Bill Laswell?

My opinion on Laswell's work tracks almost exactly with @danasgoodstuff 's and I'd go further and say, I don't much care for the sound quality on the records he's produced. I'm also not big into the whole ambient remix thing.

That said, he has produced some classics -- besides Ask the Ages, there's Henry Threadgill's Too Much Sugar for a Dime, as well as some other really good records on Umar Bin Hassan, Threadgill, Sly & Robbie. BTW, just looking at his credits, he DID is listed as producer of one of the Decoding Society records and a couple of other Shannon Jackson records.

 

Yeah, I thought there might be something I was forgetting, but still RSJ didn't really need him. But, having seen Sharrock live, he worked miracles making those records focused - Ages and Guitar especially.

 

I agree. Check my avatar.

 

These are some of what I have and listen to:

 

I dunno, maybe, I only saw Sonny once, it was a show in Central Park, maybe just before Ask the Ages, I don't remember exactly, and I don't particularly recall any lack of focus. I do remember a beautiful rendition of "All My Trials," as he had recorded it for Highlife so maybe it was around the time of that album.

 

Yeah, that Threadgill album is good too. I also like Where's Your Cup and Makin' a Move, which Laswell was also involved in.

 

Bill’s Panthalassa got me into the era of Miles Davis. Before that, all I had of Miles was Kind of Blue.

I loved Bill’s version of He Loved Him Madly which also became one of my favorite Miles Davis songs when I finally heard the original.

 

I have his Santana, Miles Davis and Bob Marley reworkings and enjoy them.
I'm a sucker for Jamaican dub explorations so I sometimes listen to his dub stuff on YouTube while I work.

 

The beginnings of what would become Material after Allen and the band parted ways. I was a fan of Daevid Allen and Gong, so I bought this when it came out in 1980. This was my introduction to Bill Laswell. Haven't listened to it in many years.

 

I like some of the early Material stuff, his solo LP Baselines, the first Last Exit LP and a few other bits (mostly the improv / avant garde things).

He seemed to spend a lot of the 80s and 90s working with fantasy lineups of amazing musicians, but the resulting records were frequently contrived, stiff and frankly a bit dull. The ambient stuff didn't interest me and I hated the Miles Davis thing.

This one was great though:

 

I was likewise a fan of those first two Material albums. George Lewis gets off a rip roaring trombone solo on the title track of Memory Serves. I hadn't listened to them in years and had forgotten exactly who was on them but I instantly recognized the sonic signatures of both Threadgill and Olu Dara on the track you linked us to. I never took to his Miles Davis remixes either, like you. But you should check out that extended version he mixed of Tony Williams Lifetime Turn It Over. And also that Arcana trio album with Tony Williams and Derek Bailey.

 

I don't know who listened to his avant-funk and dub excursions and thought Laswell would be a good pick to produce Motörhead, but I've always dug the album that resulted, Orgasmatron.

 

What I've heard over the years is probably a drop in the ocean and I do share a bit of the ambivalence about his output, but I'd definitely recommend the following:

Last Exit - S/T and Iron Path (would agree that they were less than the sum of their parts but when the parts are that good you can't really go wrong)
Material - Memory Serves and the stuff compiled on Secret Life or the Temporary Music comp
Massacre - Killing Time
Time Zone - Just the 'World Destruction' single really but it's an electro classic
Painkiller - The three studio albums

 

Long time fan. Some favorites (among many):

 

Another vote here for Material's Hallucination Engine

 

There are some great suggestions for me to check out at home tonight, I haven't heard much of his stuff but this would be my pick...


Deep, funky and a bit unhinged.

 

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=378951566b2233c5cb0f203d1410a019&oe=5E5C6B4A

Well..look what turned up "Baselines"....a limited edition run of five hundred on 180gm virgin vinyl to be played at 45rpm... via "Tiger Bay"....no idea if this is a genuine release or a "shady" copy....not had a chance to play it yet!

 

Lots of great albums mentioned already. A few years back he did an album featuring Morgan Agren on drums. Cool stuff.

 

This is an excellent record!

 

I really wish I had picked up more of the Wordsound catalogue when I had the chance.
Bill was heavily involved, and I always loved what I managed to hear.
Best album for me is the Ekstasis with Nicky Skopelitis.
Oh, and the Axiom albums had the best coverart ever.

 

and of course, as soon as I post that I look at my Bill Laswell archive and go : "oh yeah, that's great, oh, and so is that, damn, forgot about that one !" etc etc.
as someone has already mentioned, you can get very lost going down this particular rabbit hole.

 

Where to begin?? For me it’s Funkcronomicon on the Axiom; incredible funk and I think the last recordings of Eddie Hazel. His Marley, Santana, and Miles’ remix albums. Last Exit with Peter Brötzmann ain’t for the faint hearted and definitely not background music! Material....and on and on. this guy was everywhere in the 80s-90s

 

an old favorite

 

Transmutation and Sacrifist by PRAXIS!!

 

I definitely have mixed feelings about some of his collections. Funkronomicon was a big disappointment after discovering Bernie and Bootsy via Praxis: Transmutation. That album is an EVENT in my life. There's way too much for me to pull into scope. I love that he's a Bandcamp presence.

Bill Laswell

Enjoy and support your favorite artists during this time of uncertainty if you can!