Tip! “Desperate death throes roaring from a man playing the saxophone with more agony than anyone has ever seen before.” - Toshiji Mikawa 

“A gem, a badass. One of the most talented saxophone players I have ever met.” - Otomo Yoshihide 

This is Martín Escalante’s solo CD debut (not counting a few homemade CDrs and tapes or a 12” produced by Lasse Marhaug). The title of the album and the liner notes tell us that its content is harsh noise played on a saxophone acoustically without any electronic effects or manipulations, an extraordinary claim! Martín indeed has been doing this for almost 15 years and has released albums with Otomo Yoshihide, Weasel Walter, Sissy Spacek, Toshiji Mikawa, Teté Leguía, MoE and others. The digipack cover shows 4 photos of Martín, 3 are relaxed portraits of him in a garden with a tropical vibe, joyful, observing, smelling bright yellow flowers and drinking fresh coconut water and then there is the 4th: a live concert photo of him on the dirty floor of a bar, playing the saxophone shirtless, sweat dripping from his body, the veins in his neck bulging, he blows into the horn with such intensity that it looks like his head is about to pop off.

There have been many extreme saxophone noise makers before, but it is clear that his motives and style are much more tied to noise music than to the improv and free jazz saxophonist that have come before him. After listening to his playing for a while it becomes easier to hear past the intensity and it is clear Martín has created a rich sound made from many layers of textures, tones, articulation and vocalizations all happening at the same time. The performance is arguably the most intense for a solo saxophone ever. Overwhelming, exhausting, and like a drunken master, it’s disorienting and a bit disturbing, does he hurt himself while playing? I guess not since he's been at it for so long if he was he surely would have stopped by now, right?