Against Empire

Over the course of three decades, visionary bassist/producer Bill Laswell has been one of the most prolific and restlessly creative forces in contemporary music, always a few steps ahead of the curve, EVOLUTION/REVOLUTION. AGAINST EMPIRE, a new category of magical, electro/acoustic technology. Further research may shed a most revealing light on the development of sound storage in material culture. AGAINST EMPIRE projects a hybrid activity, constantly evolving texture crashes against smooth, unfolding rhythms built around the solid and elastic drum foundations of four iconic drummers - Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Hideo Yamaki (Japan's top dummer) and Satoyasu Shomura (Japanese pop phenomenon). The legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, especially known for his radical collaborations with John Coltrane, versatile multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum, minimal contributions from the great Herbie Hancock on electric piano and the unmistakable touch of master percussionist Adam Rudolph. AGAINST EMPIRE, an iconoclast offering of multi-directional movements .... avant-jazz, rock, dub, experimental, ambient, sub-bass and on and on .... a dream colonization, a bizarre image of paradise, an imagined quality of elsewhere, construct of the imagination, essence of difference. Nothing is True, Everything Is Permitted AGAINST the EMPIRE of LIES AGAINST the ANTI-MUSIC of MEDIOCRITY AGAINST COMPLACENCY and COMPROMISE AGAINST SHAMELESS and UNINFORMED PRIVILEGE AGAINST INHERENT RACISM DIRECT or INDIRECT, KNOWN or UNKNOWN AGAINST EMPIRE Bill Laswell Hell’s Kitchen, NYC release: April 10, 2020 / M.O.D. Reloaded MODRL00100