Blowhole: A love extreme (Zabriskie Point)

I must admit that i mistakenly bought this from the Norman sale thinking it was electro free jazzers Blowpipe. On playing it i was immediately knocked backwards by the extreme ferocity of the music and that sort of reaction always makes me want to find out more and dive in. I love it when something kicks me in the balls, musically speaking, and the mix of free improv and free jazz here keeps me constantly metaphorically protecting my gonads. A rush of sound bursts out of the four sides here and, even at it's most coherent (the seven tracks on side c) it still sounds like an explosion in a jazz factory. The short bursts of noise contained here occasionally bring to mind John Zorn's Torture Garden/Painkiller records and, though it's certainly an album that you have to prepare yourself for before playing, it rewards with each listen. On reading the sleevenotes i see that the drummer is none other than Jeph Jerman - of the earlier driftwood record, but here he's taking out his frustration on a more traditional set up than the aforementioned sticks 'n' stairs routine.