Review Summary: A sprawling mass of lysergic, avant free-jazz that could serve as the soundtrack to a film about a junky experiencing heavy narcotic withdrawal on Mars.
From the outset, the name Flying Basket hints at the surrealistic free-association of beat poetry, an appropriate point of reference since the music contained within could function as a perfect soundtrack to the seedy sci-fi noir of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch.
Flying Basket is the collaborative effort of veteran free-jazz saxophonist Akira Sakata, legendary guitarist Jim O'Rourke, duo Chris Corsano and Darin Gray (drums & double bass, respectively, billed here as a single unit under their collective moniker Chikamorachi) and noise virtuoso Akita Masami (aka Merzbow).
A familiarity with the aforementioned personnel might suggest an exercise in ear-spliiting excess, but the offering here is (mostly) controlled chaos. Opening with Sakata's sax bellowing smoke tones over the clattering, crystalline shards raining down from O'Rourke's guitar, Flying Basket unravels patiently, familiar sounds congealing into something vaguely alien as Merzbow conjures haunted static from the ether. Corsano & Gray lay down a jittery abstract groove that propels the band into a shared fever dream which unfurls into a sprawling mass of lysergic hysteria.
These sporadic bursts of gutteral release are tempered by spacious, near-meditative passages which serve as one of the album’s greatest strengths, a sonic palette-cleanser of sinewy textures resonating in the aftermath. At one point, the rhythm section rumbles beneath minimal electronic transmissions straight from the Forbidden Zone, a warning of sorts before the band offers up one final, cacophonous outburst to close the album, like a field recording of an alien landscape undergoing some great geological cataclysm.
Flying Basket is a strong collaboration from start to finish, but at 71 minutes the journey can be exhausting, and, while Merzbow's ethereal electronic contributions help to differentiate this from similar efforts, the group doesn't break a lot of new ground. Still, there's enough to enjoy here to warrant a recommendation to fans of any of the artists involved or anyone looking for some solid avant free-jazz.
