SQUIDCO/SQUID'S EAR NEWS January 9, 2009

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2009, a year that promises hope, and a year filled with great new music - Happy New Year!

New in improv include: 3 new Matchless releases, including AMM, Von Schlippenbach, and Prevost CDs; several Jazzwerkstatt releases including Futch, the Oxley Bailey Quartet, Conrad Bauer, and Minton/Weston CDs; 2 Tim Daisy projects on Poland's MultiKulti label. Ambiances Magnetiques releases the 2nd Ensemble SuperMusique, Joelle Leandre with Leandre, Quatuor Bozzini playing James Tenney, plus the dual drums of Michele F. Cote & Isaiah Ceccarelli. AM also leads in electro-acoustic/experimental, with the e-a improv quartet of Lauzier, Martel, Myhr & Tetreault; Pauline Oliveros' early Electronic Pieces on Sub Rosa; two Zeitkratzer CDs, one each with Carsten Nicolai & Keiji Haino. In rock we have two new Acid Mothers / Seichi Yamamoto releases; Eugene Chadbourne's "Election" songs; the massive Magma "Studio Zund" 12 CD box set; Dust-to-Digital's 2nd volume of the early American music; and David Sylvian's Samadhi label reissue the lush Thomas Feiner "Opiates" album.

As a sign of the times, 2009 brings in a number of great and beautifully packaged vinyl issues: 3 on Important Records - James Blackshaw and Jozef Van Wissem, and two My Cat Is an Alien releases; PSF reissues the Kim Doo Soo "10 Days Butterfly"; Gx Jupitter-Larsen's frightening album of car crashes; No-Necks "Clomeim" in a double LP set; and Malcolm Goldstein's early electronics and tape collage on a deluxe Alga Marghen LP. On DVD the late Juto Kaneko's band Kousokuya is documented live at Shinjuku JAM in Tokyo.

In the next mailing we'll have the latest round of releases from the excellent Portugal improv label Creative Sources. To mark the occasion we're reducing the price on 22 of our best selling and most interesting Creative Sources releases - only $10 each! Sale ends January 16, 2009.

Last but not least, at the end of this mailing are 21 new reviews on The Squid's Ear.

Improvisation:
$18.95  Buy  listen	AMM: Trinity (Matchless)
	New 2008 recordings from AMM - Eddit Prevost & John Tilbury with John Butcher - performing at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, England.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Bailey / Oxley: Quartet (JAZZWERKSTATT)
	1993 recordings of percussionist Oxley and guitarist Bailey's quartet with electronic artists Pat Thomas and Matt Wand, unconventional and extraordinary improvisation.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Bauer / Reichel / Volker / Schoof / Schriefl &c.: Heimatlieder (JAZZWERKSTATT)
	An unusual brass oriented big band with Conrad Bauer, Hans Reichel, Ute Volker, &c, applying free improv approaches to waltzes, schlagers, marches and folk songs.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Bauer / Rose / Lehn: Futch (JAZZWERKSTATT)
	The debut release of trombonist Johannes Bauer, Australian violinist Jon Rose and analog synth player Thomas Lehn, mutated improvisation for a Futched world.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Brotzmann / Laswell / &c.: Low Life & Last Exit "In Koln" (JAZZWERKSTATT)
	Two Brotzmann/Laswell releases in one: the duo of "Low Life" and the quartet with Shannon Jackson and Sonny Sharrock, Last Exit "In Koln", demanding and driven music!
$14.95  Buy  listen	Cirotteau / Lacasse / Massicotte / Normand: Face a la derive (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	An audio and acousmatic documentary of the sounds along the St. Lawrence River, above and below water, and the voices of the people living around the shore.
$14.95  Buy  listen	Cote / Ceccarelli: Vulgarites (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	A plethora of objects being struck and stroked from the meeting of drummers Cote (Bruire, Klaxon Gueule) and Ceccarelli, complex interactions of percussion, feedback and electronics.
$17.95  Buy  listen	Dragons: 1976 (Multikulti Projec)
	Dragons "1976" is the horn bass drum improv trio of Aram Shelton on alto saxophone, Jason Ajemian on double bass, and Tim Daisy on drums and percussion.
$14.95  Buy  listen	Ensemble SuperMusique: Y'a du bruit dans ma cabane (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	A supergroup of the AM collective with Derome, Hetu, Labrosse, Roger, Tanguay and Tetrault, in adventurous and far-reaching improvisation that have to be heard to be believed!
$15.95  Buy  listen	Fredriksson, Kullhammar & Zetterberg: Gyldene Tider Vol. 1 (Moserobie Music)
	Saxophonist and Moserobie label leader Jonas Kullhammar in a trio with Daniel Fredriksson and Torbjorn Zetterberg, brilliant free improv from one of Sweden's finest!
$18.95  Buy  listen	Harth, Alfred: Imperial Hoot (Blue Noises)
	2000 recordings from Alfred Harth's Imperial Hoot with Christoph Korn, Marcel Daemgen and Gunter Bozem, unusual improv mixing electronics with powerful improvisation.
$14.95  Buy  listen	Joelle Leandre, Quentin Sirjacq: Out of Nowhere (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	An engaging encounter between bassist Leandre and pianist Sirjacq, delicate yet intense interaction from two sophisticated & listening players from different generations.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Landaeus, Mathias: Goes a Long, Long Way (Moserobie Music)
	Influential Swedish and New York jazz pianist and composer Mathias Landaeus & his House Of Approximation quintet in 9 original Landaeus compositions.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Minton / Weston: Ways: A Songbook (JAZZWERKSTATT)
	The long standing duo of pianist Veryan Weston and extreme vocalist Phil Minton in a criticial reissue bringing together songs from 3 of their ITM releases; unexpected and excellent!
$17.95  Buy  listen	New Fracture Quartet: 1,000 Lights (Multikulti Projec)
	Tim Daisy's ensemble with fellow Chicago players Nate Mcbride, Jaimie Branch and Dave Miller, modern acoustic and electric jazz compositions with a serious kick.
$18.95  Buy  listen	Schlippenbach, Alexander Von & Eddie Prevost: Blackheath (Matchless)
	Pianist von Schlippenbach and drummer Eddie Prevost on an album of two solo works each, and then together for a piece inspired by Thelonius Monk.
$18.95  Buy  listen	Wright, Seymour & Eddie Prevost: Gamut (Matchless)
	AMM percussionist Eddie Prevost on roto toms with alto saxophonist Seymour Wright in a 5 part series of G.A.M.U.T. free improvisations and interactions.

Electro-Acoustic/Electronic:
$14.95  Buy  listen	Cote / Dontigny: La Notte Fa (&Records)
	An amazing album of drums and cut-ups from Cote and Dontigny with guests Falaise, St-Onge, &c, dark, disturbing and persuasive use of rhythm and sound sources.
$14.95  Buy  listen	Lauzier / Martel / Myhr / Tetreault: Disparition de l'usine ephemere (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	Four improvisers from Quebec and Norway playing prepared reeds, strings, and a broken turntable, an ea-improv release evoking the sonic and industrial world of sound.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Oliveros, Pauline: Four Electronic Pieces 1959-1966 (Sub Rosa)
	Four early electronic and tape works recorded during the late 50s and 60s from experimentalist and improviser Oliveros, fascinatingly inventive and ambitious pieces.
$16.95  Buy  listen	Zeitkratzer / Carsten Nicolai: Electronics (Zeitkratzer)
	A cooperation between Zeitkratzer (Gratkowski, Friedl, &c) and Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) bringing together an avant garde ensemble and a non-academic electronic musician.
$16.95  Buy  listen	Zeitkratzer / Keiji Haino: Electronics (Zeitkratzer)
	On this release, Zeitkratzer (Gratkowski, Friedl, &c) cooperates with legendary Japanese noise artist, Keiji Haino on guitar and drums in live recordings from Germany and Austria.

Rock/RIO/Prog:
$16.95  Buy  listen	Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: Acid Mothership Live (Acid Mothers Temple)
	The tour CD sold during AMT's 2007 European and 2008 US & Canadian tours, with "Dark Star Blues", "Pink Lady Lemonade", swirling psychedelic and improvised rock, limited to 1000 copies.
$12.95  Buy  listen	Chadbourne, Eugene: Election Song (Chadula)
	Studio tracks and new performances of original Chadbourne material, plus one Albert Ayler banjo cover, part of Doc Chad's political series and solo library.
$15.95  Buy  listen	Feiner & Anywhen, Thomas: The Opiates (Samadhi Sound)
	David Sylvian tracked down vocalist Feiner in Sweden to ask that he reissue this album of brooding, widescreen, colour-drained, soundscape songs, a lost classic reclaimed.
$19.95  Buy  listen	Hedayat, Dashiell: Obsolete (Mantra)
	Japanese reprint limited edition CD as an LP reproduction of this French psych/prog pre-Gong album with Daevid Allen, William S. Burroughs, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smith, &c.
$116.95  Buy	Magma: Studio Zund - 12 CD Box (Seventh)
	12 Disc box set with 9 studio albums from Kobaia to KA, each with 32+ page booklets for each release, a double CD of archive documents, the bands 1st 1970 demo, &c. &c.!
$21.95  Buy  listen	Seiichi, Yamamoto & Acid Mothers Temple: Giant Psychedelia 2CD (Acid Mothers Temple)
	Double CD set of live recordings from Acid Mothers Temples Festival Volume 6 on December 8, 2007 with Boredoms guitarist Yamamoto Seiichi improvising with AMT.
$59.95  Buy  listen	VA: Art Of Field Recording Volume II 4CD BOX (Dust-to-Digital)
	The 2nd volume in the Art of Field Recording series, traditional American Music on 4 CDs and a 96 page illustrated book, an essential history of folk music and culture.

Compositional:
$19.95  Buy  listen	Ligeti / Heppener: Lux Aeterna (Harmonia Mundi)
	Ligeti's Lux Aeterna, best known from its use by Stanley Kubrick in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey and his "Sonata For Solo Viola" performed by Capella Amsterdam MusikFabrik.
$14.95  Buy  listen	Quatuor Bozzini: Arbor Vitae (Ambiances Magnetiques)
	The sixth QB Collection, "Arbor Vitae", pays homage to the Canadian-American composer James Tenney with performances of the complete quartets and quintets.

Vinyl:
$19.95  Buy  listen	Blackshaw / Van Wissem (Brethren Of The Free Spirit ): The Wolf Also Shall Dwell With The Lamb [VINYL] (Important Records)
	Named after a cult of 13th-century heretics, Blackshaw and Van Wissem employ contemporary performance styles and for guitar and lute on 4 circular compositions.
$26.95  Buy	Dendoshi: 2 [VINYL] (PLANAM)
	Comprised of members of No Neck Blues Band, Raymond Dijkstra, and Af Ursin in the second development of this experimental band, in a limited pressing with photo inserts.
$59.95  Buy	Doo Soo, Kim: 10 Days Butterfly [VINYL] (PSF)
	Very limited repress of this 2007 double LP from Korean acid folk singer Kim Doo Soo mining 'productive veins of profound melancholy, animistic nature, and unfathomable, hermetic affection'.
$26.95  Buy	Goldstein, Malcolm: Early Electronic/Tape Collage Music [VINYL] (Alga Marghen)
	Deluxe LP and glossy insert book of early electronic/tape collage pieces by Malcolm Goldstein, created in close connection to the pre-Fluxus NYC of the 60s.
$17.95  Buy	Gx Jupitter-Larsen: Big Time Crash Bang [VINYL] (RRR)
	RRR LP by Haters' Juppitter-Larsen of 2 noise compositions made from mangled-up car crashes sounds: tires squeeling, glass shattering. and metal crunching.
$27.95  Buy	My Cat Is An Alien / Praxinoscope: For The Tears Of Land, prayers from outer space [VINYL] (Important Records)
	A double LP of cosmic guitarists My Cat Is An Alien, and Roberto Opalio's side project Praxinoscope, in a deluxe screen printed metallic ink jacket limited edition of 300.
$21.95  Buy	My Cat Is An Alien: Robert Opalio/Maurizio Opalio [VINYL] (Important Records)
	A split LP with each side featuring a 20 minute solo track from both brotherly halves of the acclaimed space guitar improvising band My Cat Is An Alien.
$25.95  Buy  listen	No-Neck Blues Band: Clomeim [VINYL] (Locust)
	A studio album from New York's cryptic and experimental No-Neck Blues Band, sculpted from several days of recording to create these haunting and unusual pieces.

DVD:
$23.95  Buy	Kousokuya: Live At Shinjuku Jam, 2006 DVD (PSF)
	The late Jutok Kaneko's band Kousokuya, Japan's free-thinking psychedelic rock group, in a DVD documenting two of their final concerts at Shinjuku JAM in Tokyo.