Mono

The 2011 album by Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing gives away its gimmick in its title; it was recorded in mono at a session in Australia. As a result, it has quite a bit of punch, even by the standards of their raucous catalog. This is as close as they’ve ever come to replicating the sound of one of the ur-free jazz documents, Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity. Four of the six tracks are originals; the other two are a version of Sonny Rollins’s “Alfie’s Theme” and the traditional Norwegian wedding march “Bruremarsj.” Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson’s playing is full of clicks and hisses, rarely rising to full tyrannosaurus roar; Paal Nilssen-Love’s drumming is equally subtle, relying on cymbals and gongs as much as drums; and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is an ominous, almost spectral presence hovering between them. (N.B. there is a song on this album called “There is Shitloads of Red Meat Missing,” and it sounds exactly like a piece with that title should.)