Last Saturday John and I saw Thurston Moore and Mats Gustafsson at the
International House at 37th and Chestnut. Thurston is obviously most well known for his involvement in Sonic Youth, but has also spent the better part of thirty years running his record label
Ecstatic Peace!, produced a number of solo records, and dabbled in the free jazz scene. Mats Gustafsson is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. It was a free jazz show.
It was my first free jazz show. I attended with an open mind, half fearing it would be an unironic mimic of the Bill Pullman jazz scene in Lost Highway. Thurston and Mats took the stage, picked up their instruments, and started to produce a cacophony of squawks using chopsticks on the guitar and eastern African click-type noises from the sax, respectively. It progressed thus for ten or so minutes alienating my ears, getting them fairly accustomed to 80dB nails on the chalkboard.
Then the show started. Mats switched to playing a photo theramin, making complex waves of white and grey noise, which played against Thurston's kneaded guitar feedback. I started to feel drawn in by the inclusive envelop of sticky noise. It was around this time I got a text message from John sitting four seats down: