A four part suite bridging compositional and improvisational music from Portugese pocket trumpeter Sei Miguel in a quintet including Rafael Toral on modulated electronics.

Summer 2011 issue of Canada's premiere music magazine and CD, with articles and tracks from Gregory Oh, Grimes, Doldrums, The Vegetable Orchestra, Terri Hron, Miguel Azguime, Rachel Wadham, &c.

Multi-instrumentalist improviser Novak, who has worked with Tim Daisy and Tatsuya Nakatani, in an eclectic and complex solo release of colliding genres.

Michel Gonneville's dreamlike, shamanistic journey, "Hozhro", in a brilliantly executed reading by Montreal's Quatuori Bozzini with vocalist Marianne Lamber & saxophonist Mathieu Gualin.

Composer Danielle Palardy Roger presents a work for a 13-voice mixed choir, two speakers, two soloists, and two percussionists in a satirical elegy that is an account of a man's last agonizing moments.

A diverse set of artist interpret a random page from Cornelius Cardew's "Treatise", using the score alone with each artist unable to hear what the other participants were playing, which Spool label-leader Daniel Kernohan assembled into these 10 incredible audio tracks, each roughly 4:35 long, in a great interpretation of Cardew's (in)famous work.

Collecting all four of Luc Ferrari's musique concrete masterpieces "Presque Rien" on LP for the first time, forward-thinking and well-considered work from one of the masters of electroacoustic music.

A collaboration between composer Michael Pisaro and AMM guitarist/improviser Keith Rowe, with each bringing scores which they improvised over, creating 13 discrete sections including samples from Shostakovich's 13th String Quartet, balancing activity, space and silence in patient ways that only two such experienced composer/improvisers could.

Goh Lee Kwang performing on no-input mixer meets Julien Ottavi on TamTam, bass drum and a computer running Puredata and Apodio 10 for an album of electronic improvisation recorded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Nantes, France, balancing aggressive and meditative sound.

Composer Ryoko Akama releases a 2 disc set of 23 scores in the crossroads of minimalism and sound compositions, quiet and loud, performed in a sextet with the composer herself plus Christian Muller, Cristian Alvear, Cyril Bondi, Stefan Thut, and d'incise, each section like a page in a notebook related to place, space, time or location.

An extended improvisation between spinet player Christoph Schiller and Boston-based composer/violinist Morgan Evans-Weiler, recorded in Schiller's workshop in Basel during Evans-Weiler's tour of Europe, a slowly moving exploration of pitch, timbre and texture executed with intensive concentration and utterly impressive control.

Morton Feldman's final composition, originally premiered in 1987, here performed by pianist Mark Knoop, violinist Aisha Orazbayeva, violist Bridget Carey, and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze, recording a year after their successful performance at London's Cafe Oto, maintaining focus and concentration on this large, unhurried work of micro-variations.

Wandelweiser composer Antoine Beuger presents 25 of the 50 pages of his "Ockeghem Octets", each piece dedicated to one of Beuger's heroes, performed by an octet comprised of melodica, concertina, harmonium, e-bow zither, cello, flute, accordion and alto flute, each player provided notes and a playing methodology to create these gorgeous soundscape.

Recorded live in an Australian National Park on a 15-day walk, saxophonist Jim Denley performs solo on the alto saxophone in response to and in conversation with the environment around him using the natural acoustics of this rugged and awe-inspiring region.

Excellent recording made while on a canoe and camping trip by 11 improvisers from the Montreal musique actuelle scene on their fourth expedition of the kind.

Luis Jose Martins uses classical guitar, prepared guitar, electronics, and percussion in a solo album of incredible detail and lyrical, beautiful playing of original compositions that blend his playing with modern techniques and electronics into melodic masterpieces, performed in the natural resonance of the church of the convent of S. Bento in Avis.

Michael Pisaro & Greg Stuart collaborate on a work scored for bowed crotales and sine tones in 4 large pieces, a challenging work that provide hallucinatory overtones that shift with the listener's perspective.

The Bozzini Quartet commissioned this work from the duo Derome/Hetu, which tackles the subject of making differences cohabit, calling for the musicians to move & improvise in response to a soundtrack in 4 languages.

3 live recordings from 3 ensembles - GGRIL, Ensemble SuperMusique and ECM+ - exploring relationsips between early music and contemporary creative music; with Jean Derome, Joane Hetu, Diane Labrosse, Bernard Falaise, &c. &c.

Pi-hsien Chen performs Arnold Schonbgergs, a small part of his oeuvre, yet significant in that they reflect the evolution and development of this great composer's compositional powers.

Matthias Schubert conducts nine dynamic and spectacular compositions dedicated to John Cage, Anthony Braxton, Fred Frith, Duke Ellington, &c. and performers including Scott Fields, Frank Gratkowski, Carl Ludwig Hubsch, &c.

The second volume of this excellent German sound magazine and audio CD, 9 artists working in sound art, electroacoustic composition; a "listenable exhibition" of modern compositional approach.

The third volume of this excellent German sound magazine and audio CD, 9 artists working in sound art, electroacoustic composition; a "listenable exhibition" of modern compositional approach.

Performances and discussion about a series of twenty metal sculptures created by Derek Shiel to be performed on as a set of percussion instruments or to be exhibited as sculpture.

The 1st release on the Ars Nova Classics label presents 'Eclecticism' composer Nick Vasallo in genreÐblurring avant and electro-acoustic works performed by several ensembles.

This trio joins 3 disparate approaches to composition and improvisation--Japanese improviser Ayumi Tanaka, Oslo composer Johan Lindvall, and ECM artist Christian Wallumrod-developing the engaging material on this album by focusing on elements like tuning, register, intervals and dynamics, for an absorbing album of compatible and concentrative playing.

This trio joins 3 disparate approaches to composition and improvisation--Japanese improviser Ayumi Tanaka, Oslo composer Johan Lindvall, and ECM artist Christian Wallumrod-developing the engaging material on this album by focusing on elements like tuning, register, intervals and dynamics, for an absorbing album of compatible and concentrative playing.

Known more for his double bass work, Christian Meaas Svendsen releases a stunningly beautiful album of unusually orchestrated pop songs with an 8-piece band of Nordic improvisers and performers, a dramatic album of tension and release which, despite lyrics in Norwegian, draws all listeners in through inventive and innovative musical structures.

Known more for his double bass work, Christian Meaas Svendsen releases a stunningly beautiful album of unusually orchestrated pop songs with an 8-piece band of Nordic improvisers and performers, a dramatic album of tension and release which, despite lyrics in Norwegian, draws all listeners in through inventive and innovative musical structures.

Violinist Seth Parker Woods presents four extraordinary compositions, the first for solo cello and voice from Edward Hamel, and then one work each for cello and electronics from Michael Clarke, George Lewis, and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, each sophisticated, suprising, and beautifully executed pieces taking the cello into unique creative territory.

A series of shorter works composed by Christian Wolff written to explore the process of practicing and working within specified limits, exercises for both the composer and the performers, recorded live in Berlin in 2000 by an ensemble directed by Peter Ablinger and including Wolff on piano & melodica, Robin Hayward on tuba, Anette Krebs on guitar, &c.

London-based composer Emmanuelle Waeckerle in a project of spoken word, flute and melodica with contributors including Antoine Beuger, using minimal and multiple narrations in texts that blend erotic literature, conceptual writing and verbal scores, presented as 2 Scores for voice(s) and instrument(s) based upon Pauline Reage's "Story of O".

6 works from a series of minimal compositions loosely based on the art & writings of Sol LeWitt, performed by the Edges Ensemble: Philip Thomas, James Saunders, Tim Parkinson, Angharad Davies, Stephen Chase & Rhodri Davies.

An uncommon solo guitar album from Andrew Smiley, a member of Little Women and the Chris Pitsiokos Quartet, creating textures on the guitar by applying unconventional techniques with his pick and fingers instead of using effects or guitar preparations, and accompanying himself on voice in Haino-esque ways, creating an album of sharp contrast and color.

Reinhold Friedl's Zeitkratzer ensemble and special guests, vocalists Svetlana Spajic, Dragana Tomic, and diple / gusle player Obrad Milic, explore the possibilities found in traditional Serbian songs from and about World War I, including the classic epic "Assassination In Sarajevo", and songs chosen specifically by Spajic and Tomic.

Commissioned by Berlin's Maerzmusik Festival and premiered in 2014, Elliott Sharp's composition & soundscape is named after the Greek waking dream and inspired by John Cage, Sharp using a methodology to filter and process his musical manuscripts via Photoshop, which are interpreted through amplification of acoustic instruments by the Zeitkratzer ensemble.

Austrian avant-garde musician and multimedia artist Hermann Nitsch performed these powerful and mesmerizing solo organ drone works during the 2013 "Shut up and listen" festival in in the Jesuit church of Vienna, releasing the 4 recordings with an 8-page booklet of art and an essay from Nitsch himself, with mastering by Martin Siewert.

Austrian avant-garde musician and multimedia artist Hermann Nitsch performed these powerful and mesmerizing solo organ drone works during the 2013 "Shut up and listen" festival in in the Jesuit church of Vienna, with mastering by Martin Siewert.

Four original improvisations, taken from legendary AACM composer, improviser and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell's "Conversations" album transcribed and performed by a twenty piece Bay Area orchestra, along with two orchestral improvisations and two duets with Roscoe Mitchell and flutist Wilfredo Terrazas.

Sound interpretations of Miron Bialoszewski's poetry, whose work focuses on the mundane aspects of the everyday life, usually from an autobiographical perspective and using an overtly colloquial language, interpreted by vocalist Mina Asi, aka Asia Bronisławska, speaking and singing over understated keyboard work.

Summer 2017 issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine, with a CD featuring tracks from selected artists covered in the magazine; Bekah Simms; Senyawa; Pantayo, HanHan, and Luyos MC; Brodie West; Artificiel; Another Timbre's Canadian Composers Series; Vicky Chow; Festival de International Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, 33rd Edition reviewed; &c. &c.

The fourth in the Elliot Sharp curated "Meta Guitar" series brings a wealth of diverse styles and approaches to the guitar, from Knox Chandler, Tashi Dorji, Monika Roscher, Rhys Chatham, Kalle Kalima, Ryan Choi, Marco Oppedisano, Bern Nix, Markus Reuter, Hahn Rowe, Pete Matthiessen, Robert Poss, Ron Anderson, Morgan Craft, Roberto Zorzi, and Erdem Helvacioglu.

Pianist Claudia Binder presents 3 concepts for solo piano - the introspective "Room for a Sound" and it's dramatic inverse, "Sound for a Room"; "Polyphony" in 3 parts using piano preparation, one part playful, one part serious, one part peculiar; and an inexplicable "It Takes Two to Tango"--in performances revealing a curious mind and tremendous skill.

NY free jazz drummer and composer Harris Eisenstadt brings his talents to the compositional world with this four movement suite performed by the Mivos Quartet of Olivia De Prato, Josh Modney, Victor Lowrie and Mariel Roberts, a creative composition blending melodic and textural approaches to the strings in a bold rendering of Eisenstandt's work.

Anthony Pateras performs on pipe organ alongside Erkki Veltheim on electric violin, presenting a single extended work joining both instruments as a unified timbral force, producing exquisite and hypnotic sensorial phenomena over 50 minutes, as the duo investigate spectral phenomena in sound; includes a 24 page illuminating booklet interviewing both artists.

In 2005 Australian pianists Chris Abrahams (The Necks) and Anthony Pateras multi-tracked 4 takes in each octave of the piano, superimposing them over each other to create a kaleidoscopic maelstrom of pianistic energy, layers of piano creating a hypnotic and dizzying set of textures and unexpected sonic intersections.

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Two beautiful piano solos in an open-ended modular form, written and performed by the young French composer Melaine Dalibert, who also played on Giuliano d'Angiolini's "Cantilena", using space, sustain and unhurried progressions to create hypnotic and resonant environments that captivate in ways reminiscent of Morton Feldman.

Kevin Good organized this composition from four field recordings collected near Avon, CT, isolating sounds that he found interesting and then attempting to recreate them on other instruments, finally adding the human voice sparsely utilized throughout the piece, all to promote the idea of listeners actively paying attention to the sounds of their environment.

Soprano vocalist Irene Kurka performs two works works by Antoine Beuger, and one each by Christopher Fox, Eva-Maria Houben, and Thomas Stiegler, accompanied by Antoine Beuger on flute for his composition "Chants de Passage"; 5 beautiful, unhurried works that bring the delicate beauty of each compositions, and of Kurka's refined voice, to a resonant foreground.

Four fascinating compositions by Pascale Criton exploring microtonalities on instruments tuned in 1/16th tone (violin, viola, guitar) based on gestural processes developed in close collaboration with the musicians: one duo with Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker, one solo piece with Deborah Walker, and two pieces performed by Dedalus Ensemble.

NY Composer and Zs founder Alex Mincek's first release since 2011 also launches Sound American's Young Composer Portrait series, presenting 4 chamber works--"Pendulum VII"; selected movements from "Harmonielehre"; "Pneuma"; and "Torrent"--performed by Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, and Yarn/Wire, in a deluxe hardcover book package with interviews and notes.

A new set of works from Downtown New York composer John Zorn inspired by the surrealism of Luis Bunuel and the psychotropic dream world of William S. Burroughs, in three compositions performed by Jack Quartet, the rhythm section from the piano quintet Obscure Objects of Desire, plus vivbraphonist Sae Hashimoto, pianist Steve Gosling, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.

An unusual and distinctive record from violinist and ornithologist Hollis Taylor, a book with 2 CDS presenting 41 tracks of recordings of the Australian pied butcherbird, each track pairing a bird, environmental sound, and a single instrumentalist, with an impressive list of performers who take unique approaches to the challenge of accompanying a bird.

Two live recordings at Theatre au Clain, in Poitiers, France and at le Bistrot, in Bayonne, from the free improvising quartet of Christiane Bopp on trombone, Jean-Marc Foussat on synth & voice, Jean-Luc Petit on bass clarinet and sopranino sax, and Makoto Sato on drums, for submersive interchanges blending electronics and acoustics in remarkable ways.

New York's literate and genre-encompassing rock band Barbez led by guitarist and journalist Dan Kaufman present their 5th album, renderings of protest songs from The Spanish Civil War in a tribute to the Spanish International Brigades, blending avant-rock, contemporary classical, and folk music styles into a compelling and historically important set of songs.

A massive work from composer Jurg Frey focused on the dynamic relationship between sound and silence, and how it can affect our perception of the silence in a frame of space and time, using environmental sounds of field recordings and silence to create a massive work over six hours, modifying pitch, rhythm, dynamics, texture, and overtone, here properly released on 5 CDs.

An impressive triple-CD box with recordings of some late works by John Cage, including "Seventy-Four for Orchestra, 1992", "103 for Orchestra, 1991, part 1 & 2", In a Landscape fur Harfe", "Postcard From Heaven fur Eine Bis Zwanzig Harfen", and some of "The Harmony of Maine"; including a 32 page booklet with photos and liner notes by Jakob Ullmann.

San Diego's Parkeology director Kate Clark and composer Samuel Dunscombe organized this concert to take advantage of the Balboa Park's Spreckels Organ, inviting local and regional experimental composers to develop works for the 5,017 pipe instrument, attracting artists like Michael Pisaro, Samuel Dunscombe, Steven Andrew Flato, Wen Liu, &c.

Violinist Gerszewski developed an individual form of notation to create his "ordinary music", a continuation of abstract visual thinking by means of sound.

Czech composer Leos Janacek was fascinated with speech melodies, writing them down in notebooks to use in his compositions; Italian composer Alessandro Bosetti has adapted these notes, using the words themselves to create a series of works that builds rhythmic structures in place of melody, injecting himself and other performers into Janacek's interest in the voice.

Polish guitarist Raphael Roginski presents works from baroque English composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695), considered one of the greatest English composers, performed on solo guitar and with accompaniment by Sebastian Witkowski on synth and Olga Myslowska on voice, a beautiful and languorous album that pays homage to the profound lasting qualities of Purcell's music.

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.

Polish composer and recorder player Dominik Strycharski wrote these pieces in response to a work for the recorder by composer Louis Andriessen that he dedicated to Frans Bruggen: "Melodie"; Strycharski response is "Harmonie", performed in a duo with pianist Sebastian Zawadzki to demonstrate the impracticability of harmony in its purest forms.

Australian / Polish composer Dominik Karski presents several works for flute performed with collaborators Ewa Liebchen on piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, tam tam, Rafal Jedrzejewski on flute, alto flute, bass flute and tam tam, and Zofia Dowgiatto Zynch on harp, including the 4-part "Veiled Voice", "Glimmer", and two parts of "Streamforms".

Hubert Zemler is a classically educated percussionist who works with both symphony orchestras and improv, here performing 3 works, his own 4-part "Pupation of Dissonance", revealing an incredible knowledge and exultation in approaches to solo percussion, alongside Steve Reich's "Music for Pieces of Wood" and Per Norgard's study in drifting pulses and overlapping accents, "Waves".

"Gong/Ear" is a decades-long series of improvisations with dancers from Fluxus conspirator Philip Corner, recorded in his NYC loft in 1989, using his favorite Paiste tam-tam to create a feedback loop of perceptions between gong and dance.

With many participants from Ensemble Musique and the Montreal Musique Actuelle scene, composer and multi-instrumentalist Jean Derome directs an ensemble into the exploration of electricity and "Resistances", blending electronics, turntable, 60 Hz hums and other electronics into an orchestra of improvisers executing his dynamic 16 movement composition.

Montreal's six-piece Cordame and composer Jean Felix Mailloux arrange and interpret 18th century composer Erik Satie's work "17 Variations" in celebration of his 150th birthday, adding a lilting swing and beautiful features allowing the orchestration of piano, harp, violin, cello, double bass, and percussion to improvise over these enduring melodies.

Using layers of bass clarinet in microtonal harmonies and micropolyphonies, Montreal bass clarinetist Philipe Lauzier (Sainct Laurens, Quartetski, Toiture and Not the Music) creates a mesmerizing set of textural and tonal environments, rich and slowly unfolding pieces that hold interest in the intersections of saturated timbre, tone and unforeseen harmony.

Using layers of bass clarinet in microtonal harmonies and micropolyphonies, Montreal bass clarinetist Philipe Lauzier (Sainct Laurens, Quartetski, Toiture and Not the Music) creates a mesmerizing set of textural and tonal environments, rich and slowly unfolding pieces that hold interest in the intersections of saturated timbre, tone and unforeseen harmony.

Canada's premiere creative and new music magazine in their 129th issue, Winter 2017/18, with Geronimo Inutiq on the cover, plus articles on University of Victoria's music department, reedist Karen Ng, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Kamancello, Quasar saxophone quartet, Biophilia, Spool, and an 11-track CD with music from those artists and more.