Fire!
You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago

It was at a friend of a friend's house that I got to know that sonic terrorist, Math Gustafsson. High ceilings and wooden floors, in a lovely area of Strasbourg. Various people seated, not too interesting to be honest: we arrived not too late. Sofas and armchairs around a coffee table, a lamp holder in the shape of a tarot card, a huge wall with a moderately psychedelic photo at the center, whose subject I can't guess. A suitably messy bookshelf full of books and records, a good sign. Tom Waits records, I'm already fond of these people. In the corner, boxes full of vinyl, good. As soon as I entered, I couldn't help but notice the background music: at first glance, I would say space/doom, but there's a saxophone. When asked for clarification, I discovered it was the third album by "Fire!" in collaboration with Oren Ambarchi from Sunn O))).

The "Fire!" is a Swedish supergroup, born from the union of three major figures in the national free jazz scene. Of the three, the most famous is surely Mats Gustafsson, an extreme saxophonist with a thousand projects, most of which I must say are beyond the limits of listenability for me. The most renowned among his projects are "The Thing," which push furiously hardcore an extremely angry free jazz. "Fire!" instead, do a free jazz with krautrock or spacerock flavors and in any case, have a decidedly psychedelic rock edge. While the second and third albums were recorded in collaboration with guitarists, the first is the most essential and is the best one to turn to for discovering the core of their music.

"You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago" was released in 2009, and it's explosive. Mats Gustaffson on saxophone, Johan Berthling on bass, and Andreas Werliin on drums. The saxophonist also uses a Fender Rhodes and electronics to create a noisy background, which together with the rhythm section weaves a carpet, a texture, upon which the sax draws its hysterical, incendiary solos. One thing that strikes me is the sound of the drums, which seems to come from the next room and is played with a very personal style. "But Sometimes I Am" features the voice of Mariam Wallentin. It opens by gently caressing you, with distant electronics in the background, taking you deep into your thoughts, then laying down bursts of hysterical notes, howls and shrieks, allowing the electronics to take over, evoking the lullabies and warbles of a distant voice.    

One of the most shocking musical discoveries made in recent years!