The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

The highly democratic foursome works in the productive netherworld between genres, where genres go to die. Integrating noise, jazz, electronic music, and pure mania, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters does not sit passively waiting for something to happen; in highly focused free improvisations, they take the proverbial bull by the horns with tempestuous throwdowns that have both a sense of abandon and an innate order. Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen singes the proceedings with bursts of alto while Anglo-Iranian turntablist Mariam Rezaei constructs a startling architecture with pioneering artistry. Italian piccolo trumpeter Gabriele Mitelli doubles on an array of electronics, and Austrian drummer Lukas König propels everything with propane power.

Who are the monsters that we produce in our dormant state? The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters ponders the question by means of sound and spontaneity, as Goya did with his incisive etchings. Like a defibrillator, they place paddles on the chest and give it a jolt, nine jolts in nine tracks, hoping to revive our moribund consciousness. Awaken the creative impulse, they urge us, or suffer the consequence.