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89 new listings, another exciting set of releases as the Northern Hemisphere gets colder and our ears stay warm by staying inside listening! Highlights this month include Derek Bailey's sessions from David Sylvian's Blemish album; a new Keiji Haino album; live Steve Lacy from Paris in 1975; 3 important issues from Recommended UK - Henry Cow Concerts finally remastered, Picchio dal Pazzo's masterpiece Abbiamo Tutti I Suoi Problemi, and a new album from Hail; Innova's Harry Partch series wraps up with an excellent documentary and series of filmed works; a fascinating Michael Renkel/Sonja Bender DVD on Absinth; two new Musica Genera titles; Creative Sources releases its latest, including an ea-improv album from Arias/Müller/Tammen; two extended James Plotkin pieces on Utech; two new Tzadik titles from Billy Martin & Evan Parker; a host of new No Label/Jeffrey Shurdut titles; Fe-Mail collaborates with Carlos Giffoni for unusual results; and readers take note of new Wire and Signal to Noise issues.
"A disc/sound instalation that show some of the characterictic and representative signs of current trends in improvised music of a European type, a work in progress that I personally consider one of the best ones of its kind that I have heard in 2006."-Eduardo Chagas (Jazz e Arredores).
The remainder of the late Derek Bailey's recording sessions from David Sylvian's Blemish album. "Derek Bailey died on Christmas Day, 2005, aged 75, leaving behind a lifetime of collaborations, friendships, and a vast treasure hoard of recordings accumulated in fifty years during which he was one of the principle figures responsible for the rise of improvisation in music in the West. One of his final collaborations was an unusual one with Samadhi Sound's David Sylvian, who invited [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The remainder of the late Derek Bailey's recording sessions from David Sylvian's Blemish album.
"Derek Bailey died on Christmas Day, 2005, aged 75, leaving behind a lifetime of collaborations, friendships, and a vast treasure hoard of recordings accumulated in fifty years during which he was one of the principle figures responsible for the rise of improvisation in music in the West. One of his final collaborations was an unusual one with Samadhi Sound's David Sylvian, who invited [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"This could also be called "The Laughing Musicians." Placing free jazz drum king Han Bennink into an Amsterdam studio with anarchist experimental punk guitarist Terrie Ex is a risky move. While Amsterdam's the Ex have been quite experimental in their approach to punk rock -- even recording with the late Tom Cora -- a go-for-it duet improv session with a drummer on Bennink's level could have proved to be disastrous. Instead, it turned out to be an afternoon of pure genius. Ex and Bennink understand [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The ever amazing McPhee in a quartet of two bass players and guitar. Bisio and McPhee have recorded together extensively on CIMP (Zebulon, Finger Wigglers) and with Duval (In the Spirit, No Greater Love, Let Paul Robeson Sing, Urban Assault Vehicle,) and more recently the Albert Ayler 2OOO Project. This is their second release on the CJR label.
"There are few sessions to rival this one for sheer urgency and gusto. it's as if something pent-up in these four musicians waited for this combination of players to unleash it--the music explodes into action. Pianist John Blum is a secret hero of new york's free jazz community, known as a proficient & forceful improviser in the tradition of his mentors, Borah Bergmann & Cecil Taylor. Blum's performance on Astrogeny is his shining moment on disc to date. The legendary denis charles was [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
2001 recording of this trio - this is not the Leo material of the same name.
"Light's View is an illuminating release featuring saxophonist John Butcher and pianist Georg Graewe. This duo disc, recorded at the prestigious Akademie der Künste in Berlin in March of 1998, demonstrates music that effectively culminates years of a fine musical partnership. This disc is certain to amaze fans of both musicians and those interested in the art of the improvising duo.In his liner notes, Marc Chénard says, "...the listener is called upon to be taken in by shimmering [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Light's View is an illuminating release featuring saxophonist John Butcher and pianist Georg Graewe. This duo disc, recorded at the prestigious Akademie der Künste in Berlin in March of 1998, demonstrates music that effectively culminates years of a fine musical partnership. This disc is certain to amaze fans of both musicians and those interested in the art of the improvising duo.
In his liner notes, Marc Chénard says, "...the listener is called upon to be taken in by shimmering [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
McPhee guests with the C.T. String Quartet in this 3 part work recorded at the Knitting Factory in 1999.
"10 years of beside the cage music"
This familiarity proved a substantial boon on the Diskaholics' self-titled debut album, released in 2001 on the Japanese label Crazy Wisdom. Featuring O'Rourke on electronics, Moore on guitar, and Gustafsson on a variety of doctored reeds, the album was a measured, surprisingly graceful work of controlled electricity that brought the three musicians' voices into effortless balance. The trio's chief strength lies in its malleability, as both Gustafsson and O'Rourke are rightfully celebrated as [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Some records are best heard without any hype, without all unnecessary shouting and raving. Such is the case with the latest eponymous offering from Carnival Skin. [...] Discovery for me is the fierce guitar playing of Bruce Eisenbeil [one of the initiators of this group]. While it's too easy to throw a Sonny Sharrock comparison his way, there is a certain truth to it. His barrelling, rough lines full of melodic chaos are evident throughout much of the album. Klaus Kugel's percussion skills shine [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Together Chris Corsano and Paul Flaherty have re-written the concept of modern free-jazz with their post-hardcore punk style approach of euphoric togetherness. Ferocious, spontaneous, explosive and aggressively lyric they've established their groundbreaking duo with loads of shows and a host of tremendous recordings."When tales of C. Spencer Yeh's Burning Star Core project reached Corsano/Flaherty the duo were eager to see him jam. Fortunately, fate brought them together at the DeStijl/Freedom [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"When tales of C. Spencer Yeh's Burning Star Core project reached Corsano/Flaherty the duo were eager to see him jam. Fortunately, fate brought them together at the DeStijl/Freedom [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"One and the Same is violinist Jeff Gauthier's fourth CD as a leader, and features guitarist Nels Cline of Wilco. Gauthier has been named a Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star for two years in a row as both instrumentalist and producer. One and the Same features music by Gauthier, Nels Cline, Eric von Essen, and Bennie Maupin. "Gauthier and his group show how it should be done, rooting themselves solidly in the jazz tradition while at the same time extending and revitalizing it."-Bill Tilland, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"One and the Same is violinist Jeff Gauthier's fourth CD as a leader, and features guitarist Nels Cline of Wilco. Gauthier has been named a Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star for two years in a row as both instrumentalist and producer. One and the Same features music by Gauthier, Nels Cline, Eric von Essen, and Bennie Maupin. "Gauthier and his group show how it should be done, rooting themselves solidly in the jazz tradition while at the same time extending and revitalizing it."
"There's not another record on the planet that sounds even remotely like vibraphonist Khan Jamal's eccentric, one-of-a-kind masterpiece, drumdance to the motherland. In its improbable fusion of free jazz expressionism, black psychedelia, & full-on dub-like production techniques, drumdance remains a bracingly powerful outsider statement thirty-four years after it was recorded live at the catacombs club in Philadelphia in 1972. Comparisons to Sun Ra, King Tubby, Phil Cohran & BYG/Actuel merely [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Blurring the boundary lines between jazz and classical music, German-born pianist Achim Kaufmann draws from a variety of styles as this improvising trio's founder and principal writer. Recorded at various locations while on tour, both in and out of the studio, Kamosc features an amalgam of European folk traditions, contemporary chamber music, primitive funk, blues and even Dixieland, providing these skeletal tunes with an abundance of history to draw from.The album and tour were initially [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Blurring the boundary lines between jazz and classical music, German-born pianist Achim Kaufmann draws from a variety of styles as this improvising trio's founder and principal writer. Recorded at various locations while on tour, both in and out of the studio, Kamosc features an amalgam of European folk traditions, contemporary chamber music, primitive funk, blues and even Dixieland, providing these skeletal tunes with an abundance of history to draw from.
The album and tour were initially [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"[...] This live set, recorded at the club La Cour des Miracles in Paris on February 26, 1975, captures Lacy's quintet in all its fiery splendor. This release also marks the beginning of The Leap, a new series dedicated to releasing Lacy's private concert recordings to the general public.Considering the tape source material, the sound quality here is best described as acceptable, but the performance is absolutely stunning. Rarely has the group sounded so alive on studio recordings. Their [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"[...] This live set, recorded at the club La Cour des Miracles in Paris on February 26, 1975, captures Lacy's quintet in all its fiery splendor. This release also marks the beginning of The Leap, a new series dedicated to releasing Lacy's private concert recordings to the general public.
Considering the tape source material, the sound quality here is best described as acceptable, but the performance is absolutely stunning. Rarely has the group sounded so alive on studio recordings. Their [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"A striking and colorful CD of chamber music by Billy Martin, the dynamic percussionist from one of the world's most popular instrumental bands, Medeski Martin and Wood. Performed and recorded originally on a wide variety of African thumb pianos, these delightful pieces have been meticulously transcribed, arranged and orchestrated by Anthony Coleman for string quartet and chamber orchestra. Rounding out the program is a suite of compositions performed by Billy’s dynamic percussion ensemble." [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Label owner Rodrigues in a compatible quartet creating textures of considerable dimensions in a minimal setting of acoustics and electronics.
"Active for a dozen years, the Microscopic Septet were widely recognized as "New York's Most Famous Unknown Band." The group started with a basic reeds-and-rhythm texture (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax, piano, bass and drums) that was sonically similar to the sound of the Swing Era. However, they employed these textures to address a widely eclectic range of styles, from free-form music to R&B, rhumbas and ragtime. The result was a brilliant blend of fresh-sounding orchestration and inspired [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The eerie collaborative world of Pablo Rega and Alfredo Costa Monteiro derives respectively from home made electronic devices and turntable pickups. These errant devices are used in unlikely ways to generate a wide palette of sounds, tones and rhythmic environements; both avoid the chaotic, instead structuring and controlling their sounds in sculpted ways.The three unnamed tracks build like pressurized sound chambers, from subtle progression to cantankerous and disturbing walls of sound. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The eerie collaborative world of Pablo Rega and Alfredo Costa Monteiro derives respectively from home made electronic devices and turntable pickups. These errant devices are used in unlikely ways to generate a wide palette of sounds, tones and rhythmic environements; both avoid the chaotic, instead structuring and controlling their sounds in sculpted ways.
The three unnamed tracks build like pressurized sound chambers, from subtle progression to cantankerous and disturbing walls of sound. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Evan Parker has practically single handedly redefined the language of the saxophone. A profound influence on several generations of musicians, his impact on modern saxophone technique is staggering. His newest project takes his visionary music to a new level through the world of overdubbing and electronics. Time Lapse is one of Evan's greatest achievements. Eleven compositions by one of the most important and radical improvisers in the world. Essential."-Tzadik
It's just Perelman's tenor and Duval's bass on Soul Calling, a session that captures the duo live in the studio. The three longest tracks run the gamut of Perelman's sonic repertoire, from squeaky squawks that mingle with Duval's scraping bow, to bluesy middle range bellows that interlock with plucky bass and only arrive at melodies after several minutes of free improvisation.The musicians experiment a bit with distortion: on one track Duval is amplified into the red, and uses pedals to [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
It's just Perelman's tenor and Duval's bass on Soul Calling, a session that captures the duo live in the studio. The three longest tracks run the gamut of Perelman's sonic repertoire, from squeaky squawks that mingle with Duval's scraping bow, to bluesy middle range bellows that interlock with plucky bass and only arrive at melodies after several minutes of free improvisation.
The musicians experiment a bit with distortion: on one track Duval is amplified into the red, and uses pedals to [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"[...] The music Eddie Prévost and Alan Wilkinson are making here is neither extreme, nor ambiguous, nor is it self-consciously convoluted. Indeed, in comparison to much of what passes muster as commercial music, it is devastatingly straightforward and approachable. But it constantly allows for the possibility of other states. It trembles with potential, and thus never exhausts its unequivocal possibilities. Almost every artistic form, whether it is the five act tragedy or the string [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"[...] The music Eddie Prévost and Alan Wilkinson are making here is neither extreme, nor ambiguous, nor is it self-consciously convoluted. Indeed, in comparison to much of what passes muster as commercial music, it is devastatingly straightforward and approachable. But it constantly allows for the possibility of other states. It trembles with potential, and thus never exhausts its unequivocal possibilities.
Almost every artistic form, whether it is the five act tragedy or the string [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Amazing quartet featuring the late Tom Cora on cello (Skeleton Crew), Phil Minton on vocals, Luc Ex (The Ex) on guitar and Michael Vatcher (Honsinger/Ex/Zorn) on drums. Roof collapsed with the passing of Tom Cora, taking on Veryan Weston and renaming themselves 4Walls. As great as that band is, Roof was the real deal, an inspired band reaching for new creative breakthroughs. This studio album (Trace is the complimentary live album) includes works derived from Skeleton Crew melodies, and [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Aki Takase has been resident in Berlin for many years now and her relationship with Deutschland Radio resulted in several memorable sessions. Aki felt that this 1997 piano quintet (piano plus strings) deserved a wider audience and PSI readily agreed. A fantastic session from an outstanding group of players."-psi
"Long-awaited reissue of a true masterpiece of Japanese free improvisation! Mastered from the rediscovered master tapes! Recorded in May 1975, less than a month after the legendarily intense April is the Cruellest Month, Eclipse has always been the rarest and most mysterious of the Takayanagi and New Direction records. With April Is... due to come out on ESP Disk (the release was scuppered when the label folded), Iskra the small label who were putting out Eclipse decided to reduce their pressing [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"I suspect that I'm not the only person who's not attracted by the neatly generic title of this one, or the prospect of one of those "improv projects" (a bunch of players are invited & play in various combinations). But I'd urge people to check this one out. Definitely a Reynolds kind of disc: Dunmall and Evan Parker on it, & the surprise really is how much of it is in a straight post-Coltrane free jazz bag: I don't think I've ever heard Parker play so overtly in that tradition as on the [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"the raster-post series winds up with a pop release by label regular and favorite COH aka ivan pavlov. entitled "PATHERNS", this 4 trk CDEP creates a picture-puzzle like effect while at the same are four exercises in constructive melancholy. COH seems to throw back to the times of pushing rhythms and propulsive club music of the 80's & 90's (as we all know his love for the "moroder" sound), but the past appears digitalized here..... nothing would make you think that this is not a product [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Anla Courtis continues to produce music and was even quite prolific during his time in Reynols. It goes without saying that Courtis learned a thing or two from his experience in Reynols; and there's a fundamental constant to all of his work: the cassette. One of Reynols' most infamous albums Blank Tapes was pieced together from the endemic hiss from, you guessed it, blank tapes. Far from being an empty album of silences, Blank Tapes is extraordinarily dynamic, amplifying the magnetic energy [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Compositions and improvisations by the balloon virtuoso herself, along with appearances by the FLUX Quartet, Tom Chiu, Damian Catera and Ryuko Mizutani. In "For Balloon and String Quartet" (commissioned by American Composers Forum), the astounding FLUX Quartet (Morton Feldman, Giacinto Scelsi, etc.) matches the extreme idiosyncrasies of the balloon note-for-note. Dunaway also performs searing improvisational duets with Chiu (founder of the FLUX) and creates industrial-tinged electro-improvisational [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"In the spring of 2005, EKG and Giuseppe Ielasi toured New England, playing both separately and occasionally together. On free days we recorded material together, and continued recording material with the trio record in mind even after parting ways and going to Berlin and Milan. This album consists of compositions by Ernst Karel and Giuseppe Ielasi built with this material."-EKG"Giuseppe Ielasi - Fringes label and distribution head in Italy(improvisor of note documented on Erstwhile/Sedimental/and [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"In the spring of 2005, EKG and Giuseppe Ielasi toured New England, playing both separately and occasionally together. On free days we recorded material together, and continued recording material with the trio record in mind even after parting ways and going to Berlin and Milan. This album consists of compositions by Ernst Karel and Giuseppe Ielasi built with this material."-EKG
"Giuseppe Ielasi - Fringes label and distribution head in Italy(improvisor of note documented on Erstwhile/Sedimental/and [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Unusual sound compositions in a collaboration between the equally prolific electro-acoustic units Fe-Mail and Carlos Giffoni. Fe-Mail tends to active yet to obscure sample based improvisations, using a widely exotic palette of sound; Giffoni' work is generally denser, here providing a solid basis over which Fe-Mail's elements add character and interest. Being a fan of both it's hard to say that the sum is greater than the parts, but it's a unique setting that's very effective for both artists: [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Deep, expansive tones reverberate soothingly throughout the ten tracks that comprise this very pretty work. Sparse piano echoes across air, clinging to delicate drones and light, flowing synthesizers. As on past works by Johnson, unmistakable references to Budd and Eno abound without being derivative. Robert Scott Thompson is almost too perfect a partner, as their similar styles meld so seamlessly that I would not hazard a guess as to who plays what besides Johnson's beautiful piano. The rich [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Intense soundscapes from live performances of this European quintet.
3 works by Yannis Kyriakides a conSPIracy cantata: spi is an electronic cantata which juxtaposes two forms of cryptic message communication: the clandestine world of spy number transmissions on the shortwave radio, and the enigmatic uttering of the ancient oracle of Delphi. spi is scored for two alto voices, piano and electronics. The electronic sounds are made up of layers of radio transmissions, noise textures, pre-recorded voices and sampled piano sounds. The piece weaves together [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
3 works by Yannis Kyriakides
a conSPIracy cantata: spi is an electronic cantata which juxtaposes two forms of cryptic message communication: the clandestine world of spy number transmissions on the shortwave radio, and the enigmatic uttering of the ancient oracle of Delphi. spi is scored for two alto voices, piano and electronics. The electronic sounds are made up of layers of radio transmissions, noise textures, pre-recorded voices and sampled piano sounds. The piece weaves together [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
CD-EP as part of the Raster Music "Clear Series," and the second Noto-Sakomoto collaboration."after the success of "insen" this collaborative project has not reached its conclusion. to co-inside with the second major insen tour by carsten nicolai aka alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto in 2006, raster-noton releases the revep cd single. this cd-ep offers unreleased pieces from the sessions and musical exchanges that began with "vrioon" and found its next level with "insen".with an aura [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
CD-EP as part of the Raster Music "Clear Series," and the second Noto-Sakomoto collaboration.
"after the success of "insen" this collaborative project has not reached its conclusion. to co-inside with the second major insen tour by carsten nicolai aka alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto in 2006, raster-noton releases the revep cd single. this cd-ep offers unreleased pieces from the sessions and musical exchanges that began with "vrioon" and found its next level with "insen".
with an aura [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Frith, Zorn and Minton cohort Bob Ostertag has worked extensively with computers and sampling, creating unexpected and extremely unusual results. Verbatim is the middle portion of a series of three releases that Ostertag created to explore the relationship between man and technology. Say No More was the first part, an improvisation between drummer Gerry Hemmingway, vocalist Phil Minton and bassist Mark Dresser. Ostertag recorded, sampled and rearranged the improvisations on a computer [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"James Plotkin began his musical career as the guitarist for metal band OLD with vocalist Alan Dubin. The two would cross paths again under the guise of Khanate. In the interim Plotkin would become involved in projects ranging from guitar bent soundscape and grind to free improvisation. His body of work spans format and label, recording for Avant, Hydra Head, Asphodel, Earache, Southern Lord and Archive among others. Whether writing, performing, or producing, his output has been invariably unique [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The legendary LP set now available as a limited edition 4 CD set, with a highly informative 72pp booklet. This is one of those really extraordinary releases that defy all account. The short-wave radio environment is filled with unidentified stations broadcasting spoken numbers, tones and sometimes modulated noise. No one owns up to them, it is illegal in the UK even to listen to them. They are scary, mysterious, blatant, mindless. They are in fact the dark work of secret government agencies, broadcasting [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
A Ph.D. professor of music and acoustic researcher at Georgia State School of Music, Robert Scott Thompson has released a handful of albums reflecting a variety of styles on his own Aucourant Records. The Silent Shore is his first widely distributed album, released on the Canadian Oasis label's Mirage imprint. " "This album sonically explores the darker, nether regions as well as the lighter, more stratospheric realms of the ambient genre. Ambient music fans will recognize that Robert [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
A Ph.D. professor of music and acoustic researcher at Georgia State School of Music, Robert Scott Thompson has released a handful of albums reflecting a variety of styles on his own Aucourant Records. The Silent Shore is his first widely distributed album, released on the Canadian Oasis label's Mirage imprint.
"The first in British composer John Wall's beautifully designed series on the Utterpsalm label, this limited-edition CD comes in a card-booklet slipcase. Housed inside is an aggressive and disorientating series of sample-based works, like a contemporary classical suite, although some of the chosen sample material is fairly unorthodox, such as Carcass; the power of the metal group is used to great effect juxtaposed against samples of contemporary classical, musique concrète, and free improvisations [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"This is the second CD in the series by this British electro-acoustic and sound collage composer. John Wall works on computer, assembling detailed fragments of samples taken from a vast collection of contemporary music ranging from Stockhausen and Luigi Nono through to free improvisation and heavy metal. Many of these samples are processed beyond recognition, and, additionally, the composer has some free improvisors come into the studio to generate material for him to plunder and warp into all sorts [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Remove the chugging rhythm of the blues and you are left with the wail; that slow motion ghostly gasp of sorrow and bad omen. The high and lonesome sound of something wicked on the horizon is ingrained in this trio's shadowy and disembodied take on the blues. New York experimental music veteran Alan Licht, who has explored similar territory in his beautiful duo with Loren Connors, is joined by Australian sound artist Oren Ambarchi and Japanese improviser Tetuzi Akiyama at the 2004 Bomb the Space [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"For their 13th album and in their 25th year together, post-punk, art-rock pioneers Birdsongs of the Mesozoic do a 180 degree musical swerve and link up with bass-baritone vocalists Oral Moses, one of the preeminent African-American performers of traditional spirituals. The band demolish all preconceptions about themselves by presenting a program of heavily rearranged, well known African-American spirituals and 19th century art songs. The blend of Birdsongs' cutting-edge instrumentation with [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The 2nd release by The Ex, originally released in 1982."This strong early outing had the most elliptical post-punk experiments of the Ex's discography. Keeping tracks around the minute-and-a-half mark without going for an agitprop squall, History Is What's Happening was well suited for fans of PiL or the Durutti Column. The demented disco of "Life Live" and the anti-superficial "H'Wood-W'ton" stood out, serious anxiety filtered down to its basic rock-based elements. With irregular [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Hail are Susanne Lewis and Bob Drake, probably best-known for their work with the Colorado-based band, THINKING PLAGUE. On this, their third ReR release, the duo explores more of the heavy, grunging, artrock side of things, aided and abetted at times by synthesizers and keyboards. Susanne's clear compositions, and heavy-handed, clever wit are augmented by Bob's inimitable production crafting, giving HELLO DEBRIS a raw and passionate feel: Perfect frequencies, excellent vocal delivery, great guitar/bass/drum [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Following Keiji Haino's recent experiments with acoustic guitar, solo theremin and electronics, and percussion, this is his first guitar and vocal album in a couple of years. Emotionally devastating, gorgeously intense free-floating atmospherics that hark back to the folk-ed out genius of Affection (PSFD-23), with a caustic blending of the layered, late-night guitar extrapolations of First Let's Remove the Colour (PSFD-8014)."-Alan Cummings
"Originally released in 1976, this collection offers a snapshot of Henry Cow as audiences would have heard it in the year before. In the chronology, Concerts came between In Praise of Learning and Western Culture - that is, after Virgin had lost interest in releasing any more Henry Cow studio records and before the band quit to make one of its own. It was also the year of the 'merger' with Robert Wyatt for a series of concerts in which compositions were shared - the last show, in Rome, was also [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Six years on from 1999's masterful Red Night (PSFD-107), Toshiaki "Toshi" Ishizuka is back with a new set of deep, shimmering nightscapes for percussion. Toshi has been a pivotal figure in the Japanese underground since the late sixties, when he founded Japan's first radical, politically-engaged punk group Zuno Keisatsu. Since then he has been the sticksman of choice for howling folk-poets Kazuki Tomokawa, Yasuki Fukushima and Kan Mikami, as well as making up one corner of the Vajra trio with [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Koenjihyakkei's 2nd album, originally released in 1997 on God Mountain (Japan) under the not-so-catchy title 2 (ni). This remasaterd edition of Tatsuya Yoshida's high-speed masterpiece fills a big gap in Koenjihyakkei's discography. Similar to Ruins but deserving the Magma comparisons that generally follow, this is technically complex yet joyful rock with a strange sense of humor and a caffeinated drive unlike any other band touring the planet.
"Miraculously unearthed live tape from one of the earliest incarnations of Tokyo heavy psychedelic legends Kousokuya. For a group with a 25-year history on the Tokyo underground scene, Kousokuya have left very little imprint of their activities. Once heard, though, their sound is unmistakable - a grinding, soaring sonic blackhole that charts the empty gulfs of tension-space like no one else this side of Fushitsusha. This tape, recorded at legendary '70s Tokyo underground venue Minor, captures [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Auris Media's latest is a split release between accomplished and amazing bands: the duo of Boros & Frecheville aka Vialka takes the first 5 tracks with new material, while Igor Krutogolov's Kruzenshtern & Parohod finish the collection with 4 tracks, 2 reworked pieces and 2 new titles. The two bands complement each other well in their tightly complex brands of rock and unusual senses of humor. Vialka, with 3 CDs and a DVD under their belt, and whose excellent Curiosities of Popular Customs [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Acid Mothers Temple scorching guitarist Kawabata Makoto in a trio culled from ACT, in a tongue-in-cheek cover of Zappa's Hot Rats, originally issued on Paratactile in 2002."Now that both Keiji Haino and Merzbow have slowed their release rate a little, it seems that Acid Mothers Temple's Makoto Kawabata is up for the coveted title of Most Prolific Japanese Noisy Person. With AMT's discography swelling monthly plus sundry solo projects and collaborations, it seems that Kawabata's approach [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Now that both Keiji Haino and Merzbow have slowed their release rate a little, it seems that Acid Mothers Temple's Makoto Kawabata is up for the coveted title of Most Prolific Japanese Noisy Person. With AMT's discography swelling monthly plus sundry solo projects and collaborations, it seems that Kawabata's approach [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Nebelnest emerged with a bang out of France, with an excellent first album in 1998 and a second well received album in 2002. An instrumental quartet of keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, on their third album, Nebelnest add more elements of found-sound, noise, improvisation and dissonance to their uniquely post-punk take on dark symphonic rock, updating and punishing that sound beyond recognizable and reaching a whole new audience with it as well. Recorded during a time of chaos and transition [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Taiga was produced by Yoshimi P-we, founder, leader, and songwriter of OOIOO. She began her music career in 1986 playing drums in UFO or Die with Eye and joining him in revolutionary noise-pop experimentalists Boredoms. Formed as a fictitious band for a 1996 magazine article, OOIOO quickly gained attention when they opened for Sonic Youth in 1997 with their powerful and positively energetic force on stage. There are very few bands who can step on stage and instantly demand your attention, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"'Why I Hate Women' rocks from start to finish is very clear, by a couple of reasons: Pere Ubu's bizarre creative genius and their devotion on quality rather than sales. The disc is as introspective, thoughtful and high-spirited as a conversation with an old friend (David Thomas)... across these 47 minutes, his frenzied puissance burns through. The tracks included in 'Why I Hate Women' are cerebral, rugged canticles that are best savored slowly, under the brume of your favorite incense and the glow [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Amongst the cognoscenti, Picchio dal Pozzo is regarded as one of the most original, impressive and highly respected of all the experimental groups to have come out of Italy in the 1970s. They share their original label with Henry Cow's 'Concerts', also reissued this month, and were early invitees to the canonical 'Recommended Sampler'.Aldo De Scalzi, Andrea Beccari, Giorgio Karaghiosoff and Paulo Griguolo all met at infant school and began playing Teleman, Corelli, Bach and Mozart together [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Aldo De Scalzi, Andrea Beccari, Giorgio Karaghiosoff and Paulo Griguolo all met at infant school and began playing Teleman, Corelli, Bach and Mozart together [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Excellent playing from this NY improv rock band, recorded live on WVO6 during the winter of 2006. Freeform stoner goofiness surrounds the pieces, as Kevin Shea provides "philosophical explanations," Ed Bear provides the sales pitch, and Matt Mottell provides rants. "Ranting" is really a bit extreme, as the presentation is likeable and oddball, like the band itself, and the focus should really be on the music: this band really knows how to play, and this is a more relaxed take on their amazing [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
PRE-ORDERS ONLY, NOT SHIPPING UNTIL LATE OCTOBER 2006My favourite of all the Work records, so newcomers start here. Dense compositions, high quality, powerful recordings that explore the fringes of rock; pop fragments, hypnotic repetitions and highly evolved arrangements coupled with a fine exploration of sonorities and techniques, this has a strong and unique musical fingerprint, always surprising while retaining its centre in performance. Now re-mastered with a dramatically improved sound. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
PRE-ORDERS ONLY, NOT SHIPPING UNTIL LATE OCTOBER 2006First LP by The Work, formed in 1980 by Tim Hodgkinson and Bill Gilonis with Rick Wilson and Mick Hobbs. Song based, noise backed, tight-drum-riff-driven, complex, strange and edgy music, with a life-is-short basement aesthetic. Takes no prisoners. Reissued re-mastered. (ReR USA)*Free Shipping
A long period wait preceded the release of this 2003 album, and it was worth it. These are elegant, thoughtful and richly understated songs that receive the benefit of Wyatt's many years in song-writing and composition. The album is presented as a two series of song sets - Part One 'neither here...' and Part 2 '... nor there' - with 30 seconds of silence in-between as "a suitable place for those with tired ears to pause and resume listening later." It's unlikely that this album will tire any [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"This new Phillip Bimstein recording follows his very popular Garland Hirschi's Cows Starkland CD, which was widely praised, generated hundreds of calls to radio stations, and was anointed 'a cult classic' on NPR's All Things Considered. Noted composer John Adams wrote the CD's introduction, commenting that Bimstein 'has an enviable knack for choosing spoken narratives that reminds me of the filmmaker Errol Morris.' This accessible 'alternative classical' CD offers three portraits of: the elderly [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Works by former cohorts and microtonal pioneers, Harry Partch and Dean Drummond. This stunning new recording, engineered by Grammy-award winner Judith Sherman, is performed by members of Newband primarily on the original Partch collection of hand-made instruments, notable for their sculptural and acoustic beauty. The music integrates declaimed poetry (masterfully performed by Bob Osborne) with colorful instrumental accompaniment. The Drummond pieces are first recordings, the Partch are the first [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Double CD release with over 140 minutes of selections from Hermann's most famous films.
Studies 1-12 from Conlon Nancarrow's complete studies for player piano. "Conlon Nancarrow [1912-1997] is remembered almost exclusively for the pieces he wrote for the player piano. He was one of the first composers to use mechanical instruments as machines, far beyond human performance representations. He lived most of his life in complete introspection, not becoming widely known until the 1980s. Today, he is remembered as one of the most original and unusual composers of the 20th [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Studies 1-12 from Conlon Nancarrow's complete studies for player piano.
"Conlon Nancarrow [1912-1997] is remembered almost exclusively for the pieces he wrote for the player piano. He was one of the first composers to use mechanical instruments as machines, far beyond human performance representations. He lived most of his life in complete introspection, not becoming widely known until the 1980s. Today, he is remembered as one of the most original and unusual composers of the 20th [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"This is Pape's third monographic CD with Mode Records. Whereas his last Mode CD ("Electro-acoustic Chamber Works", released in 1998) presented his ground breaking works of 1993-1996, this new CD presents a selection of his more recent pieces composed from 1998 to 2004.While Pape continues his fascination with composing with chaotic sound in Le Fleuve du Désir IV and Weaveworld Prologue, it is his new approach to composing with packets of granular time that predominates on this [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"This is Pape's third monographic CD with Mode Records. Whereas his last Mode CD ("Electro-acoustic Chamber Works", released in 1998) presented his ground breaking works of 1993-1996, this new CD presents a selection of his more recent pieces composed from 1998 to 2004.
While Pape continues his fascination with composing with chaotic sound in Le Fleuve du Désir IV and Weaveworld Prologue, it is his new approach to composing with packets of granular time that predominates on this [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Dallapiccola and Petrassi are often considered the "Heavenly Twins" of 20th century music in Italy. While it is true that they were born in the same year (1904), and together provided the driving force for new Italian music, each composer has his own unmistakable musical and poetic identity. * This CD, performed by Ensemble Dissonanzen, Naples' premier new music ensemble, alternates compositions by Petrassi and Dallapiccola, making for a study of contrasts and comparisons. * Petrassi's [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Dallapiccola and Petrassi are often considered the "Heavenly Twins" of 20th century music in Italy. While it is true that they were born in the same year (1904), and together provided the driving force for new Italian music, each composer has his own unmistakable musical and poetic identity.
* This CD, performed by Ensemble Dissonanzen, Naples' premier new music ensemble, alternates compositions by Petrassi and Dallapiccola, making for a study of contrasts and comparisons.
* Petrassi's [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Springfield" is one of the last compositions Arthur Russell wrote in his all too-short lifetime. Arthur recorded over four hours of tracking with the intention of collaborating with a producer for completion. It never happened until now when the DFA accepted the monumental task of editing and completing the track. No overdubs were used with the exception of minimal keyboards on the remix. Three versions are included with separate vocal takes. The result is a classic Electro Dub track that ranks [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The prolific and multi-talented Tarasov is probably best known from his association drumming with the Ganelin-Chekasin-Trio. He is also well known as a composer, here presenting his "Concerto Grosso for Michael Georgievich" with his Russian Orchestra, along with the shorter "Matrena Kuzminishna" by V. Rezitsky. "Concerto Grosso" was first presented in 1995.
Angelo Badalamenti's work defines the phrase 'haunting soundtrack' and his past scores include his extensive collaborations with David Lynch including Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Lost Highway
George Lewis, Muhal Richard Abrams & Roscoe Mitchell / Keiji Haino, Tetuzi Akiyama, Loren Connors, Oneida, Glenn Wyeant on "Playing the Wall", Edgetone New Music Summit, Vision Festival Photo Essay, "The Dark Blues" by Kurt Gottschalk, "Violin Cases" by Dennis Cook,reviews of FIMAV 2006, Aki Onda's Cassette Memories (Chicago)
On the Cover: Pere Ubu Features: Rafael Toral, COH, Little Annie, James Blackshaw, Once Upon A Time In Melbourne. Invisible Jukebox: Chris Corsano. Cross Platform: Jayne Parker
"ON THE CD: 28 exclusive/unreleased tracks, including: Okkervil River, Destroyer (2 solo tracks from an old cassette release - orig. edition of 50!), Michael Hurley with Tara Jane O'Neil + more. IN THE BOOK: - In-depth, archival interview from 1997 with sci-fi author Octavia Butler, the MacArthur 'genius' award winner who died earlier this year. - Brutally honest tour diary by Will Sheff, the Okkervil River guy. - Drew Daniel of Matmos tell us 'How To Sing Along to 'Sweet Home Alabama.''- [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"ON THE CD: 28 exclusive/unreleased tracks, including: Okkervil River, Destroyer (2 solo tracks from an old cassette release - orig. edition of 50!), Michael Hurley with Tara Jane O'Neil + more.
IN THE BOOK: - In-depth, archival interview from 1997 with sci-fi author Octavia Butler, the MacArthur 'genius' award winner who died earlier this year. - Brutally honest tour diary by Will Sheff, the Okkervil River guy. - Drew Daniel of Matmos tell us 'How To Sing Along to 'Sweet Home Alabama.''- [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
The Revival of George Antheil's 1924 Ballet Méchanique. A film by Ron Frank and Paul D. Lehrman. "In the Roaring '20s, George Antheil's raucous piano recitals and futuristic compositions were creating scandals and riots all over Europe. Ten years later, Antheil was back home, broke and forgotten. His magnum opus, the 'Ballet Méchanique,' so technologically ahead of its time that it could never be performed the way we conceived it, was lost. Forty years after the composer's death, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"Harry Partch (like his friend Anaïs Nin) considered his life's work to be a letter to the world. His last act was going to be to add the enclosures. He never got around to it. After 20 years of working on the Partch archives, Philip Blackburn has now completed the seven-part 'Enclosures' series as it were on his behalf. Enclosure 7, the culminating DVD of this multimedia series, is a monumental tribute to the most significant works of this American original and iconoclast. It includes new [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
Michael Renkel released the brilliant extended composition Errorkoerper III earlier in 2006 on the Absinthe label. He returns to the label here along with video artist Sonja Bender, together creating an immersive visual pastiche and collage over a shifting set of sounds. Renkel works by splitting his guitar signal into various processors, which he deftly controls to create a dynamic palette of sound. More typically his results are alien mutations of sound bearing little resemblance to [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
"In the mythology of the village of Joujouka, Boujeloud is a half-man/half-goat creature who bears a great resemblance to the ancient god Pan. Each year for a week following the Islamic festival of Aid El Kebir (the Big Feast) the musicians enact the pagan-like ritual of Boujeloud. A man sewn into black goat-skins dances wildly while the musicians play a suite of music to both calm the beast and to scare him away. Joujouka music is played on either small bamboo flutes called liras or on the loud [ ... continued @ Squidco ]
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