Zohar is an album by the Mystic Fugu Orchestra (John Zorn (as Rav Tzizit) and Yamataka Eye (as Rav Yechida) who perform a range of music inspired by historical recordings of ancient Judaica.[1] To simulate the "antiquity" of these recordings, a heavy layer of surface noise was overlaid on the music to represent the playing quality of a 78 rpm gramophone record.

Zohar
Studio album by
Mystic Fugu Orchestra (John Zorn & Yamantaka Eye)
Released1995
GenreAvant-garde
Length23:38
LabelTzadik TZ 7106
ProducerJohn Zorn
John Zorn chronology
John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory
(1995)
Zohar
(1995)
First Recordings 1973
(1995)
John Zorn and Yamataka Eye chronology
Nani Nani
(1994)
Zohar
(1995)
Naninani II
(2004)

Reception

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The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 1.5 stars stating "Just under half an hour's worth of old record spin-and-crackle sounds in the foreground, with a faint background of John Zorn adding small amounts of harmonium and Yamantaka Eye voicing occasional hums and tones. Most of what you hear, however, is record surface static and the revolutions of the vinyl. Zohar could only be of use to completists, or as a layer for mixing".[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [2]

Track listing

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  1. "Alef" – 0:40
  2. "Book Of Splendors" – 3:48
  3. "Frog Doina" – 2:02
  4. "The Dybbuk" – 2:28
  5. "2000 Years" – 0:59
  6. "Goniff Dance" – 2:17
  7. "Rav Nova" – 7:44
  8. "Zayin" – 3:37
  • All compositions by John Zorn/Yamataka Eye

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Tzadik catalogue
  2. ^ a b Layne, J. Allmusic Review accessed June 6, 2011