This weekend is the final of three Record Store Day events, the actual date of this last celebration being Saturday, October 24th. We are participating with just one new album from the three RSD release dates: a vinyl reissue of Slapp Happy's Acnalbasac Noom on the Our Swimmer. This joins our collection of RSD releases on Saturday in the late morning. All weekend, starting with Friday late morning, we will offer discounts on all in-stock new release in our catalog, and will also feature a special on the Hopscotch label, which we recently began distributing again.

This has been an unusual year in every regard, and the Record Store Day event has had to adapt to the reality of store closures, social distancing and public concerns in the midst of a pandemic. Focusing on mail-order stores has helped listeners, labels, artists and stores like Squidco to survive this time, and we truly appreciate the interest we've seen in these events. It seems hopefully likely that sometime next year we will be able to return to physical record stores without concerns, and to concert settings and performances, all of which have been absent most of 2020. Here's our cautious hope to a better, brighter and healthier 2021 filled with new music and brilliantly exuberant concerts and club dates.

Last: if you're a US citizen and haven't done so, Please Make Sure To Vote!

Last week we introduced a new label to our catalog, fo'c'sle led by Bay Area cellist Theresa Wong. The label's first releases are an eclectic mix of styles, appropriate to the diversity of interests and settings that Wong has been involved with — Molly Thompson, Larry Ochs' Rova Special Sextet & Orchestra, Barn Owl, Grosse Abfahrt, The Norman Conquest, Fred Frith, alongside her own solo work &c. To date there are four releases, each noteworthy in unique ways.

The first release on the label takes its cues from Pauline Oliveros and her Deep Listening strategies, in a trio with long string artist and composer Ellen Fullman, with Deep Listening Band founder David Gamper performing on natural flutes, bells, conch, melodica, & electronics, and DLS founding member Stuart Dempster on trombone & didjeridu. It's an hypnotic album of intricate intertwining of tones and timbres that reveals the trio's curious nature through concise works.

Fullman, Ellen / David Gamper w/ Stuart Dempster: Pink Sea Thrift [VINYL] (fo'c'sle)

Six works by iconic composer Ellen Fullman in a duo with David Gamper, an original member of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening Band — ecstatic and mesmerizing improvisations recorded in the resonant space of the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin, CA — plus 2 tracks of a duo between Ellen Fullman and Deep Listening Band founding member Stuart Dempster on trombone & didjeridu.

The second release on fo'c'sle is a retrospective from Bay Area experimental computer artist Chris Brown, amusingly titled Retrospectacles, and presenting work from 1990-2016. In contrast the label's first release, Pink Sea Thrift with it's more intuitive and spacious feeling, Brown takes a scientific and algorithmic approach to his work. Which does not make his music cold and technical, as much of his work is based on his idiosyncratic piano work, fed through analytical engines that create unexpected accompaniment. It's sometimes a solo piano album, occasionally an android ensemble, and effectively articulate and inventive.

Brown, Chris: Retrospectacles [2 CDs] (fo'c'sle)

A fascinating 2-CD retrospective of the solo piano and computer work from 1990 to 2016 of San Francisco Bay Area experimental composer Chris Brown, whose work focuses on evolving paradigms of human-machine interaction through live signal processing, generative polyrhythmic textures, and a cohabitation of both formal control and indeterminacy.

The third release is a rare treat, an infrequent chance to cross continental boundaries between the US and China in six free improvisations recorded in 2017 in the Yunnan Province. The quintet employ instruments from Western and Chinese traditions, improvising in a nonidiomatic approach from energetic to introspective moments. The performance is essentially acoustic, with Li Xing switching between electric and acoustic guitars. The results are exotic by Western ears, but masterful by any improvisational standard.

Lijiang Quintet: Crossing A River By Rope (fo'c'sle)

A rare and exuberant exchange of sonic discourse between Chinese and American improvisers recorded in the Yunnan Province of China at the Lijiang Studio artist residency, in a uniquely voice quintet with Theresa Wong on cello & voice, Lao Dan on saxophone & bamboo instruments, John McCowen on clarinet & recorder, Li Xing on electric & acoustic guitars, and Deng Boyu on percussion & found objects.

The most recent album is from Powerdove, in a quartet led by keyboardist Annie Lewandowski, who composed this song cycle about ancient Greek figures in collaboration with David Yearsley, Theresa Wong and Russell Greenberg. The works are poetic and have an historic feeling to them through the extensive use of harpsichord. Lewandowski shows up in truly diverse settings through our catalog, including Doublends Vert on the Line label, as a member of London Improvisers Orchestra, in a Ninth World duo with Fred Frith, Long as in short, Walk as in run, and also as a part of Frith's 3 CD Live at The Stone collection on Intakt, on Tzadik in Samech and also in Spike Orchestra's The Book Beri'ah release. This is the first album with her that features her voice, in a set of her own songs that showcase her quietly expressive lyrics. The songs contrast traditional use of instruments with subtle experimental approaches, capivating when the listener is caught up inside an unexpected vortex of sound, or accompanied by unusual extraneous sounds that influence Lewandowski's words. I am reminded of Lindsay Cooper's Rags, which took traditional work and protest songs and set them with modern compositional strategies. Here we have modern/ancient lyrics and a deceptive "medieval" setting, an unusual set of contrasts that fascinate.

Powerdove: Bitter Banquet (fo'c'sle)

Keyboardist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Fred Frith, Samech) composed this song cycle about ancient Greek figures in collaboration with David Yearsley, Theresa Wong and Russell Greenberg, poetic pieces contrasting traditional use of instruments with subtle experimental approaches in a unique and fascinating set of compositional strategies.

Friends of Squid:

If you aren't a member of our mailing list then you just missed the opportunity to participate in a Friends of Squid cost sale, with more than 200 items in the sale at Squidco's cost. The criteria to be included in this unannounced sale was to be on our mailing list, to have ordered from us in the last year, and to have ordered from us more than once. In other words, a Friend of Squid(co)! After the private sale was complete we put the remainder of the sales items up for our full mailing list and on our website, Facebook and Twitter accounts for 20% off their retail price. Not to press the point too hard, but you also aren't eligible for our very successful Squidco Reward Points program unless you're a member of our mailing list.

Our mailing list is regularly published weekly, a single mailing with a listing of new albums fully cataloged since the last mailing, including a list of in-stock but not fully cataloged items, and recent reviews and publications on the magazine, The Squid's Ear. We also include promotions in store, but no promotions for other businesses, and there are no advertisements for other businesses or links to non-Squidco web businesses. In other words, the mailing list is pure Squidco, and one of the best and quickest ways to stay current with our activity. You can take a look at the mailing list via the web version of our most recent mailing list on our website.

We at Squidco really do understand customer concerns about privacy, and the selling and sharing of email addresses from company to company. I can promise you, we have never shared or sold a customer's email address, and we never will. I personally, having had an email account since the earliest days of the public internet (and before), know the agony of junk mail, fraud and phishing & mdash; on any given day I and Squidco's main email address receive 100s of unsolicited email messages, which we endure because those email address are well known for actual communication and business. So, no, I would never let your email address be shared, and all of us at Squidco are serious about your privacy.

To bring this full circle: because we respect your privacy, if you haven't signed up for our mailing list we couldn't email you to tell you that you were eligible for this sale. So if you're reading this blog entry and you haven't signed up for our mailing list, why not Join Our Mailing List?

Upcoming and On The Way:

The last two weeks have been an extremely busy purchase cycle here, with new releases coming at an impressive pace as we enter the fall season. The following have been ordered and will begin to show up on our website early next week. If you would like us to notify you when any of these releases are physically in stock and available for purchase please use our upcoming releases page. There's no obligation to purchase if you request an email notification for a release, but you can be sure to be one of the first to order with this service.

Urs Leimgruber / Christy Doran / Bobby Burri / Fredy Studer : It's About Time (Intakt)

Sylvie Courvoisier / Drew Gress / Kenny Wollesen: Free Hoops (Intakt)

Charlotte Greve; Vinnie Sperrazza; Chris Tordini Greve, Sperrazza, & Tordini: The Choir Invisible (Intakt)

Christoph Irniger Trio (Christoph Irniger / Raffaele Bossard / Ziv Ravitz): Open City (Intakt)



Toyozumi, Sabu / Rick Countryman / Simon Tan / Isla Antinero / Stella Ignacio: The Search for the Five Senses (Sol Disk Records)



Alexander von Schlippenbach: Slow Pieces for Aki - Piano Solo (Intakt)

James Brandon Lewis Quartet (Lewis / Taylor / Ortiz / Jones): Molecular (Intakt)

Tim Berne's Snakeoil: The Deceptive 4 [2 CDs] (Intakt)



KUBISCH, CHRISTINA: Italienische Stücke/Italian Pieces (1974-1984) (Tochnit Aleph)

SLAPP HAPPY: Acnalbasac Noom [VINYL RSD] (Our Swimmer)

O'ROURKE, JIM: Shutting Down Here [VINYL] (Portraits GRM)

PARKER, EVAN: Monoceros [VINYL] (Treader)

15 Kinder & Brotzmann / Van Hove / Bennink: Free Jazz und Kinder [VINYL] (Tochnit Aleph)

TALIBAM! WITH SILKE EBERHARD AND NIKOLAUS NEUSER: This Week Is In Two Weeks [VINYL] (ESP-Disk)

FRANCIS, RICHARD & FRANS DE WAARD: Retired Dilettantes [CASSETTE] (The Tapeworm)

ASHLEY, ROBERT: Foreign Experiences (Lovely Music)



Jooklo Trio (Genta / Vanzan / Lopez): It Is What It Is (Relative Pitch)

Johnson, Hermione : Tremble (Relative Pitch)

Neuringer, Keir / Shayna Dulberger / Julius Masri: Dromedaries II (Relative Pitch)

Lubelski, Samara : Partial Infinite Sequence (Relative Pitch)

Ulher, Birgit / Franz Hautzinger: Kleine Trompetenmusik (Relative Pitch)

Brad Henkel / Jacob Wick: Lovely Bag You Have (Relative Pitch)

Schubert / Schlippenbach / Blume (Relative Pitch)

Leap of Faith: Principles of an Open Future (Relative Pitch)

John Blum, Jackson Krall: Duplexity (Relative Pitch)



Albert Ayler 1965: Spirit Rejoice & Bells Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Paul Lovens-Florian Stoffner: Tetratne (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)



Prevost / Hawkins / Gold / Mattos: Bean Soup and Bouquets The Eddie Prevost Band (Matchless)

Moore / Prevost / Yarde: Nous (Matchless)

Butcher / Prevost / Viltard: Iklectik Live One (Matchless)

Kordik / Lucas / Prevost: High Laver Reflections ( Earshot)



Sam Weinberg / Henry Fraser / Weasel Walter : Grist (ugEXPLODE)

Sandy Ewen / Damon Smith / Weasel Walter (ugEXPLODE)



Horace Tapscott: Live At Lacma, 1998 [VINYL] (Dark Tree Records)

Horace Tapscott: Ancestral Echoes: The Covina Sessions, 1976 (Dark Tree Records)



Nate Wooley: Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic Records)



Van Hove, Fred / Peter Brotzmann: Front To Front [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Dropa Disc)

Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12 Records)

Squidco Publishing Roundup:

As the last entry in this blog was two weeks ago, I leave you with a number of updates to our site and The Squid's Ear over the last couple of weeks. You can always keep up with the latest additions to our catalog as they enter our Just In Stock Section, meaning that we physically have an album and are able to ship it with an order. You can also see recent restocks of previous items at our Recently Restocked page. You can see a list of the releases we're anticipating on our upcoming releases page, where you can request that we inform you via email of any release that you're interested in, with no obligation to purchase.

October 20, 2020: New @ Squidco:
Brodbeck/Bohm -Weak Ties [CD] (Creative Sources)
Gorlinsky/Sysoev/Muller -Universal Vitamin [CD] (Creative Sources)
Sarah Hennies -Casts [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Astral Spirits)
Cryingsnice (Eric Hamelin/Chris Dadge) -All Greased Up For Nothin' [CDR] (Bug Incision Records)
Leap Of Faith -The Observed Present [CD] (Evil Clown)
PEK Solo -Schism [CD] (Evil Clown)
Robert Wyatt -His Greatest Misses [CD] (Domino Record Co.)
Robert Wyatt -His Greatest Misses [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Domino Record Co.)
Joel Futterman/Ike Levin Duo -The Present Gift [CD] (IML Music)

October 20, 2020: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Barre Phillips - Thirty Years In Between (Victo) by John Eyles.

October 20, 2020: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: McPhee / Rempis / Reid / Lopez / Nilssen-Love - Of Things Beyond Thule Vol. 2 (Aerophonic Records) by Paul Serralheiro.

October 15, 2020: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Urs Leimgruber & Jean-Marc Foussat - Face To Face (Fou Records) by Massimo Ricci.

October 15, 2020: New @ Squidco:
Daniel Carter1/Patrick Holmes/Matthew Putman/Hilliard Greene/Federico Ughi -Telepathic Mysteries Vol. 1 [CD] (577)
Modern Jazz Quintet Karlsruhe/Four Men Only (Joos/Eichhorn/Zimmer/Buhler/Thellman) -Complete Recordings [3-CD BOX SET] (NoBusiness)
Quin Kirchner -The Shadows and The Light [VINYL 2 LPs] (Astral Spirits)
Chris Brown -Retrospectacles [2 CDs] (fo'c'sle)
Moritz/Ali/Costa -Estuary [CD] (Neither/Nor Records)
String Theory -Tin [CD] (Creative Sources)
Skrijelj/Rodrigues/Mira/Malmendier -lluvia [CD] (Creative Sources)
Gelber Flieder -Olbaumgewachse [CD] (Creative Sources)
Emily Davis/Christopher Riggs/George Romaine -Extinction Burst [CDR] (Bug Incision Records)
Joel Futterman -Blues For My Brother [CD] (Creation Music)

October 13, 2020: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: J.P.A. Falzone & Morgan Evans-Weiler - Chordioid (Another Timbre) by John Eyles.

October 13 ,2020: New @ Squidco:
Uchihashi Kazuhisa/Yoshida Tatsuya -Improvisations 5 [2 CDs] (Magaibutsu)
Sanhedrin (Haino/Yoshida/Nasuno) -Change The Density So That You Can Crawl Up From The Sea Of ​​Duty [CD] (Trailights Record)
Daimonji (Hoppy/Yoshida/Nasuno) -Eutopia [3 CDs] (Magaibutsu)
Petra Haden (w/ John Zorn/Jesse Harris feat. the Julian Lage Trio) -Songs For Petra [CD] (Tzadik)
Guillaume Gargaud -Strange Memories [CD] (Setola Di Maiale/Chant)
Bruckmann/Djll/Heule/Nishi-Smith -Brittle Feebling [CD] (Humbler)
Ellen Fullman/David Gamper w/ Stuart Dempster -Pink Sea Thrift [VINYL] (fo'c'sle)
akuji Naka/Tim Olive -Minouragatake [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)
Sub-Unit No. 1 -Main Sequence [CD] (Evil Clown)

October 13, 2020: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Brandon Seabrook, with Cooper-Moore and Gerald Cleaver - Exultations (Astral Spirits) by Thomas Mellish.

The last couple of weeks, coming out of the 2nd Record Store Day event on September 26th, has keep us all active at Squidco. As is typical of the start of autumn, labels and artists have been releasing albums at a more active pace, and the revery of summer yields to more concentrated occupation. This summer was unusually busy for us, as many listeners found an alternative to the concerts they would normally attend through recorded music. We hope that our website, with its linking of albums and artists into the Squidco catalog — particularly the links to in-stock records through our personnel listings on detailed product pages — leads to interesting exploration of unknown albums and artist connections. That seemed to be the case this summer, as we saw many customers making deep catalog expeditions into older albums, and we're proud to help facilitate the study of creative music.

We're finally experiencing a settling of sorts from some of the shipping issues that confounded us early in the year. A number of countries have begun shipping small packages where they would not because of pandemic concerns, and many labels have found alternative shipping companies that are reliable and not prohibitively expensive. This has led to a good number of new albums entering our catalog, particularly from smaller labels and individual artists. Despite the concerns, delays and difficulties, physical format recorded music is finding its way to us and we're enthusiastic about the albums planned and announced for the fall season.

To demonstrate, the last few weeks and have seen additions to our catalog from labels Ramboy, Kontrans, Discus, Libra, Creative Sources, Bug Incision and Another Timbre, with Magaibutsu finally arrived after ordering back in March (new albums due to appear on our site next week!) We will also add recent Intakt and titles to our catalog next week, with four new Matchless to follow soon after, and a couple of new 845 Records making their way to us from Japan. Domestic issues include a wealth of Astral Spirits titles, recent Tzadik releases, and a number of Relative Pitch albums. Today we put in stock new cassettes from Notice Recordings, five new Evil Clown releases, a solo album from guitarist Guillaume Gargaud, our first 1039 Records album with Chris Pitsiokos, a recent album from Carlo Costa's Neither/Nor label, and we introduced violinist Theresa Wong's fo'c'sle label to our catalog.