Review Summary: Mike Patton presents: Flat Earth Society
Belgium's prominent musician and composer Peter Vermeersch formed Flat Earth Society in 1998 after a prolific career with bands like the revered X-legged Sally and having collaborated with a wide array of international musicians and dwellers of the Belgium's jazz scene. The core of this colossal army of jazz troopers is formed by 14 exceptional musicians, with Vermeersch navigating between clarinet and saxophone duties.
Faith No More’s spokesperson and Ipecac Records chief Mike Patton discovered FES and immediately recruited them for a European tour leg with his own project, Fantomas, while releasing their music through his record label.
Isms is hence a compilation of these jazz mastodons designed by Patton the man himself and, as far as impressions go, I think he did a hell of a selection work.
By the time
Isms was released, Flat Earth Society had already published 6 releases, including a live album, so Patton had no doubts that the big band had the necessary cohesion and experience to ignite their wild program in front of a perplex audience, who were probably just expecting to see Dave Lombardo smashing some drums and Patton screaming his lungs out. In my head, I want to picture that this rite of passage into FES started with the blasphemous "O.P.E.N.E.R.", an absolute violation of jazz standards that FES could only take further with the sonic carnival in "Pune" and the chaotic ceremony that takes place in "Marche Des Lames".
Flat Earth Society's approach to jazz is as defying and over the top as the theory in which their name is based on. While some passages follow a straight-up sheet music standard, the whimsical combo soon finds the way to derail the tune and break free from the norm, introducing cartoonish beats, thunderous electric guitars, almighty albeit cherubic vocals and straight up instrument abuse courtesy of Vermeersch himself.
Isms shares some common elements with modern schemes like Fire! Orchestra but at the same time leeches the fuel from classic free jazz roamers like Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders or Miles Davis. It's easy to feel the band is having a real blast in tracks like "Funeral & Binche" or in the savage version of Louis Armstrong's "(Little) King Ink", with Belgian singer Tom Wouters screaming "It's Louis Armstrong on the radio, man!" while progressively losing his sanity to the wicked beat.
Patton didn't forget to include orthodox jazz candy and interludes like "Tibbe Hoort Iets" or "Woeful Message from the VLF" to satisfy potential old-fashioned fans and Flat Earth Society proves they can basically innovate or recreate with the same majesty.
Isms works as the perfect introduction to one of the most interesting modern jazz collectives of the European scene, with plenty of flavors to choose from that will amuse both jazz aficionados and devoted fans of the genre all alike.
