Torture Garden (album)

Untitled

Torture Garden is an album by John Zorn's band Naked City featuring Yamatsuka Eye on vocals. The album is a compilation of the "hardcore miniatures" that were also released on Naked City and Grand Guignol. Unlike other Naked City albums, there are no breaks between the screaming, the seemingly random saxophone blasts and grindcore. The album was originally released on Shimmy Disc in 1989. Following controversy over Naked City's album covers it was re-released in 1996 on Tzadik Records with Leng Tch'e simply as Black Box. The tracks were also released as part of Naked City: The Complete Studio Recordings in 2005.

The name for the collection comes from Le jardin des supplices, an 1899 decadent novel by Octave Mirbeau.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Bradley Torreano awarded the album 4 stars stating "Songs blur together but never get boring, no lyrics are actually sung, and few songs last longer than a minute. It also never takes itself seriously, a nice relief from Zorn's heavy-handed ambient collaborations. This would make a great introduction to the noise/jazz efforts that this group of musicians pioneered in the early 1990s."

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Track listing

All compositions by John Zorn and Yamatsuka Eye

1. "Blood Is Thin" - 1:00
2. "Demon Sanctuary" - 0:38
3. "Thrash Jazz Assassin" - 0:45
4. "Dead Spot" - 0:31
5. "Bonehead" - 0:51
6. "Speedball" - 0:17
7. "Blood Duster" - 0:13
8. "Pile Driver" - 0:33
9. "Shangkuan Ling-Feng" - 1:14
10. "Numbskull" - 0:29
11. "Perfume of a Critic's Burning Flesh" - 0:24
12. "Jazz Snob Eat Shit" - 0:24
13. "The Prestigitator" - 0:43
14. "No Reason to Believe" - 0:26
15. "Hellraiser" - 0:39
16. "Torture Garden" - 0:35
17. "Slan" - 0:23
18. "Hammerhead" - 0:08
19. "The Ways of Pain" - 0:31
20. "The Noose" - 0:10
21. "Sack of Shit" - 0:43
22. "Blunt Instrument" - 0:54
23. "Osaka Bondage" - 1:14
24. "Igneous Ejaculation" - 0:20
25. "Shallow Grave" - 0:40
26. "Ujaku" - 0:27
27. "Kaoru" - 0:50
28. "Dead Dread" - 0:45
29. "Billy Liar" 0:10
30. "Victims of Torture" - 0:23
31. "Speedfreaks" - 0:29
32. "New Jersey Scum Swamp" - 0:41
33. "S & M Sniper" - 0:14
34. "Pigfucker" - 0:23
35. "Cairo Chop Shop" - 0:23
36. "Fuck the Facts" - 0:11
37. "Obeah Man" - 0:17
38. "Facelifter" - 0:34
39. "N.Y. Flat Top Box" - 0:43
40. "Whiplash" - 0:19
41. "The Blade" - 0:36
42. "Gob of Spit" - 0:18

Personnel

• John Zorn: alto saxophone, vocals
• Bill Frisell: guitar
• Wayne Horvitz: keyboards
• Fred Frith: bass
• Joey Baron: drums
• Yamatsuka Eye: vocals