Necks pianist Chris Abrahams teams up with electronic artist and sound poet Alessandro Bosetti for 6 introspective and mysterious tracks that mix Necks-like playing with ambient electronics and curious monologs, plus one waltz.

Cartridge Music was composed in 1960 and is one of Cage's earliest attempts to produce live electronic music, here realized at a live performance at the Audiograft Festival in Oxford in February 2012.

Steelpan and electronics player and Amorfon label leader Yoshio Machida met the Serbian CINC band for these sophisticated and lovely post-rock pieces recorded in Belgrade, 2006.

Antoine Beuger, Burkhard Schlothauer, Chico Mello, Jurg Frey, Kunsu Shim, Michael Pisaro, and Thomas Stiegler participate in this realization of Christian Wolff's compositions to make sounds or draw sounds out of stones, alone or with other surfaces, acoustically or amplified.

One composition each from Antoine Beuger and John Cage performed on the oboe by Kathryn Gleasman Pisaro; Beuger's work presents tones in regular intervals offset by silence; Cage's piece uses pitch and tone color with microtonal inflections, mutes and harmonic fingerings.

Antoine Beuger's minimalist work for American painter Marcia Hafif, known for her monochrome paintings, in 24 tonal works each 3 minutes long using stationary waves of eight frequencies from a different octave and punctuated by silence.

A portrait of instrument builder and microtonal composer Harry Partch presented through representative work, in a beautiful limited 180g vinyl LP with a 12 page booklet of rare photos and essays, plus an MP3 download; essential listening from an extraordinary composer.

Edwin Alexander Buchholz performs this beautiful work by John Cage on accordion, originally written for the Japanese sho, where sounds are single tones and chords, up to six part harmonies, or as Cage wrote, "sounds brushed into existence as in oriental calligraphy".

Burkhard Schlothauer presents two works by John Cage written for septet, using indeterminacy in a score where each instrumental part is given twenty time brackets, allowing overlapping sounds which will be shaped depending on choices from each performer.

Composer Jurg Frey's 1988 work "String Quartet" realized by Nadia Francavilla, Clemens Merkel, Stephanie Bozzini and Isabelle Bozzini, exploring ideas of audibility: the moment when sound waves move in space and the air touches the body.

Carl Ludwig Hubsch (tuba); Ole Schmidt (bass clarinet); Chris Weinheimer (bass flute); Robert Schleisiek (piano); and Tom Lorenz (vibraphone) interpret Christian Wolff's composition based on "Union Maid", a song from the 1920's, transforming the work through temporal expansion.

Early compositions from John Cage performed on accordion by Edwin Alexander Buchholz and violin by Joanna Becker, presenting "Dream" (1948); "In a Landscape" (1948); "Six Melodies" (1950); and "Souvenir" (1983).

Pisaro's Harmony Series revolve around the process of translating poetic works into text scores, which are then analyzed to find change in the implicit sound of the text, and developed into graphic scores for the performers; here presenting 9 of 34 pieces from the series.

Jurg Frey on clarinet and Irene Kurka on soprano vocals perform Wandelweiser composer Antoine Beuger's extended composition "Two"; then the duo of Rhodri Davies on harp and Ko Ishikawa on sho are layered on the first recording, creating a refreshingly new take on the piece.

Antoine Beuger introduces this album with a short poem by Amy Lowell in reference to the larkspur, in two discs with 17 tracks on each of Beuger whistling, quietly and with a silence and patience of intense concentration emerging from near silence.

John Cage's "Empty Words" (1974) is drawn from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau, written in four parts: Part I omits sentences, Part II omits phrases, and Part III omits words. Part IV, which omits syllables, leaves us nothing but a virtual lullaby of letters and sounds.

The duo Contour of Stephen Altoff (trumpet) & Lee Forrest Ferguson (percussion) perform Antoine Beuger's "dedekind duos" dedicated to mathematician Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind; and Jurg Frey's "22 Sachelchen" or "small things", 22 focused miniature compositions.

John McAlpine performs composer Tom Johnson's beautiful piano cycle "Counting Keys", using mathematical progressions to create the structure of its 5 movements; plus 8 parts from his "Organ and Silence for Piano"; and two other compositions using mathematical processes.

Composer Jurg Frey's "Landscape with Words" presents 27 compositions, 24 of which are based on individual words in orchestration with piano and violin, understated and minimal yet sumptuously lyrical and evocative, using space and tension to illustrate each segment.

Two works from composer Frey performed by Montreal's string ensemble Quatuor Bozzini: "String Quartet No. 3", a minimal work of colors, sensations, shadows, durations; and "Unhorbare Zeit" exploring durations without sound, or empty volumes, to achieve lucidity and transparency.

Pianist Samuel Vriezen performs Tom Johnson's work presenting what Johnson describes as a natural phenomenon within a musical scale: progressions in 1 to 5 voices of all possible combinations of notes with each voice being limited to 3 steps, a perfect 4th or a perfect 5th.

Christian Wolff initiated his "Microexercises" series when the Miniaturist Ensemble asked for a piece with no more than 100 notes in it; he went on to create 21 more pieces, 13 of which are performed here by the South African duo of Beat Keller & Reza Khota on electric guitar.

Three extended compositions using field recordings and electronic processing from Vanessa Rossetto and Matthew Revert, using obscure references in song titles to mask subtle dovetailing and transitioning of concrete sound and mysterious tones.

A fascinating collaboration from two minimalist/Wandelweiser figures: Christian Wolff on prepared piano, whistles, and stones, and Michael Pisaro on guitar, harmonica and stones, recording together in Caimbridge, MA for two extended works, "Looking East" and "Looking West".

The Spring 2016 issue of Canada's best creative music magazine covering composed, improvised and experimental music. Articles include: Juan Camilo Vasquez' Caliope (canto de las abejas); First-Place Winner, Musicworks' 2015 Electronic M...

Electroacoustic composer and performer Anthony Pateras in a beautiful 5-CD box set documenting a broad variety of works from ensembles to solo work, an excellent overview of one of Australia's most vital composers and performers.

A 6 part work based on immersive listening with a smartphone featuring a GPS and audio headphones made during a train trip across the Arc Jurassien, developed into 6 rich and detailed compositions, performed with violinist Julia Eckhardt and cellist Silvia Platzer.

Using saxophone and electronics in unexpected ways, Warszawa composer Kamil Szuszkiewicz's 9 movement "Robot Czarek" is described as a "sound cartoon", using odd punctuation of voice and effected interactive instrumental interjections to tell his libretto's strange tale.

Polish conceptual composer Zygmunt Krauze meets pianist John Tilbury, who studied in Warsaw in the 1960s, and returned in 2015 for a residency; this delicate and beautiful work was recorded at the Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw with 4 pianos and a percussionist.

Two works for piano and orchestra from Polish composer Kazimierz Serocki, recorded for Polish Radio in Krakow in 1973 with Jerzy Witkowski on piano (Forte e piano) and for Great Polish Radio in Katowice in 1979 with Szablocs Esztenyi on piano ("Pianophonie").

Barbara Kinga Majewska and Emilia Sitarz interpret Franz Schubert's "Winterreise" (Winter Journey), a song cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Muller, exposing new tensions and interrelations existing in Schubert's cycle in unexpected and unusual ways.

Vocalist Joanna Halszka Sokolowska interprets Franz Shubert's "Winterreise", a 19th century work setting the poems of Wilhelm Muller to music, recorded in a single take on a winter night in Warsaw, Poland at the Komuna Theater, a fragile and unique look at this famous work.

Polish Radio Experimental Studio presents 2 version of Boguslaw Schaeffer's polyversional composition "Assemblage", where the performer must play potential aggregates encompassing possible versions the composer intended; with Bogdan Mazurek, Thoman Lehn, Wolfram, &c.

A tribute to one of the most significant figures in contemporary Polish music, minimalist composer Tomasz Sikorski, featuring music created at PRES between the 1960s and the early 2000s by Sikorski and his followers, including Esztenyi's Concerto for prepared piano and tape (1971).

Electronic composer Jean Schwarz in two large works composed in the Ina GRM's numerical composition studio exploring exaggerated amplification, inversion, transformation, and include tributes to Kenny Clarke and John Coltrane.

A double CD featuring all of Wandelweiser composer Jurg Frey's music for solo acoustic guitar, beautifully interpreted by the Chilean guitarist Cristian Alvear, including a new piece written specially for Cristian Alvear; beautifully unfolding, concentrative music.

Referencing sci-fi, C.S. Lewis, and alien worlds, the compositions of Marek Poliks each have a central metaphor like alien environment and warmth, spaceship and cradling, performed by ensembles using traditional and electronic instruments and objects.

Four recent pieces by Berlin-based instrumentalist, composer and improviser, Lucio Capece, all focusing on the process of listening, one performed by Konzert Minimal, the other solo performances including a work for hanging speakers and helium balloons.

An extended group improvisation and compositions by Lely, Sarah Hughes, and Jurg Frey, subtle and beautiful performances by Angharad Davies (violin), Rhodri Davies (electric harp), Michael Duch (bass), Lina Lapelyte (violin), John Lely (objects & electronics) & John Tilbury (piano).

A site-specific sound installation in the nave and choir of Minoritenkirche in Krems/Stein that engages with the architecture and sound of this church space from composer Michael Moser working with Berndt Thurner, Klaus Lang, Hannah Schwegler and Nik Hummer.

Earle Brown conducts a chamber ensemble including John Tilbury on piano through a number of compositions, including versions of "October", "November", & "December", "Corroboree 1964 For Three Pianos", "Trio For Five Dances", and "Tracking Pierrot For Ensable".

The debut album by the chamber-jazz quartet resAUnance of Jonathan Golove on electric cello, Michael McNeill on piano, John Bacon on vibraphone and percussion, and Esin Gunduz on voice, blending compositional, improvisation, & Turkish folk music into passionate and beautiful works.

The Riviere Ensemble led by bassist Kent Carter with Christiane Bopp (trombone), Albrecht Maurer (violin), Katrin Mickiewicz (viola) and Laura Tejeda Martin (mezzo soprano) recording original works in historic churches in France, blending classical, jazz, free improv & traditional musics.

Canada's premier new music magazine in their 125th issue, articles include Ayo Leilani; Ocean Bug and Bird Songs; Gabriel Dharmoo; crys cole; Thin Edge New Music Collective; plus a CD with tracks from Witch Prophet; Gabriel Dharmoo; Tim Brady; crys cole; Marc Saba; &c. &c.

A work for two quartets of voices about our relationship with the world, using four text sources from Rutherford Bowey & Westerberg, John Cage, Fernando Pessoa/Alberto Caeiro, and a critiques of "Vermeer's painting The Little Street"; a fascinating weaving of voice and song.

Austrian trombonist and composer presents two works: a solo piece for trombone comprised of a series of detached sonic events; and a work performed with the Wandelweiser String Quartet, using bowing and blowing techniques to create punctuations of unusual sound.

The Brazilian duo of Silvia Ocougne and Chico Mello, residing in Berlin, create a sonic collage of traditional popular and contemporary elements influenced by both Berlin and Brazil, using the unusual orchestration of instruments including tuba, matchbox, clarinet, &c.

Clarinetist Jurg Frey performs two works, one composed by Antoine Beuger and one by John Cage, both related to time, or of becoming and of unceasing becoming, pieces using silence in powerful sound structures, contrasting empty moments with the complexity of individual sound.

Violinist Clemens Merkel interprets compositions by Wolfgang von Schweinitz's "Sonata for Violine Solo"; Antonie Beuger's "Unwritten Page"; Bruno Madema's "Piece Pour Ivry"; and Thomas Stiegler's cycle "Kammerkomplex" ("quasi una fantasia", "gran partita" and "sonata facile").

German composer Alfred Zimmerlin presents 3 pieces that balance compositional and improvisational approaches, with a 7-part work for strings, a large Klavierstruck work for microtonal piano, and an improvised chamber work, "Klarinettenquintett," with Jurg Frey on clarinet.

Taken from 2 concerts during the 2013 Angelica Festival in Santa Caterina, with the Apartment House Ensemble, percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, and Wolff himself; compositions include several "Excercises", his "Duo for Violins", and a variation on a Morton Feldman work.

Four works interpreted for accordion performed by Edwin Alexander Buchhol, including John Cage's "Cheap Imitation"; Michael Pisaro's "Here (2)"; Jurg Frey's "Sam Lazaro Bros." and Antoine Beuger's "die geschichte des sandkorns".

A superb program of string trios from minimalist composers Beat Keller, Tom Johnson, and Joseph Kudirka, from cinematic to spacious sound work, as realized by the trio of Julia Schwob on violin, David Schnee on viola, and Nicola Romano on cello.

Pushing the envelope on minimalism, Manfredd Werder's 3 scores for "2003" present just 6 tones, the instructions telling 3, 2 or 1 performers to play a pitch or sound for 3-7 seconds twice during the performance; realized by Erik Carlson, Stephanie Richards, and D. Edward Davis.

Percussionist Michel Blanc's astounding 12-part work was composed around news events that occurred between 1972-89, in a tour-de-force of music drawing from improvised music, RIO oriented rock, and concrete sound; with Marc Ducret, Annabelle Playe, Anne Gimenez, & Antonin Rayon.

Two interpretations of Luigi Russolo's 1914 Futurist noise composition "Risveglio Di Uns Citta" ("The Awakening Of A City"), performed forwards and backwards, from a live performance at Squidco headquarters in Wilmington, NC.

Written for musicians from Toronto's burgeoning music scene, this album explores an area of saxophonist Kyle Brender's compositional systems allowing independence in group improvisation.

A collection of narrative and experimental sound worlds for solo trumpet, born out of improvisation and organized through thoughtful collaborations with composers from Canada to Argentina.

It started as Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek's, request to saxophonist Neil Welch to improvise over a track that he sent to him; on receipt of the track he was so impressed with the details that he created this unexpected and rich work of organized sound from it.

Composer Simon Martin pays hommage to Quebec painters Ozias Leduc, Paul-Emile Borduas, and Jean-Paul Riopelle in contemplative works for each artist, performed by the ensembles Quatuor Bozzini, Quasar quatuor de saxophons, and Trio de guitares contemporain.

Asticcio Chamber Opera with works from Handel performed by Tenor J. Reichert and the Ensemble Teatro Affetto.

Nicole Mitchell explores the work of African-American writer Octavia Butler in a science fiction concept of intergalactic integration, achieved through 9 detailed pieces that balance improvisation, composition and song in unique and sophisticated ways.

Paul Paccione's compositions balance a love of "abstract" sound combinations with a vivid sense of lyricism, here in 6 works from 1993 to 2007.

Montreal saxophone quartet Quasar (Jean-Marc Bouchard, Marie-Chantal Leclair, Mathieu Leclair, & Andre Leroux) in their 3rd incredible album of contemporary saxophone compositions, presenting 14 rich and varied compositions, including commissioned and premier works.

The Quatuor Bozzini string quartet dedicate this double CD to emerging artists in a collection of miniatures written in 2011 by emerging composers for the QB's annual Composer's Kitchen event.

New works by Rick Burkhardt, George Lewis, Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels take NYC's Wet Ink Ensemble into new worlds of ensemble virtuosity, sonic explorations, and compositional inventiveness.

A composition for string quartet and trumpet in 9 parts by German composer Bojan Vuletic, a work inspired by and dedicated to Paul Celan, performed with the MIVOS String Quartet & Nate Wooley, and premiered in NYC's Issue Project Room.

Joh Zorn wrote this multifaceted suite celebrating the vibrant Italian dramatic form Commedia dell'arte that began in the 16th century, evoking the characters Harlequin, Colombina, Scaramouch, Pulcinella and Pierrot in five compositional miniatures for small chamber ensembles.

Two Zorn compositions touching upon the mediaeval world: "The Holy Visions", a Mystery Play in 11 strophes for voice concerning mystic Hildegard von Bingen; "The Remedy of Fortune" is a string quartet inspired by the 12th century troubadour Guillaume de Machaut.

Bryn Harrison's highly acclaimed, labyrinthine composition for violin & piano from 2014, expertly realised by violinist Aisha Orazbayeva and pianist Mark Knoop, for whom this 5-part work of beautiful repetitions reflecting tapestries of sound was written.

A joint composition for violin and double bass, developed over six months in 2015 by violinist and Wandelweiser composer Johnny Chang with bassist Mike Majkowski, a fragile and beautifully revealing work in 5 parts that moves slowly through subtle harmonic changes.