Andy Hamilton, The Wire
The debut CD from the Australian quartet of Adam Simmons on saxes, Kris Wanders on tenor, Dave Brown on bass and Sean Baxter on drums, is an extended soundblast of jazz/rock free Improv. The group aimed for a lo-fi punk aesthetic, and that approach informs the music itself. Ecstatic free jazz is the premise but with the raw sound and extreme volume of grindcore and noise - in their native Melbourne the group mostly play on bills with metal and noise bands. Dave Brown is virtuosic on his microtonal bass, and Baxter synthesises free jazz and fractured rock, propelling the saxophone front-line into some awesome apocalyptic musings. I found the lo-fi wall of sound offputting at first, and there are subtleties lost in the sonic blur - but then I'd argue that fidelity is an ideal not an ideology. But the group's conviction pushes such aesthetic debates aside.