New Music November: Peter Brötzmann Octet - Machine Gun

You gotta love free jazz, man.

As I'm sure you know, we here at Shit You Hear at Parties are big fans of noisy chaos, and brother, it doesn't get much noisier or more chaotic than some good ol' free jazz. I've been a big fan of the late, great Sonny Sharrock's insane guitar freakouts for a good six or so years now, but it wasn't until recently I started giving some of the horn-oriented freeform stuff a shot. Peter Brötzmann and his seven pals are absolute killers, about as loose and wild as you can get. Presenting two different takes of the album's two main tracks (plus a final piece that almost resembles a song on some level), Brötzmann's saxophones howl and shriek like a banshee tumbling down a spiral staircase.

The title of the album is an apt way of summarizing the sound of the band, the horns and drums fire off like a MAC 10, squawking and clattering with ferocious intensity. Sven-Ake Johansson and Han Bennink litter each track with loose, jittery percussion focused on rattling cymbals and marching hi-hats, alternating syncing and clashing with Brötzmann and Evan Parker's duo of screaming horns. The group almost sounds like the musical equivalent of a violent argument, but they aren't without their moments of tight and cohesive melody (the brief clarinet/saxophone duet in the middle of "Music For Han Bennink (1st Take)" sticks out as particularly memorable for how surprisingly calm it is). The basswork provided by Buschi Niebergall and Peter Kowald is sparse, but appropriately spastic and with a nice funky kick. Fred Van Hove closes out the octet as the predictably key-hopping pianist, his fingers dancing across the ivory like a combination of a ballerina's grace and the frantic shakes and pops of a man having a seizure.

Unsurprisingly, Brötzmann has gone on to uphold his reputation for insane volume and unpredictability (he collaborated with Sharrock and Bill Laswell as a member of the infamous improv act Last Exit, who veered quite close to full-on noise rock territory) and his son Caspar has become a respected figure in the avant-garde community in his own right as the brilliant guitarist for power trio Massaker. I'd definitely advise checking both of them out if you're looking for some real abnormal musical experiences. They stretch the limits of what both the saxophone and the electric guitar are capable of and to great effect.