Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano - "The Hated Music"
(Ecstatic Yod 2001, e#1b/fypc16)
Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano - "The Hated Music"
(Ecstatic Yod 2001, e#1b/fypc16)
From Aural Innovations #18 (January 2002)
Exuberent free jazz sax & drums spaz & skronk that should be readily accepted by any who follow the world of W.O.O. etc., inspired by (if you believe the liner notes) obscure events in the New England history of free jazz (is any history of any jazz in New England anything BUT obscure?) and as a poke-in-the-eye to the repressive puritain spirit which has persisted in the region since its initial settling by English Protestant fundamentalists in the 1600s; a spirit that has led to such idiocies as the Salem Witch Trials, the banning of alcohol sale after midnight in Massachusettes (and 10PM - or is it 8? - in Connecticut), and, most criminally, the puritain practice mentioned in the liner notes of "throw[ing] six foot lobsters to the hogs" (the mere thought of which brings tears to the eyes of this lobster-loving, crustacean-consuming, decidedly non-vegetarian, non-kosher, reviewer).
But the aforementioned historic events are more than generic liner-note fodder; their evocative descriptions of some *crazed* (or just weirdly askew) events are well-matched by the equally-evocative performances, chaotic as they are (how else could they match the events recounted?). But especially in "Hat City Fire Truck" and "In Walked Lowell", Flaherty is also more than demostrably capable of crafting unfamiliarly pleasent melodic lines on his horn; it's not ALL about paint-peeling squeal and percussive assaults. On top of the music, this release is well worth the price of admission for the superb sleeve art (by Gary Panter, perhaps depicting what messrs. Flaherty & Corsano would have looked like in the age of the Massachusettes puritains, creating their music along with a chorus of demonic imps and other hellish creatures) and liner notes by rock-journalist-emeritus (and director of the Yod label) Byron Coley. Yes, this album, at full volume, will be the soundtrack the next time some misguided soul shows up at my door in an attempt to "save" my soul by coercing me into renouncing the "sinful" activites I take pleasure in. Like listening to this album.
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Reviewed by Doug Pearson