On the cover: Julia Holter; Blurt; Music With My Insane Friend (Melbourne duo James Wilson and Simon Bereux); Invisible Jukebox: Arnold Dreyblatt; Ramzi; Iain Chambers; Kink Gong; Khyam Allami; Global Ear: Lima; plus live, print and recorded reviews, &c &c.

The cult of Sun Ra via Hieroglyphic Being, plus Gilles Peterson on his new Sun Ra comp and Art Yard's Peter Dennett; Ernest Berk: Musique Concrete Meets Modern Dance; Collateral Damage: Unsound's Mat Schulz; Epiphanies: Kristin Hersh; Global Ear: Budapest, Hungary.

The longstanding collaboration of cornetist Bobby Bradford and reedist Frode Gjerstad (together since '86) with bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass and Frank Rosaly on drums, recording at Philadelphia Art Alliance in 2014, a powerful lineup of modern free players.

A limited LP from the trio of European improvisers Giovanni Di Domenico on piano and Peter Jacquemyn on double bass with American drummer Chris Corsano, recording in the studio in Belgium, 2013, for 3 free improvisations of dexterous and expressive playing.

Martin Kuchen (Angles, Fire! Orchestra, All Included, &c) on tenor and soprano sax, Jon Rune Strom on bass, and Tollef Ostvang on drums for an album of muscular playing and intense interaction, including a breakdown of All Included's "Satan In Plain Clothes".

A series of electroacoustic compositions from composer Slawomir Kupczak, combining the sounds of instruments via electronic means to create new hybrid sounds of alien character, released in carefully building works from near-minimal to unsettling eruptions of sound.

A diverse set of radio compositions by three Warsaw artists from different fields of art -- Martin Masecki, Wojtek Zra ka-Kossakowski and Martin Lenarczyk -- who reconstruct and commemorate the memory of Poland's most famous composer, Frederic Chopin.

The duo of cellist Anil Eraslan and contrabassist John Lindberg in a "rollicking adventure of sound explosions and subtle sensibilities, ragged expressionism and multi-faceted surprises and shockers. All from simple raw unfettered wood, strings, bow hairs, and flesh."

Tomek Mirt resurrects the memory of Norwegian composer Arne Nordheimie through this five part work of slowly shifting electronics, tense atmospheres, and gentle murmurs, detailed work that reveals its meditative depth through repeated listenings.

Composer Petit in an opus dealing with the dynamic of resonance and its incidences: a microphonic exploration of a single sound body made to resonate by means of different types of percussion, building a dramatic story from sampled and processed percussive elements.

Recorded and mixed on analog tape, MOPDtK combines historical jazz lineage and the 21st century perspective of MOPDtK's members (Jon Irabagon; Ron Stabinsky; Moppa Elliott; Kevin Shea), with each piece dedicated to an individual who influenced their compositional process.

Between 1973 and '76 Sunday afternoons at Rudolph's Fine Art Center hosted the superb John Carter Trio with son Stanley Carter on bass and Chris Carter on cymbals; these live recordings were originally released in a limited LP in 1977, now reissued with a rare '77 radio broadcast.

Two studio recordings recorded 2 years apart (1969, 1971) of "Frictions", a 6 part work, and the additional 2 part "Frictions Now" from the quartet of Michael Sell (trumpet), Dieter Scherf (sax & winds), Gerhard Konig (guitar & flutes) and Wolfgang Schlick (percussion).

Swedish saxophonist Martin Kuchen (Angles, Trespass Trio, All Included) with UK drummer/percussionist Steve Noble and double bassist John Berthling in a searing album of free improvisation performed live at Glenn Miller Cafe in Stockholm in 2014.

Guitarist Lundbom expands his Big Five Chord of Jon Irabagon (sax), Bryan Murray (sax), Moppa Elliott (bass) and Dan Monaghan (drums) to include Sam Kulik on trombone and Justin Wood (sax & flute) for a dynamic album of power jazz named after the prophet Jeremiah.

After the 2014 Rock In Opposition Festival in Japan, Richard Pinhas and Yoshida Tatsuya did a two week tour of Japan; one of the results was this CD compiled from several shows during that tour, an excellent album of improvised electronics and drums from Heldon and Ruins masters.

Recorded after trumpeter Douglas' 50 state tour for his 50th birthday, his quintet with Jon Irabagon (sax), Matt Mitchell (piano), Linda Oh (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) present a set of creatively lyrical compositions and two spirituals honed on the road.

Recorded in 2001 at Gallery 2310 in Oakland, California, young Bay Area double bassist Damon Smith met German free improvising master Peter Kowald for two sets of lively, explorative and technically superb improvisations: "Broken Mirrors" and "Reflections".

A live recording at the Outpost from a tour in 2013, the first time the Desert Sweets trio of Biggi Vinkelo on sax & flute, Mark Weaver on tuba and didgeridoo, and Damon Smith on double bass, reuniting after their 2001 recording for a beautiful album of intimate improvisation.

Ames Room drummer Will Guthrie in two extended works combining pulse and rthymic ideas with melodic and pitch based textures: "Timelapse" recorded using the resonance of the Chapelle Saint Jean in Mulhouse, and "Pacemaker" a multi layered and multi dimensional piece.

San Francisco Bay Area guitarist John Schott (Junk Genius, T.J. Kirk, Tom Waits) in his 3rd release on Tzadik with his trio of Dan Seamans on bass and John Hanes on drums, 8 upbeat compositions including one for James Blood Ulmer; lyrical pieces with tight interplay.

Experimental jazz vocalist and pianist Jen Shyu with her Jade Tongue band of Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, Mat Maneri on viola, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Dan Weiss on drums in an intimate album that incorporates world traditions, instruments and languages.

The 3rd album from Zorn's trio of John Medeski (organ), Kenny Grohowski (drums) and Matt Hollenberg (guitar) in a long-form composition inspired by the work of Swedish poet, painter, alchemist and occultist August Strindberg, 7 pieces of dark, driving, ecstatic improv.

Rinus van Alebeek and Michal Libera made frequent excursions into Calabrian towns to follow Alvin Lucier's suggestions to make large and small resonant environments sound, presented through field recordings and readings of text adaptations of Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities".

Recorded at the festival Neposlusno (Sound Disobedience) in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2012, the AMM duo of Eddie Prevost on percussion and John Tilbury on piano perform an extend improvisation of tension and dynamic, delicately balancing sound in a rich dialog.

Experimental free jazz with a vicious squall from the Norwegian duo of Dag Erik Knedal Anderson on drums and Dag Stiberg on saxophone, for a short but burning improvisation titled "North Hex", in a beautifully packaged, limited cassette.

Superb free improvisation from the UK trio of Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass, and Eddie Prevost on drums and bowed tam-tam, three generations of improvisers pushing the envelope of spontaneous composition in accomplished and playful dialog.

Seven sonnets from William Shakespeare in a 50-minute song cycle that unfolds as an evocative journey using the perceptive words written in 1609 as a basis for compositions for quartet and countertenor, bringing depth and new appreciation to The Bard's sentiments.

Composer Zygmaunt Krause pays hommage to Polish art theoretician, painter, pioneer of the Constructivist avant-garde, and creator of the theory of Unism, Wladyslaw Strzeminski, through pieces performed by the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Silesian String Quartet, &c.

Sound essay, horspiel, reading, electroacoustic music, plunderphonics, sound portraits, collection of songs: a sonic exposition of melancholia from Tyto Alba, (Michal Libera and Ralf Meinz) accompanied by samples from classical music, birds, and saxophone playing by Martin Kuchen.

NY pianist and composer Matt Mitchell's quartet with reedist Chris Speed, bassist Christopher Tordini, and drummer Dan Weiss for an album of long-form improvisation that reflects on jazz tradition while expanding the possibilities between composition and improvisation.

Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly in a five track suite of sinister percussion and ambiguous space, using an acoustic drum set, contact microphones, oscillators, effects pedals and analog synths, mining jazz, Afro-Cuban, and non-idiomatic grooves using unconventional techniques.

On the Winter Solstice of 2014 Adam Rudolph convened 11 of New York City's finest and most adventurous guitarists: Rez Abbasi, Nels Cline, Liberty Ellman, David Gilmore, Miles Okazaki, Marvin Sewell, Damon Banks, Marco Capelli, Jerome Harris, Joel Harrison and Kenny Wessel.

Tomasz Sikorski (1939-1988) was a minimalist composer and pianist based in Warsaw; "Unchained" presents four works performed by pianists Emilia Sitarz, Bartek Wasik, Joanna Duda, and Mischa Kozlowski.

An excellent introduction to the Polish Radio Experimental Studio led by Joseph Patkowski, through music associated with space imagery and science fiction, with works from Krzysztof Penderecki, Zdenek Liska, Arturas Bumsteinas, Edward Artemeiv, Marcin Cichy, and Sultan Hagavik.

High-charged improvisation balancing between free jazz, avantgarde and minimalism from the trio of American saxophonist John Dikeman, Belgian guitar experimentalist Dirk Serries, and legendary English drummer Steve Noble, performing at Soundsavers in London, 2015.

Under the name "Caught on Tape", Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and John Moloney from Sunburned Hand of the Man deliver a set of heavy duos that swing through quiet dynamics and thick riffs, evoking both free/out jazz and beautiful SY-like rock moments.

Originally released on LP for Record Store Day 2015, this is an unissued Sun Ra concert from Amiens, France in 1973 with a 19-piece Arkestra performing live at Maison de la Culture, a good quality capture of this intense, ritualistic and visceral concert from the band's prime.

Sam Hillmer's NY based Z's in a trio format, with Hillmer on sax & electronics, Patrick Higgins on guitar & electronics, and Greg Fox on percussion & electronics, for an album of energetic and often abstracted beats, hyperkinetic electronics, and strange tonal music.

Each member of this free improvising trio--trumpeter Thomas Heberer, pianist and prepared pianist Achim Kaufmann, and double bassist/prepared bassist Ken Filiano--contributes challenging compositions to this sophisticated album recorded at Firehouse 12.

Composer Jeck works with old, Casio keyboards, Ibanez bass guitar, Sony MiniDisc players, Ibanez and Zoom effects pedals, assorted percussion, a Behringer mixer, in his first album in 5 years, blending hallucinatory soundwork with surprisingly harder tones.

Recorded during a 4 night residency by drummer Chris Corsano at Cafe Oto in August 2014, this trio had been playing together for 9 years at this point, as heard in their 2nd album together of almost telepathic interplay in energetic and passionate free improvisation.

Free improvising saxophonist Simon Rose, on baritone and alto sax, meets composer/arranger Stefan Schultze on prepared piano for 11 exploratory works based around Schultze's "modules"--bits and pieces attached inside the piano--creating unusual platforms for free improvisation.

David Thomas continues the Pere Ubu project with band members playing a mix of rock elements and synths, electronics and computers, adding alienation and oddity to this soundtrack to Herk Harvey's 1962 low-budget shocker "Carnival of Souls".

New Haven instrumentalist Carl Testa and Chicago guitarist Christopher Riggs in a large composition for prepared electric guitar and live electronic processing that references Ashley, Stockhausen and Braxton while manipulating one's sense of time, space, and memory.

Wild free jazz grooves, another monster of an album from the trio of reedist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love with guests Anna Hogberg on alto sax and Goran Kajfes on cornet; intense, passionate, and precise.

With Tom Rainey on drums, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor saxophone, Mat Maneri on viola and leader Simon Jermyn on 6 string electric bass, Trot a Mouse's 2nd album is a sophisticated NY band blending lyrical and free approaches to a diverse set set of modern creative jazz compositions.

Captured during a tour of the Pacific Northwest, the quartet of Bill Nace on electric guitar, Greg Campbell on drums & horns, Greg Kelley on trumpet and electronics, and Wally Shoup on alto sax recorded this wonderfully thick improv set at Gallery 1412 in Seattle, Washington.

High-charged improvisation balancing between free jazz, avantgarde and minimalism from the trio of American saxophonist John Dikeman, Belgian guitar experimentalist Dirk Serries, and legendary English drummer Steve Noble, performing at Soundsavers in London, 2015.

A 1985 recording from Joe McPhee on soprano sax, voice & electronics and Raymond Boni on guitar, two song improvisations based on the words of Eric Dolphy; the 3rd in Trost Records' Jukebox Series of 7" releases from astounding improvisers.

San Francisco Bay Area guitarist Bill Orcutt on electric guitar and drummer Jacob Felix Heule recored this album in Orcutt's living room in 2015 after 3 years performing together, presenting 13 duets of stylistically diverse approaches to free improvisation.

A fascinating rendering of Ferrari's Tautology--everyday activities enacted in gesture, noises, words, &c.--used as a framework for a chamber work where the performers recorded their parts independently, which were then overlapped and played alongside Ferrari's tapes and narration.

Under the name "Caught on Tape", Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and John Moloney from Sunburned Hand of the Man deliver a set of heavy duos that swing through quiet dynamics and thick riffs, evoking both free/out jazz and beautiful SY-like rock moments.