Applying techniques similar to those of the prepared piano, Japanese experimental artist Kayu Nakada uses circuit bending--circuit boards from electronic instruments short circuited for new effects--joining forces with Japan-based Canadian electronic instrument maker Tim Olive (845 Audio) for four works of intriguingly interactive glitch, hum, static and sonic inexplicables.

The fourth release from the long-standing sonic research duo of Montreal sound artist Anne-F Jacques, who uses "rotating devices" based around small amplified motors, and Montreal ex-patriot living in Kobe, Japan Tim Olive (845 Audio), using magnetic pickups on objects and self-built instruments, here in six richly detailed and sometimes curiously menacing recordings.

Working with sculpture and objects in sound installations and live performance, Rie Nakajima captured this appealing set of kinetic performances named for the objects featured in each: a handle of a Japanese sliding door (fusuma), Japanese rice bowls, coils, jars, shells, flower pots, plastic bags, tin foil, tin cans, chopsticks, a bamboo pot, stones, cups, &c.

A series of unusual improvisations between London free improvising trombonist Edward Lucas (Hyperion Ensemble, London Experimental Ensemble) and experimental sound artist, turntablist & percussionist Graham Dunning, merging acoustic sources with controlled feedback, objects and field recordings, pressed to dubplate to create these engagingly strange and concise dialogs.

Following their first record with this powerful blues rock & jazz album, the Italian/US J & F Band of Tiziano Tononi (drums), Joe Fonda (bass), drummer/percussionist Jaimoe and Pach, Peewee Durante (keys), Alberto Mandarini (trumpet), Beppe Caruso (trombone) and Gianluigi Paganelli (tuba), with guest guitarist David Grissom and vocalist Lamar Williams Jr.

A powerful and effusive jazz rocking and danceable album of instrumentals and songs from the Italian/International J & F Band of drummer Tiziano Tononi, bassist Joe Fonda, plus guitarists David Grissom, Bobby Lee Rodgers & Scott Sharrard, keyboardist Pee Wee Durante, violinist Emanuele Parrini and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, recording in New Haven, CT; get it on!

A fun and lyrical jazz album that references a host of culture and style, performed in collaborations with the NAD core of keyboardist and "soundmaster" Nicola C. Salerno and guitarist Roberto Zorzi and artists including the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, presenting original compositions and eclectic covers from Ornette Coleman, Chocolat, and even Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive"!

Two side-long compositions from audio explorer Jeph Jerman, assembled using recordings of objects including "mouth, stone, wood, glass, metal, paper, plastic, radio" plus field recordings made through the spring and summer of 2020 in and around Cottonwood, AZ, joined with audio contributions from Doug Theriault, Chris Reider, Julie Schubert, &c.

A merging of free jazz and free improvisation in the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser on "ismguitar", N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in the studio in London for two exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv.

The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.

Working in a Derek Bailey vein of solo guitar improvisation, Portland, Maine improviser E. Jason Gibbs presents 14 performances on the acoustic guitar, cohesive pieces of confident development that reference not only the London improviser, but also shades of Americana and a unique voice and set of strategies uniquely his own.

English experimental composer and musical performer John White recorded the pieces on this 2 CD retrospective set between 1980 and 1995, a combination of serious, popular and novelty pieces, often exploring areas of contradiction, particularly linear and rhythmic, within an unlikely sound-world in which parameters such as volume, timbre, texture and speed remain fixed.

The Brooklyn trio of Yuma Uesaka on tenor saxophone & clarinets, Cat Toren on piano & synthesizer, and Colin Hinton on drums, percussion, gongs, glockenspiel, & vibraphone, in a sophisticated album of modern creative improvisation with a lyrical attitude and a confidently introspective approach, all three players contributing original compositions to this debut album.

The third of a 3-album trilogy, Playfield offers the musical equivalency of a walk through the diversity of New York in a loft-style extended improvisation from the octet of Daniel Carter on horns, reeds, Luisa Muhr on voice, Ayumi Ishito on saxophone, Eric Plaks on Nord piano, Aron Namenwirth and Yutaka Takahashi on guitar, Zach Swanson on bass, and Jon Panikkar on drums.

A beautifully hypnotic album of wind music, especially on the Pan-Ney, an instrument developed by Berlin composer Werner Durand, along with electronics and a piece using the talking drum as performed by Marika Falk, presenting early works from the 1990s that bridge both improvisation and composition with an embraceable sound that reveals underlying complexity.

Saxophonist Herve Perez and double bassist Gus Garside spent much of the pandemic lockdown recording these intimate duos, interpretations of a 13th Century Poem, "The Guest House" by Rumi, recording in their respective homes using software designed for real-time audio collaboration, as they developed this introspective set of dialogs with strong lyrical affinity between the two.

Originally issued on vinly LP in 1986 and at last reissued on vinyl, this incredible band emerged post-Henry Cow, initiated by alumni Chris Cutler (drums) and Lindsay Cooper (reeds), plus bassist Bill Gilonis, Zeena Parkins on harp, and four outstanding vocalists taking on Chris Cutler's insightful texts: Phil Minton, Dagmar Krause, Sally Potter, and Robert Wyatt.

A live concert at Area Sismica, Forlì, in 2019 between two masterful French improvisers--double bassist Joëlle Léandre and accordionist Pascal Contet-- each pushing each other in both melodic and abstract improvisations with occasional vocal asides, as they engage their listeners through surprising twists and turns while exploring the farthest reaches of their instruments.

Guitarist/composer Guillaume Gargaud of Le Havre, France steps away from his more typical electric guitar work for an album of acoustic guitar improvisations, freely associative playing of rich harmonic and melodic development, from ostensibly meandering fragility to powerful chord work, revealing a strong and confident center through imaginative progressions that captivate his listeners.

"Scraps", or leftovers from the recording sessions of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and drummer/percussionist Andrea Centazzo, the same sessions that yielded the albums Clangs and Tao, with remastered studio and live sessions in Udine, Bologna and other cities in Italy, plus a live recording from an audio cassette with Kent Cart on bass at Teatro Lirico in Milano.

The trio of alto saxophonist Jonathan Suazo, guitarist Gabriel Vicens, and drummer Leonardo Osuna, formed in 2010 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, emerging from a standards-based band influenced by jazz, rock, electronic and ambient music to a fully free improv group, focusing on creative improvisation that balances lyrical moments with raw sound & energetic momentum.

A solo percussion album from Francesco Gregoretti, employing traditional instruments and unusual object to create unique audio environment that use predictable rhythmic elements against capricious approaches, giving his playing a personal style fueled by resonance and natural feedback; an album that balances chaotic and structured environments in riveting ways.

Drawing from contemporary composers including Tom Johnson, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Adrian Democ, James Tenney, &c, this is the 3rd chapter of Italian flutist Manuel Zurria's project/research on "minimalisms" in contemporary music, taking an active interpretation of the classification over 16 informed and adventurous recordings.

In the spring of 2015 multi-reedist and wind player Perry Robinson travelled to Southern California for a series of concerts, recording this duo with Italian percussionist living on the US West Coast Andrea Centazzo, a free and open session with Robison on clarinet, micro ocarina & bird calls, and Centazzo also using a MalletKat & sampling.

Pianist Marco Dalpane and soprano Sabina Meyer create a virtual cabaret of songs using the music of Erik Satie and John Cage, interlacing pieces by each in a delicate set of songs that draw the two composers together through a surprising commonality, the lyrics provided from texts written by J. Peladan, C. Mendes, H. Pacory, J.P. Contamine de Latour, &c.; lovely.

Gamelan Son of Lion partners Philip Corner and Evan Schwartzman perform this Fluxus composition where two pianists play piano notes on the chromatic scale in relationship to numbers counted out loud from 1 to 88, forward and backward, creating an unusual texture and counterpoint that when taken as a whole becomes hypnotic and obsessively absorbing; inexplicably interesting.

'Spilla' means 'to play' in the language of Neapolitan musicians, and playing here are NY guitarist and composer Elliott Sharp and Italian guitarist Sergio Sorrentino, presenting world premier recordings of 4 works recorded live in Vercelli, Italy: two improvisations and two graphic scores performed on electric guitar with incredible technique and passion.

An extended and rich confluence of strings from R Keenan Lawler and John Krausbauer, using resonator guitar and banjo, sustained tones that intertwine in a beautiful and optimistic drone, minimalistic yet drenched in a profusion of harmonic detail; a beautiful and elusive dream mixing between an Indian raga and an alien electronic environment.

A beautifully hypnotic album of saxophone, accompanied by Pan-Ney, Shruti Box and Organ, recorded in overdubs by composer/wind player Werner Durand in this 2nd chapter of his trilogy focused on the Pan-Ney, a self-built instrument for repetitive foundations, as Durand draws on elements of nature, mythology, dance, religion, literature and folklore.

Recorded in the mid-90s, Livebatts! was a project of John White (Cornelius Cardew, Scratch Orchestra) developed to exploit "toy" keyboards of the 80s--cheap battery-driven instruments that hold tremendous potential for "serious" music-making--used here in a playful quartet with vocalist MJ Coldiron, Andrea Rocca (guitar & samples) and Nancy Ruffer (electrified flute).

John Krausbauer's composition employs 3 West Coast accordionists (Krausbauer, Kate Short and Aaron Oppenheim) in an extended compositional framework allowing for improvisation, of hallucinatory, shimmering sound that accentuates the intersections of tone and harmonics; minimalist and entrancing in the mode of Pauline Oliveros, Wada, Palestine, Radigue, &c.

An excellent first meeting of two guitarists recording on a February afternoon and released in the sequence recorded with no edits or changes, from Jim McAuley on guitar and Scot Ray on lap steel slide guitar with effects, an innately lyrical blending of styles masking the strong technical skills and long histories of these two superlative players.

His first solo album in a career spanning back to 1976, Chicago percussionist Michael Zerang presents a diverse set of improvisations demonstrating the wealth of approaches he has developed over the year, including the use of vibrating drumhead surfaces, expressive friction passages, multiple timbre percussion, and straight up trap-set drumming; absolutely impressive.

Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.

Named for "Ten Hundred Inch Radii", a performance of film and music from the series "Environments" by composer and filmaker Phill Niblocks, shot in upstate New York in 1972 and released now for the first time on DVD, a mesmerizing and hypnotic film with two soundtracks: the original 1972 from analog tape, and a 2008 edition from the Nelly Boyd Ensemble updated in 2015

Composer, engineer and electronic artist Rafael Toral has completed his Space Program series and now launches his "Space Quartet" with double bassist Hugo Antunes, drummer/percussionist Joao Pais Filipe, synth player Ricardo Webbens, and Toral himself on modular feedback, blending solid acoustic rhythms with interstellar and abstract sound; singular.

Half of the Italian improvising duo My Cat Is an Alien, Roberto Opalio uses prepared mini-keyboard, handmade shortwave receiver, alientronics, and vocalizations to create this improvised prelude and statement, a shifting work that draws the listener into mesmerizing sonic environments of alien origin and transports them deceptively between ringing and textured vistas.

Italian drummer and percussionist Tiziano Tononi leads a large ensemble performing the music of American Rock Band The Allman Brothers, who Tononi cites as a major influence in his life for both their style, and for incorporating jazz, blues, southern rock and New Orleans cross-rhythms.

Bringing to light an excellent concert from 1977 in San Marcello, Portugal, and studio recordings at Ictus Studio, Pistoia, Italy from the same year, between UK free improvising master saxophonist Evan Parker on soprano & tenor, and Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo on drums, percussion, and electronics.

The unexpected and open-minded quartet of Pauline Oliveros, Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury and Wadada Leo Smith performing live in Italy at the Angelika Festival in 2011, presenting the three part improvised work "Nessuno"; delicate, virtuosic, rewarding music from 4 masters.

Recorded during the 2013 Angelica Festival at Teatro Comunale, Terry Riley's 3 Generations Trio bring Riley on synth, piano and Indian influenced vocals together with son Gyan on guitar and Tracy Silverman on electric violin for an immersive and meditative performance.

Reissue of Italian improvising rock band of Jacopo Andreini (sax), Pino Montecalvo (bass), Carlo Lupori (drums), Efisio Biancofiore (guitar), Edi Leo (trumpet), active from 1993 to 2005, in their first demo tape recorded live in studio in 1994 plus two 7" split with NO and God Is My Co-Pilot.

First meeting of Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and New York bassist Joe Fonda, initiated at the suggestion of Fonda, recording in Portland, Maine at the Dimensions in Jazz Series, a beautifully recorded and intimate duo of superb dialog between two seasoned improvisers.

Italian saxophonist Stefano Ferrian in a duo with pianist Simone Quatrana, Ferrian bounding terse phrases against Quatrana's concise but tenacious dissections of pattern and rhythm, using angularity, counterpoint and expansive harmonics in a rewarding dialog.

Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo meets Boston guitarist Garrison Fewell for 10 freely improvised duets of strong dialog balancing technical and lyrical skills with an ebullient intensity and warm spirit, engaging the listener in their joyful dialog.

Violinist Emanuele Parrini leads his quartet with Dimitiri Grechi Espinoz on alto sax, Giovanni Maier on double bass, and Andrea Melani on drums, performing Parrini's 3 part "The Blessed Prince", and original compositions from bassist Maier; lyrical and innovative modern jazz.

Sound artist Luigi Archetti has developed his Null series over several years, here presenting his second Box set of 4 CDs, the word "null" (German for "zero") a metaphor for a state of pausing and anticipatory waiting, as the sound evolves slowly using static tones and drones and the transitions between, generated from e-guitars in unique tunings.

A mix of free jazz, rock, and avant-garde experimental music from clarinetist Francesco Chiapperini in a quartet with Gianluca Elia on tenor sax, Dario Trapani on electric guitar, and Anotonio Fusco on drums; lyrical modern jazz with a good dose of free chaos.

Blending elements of punk, no wave and free improvisation reminding of Crass, The Ex, Gang of Four, &c., the cry of free jazz driven by strong bass lines and groove guitar riffs, this Italian band sings in English on a mix of socially conscious songs and observant themes.

An unusual set of pop compositions from Brussels-based Le Ton Mite, short vignettes blending compositional and folk elements into lovely miniatures, graced with a personal and idiosyncratic style reflected in the collage art covering the album.