The Squid's Ear Magazine
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Squidco & The Squid's Ear

UPDATE
February 13, 2026

"You know why I quit playing ballads?
Cause I love playing ballads."
— Miles Davis



 Essential Artists

• Khabat Abas/Ivor Kallin
• Steve Beresford/Pierpaolo Martino/Mark Sanders
• Roger Coleman
• +DOG+
• Frank Gratkowski's In Cahoots (Gratkowski/Zoubek/Landfermann/Mahnig/Laubrock)
• Jane in Ether (Klein Mayas/Voutchkova)
• Jaw Surgery
• Jose Lencastre/Joao Hasselberg/Kresten Osgood
• Joe McPhee/Steve Swell/Mark Tokar/Klaus Kuge
• Tomeka Reid Quartet (w/ Roebke/Halvorson/Fujiwara)
• Remergency (Hirsh/Hollenberg/Sewelson)
• Luke Stewart/Aymeric Avice/Chad Taylor
• Takeshita
• Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley/Hari Sjostrom/Okkyung Lee/Jackson Krall)
• Unsub (Fetusk/Davis)
• Warsaw Cello Quartet with Anna Gadt

 Essential Labels

Confront
Copy This!
Klanggalerie
Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Love Earth Music

Not Two
Out Of Your Head Records
RogueArt
Squid Note Records



Valentine's Day Duet Sale

This weekend we're offering a sale on more than 150 albums that feature duets and duos. These albums are drawn from a selection of CDs, LPs and Cassettes from our catalog of Jazz & Improvised Music, Experimental, Composed, and Rock-Based forms. Take a look through this great set of albums, but hurry! This sale ends Sunday, February 15th at midnight.

Shop the Valentine's Duet Sale

Orders must be placed through our shopping cart, prices shown are the discounted price. In-stock items only, items will disappear from the store if they sell out. Sale items are not eligible for reward points. Sale ends Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 23:59 EST, GMT-5.

 New Releases





   Jazz & Improvisation

Abas, Khabat / Ivor Kallin: Tapsalteerie, Depicted in Echo
(Confront)


Cellist Khabat Abas and violist Ivor Kallin engage in a taut, exploratory duo dialogue built from extended techniques, fractured vocalizations, and deliberate use of space, where cantankerous textures, unconventional pacing, and carefully placed silences shape a curiously absorbing improvisation that balances raw intensity with focused restraint.
   
Buy $13.95 Listen

 
Beresford, Steve / Pierpaolo Martino / Mark Sanders: Be S-Mart
(Confront)


Steve Beresford on prepared piano, electronics, & objects joins Pierpaolo Martino on double bass & electronics and Mark Sanders on drums for a fiercely interactive trio set of elastic rhythms and textured harmony, balancing grounded resonance with agile percussion and playful disruption, recorded at the 2024 Bari in Jazz Festival in sharply conversational, risk-embracing improvisation.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $13.95 Listen

 
Frank Gratkowski's In Cahoots (Gratkowski / Zoubek / Landfermann / Mahnig / Laubrock): Feat. Ingrid Laubrock
(Klanggalerie)


Expanding his In Cahoots quartet into a quintet with Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano sax, composer Frank Gratkowski joins Philip Zoubek on piano & synthesizer, Robert Landfermann on bass, and Dominik Mahnig on drums to perform his fluid compositions that blur the line between writing and improvisation, weaving microtonal nuance, extended techniques with interactive interplay in an important contemporary jazz statement.
   
Buy $18.95 Listen

 
Jane in Ether (Klein Mayas / Voutchkova): Oneiric
(Confront)


The Berlin trio of Miako Klein (recorders), Magda Mayas (piano), and Biliana Voutchkova (violin, voice) further refine their fully improvised approach into an immersive sonic practice, where sustained textures, extended techniques, and collective restraint blur individual voices into a cohesive, ever-shifting sound world, captured at the Studio for Electroacoustic Music at the Akademie der Kunst in Berlin.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $13.95 Listen

 
Lencastre, Jose / Joao Hasselberg / Kresten Osgood : This Anger Is a Liar
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


Recorded live at BOTA in Lisbon, José Lencastre (alto and tenor saxophones), João Hasselberg (double bass, electronics), and Kresten Osgood (drums, voice) deliver an intensely interactive trio performance where volatile free-jazz momentum, sudden textural shifts, and Osgood's striking vocal presence fuel a restless, sharply focused improvisation built on risk and collective responsiveness.
   
Buy $16.95 Listen

 
McPhee, Joe / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge: Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)


Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $16.95 Listen

 
Reid, Tomeka Quartet (w/ Roebke / Halvorson / Fujiwara): Dance! Skip! Hop!
(Out Of Your Head Records)


Led by cellist Tomeka Reid, this longstanding quartet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums delivers a rhythmically propulsive and structurally nimble set that balances grounded low-end drive with agile drumming, incisive guitar textures, and Reid's expressive counterpoint, channeling echoes of 1960s jazz while asserting an exuberant, and yes — danceable — release!
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $14.95 Listen

 
Reid, Tomeka Quartet (w/ Roebke / Halvorson / Fujiwara): Dance! Skip! Hop! [VINYL]
(Out Of Your Head Records)


Vinyl edition of the CD listed above.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $21.95 Listen

 
Remergency (Hirsh / Hollenberg / Sewelson): Wave Benders
(Squid Note Records)


Drummer Steve Hirsh, guitarist Matt Hollenberg, and baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson forge a volatile trio language that blends avant-rock intensity, free-jazz elasticity, and raw electric blues impulses, channeling tightly focused improvisations where ferocious energy, abrupt shifts, and deep mutual trust drive the music beyond genre boundaries into a space that feels both unruly and sharply intentional.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $10.00 Listen

 
Stewart, Luke / Aymeric Avice / Chad Taylor: Deep In The Earth High In The Sky
(RogueArt)


French trumpeter and flugelhornist Aymeric Avice joins D.C./NY/Chicago artists Luke Stewart on double bass & mbira and Chad Taylor on drums & mbira for a richly conversational trio session that moves from delicately textured mbira duets to expansive improvisations rooted in the evolving language of jazz, spontaneously blending lyrical elements into a deeply interactive and forward-looking album.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $16.95 Listen

 
Taylor, Cecil New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall): Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $16.95 Listen

 
Warsaw Cello Quartet with Anna Gadt: Coincidentia Oppositorum
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


Vocalist and composer Anna Gadt joins the Warsaw Cello Quartet in a carefully balanced encounter between composed structure and improvisational expression, where layered cellos and an extended vocal presence explore contrast and convergence through restraint, silence, and a continuously shifting dialogue between sound and abstraction, captured live at Hashtag Lab, in Warszawa.
   
Buy $16.95 Listen

 




   Experimental/Electronic

Coleman, Roger: Journey to Brno [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Copy This!)


Roger Coleman's solo electronics and synthesizer work on Journey to Brno unfolds extended, immersive soundscapes of layered synthesis and nuanced modulation, forging a personal path between contemplative drones, aberrant rhythms, and abstract electronic gestures as shifting timbres and deliberate pacing shape an expansive and sometimes disruptive sonic journey.
   
Buy $8.95 Listen

 
+DOG+: Rural Highway (After Hopper)
(Love Earth Music)


+DOG+ constructs sprawling, immersive noise landscapes across four extended pieces that juxtapose dense textural layering, dynamic distortion, and live improvisational intensity with shifting durations and visceral energy, capturing both studio-crafted depth and raw performance as the MA experimental project expands the boundaries of glitch-inflected sonic exploration and immersive audiovisual abstraction.
   
Buy $9.95 Listen

 
Jaw Surgery: Twelve Spines Facing God
(Love Earth Music)


Operating under the Jaw Surgery moniker, Filipino noise artist Chester Masangya constructs a ritualized power-electronics work driven by distortion, breath, and deliberate restraint, where extended techniques, hostile pressure, and ceremonial pacing collide in a stark, uncompromising exploration of spiritual collapse, sonic violence, and meditative endurance at the outer limits of noise.
   
Buy $9.95 Listen

 
Takeshita: The Lethal Lottery
(Love Earth Music)


Compact yet unpredictable electronic sound worlds that unfold through shifting textures, rhythmic abstraction, and dynamic synthesis, inviting listeners to embrace chance by playing the album on shuffle and discovering new interplay between evolving motifs, tactile synthesis, and subtle sonic gestures that balance thoughtful design with an open, exploratory spirit.
   
Buy $9.95 Listen

 
Unsub (Fetusk / Davis): Xodiak
(Love Earth Music)


Experimental guitarist Fetusk and synthesist Steven Davis collaborate on a brooding electronic work where drones, processed guitars, beats, and field recordings merge into slowly evolving soundscapes, balancing industrial grit, ambient suspension, and textural density in a restrained, immersive exploration of atmosphere and transformation.
 
Squidco Pick

Buy $9.95 Listen

 


The Squid's Ear

The Squid's Ear is Squidco's companion online magazine,
featuring reviews of Squidco items from independent writers.



Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii: Ki (Libra Records)
Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii: Ki (Libra Records)

Remergency (Hirsh / Hollenberg / Sewelson): Wave Benders (Squid Note Records)
Remergency (Hirsh / Hollenberg / Sewelson): Wave Benders (Squid Note Records)

Michael Pisaro-Liu: Within (2) / Appearance (2) (Confront)
Michael Pisaro-Liu: Within (2) / Appearance (2) (Confront)

Alexander Hawkins / Taylor Ho Bynum: A Near Permanent State Of Wonder (RogueArt)
Alexander Hawkins / Taylor Ho Bynum: A Near Permanent State Of Wonder (RogueArt)

Joel Futterman: Absorb (Squid Note Records)
Joel Futterman: Absorb (Squid Note Records)

Joel Futterman: Reflective (Squid Note Records)
Joel Futterman: Reflective (Squid Note Records)

Morton Feldman: GBSR Duo with Taylor MacLennan: Trios [6 CD Box Set] (Another Timbre)
Morton Feldman: GBSR Duo with Taylor MacLennan: Trios [6 CD Box Set] (Another Timbre)


philz
Top 2025 Album List


Carl Kruger
Top 2025 Album List

Webber/Morris Big Band: Unseparate (Out of Your Head Records)
Webber/Morris Big Band: Unseparate (Out of Your Head Records)

McPhee, Joe & Strings (w/ Maneri / Lonberg-Holm / Bisio): We Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (RogueArt)
McPhee, Joe & Strings (w/ Maneri / Lonberg-Holm / Bisio): We Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (RogueArt)


Alexander Zethson
The Squid's Ear Interview



 Stay Current With Squidco

• You can see the newest additions to our catalog in our Just In Stock Section.

• You can see the latest fully cataloged items in our store by using our New Releases section.

• You can see Recently Restocked items on this page.

• You can ask to have us email you when Upcoming Releases are in stock.



We're rarely caught up with new releases that constantly come in our door, and we don't like to rush a release to our homepage. That said, the following releases have already been stocked at Squidco, and are able to be ordered. In most cases we have images, often have samples, and some basic description of each release.



Francis Comyn / Adam Fairhall:
Metalurgia
(Confront)


Dave Douglas (Davis / Warelis / Dunston / Baron):
Four Freedoms
(Greenleaf Music)


Agusti Fernandez / Artur Majewski / Albert Cirera / Ramon Prats:
Som-hi!
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


Last Dream of the Morning (John Butcher / John Edwards / Marc Sanders):
Sharp Illusion
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


John O'Gallagher (O'Gallagher / Monder / Cyrille / Hart):
Ancestral
(Whirlwind)


John O'Gallagher (O'Gallagher / Monder / Cyrille / Hart):
Ancestral [VINYL 180g]
(Whirlwind)


Remedy + Aki Takase (w/ Thomas Heberer / Joe Fonda / Joe Hertenstein):
Remedy + Aki Takase
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))


Stuart Wilding / Mike Adcock:
Apophony
(Confront)


John Zorn (Adams / Raskin / Ackley / Ochs / Glenn / Lopez / Siler / Winant):
John Zorn's Olympiad - VOL. 4 - Curling
(Tzadik)


John Zorn (Davis / Halvorson / Gress / Wollsen):
The Bagatelles Vol. 5 - Kris Davis Quartet
(Tzadik)


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Squid Note Records (Digital/Streaming)

Our digital-first label. Stream or download high-quality releases from artists carried @ Squidco.

Visit Squid Note Records Website


Squidco has been in business as a mail-order store since 2003. In 2010, we moved to Wilmington, NC, providing regional and visiting customers access to our catalog of over 9,000 items, including hundreds of discounted, used, and promotional items not listed on our website. We're open for visits by appointment during weekday afternoons, so if you're in the North Carolina coastal region, please email us to set up a time — we'd love to play some music for you!

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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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