Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Zorn's re-release of Music for Children can now be heard in full, remastered and re-visualized fidelity. Heralded as one of the most 'eclectic' Zorn cds to date (any dedicated Zorn fan can vouch for this statement), it features the multi-instrumentalist playing saxes, wind machines, bass drums, and even feedback systems. Also featured is the guitar feedback master himself, Lou Reed, amidst an onslaught of other top notch performances by all stars of the Tzadik catalog including Erik Friedlander, Greg Cohen, Cyro Baptista, Anthony Coleman, Prelapse, David Abel, Julie Steinberg, William Winant and Marc Ribot.

There's no shortage of mileage traveled in the course of this disc. The trajectory of aesthetics runs the gamut of surf, grindcore, freejazz, music box lullabies, and everything in between -an all around textural stomping ground with no borders, but one rounded out by the well thought out bookends of celeste, voice and hand clapping. It's dense. You simply must hear it to understand it. Even then you are likely to need a few listens to fully grasp what's going on here, and that's what makes this one worthy of owning.

Cycles du Nord, now a classic in Zorn's catalog, is my favorite work on this album. This is an up to date version with new engineering as well as new performances. Second fav being Dreamer of Dreams, a surf guitar-like tune featuring cello solos and, as in any great Zorn tune, an abundance of ambience that could slice a Tarantino flick into two wholes.

In addition to the music, another particularly beautiful aspect of this rerelease is the artwork presentation. The work of multiple artists is fused together to bring to spotlight the visual aesthetics of doll-making by Katan Amano, photography by Yoshida Ryoichi and Macioce, plus illustrations by Henry Darger and the audio production of numerous top notch engineers.
Highly recommended for budding Zorn fans and seasoned vets alike, and well worth repeated listens.