Guitarist
David Torn, bassist
Mick Karn, and drummer
Terry Bozio play a total of over 20 instruments in this far-reaching musical experiment, released in 1994 on avant- fusion label CMP Records. Led by
Torn's scattered almost-melodies, these ten tracks present a tribal jazz ambiance and near-constant guitar and bass noodling that fans of
Torn and
Karn's prior work will enjoy. Bozio's expressive percussion stylings are up to the drummer's world-class standard, and carry Polytown beyond the new age oblivion similar records inhabit. Despite the virtuoso, heavily-nuanced performances, however, this challenging collection still might not posses the cohesion necessary to interest listeners unfamiliar with so much obsessive compulsive instrumentalism. There is an uncredited nugget of prose inside the CD case that says it best; "Rivers of warm sand like snakes coil around Polytown often flooding into larger reptiles." Impossibly meaningless, but odd and beautiful -- that's the dichotomy of Polytown. ~ Vincent Jeffries