The Peter Brötzmann Octet - Machine Gun

Brötzmann throws you in the middle of a battlefield.

Machine’ gun: automatic gun for fast continuous firing.
The cover for this record is probably one of the best example of a cover describing the sound of an album.

Let me make it clear. This is not a record for you if you want your music easy, catchy or soothing. This is a heavy dissonant record. By Jazz and even by Noise standards it is a difficult record to sit through.
It is however quite an enjoyable and amazing thing to listen if Free Jazz and Noise are your thing.

The title track opens the record no holds barred and it won’t ease down for the remainder of the track.
This is Free Jazz at its harshest. Ayler sang through his saxophone, Brötzmann screams.
Try to see the title track not as a song with typical melody but as a college of sounds that together form a sonic landscape reminiscent of a battlefield.
The screaming saxophones play the part of machine guns as the drum mimics each bullet shell falling on the ground next to their guns.
Mingus made you walk through the city in “A Foggy Day”. Brötzmann makes you run for your life.

The other two tracks aren’t quite as harsh as the title track but still aren’t exactly easy listening.
They follow the same sound of noise and dissonance but from time to time there is a clear groove, rhythm or harmony going on.

“Who can play the most intense” is a good way to describe this record. And I’ll repeat this isn’t a record for anyone, but for the few that can’t get enough noise in their lives can get a lifetime of enjoyment from this album.