Praxis

Bio:

Like so much other vital information of recent years, this recording is finally seeing the light of day. Profanation. A memory bank of suppressed atrocities, mass deceptions and twisted histories. The mosaic contains much.

Profanation is one of Bill Laswell’s most vocal-oriented creations in years. And the voices will be heard. Fronting the core band of Laswell on bass, Brain on drums and Buckethead on guitar, are vocalists Iggy Pop, Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Killah Priest, Doctor Israel, the alarmingly inscrutable Rammellzee and Hawkman, a feverish newcomer to Laswell’s circle whose track will leave you gasping for breath and your furniture in a pieces.

Laswell conceived the album with a clear idea in mind—blend Praxis’ adventurous rock/dub/turntable foundation with the aggressive beats of drum ‘n bass. Overall, the songs inhabit tighter forms than the jagged experimentalism of previous Praxis albums. But listen closely and witness a seething disintegration as surface forms give way to elements deeper in the mix: Rammellzee, clad in a transformer costume, reading the Bible upside-down and backwards; Buckethead, setting aside his impeccable shredding, momentarily channels the raw emotionalism of Eddie Hazel; Japanese drummer XXX Yoshida (of the Ruins and Painkiller) exploding midway through the album, bringing with him the energy of his live duets with Laswell. Bernie Worrell—satisfyingly vintage; a harbinger of the future—ever sneaking off into unknown spaces in time and tone, subtly defying the fixed logic of the keyboard.

As the songs drift past, even the lyrics peel away to reveal something else. Yes, Hawkman’s words are biting and well-chosen but his vicious conviction makes them authentically so. Hear, too, the hardened but humorous Midwestern razor’s edge that is Iggy Pop’s voice—yes, he’s formed it into syllables and syntax but relish the voice itself, for that is the journey.

Not all sounds were made for the bright light of day. Not all words need reveal an immediate meaning. As with many of Laswell’s creations, Profanation rises to meet listeners at the gate but soon pulls us into a world visceral and unthinking—a place far beyond the corruption of words.

Flip the page, turn it around. Look another way; just don’t look the other way.

Profanation credits:

"Caution"
Rammellzee,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain,
phonosycographDISK

"Worship"
Hawkman,
Maximum Bob,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain

"Ancient World"
Dr. Israel,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Monkey and Large,
Grandmixer DXT

"Furies"
Iggy Pop,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain

"Galaxies"
Killah Priest,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain,
Bernie Worrell,
phonosycographDISK

"Sulfur and Cheese"
Serj Tankian,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain

"Larynx"
Mike Patton,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Future Prophecies,
phonosycographDISK

"Revelations Part 2"
Rammellzee,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain,
Bernie Worrell,
phonosycographDISK

"Ruined"
Tatsuya Yoshida,
Bill Laswell

"Garbage God's"
Rammellzee,
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Rawthang,
Grandmixer DXT

"Babylon Blackout"
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain,
Bernie Worrell,
Otomu Yoshihide

"Endtime"
Bill Laswell,
Buckethead,
Brain,
Bernie Worrell