Film Works, Vol. 7: Cynical Hysterie Hour

by Joslyn LayneCynical Hysterie Hour is John Zorn's music for four animated shorts by Japanese cartoonist Kiriko Kubo. Bursts of TV rock, synth whistles & barks, banjo licks, and sound effects intensify the caffeinated jumping through genre hoops of this slick and cinematically silly music. Clocking in at 25 minutes, this CD's value lies in that (1) it is Zorn's first venture into cartoon music, which he has long revered, and (2) it was in print on Sony for merely months in 1990, before being yanked out of print, making it the most sought-after rarity of Zorn's recordings. In late 1996, Zorn finally attained the rights for his music, and remastered and rereleased the album on his own label, Tzadik.