Willard's Wormholes

John Somebody (1986)
Patty Hearst (Soundtrack) (1988)
Weird Science

If you haven’t heard Scott Johnson’s debut album, John Somebody, you’re in for a treat. Primarily a guitarist, but also a varied composer often lumped into the avant garde for lack of a better category, Johnson took snippets of conversation, isolated and looped them to create melodic effects, then composed around them. The multi-layering effect Johnson creates with his guitars are reminiscent of Mike Oldfield’s sound, most notably on Tubular Bells, but the conceptual approach is clearly his own. The All Music Guide states that “John Somebody is much more than some cerebral exercise; the music is fun, infectious and darned near danceable.” Johnson’s follow up, the film soundtrack to Patty Hearst, is unusual too, but this time for its convention. While challenging in its own right as a score, it’s perhaps telling that Johnson doesn’t fall back on John Somebody‘s devices (though he hints at them). Instead, Patty Hearst finds Johnson in composer mode, already moving in a different direction from his more conceptual debut. Both of these albums went out of print in the 80s/90s on the Nonesuch label, but have since been re-issued by John Zorn’s Tzadik label. John Somebody‘s cover was updated, while the CD reissue contains an additional 13 minutes of music. John Somebody and Patty Hearst are at Amazon.

John Somebody
John Somebody: Part 1 (5:20)
John Somebody: Part 2 (8:23)
John Somebody: Part 3- Involuntary Songs (11:48)
John Somebody: Reprise (2:16)
No Memory (11:22)

Patty Hearst
Mom Dad (5:02)
Closet (9:28)
Cinque’s Vision (2:34)
Young Once (3:38)
My Real Crime (2:37)
Motel TV (2:26)
Rest Home (2:39)
Pistol/Rope (1:49)
Persistence Of Vision (3:19)
Pen Chorale (1:38)
Dad Mom (1:00)
Blindfold (4:14)