John Zorn

With Mike Patton providing Boredoms-like (read: insane) vocals, this 2006 MacArthur Genius grant winner continues to sketch out the boundaries of extreme jazz metal and aural pain. Astronome is a three act "play" involving dialogues between Aleister Crowley, Antonin Artaud and Edgard Varese. Heady stuff, but when you listen to it, it sounds more like a terrifying car accident with Patton choking on his caffeine tablets in the passenger seat. Fans of Zorn's seminal destructo-jazz will be more than pleased with this merciless beatdown. Everyone else will be, understandably, confused.