Mixerr Album Reviews #2,198

John Zorn - String Quartets is an avant-garde classical album filled with beautiful chamber music with a sophisticated sound which classical music fans will enjoy. A string quartet performs on a majority of the song off this album of his. Now not all of the songs are perfect or have longevity. Most of these songs are less than a minute long in the short run. Some of these songs completely off key and the instruments need adjusting as to sound so off key or off balance.
     
Cat O' Nine Tails is a beautiful chamber music combo which consists of a string quartet where the instrumentation is composed of two violins, a viola, and cello. This instrumentation arrangement is not unusual because the most characteristic form is the string quartet (two violins, viola, and cello). The song has a creeping intimate vibe that is met with a sound of uncertainty and climax.

Folio is one of the more uptempo songs due to the pitch and tones of which the violins are played. The violins are played in such a brusque manner. The song is a modern composition.

Rondo is a short repulsive viola instrumental. Honestly the viola sounds much untuned, fractured, and very distorted. The sound coming those violas will definitely make you cringe. One can see why this song would be considered as an “avant-garde” song.

Nocturne has a foreboding dark vibe with a grim sound due to the enigmatic sound. A percussion ensemble can be heard at the end of this song which is actually a pair of bongos. That creaking sound is enough to make want to cringe uncomfortably. That sound is unsettling to many people’s ears.

I rate this album 3/5***.