron – drums
 * Yamatsuka Eye – vocals

Credits

 * Published by Theatre of Musical Optics, BMI
 * Executive Producer: Disk Union
 * Associate Producer: Kazunori Sugiyama
 * Recorded April 1992 by Alec Head
 * Mixed September 1992 by Roger Moutenot
 * Assistant Engineer: Hoover Le
 * Mastered by Bob Ludwig
 * Digital Editing by Scott Hull
 * Cover photos: Man Ray
 * Design: Tomoyo T.L. (Karath=Razar)