April 17, 2026:
Happy Record Store Day Weekend! It seems that Record Store Day has changed considerably over the years, with most new releases now leaning toward the commercial spectrum rather than the more outside music that we carry. That doesn't make us want to celebrate any less. We carry a strong selection of vinyl releases in our catalog — 446 titles in stock as I write this.
For our customers, vinyl doesn't sell as many copies as compact discs, but we still see a steady number of LPs pass through our doors. Our fulfillment service with 577 Records accounts for the largest share of those sales, as the label consistently releases exceptional music in the format, on both black and colored vinyl. That's followed by our own sales of Otoroku LPs, NoBusiness, Clean Feed/Shhpuma, Firehouse 12 Records, The Thing, Corbett vs. Dempsey, NI-VU-NI-CONNU, and RogueArt.
We often reflect on the press surrounding the "vinyl comeback." When I started Squidco 21 years ago, many collectors were still abandoning vinyl, and our initial focus was exclusively on compact discs. I added vinyl to the catalog in our second year, as some releases were only available in that format, but for years our vinyl selection remained much smaller than our CD catalog. Over time, both have grown along parallel paths, expanding even as overall pressing sizes have become smaller. That lends each release a certain uniqueness, regardless of format, though vinyl collectors often have a particularly strong sentimental attachment to it.
It's fair to say that collectors now embrace whatever format best carries the music they value. We now offer cassettes and downloads as well, and our own Squidco Note Records is primarily digital, with facsimile cards and download codes for selected releases. The music is still primary to the format, and that diversity keeps collecting as engaging as ever.
The Ghost of Barry Chabala & Clara Byom:
Our exciting news this week is the release of our fifth digital album: Bella's Ghost, an excellent acoustic improv duo from Barry Chabala & Clara Byom, recorded in the studio across six live improvisations and one composed piece. Squid's Ear writer Nick Ostrum contributed liner notes for the release following interviews with both artists, from which I excerpt here:
Bella's Ghost is also a beautiful expression of a unique, and I would argue locally rooted, style of experimental music. Fittingly recorded in the Southwest, where Chabala and Byom have been playing extensively over the last few years, it leans into partial folk melodies and gusty tonal accretions. It sounds very much both in the moment and in situ. It is not as if this music could not have been realized elsewhere, but it was not, and for that one must give some credit to its removal from the beaten tracks of the urban hotbeds of the avant-garde.
 Chabala, Barry / Clara Byom: Bella's Ghost (Squid Note Records)
Blending acoustic guitars, clarinets, accordion, voice and found objects, Barry Chabala and Clara Byom craft a deeply intuitive duo session that moves between unedited studio improvs and expanded "extractions," weaving folk-inflected fragments, graphic score realizations and haunting textures into a raw yet lyrical free improv language shaped by trust, contrast and evolving interplay.
If the music speaks to you, we encourage you to spend some time with it and consider supporting both the artists and the label as we continue to build this series of releases. Each purchase helps sustain the work behind the scenes and makes it possible for us to keep bringing this kind of music forward.
It was a strong week for new releases, led by a number of John Zorn titles on Tzadik Records, featuring his compositions performed by various configurations. We finished cataloging the new Gnostic Trio album Sing Me Now Asleep, a welcome return after a few years' break, along with the next two Bagatelle volumes. We completed Brian Marsella's extraordinary solo piano interpretations of Zorn's work in Bagatelle Volume 7 — I'll have more to say about Volume 8 next week, along with the superb new album from Vadim Neselovskyi, Perseverantia.
For my ears, the standout release of the week is on vinyl: Re-Ghoster Extended on the Konnekt label, presenting a live concert of wild yet sophisticated electroacoustic improvisation with a no-holds-barred approach to expressive interaction. I'd also point listeners to the new Suspensão album on Creative Sources, here expanded to an octet with an exceptional group of collaborators, including Hernâni Faustino, Flak, André Hencleeday, Monsieur Trinité, and Tiago Varela, alongside Creative Sources stalwarts Ernesto Rodrigues, Nuno Torres, and Carlos Santos. These two albums sit at opposite ends of the activity spectrum while sharing a similarly masterful level of detail and seemingly telepathic interaction.
I'd also point listeners to Hannah Marshall's exceptional solo cello album on Relative Pitch, Grazing. I've been an enthusiast of her work for decades, but hadn't spent much time exploring her history in depth. This week I read an excellent interview with her from the British Music Collection, which I highly recommend-both for its insight into the breadth of her artistic development and for the inspiration she offers as an improviser.
 Re-Ghoster Extended: Dreaming With The Lights On [VINYL] (Konnekt)
Recorded live at the Archipel Festival, this quintet of Nicolas Field, Thomas Florin, Jerome Noetinger, Fritz Welch, and Nate Wooley delivers an intense electroacoustic performance where composed frameworks erupt into explosive, immersive interactions, as voice, trumpet, piano, percussion, and electronics collide in dense, mutating textures that are disorienting, consuming, often volatile, yet consistently exhilarating.
 Zorn, John / Brian Marsella: The Bagatelles Vol. 7 (Tzadik)
Performing thirteen selections from John Zorn's 2015 Bagatelles collection, pianist Brian Marsella delivers a dynamic solo recital that navigates angular, atonal forms and moments of striking lyricism, blending classical precision with jazz spontaneity to create an intimate, virtuosic, and emotionally resonant interpretation of Zorn's expansive compositional language.
 Zorn, John / The Gnostic Trio (w/ Frisell / Wollesen / Emanuel): Sing Me Now Asleep (Tzadik)
Reuniting Bill Frisell, Kenny Wollesen, and Carol Emanuel as The Gnostic Trio, John Zorn presents a refined set of compositions that blend chamber minimalism, early music influences, and ambient textures, where delicate interplay, spacious forms, and a touch of electronics from Ikue Mori yield a serene, introspective, and subtly cinematic exploration of tone and atmosphere.
 Marshall, Hannah: Grazing (Relative Pitch)
Presenting two extended solo performances recorded at Cafe Oto, cellist Hannah Marshall draws on classical training, theatre, and jazz to shape a deeply immersive free improv work, where patient explorations of tone evolve into tense constellations of harmonics and release through propulsive bowing, balancing immediacy, physicality, and a thoughtfully unfolding sonic narrative.
Squidco Publishing Roundup:
You can view our latest fully cataloged albums in the Recently Section.
You can also browse new titles as they enter our Just In Stock Section — meaning we physically have the album and can ship it, though we may still be updating additional information about the release.
To see restocks of previously listed titles, visit our Recently Restocked page.
And if you're interested in a future release, you can ask us to notify you by email via our Upcoming Releases page — no obligation necessary.
April 10, 2026:
Last week we were occupied with our Spring Sale, a fun weekend sharing great music around the world — thanks to all who placed an order!
Once we caught up, we turned to upcoming arrivals, in particular five new ezz-thetics by Hat Hut, Ltd: improvised albums by Christoph Gallio (XOXO, Birds & Dogs), the quartet of Gerry Hemingway / Izumi Kimura / Frank Gratkowski / Christian Weber (Live At Bau 4), and Matthias Muche BONECRUSHER (Densities), plus two contemporary releases — Judith Wegmann & Marlies Debacker (John Cage Two2 (1989) for 2 Pianos) and Edu Haubensak (SEQUOIA I-IV (for 6 Pianos)).
From Werner X. Uehlinger's Thingamajig label we have three new albums coming: Albert Ayler (Reference: Albert Ayler, Spirits & Spirits Rejoice), Bix Beiderbecke (Reference: Bix Beiderbecke, 1924 to 1928), and Marion Brown / Burton Green Quartet (Reference: Marion Brown, Capricorn Moon, Why Not & with Burton Green Quartet).
Those new albums led us to our annual Spring Hat Sale to make space — and it's also a great time to try out some new older Hats!
Welcoming Some Creativity:
This week we received several new Creative Sources albums, which will begin appearing on our site in the coming days. The release we've been most anticipating is a superb quartet of Rodrigues, Rodrigues, Torres — three core Creative Sources performers — joined by legendary European free improv musicians Alexander von Schlippenbach and Willi Kellers. This is the same group that released the excellent Conundrum in 2023, recorded in the studio, so it's exciting to hear them again three years later, now live at the 45th (!) Konfrontationen Festival. For those less familiar with Creative Sources' overlap with the more traditional European free jazz scene, I've listed a few related albums that may be of interest.
 Zingaro, Carlos / Carlos Bechegas / Ernesto Rodrigues : Spleen (Creative Sources)
A fascinating live performance from Lisbon's Reverso Festival in 2024, where luminaries Carlos Zíngaro (violin), Ernesto Rodrigues (viola, crackle box), and Carlos Bechegas (flute, piccolo) intertwine their distinct approaches into an intricate tapestry that blends classical sensibilities with free improv exploration in a compelling journey through texture and timbre.
 Rodrigues / Gratkowski / Rodrigues / Griener: Unstable Molecules (Creative Sources)
Bridging jazz and contemporary forms, this 2024 live recording of four improvisations at Berlin's Kuhlspot Social Club channels collective power with chamber jazz influences, showcasing the refined techniques and deep experience of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Frank Gratkowski on clarinets and alto saxophone, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Michael Griener on percussion.
 Krennerich / Schubert / Osswald / Fischer: Degrees Above (Creative Sources)
Four German saxophonists are heard in three sophisticated and extremely creative chamber-oriented improvisations recorded at Kulturzentrum Hufeisen: Andreas Krennerich on soprano, sopranino & baritone saxophones; Frank Paul Schubert on alto & soprano saxophones; Hartmut Osswald on tenor sax & bass clarinet; and Nils Fischer on baritone sax & contrabass clarinet.
 Rodrigues, Ernesto / Hans W. Koch : Nostalghia (Creative Sources)
Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues joins with German electronic improviser Has W Koch for an album of interactive acoustics and electronics, where textures from Rodrigues' viola are fed into Koch's electronics to create new and unanticipated transformations, both patiently evolving the textures to reveal sublime minutiae and detail.
Some Hot Notes from Louis Armstrong:
A special note on the Louis Armstrong release, which was held back from Werner X. Uehlinger's first set of releases on Thingamajig, his new post-ezz-thetics label, due to a printing error with the two enclosed cards. This week, the replacement discs arrived with the correct postcards, detailing each track on both CDs with their original discographic information.
On a more personal note: over the last few years, I've started my day with one of five musicians' discographies, depending on my mood. Those are Duke Ellington's early chronology; Ella Fitzgerald's chronology into the 40s; Mozart's complete piano sonatas; Beethoven's complete piano sonatas; and Louis Armstrong's chronology into the 40s.
Armstrong was a bit of a surprise to me. I never considered myself a Dixieland fan, though I've always respected the form. After reading his two autobiographies, I was taken by his personality, and by this first-person history of some of the earliest improvised music, drawn from his reflections and experiences. I began to familiarize myself with that early work and became an enthusiast.
The recordings I've played in the mornings were remastered, but many involve compromises in sound or remain simply rough. So I was extremely intrigued by this new issue from the Hat Hut legacy, given how revelatory many of their remasters have been, clarifying muddy live recordings or poorly captured studio work. Having become very familiar with Armstrong's work, this album is truly a revelation. The clarity of Michael Brändli's work brings a new understanding to Armstrong's two most important bands: the Hot Five and the Hot Seven.
The album title invokes their 100th anniversary, as these recordings begin in 1925. It's remarkable that we can hear them so close to how they were intended, and they continue to justify Armstrong's forward-thinking approach to fledgling jazz.
Kudos to Werner for putting this album out, and for continuing to treat this music with the care and respect it so clearly deserves.
 Armstrong, Louis: Hot Five & Hot Seven At 100 [2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS] (Thingamajig)
Recorded in Chicago between 1925 and 1928, these seminal Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions led by Louis Armstrong capture a transformative moment in early jazz, where his virtuosic phrasing, rhythmic innovation, and charismatic presence redefine the music's expressive scope, presented here with exceptional restoration and mastering, and accompanied by two postcards detailing recording sessions and personnel.
ezz-thetics and now Thingamajig have included a small line of early jazz and traditional forms that include or ultimately influenced hard bop and free jazz. Here is a short selection of those albums. Coming soon is Thingamajig's reissue of Bix Biederbeck, another early and important influence on coming forms.
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Believe (Farrar / Manojlovic / Thomas / Pike):
Uneven Eleven (Segers / Hawyard / Kawabata):
Daniel Levin:
Mike Osborne / Stan Tracey:
John Edwards / Luis Vicente / Vasco Trilla:
Zeena Parkins / Cecilia Lopez:
Peter Evans / Mike Pride:
Daniel Levin:
Eric La Casa / Jerome Noetinger:
Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp:
Suspensao: Something Ancient Listens Within Us. The Light Has Forgotten Its Name But Will Remain. (Creative Sources)
Rodrigues, Ernesto / Guilherme Rodrigues / Nuno Torres / Alexander Von Schlippenbach / Willi Kellers: Nickelsdorf (Creative Sources)
Zwerv (Raoul van der Weide / George Hadow / Henk Zwerver / Ziv Taubenfeld / Luis Vicente): Live (Creative Sources)
Hampton, Lionel Orchestra 1958: The Mess Is Here, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
