[engl] None or all of the following is true about Maximum Ernst: Maximum Ernst is an art band. Maximum Ernst is a rock group. Maximum Ernst is a jazz combo. Maximum Ernst is fusion. Maximum Ernst is a duo. Maximum Ernst has performed naked. Maximum Ernst is magick. Maximum Ernst is a joke. Bring Your Own Pencap is the eventual beginning, the final phase, the plastic molding wrapped in paper towel.

[engl] Five years into their long strange drip, the duo of Maximum Ernst continues to confound, perplex, confuse and refract. Foetal returns yielded guitar/drum scramble in service of improvisational incongruity and radical reimaginings of alt-world smash hits by Faust, Snatch and Easy Cure. A link with Old Master horn maestro and official NYC gem Daniel Carter emerged and soon thereafter a CD and live cassette popped a few eardrums just right, so tight. Further uncharted territories were conquered and liberated as Maximum Ernst furiously and fitfully would-shedded. Woodn’t you? Quit playing. That was the advice of one medical doctor and also a licensed quantum mathematician; but still the daft, disappearing duo of Maximum Ernst gestured, rudely, NAY and thus, this newest release finds itself in your hands, begging for a vigorous clean. Please, indulge. “Un Menace Natural” welds together extra-dimensional birdsong, soothing bursts of noise, the timbre of waves on a nonexistent beach and uncanny, unnerving shrieks smeared into beguiling patterns. It builds, it ebbs, it flows, it knows. It knows everything. It’s like if Jon fucking Hassell and Black fucking Dice had a fucking Baby. “Hallmark Of A Crisis Period” is a cut-up tour de force that shivers with unhinged delirium and barely-concealed malice. Imagine William S. Burroughs interpreting a Whitehouse “banger” as being live-mixed by Nurse With Wound. Imagine it, you fool! Despair not, heathen, as Maximum Ernst has imagined it for you. And it is as glorious as a sunset must be to a hanged man. Rejoice, for you have entered the Crisis Period, and nothing will ever be the same.

[engl] Following a successful collaboration released on CD and cassette by New York City’s Ever/Never Records, legendary reeds-master Daniel Carter and the duo known as Maximum Ernst converge once again. Retaining a sense of continuity within the narrative jolt, Carter is unflappable and steadfast amidst the storm-drone conjured by Maximum Ernst. On each untitled cut, Daniel Carter switches horns effortlessly as Ernst churns, hums and slums via guitar, tapes and drums.

[engl] The worm never stops turning at MaxE HQ, so as we make another trip thru the solar system on Spacefish Mirth, Ever/Never presents Perfect Mixer/Matchless Pair. Before you ask—Yes, it’s good. Yes, you will enjoy this ravishing ear-tickle of a release. Past meets future. Beats in space. Time falls fast and twists into a funnel cloud of distortion. Perfect Mixer/Matchless Pair is a funhouse reflection in an abandoned amusement park. Perfect Mixer/Matchless Pair is a suicide ride into the vanity mirror universe.

[engl] On one side, we have upstart NYC free-rock duo Maximum Ernst and on the other, masterful journeyman horn specialist Daniel Carter. Daniel has been blowing through his array of horns for over fifty years now. The list of people and ensembles that he has played in over the decades is staggering. Carter was part of the legendary lower Manhattan free jazz scene as epitomized by the classic Wildflowers compilations. An essential component of a group of musicians that includes such luminaries such as David S. Ware and William Parker, Carter has maintained his connection to the foundation of revolutionary “fire music.” But this is only a fraction of what Carter does day in and day out. Daniel Carter plays; anywhere and everywhere, any time and all the time. As part of ‘90s free jazz fire-breathers Test, Carter and compatriots made a name for themselves playing in subway stations around the city. And Carter can still be found playing in stations to this day. His is true underground music. But Carter never limited himself to just “jazz,” even of the outre’ variety. In the 1980s, Carter could be found on stage with bands such as hardcore demi-gods Bad Brains and primal industrial insurrectionists Missing Foundation. In the present, you can find Carter throughout the city, playing with young masters such as Chris Corsano and old sages such as Loren Mazzacane Connors. Which brings us to this wild n’ woolly CD/cassette release on New York City’s Ever/Never Records. Joining forces with the guitar and drum-based Maximum Ernst, Carter gets to let his freak-flag fly high. Here we have five distinct pieces chronicling their collaboration. “Iceflower Shawl and Gulf Stream” opens things up with a deceptively jazz-like intro before eventually melting down like a three mile island. “Whip Lashes or Lava Threads” begins in the eye of the hurricane but pretty soon, the gale winds are whipping your face and the trio have stumbled upon a sound beyond rock and jazz. “Scarcecrows” is a brief respite featuring sharply plucked guitar, lyrical sax work by Carter and a spectral radio signal from another dimension. “Fields Of Honor Flood Seismic Plants” is both the longest title and the longest track on the album. It begins with each musician patiently probing the boundaries until building to its natural conclusion. “The Habits of Leaves”ends the proceedings with a perfect mix of improv clatter and old-fashioned rock power. Maximum Ernst with Daniel Carter is a testament to the rush of creative friction between colliding talents. Open your ears wide. -e/n

[engl] In advance of a scintillating 12” EP, Ever/Never perplexes the masses with another Maximum Ernst curveball that is a harbinger of things to come. Like some form of residue from the past, “Signal Thru Flames” blends beats/speech/noise into a morass of ever-shifting shapes. Phases and phrases swan-dive off the 13th floor while cascades of right/wrong sounds slap you silly. Sir Steven Stapleton remixed the Vanity Records catalog? Iykyk. On the flip, the Maximum Ernst duo make like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft unearthing a long-lost Jon Hassell deep cut on “Orb-Like” and then bringing the secrets they learned all the way back home via the classical strain of “Glass Enclosure.” For Time Delay Safe, Maximum Ernst went stark raving mad in the Fourth World so that you could leave your body safe on the couch.