Wolf Eyes & Anthony Braxton

Two disparate worlds of margin-walking experimentation merged at last summer’s Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville: those of the high-brow avant-garde (which represents the usual fair for this fest) and the brutal noise underground (hand-picked by guest curator Thurston Moore). No more appropriate a document of this convergence exists than Black Vomit, which clearly captures what went down when long-running avant-jazz innovator Anthony Braxton took to the stage, his assortment of saxes an arm’s length away, to whip out during noise rock’s poster dudes Wolf Eyes’ typically blistering set of aggressive sub-sonic purge. Nowadays a trio consisting of founder Nate Young, long-time dude John Olson and Hair Police leader Mike Connelly (currently filling the role left vacant by Aaron Dilloway, who’s taking a hiatus from the band), Wolf Eyes tear open disturbing lairs where half-crazed amputees crawl about, their metal limbs feverishly scraping away at concrete and sheet metal debris amidst the darkly atmospheric free jazz squall they grind to a death march procession’s slow ebb. Along with them or, sometimes, in stark contrast to them, Braxton wails freely, brutally chugs and screams — often adding intense effect to Wolf Eyes’ jams, but sometimes jarring the listener away from their moods. But hey, when worlds collide, things aren’t always so neat and tidy.