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"In front of me is the second output by Steve Davis (+DOG+) and Jim Szudy (Nihil Omnia, Fellahean and Blue Collar Calling with Steve Meketa). About six months ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing their first self-titled collaboration. I...

Recorded, mixed, and edited at Speed Semen Clove Factory in late 2024, Steve Davis (+DOG+) and Eric Wood (Bastard Noise) deliver two extended pieces of harsh electronics and processed sound, driven by abrasive vocals and bleak, mantra-like text, as dense noise pressure and corrosive timbral detail evolve over long durations into a sustained, confrontational sonic mass.

Working alone with electronics, radios, field recordings, homemade instruments, and voice, Georgy Orlov-Davydovsky constructs immersive electro-acoustic pieces shaped by specific physical environments, layering noise, drone, and fragile gestures into meditative sound narratives that explore borderline psychosonic listening states through dense textures and unstable sonic detail.

Under the Fortrexx moniker, Squidco's own Phil Zampino, aka CHANGES TO blind, shapes field recordings, samples, and electronics into subliminal sonic environments that drift and mutate beneath conscious attention, forming enveloping sound tapestries that fill silence without intrusion and function fluidly at low or high volume for contemplation, altered states, or quiet immersion.

Recorded on December 14, 1977 in Pistoia's cavernous, half-empty sports pavilion, the Curran/Centazzo/Parker trio plays with surprising translucence as piano and synth glint, trumpet flashes, sax lines braid into overtones, and percussion radiates in airy space, the room's unlikely acoustics giving the music an ethereal transparency that makes every attack, shimmer and sudden silence feel magnified.

Captured on the trio's December 12-13, 1977 Rome dates, Alvin Curran's piano, trumpet and synthesizer set melodic fragments and minimalist pulses in motion while Evan Parker and Andrea Centazzo answer with spiralling sax multiphonics and electrified percussion, the three languages finding a volatile common ground where groove, texture and rupture keep swapping roles in real time.

Restored from the December 12, 1977 Padova concert, Evan Parker's soprano/tenor torrents collide with Andrea Centazzo's percussion and electronics, turning audience heckles into rocket fuel as long, scorching sequences leap from whispering key-click detail to volcanic blasts, capturing a decisive moment when Italy's free scene opened wide to Northern Europe's most inventive sax voice.

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Moving between breath, resonance, and memory, the trio of Kory Reeder, Ryan Seward, and Andrew Weathers present two immersive works — one dedicated to Jeph Jerman, the other to Jan & Herb Conn — where cello, reed organ, radio, sine tones, and winds unfold as haunted exterior meditations, funneling lived experience into tangible sound while blurring the boundaries between cave, church, and unseen interior spaces.

PROMO W/ CUT CORNER

PROMO W/ CUT CORNER

A solo journey of striking imagination, Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser channels the modernist spirit of Blaise Cendrars in eighteen original works recorded in Berlin, blending sculptural sound, melodic exploration, and poetic abstraction into a deeply personal meditation that bridges contemporary jazz, literature, and sonic art.

A densely layered electro-acoustic ensemble improvisation in which expanded electronics, tightly integrated horns, and richly colored percussion generate a constantly evolving sonic field, balancing muscular collective energy with intricate textural detail as shifting instrumental roles and deep ensemble cohesion drive a forward-moving exploration of sound and form.

A tightly focused and interactive trio session pairing spoken word with expansive instrumental color,bringing Jane's incisive poetry into close dialogue with Albey onBass's grounded sonorities and David Peck's wide-ranging reeds, electronics, and resonant objects, revealing an articulated improvisational language where text, texture, and collective intuition lock together.

A lively sampler of Evil Clown's expansive improvisational universe, this collection assembles fourteen concise, high-energy performances drawn from livestream sessions across multiple ensembles, where shifting instrumental combinations, dense textures, and spontaneous interaction distil the label's long-form aesthetic into sharply focused bursts of collective invention.

Blending freely improvised spoken-word banter from Evil Clown leader David Peck, with a wildly diverse mix of winds, strings, electronics, percussion, and humorous auxiliary instruments, as veteran Evil Clown players and newer voices shape an energetic, narrative-driven performance where playful text, shifting sonorities, and spontaneous interaction collide.

The Expanse ensemble navigates an electronics-leaning improvisation as horns, bass, percussion, and a wide array of auxiliary acoustic and electronic instruments merge into a continuously shifting sonic palette, with long-time Evil Clown collaborators shaping vivid transformations through deft doubling, real-time processing, and deeply seasoned interplay.

A richly textural electro-acoustic improvisation from a seven-member Expanse lineup, unfolding through shifting combinations of horns, synthesizers, fretless bass, and a wide array of percussion and auxiliary instruments, all shaped by real-time processing into a vivid and dramatically evolving sonic landscape.

Boston's Leap of Faith Orchestra unleashes a sprawling large-ensemble improvisation as longtime Evil Clown collaborators sculpt shifting sonorities from an enormous array of winds, strings, percussion, electronics, and auxiliary instruments, creating dramatic transformations through deeply attuned, high-intensity collective interplay.

Anthony Braxton's 1989 recording of seven compositions (glued together into three performances) in a trio with bassist Adelhard Roidinger and drummer Tony Oxley.

In 1988, on the spur of the moment, Blake and Braxton met to record this set of 8 standards, including pieces by Monk, Parker, Gillespie, Miles Davis, Mal Waldron, &c.

Remaster of the exhilarating second set from saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton's concert at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA, 1993, one of 7 nights performing with the quartet of Marilyn Crispell on piano, Mark Dresser on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on percussion.

Anthony Braxton's and Ray Anderson's short-lived 1979 quartet interpreting seven of Braxton's compositions with amazing results.

Double CD remaster of Braxton's incredible 1978 concert in Koln with a massive orchestra including Ned Rothenberg, Leo Smith, Marilyn Crispell, Bob Ostertag, Marty Ehrlich, JD Parran, &c. &c. &c.!

On the 30th anniversary of the Victo Festival Anthony Braxton took to the stage for a magnificent solo performance on the alto sax, performing 8 spontaneous compositions and an 8+ minute version of "Body and Soul", seamlessly crossing lyrical and complex approaches to the horn using his unique intervallic, trimbral and diagrammatic language, a stunning and embraceable accomplishment.

Concentrating their work from the Pulverize the Sound trio, trumpeter Peter Evans and drummer Mike Pride reveal a ferocity that pushes free improvisation to its extremes, balancing explosive virtuosity with kaleidoscopic percussive interaction through dense sound clusters, fractured grooves, unexpected silences, and wild exploration, in seven high-risk dialogs tempered by moments of striking clarity.

Marking the closing of Mills College and the end of Zeena Parkins' long association with its experimental community, this solo release presents three commissioned works alongside the ongoing acoustic piece berlin bedroom, unfolding a deeply reflective exploration of harp and electronics that honors artistic lineage, collective devotion, and the Bay Area's enduring spirit of experimental music-making.

Distilling their work from the Chamber Quintet, this intimate duo recording pairs Vinny Golia's varied woodwinds with Kelsey Mines' resonant bass and subtle vocalizations, unfolding a carefully balanced exchange of gentle and sharp gestures shaped by classical-leaning abstractions, where attentive interplay allows fluid musical forms to emerge with clarity inside open improvisational space.

Asked to rethink the solo sax format, Adia Vanheerentals transforms this release into a series of site-responsive improvisations, engaging the soprano sax in active dialogue with surrounding environments — echoing spaces, incidental sounds, and ambient noise — using extended techniques, breath & texture to shape concise statements where location is a partner in an open improvisational framework.

Recorded at Nevessa Studio in New York, Camila Nebbia joins Marilyn Crispell and Lesley Mok in a fiercely intuitive trio session blending open scores and full improvisation, where elastic group interplay, textural sensitivity, and eruptive momentum allow the music to breathe as a single organism while leaving space for sharply defined individual voices to emerge.

This duo release pairs bassist Kelsey Mines and saxophonist Erin Rogers in a deeply interactive exploration of free improvisation, where resonant low-end textures and expressive reeds weave concise, atmospheric vignettes shaped by bold contrasts, emotional clarity, and an immersive sense of motion that balances raw energy with carefully sculpted space.

This self-titled debut from the Berlin-based duo of Danish alto saxophonist Mia Dyberg and Argentine drummer Axel Filip explores freely improvised jazz through spontaneous structures and shifting sonic playgrounds, with a sharp focus on timbral nuance, textural interplay, and an upbeat creative immediacy that unfolds into vivid, evolving sound narratives rooted in exploratory expression.

A fascinating double album uniting guitarist Gene Torchia on amplified classical guitar and John Stowell on electric guitar, recorded in the studio between 2023 and 2025, blending composed works written for modern classical guitar and flute with Stowell's improvisations to create a rich and stylistically diverse dialogue spanning blues, Latin, Irish, baroque, and avant-garde forms.

An eight-piece horn and electronics ensemble featuring David Peck, Hilary Noble, Cliff White, Dennis Livingston, John Fugarino, Bob Moores, Eric Dahlman, and Duane Reed, creating a vividly shifting chamber improvisation where reeds and brass intertwine with auxiliary percussion and electronics, generating dynamic waves of color, density, and resonance in a constantly evolving acoustic spectrum.

Featuring David Peck, John Fugarino, Bob Moores, Eric Woods, and Mike Gruen, this edition of Metal Chaos Ensemble merges horns, electronics, and metallic percussion in a dense improvisational landscape where shifting textures, resonant drones, and abstract rhythmic interplay create an evolving sound world of raw intensity, shimmering atmosphere, and inventive sonic dialogue.

An extraordinary collective improvisation uniting David Peck, Michael Caglianone, John Fugarino, Robin Amos, Jonathan LaMaster, and Michael Knoblach, merging woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, and electronic instruments in a fluid and intricately balanced dialogue that juxtaposes turbulence and calm, unfolding with expansive textures, measured intensity, and vivid sonic interplay.

Drawing from deeply personal listening histories, this richly illustrated volume assembles 100 essential free jazz and improvisation recordings from 1960-80, presenting album art, notes, and reflections that frame the music as non-hierarchical and interlinked, offering an immersive guide for adventurous listeners interested in the lineage, spirit, and lived culture of creative freedom.

A vibrant 2014 large-ensemble performance recorded live in Nijmegen and Moers, with Fred Frith leading an extraordinary lineup including Marie Abe, Kasey Knudsen, Aaron Novik, Lisa Mezzacappa, Ava Mendoza, William Winant, Dominique Leone, Wobbly, Kaethe Hofstetter, and Jordan Glenn in dynamic, genre-blurring interpretations of his Gravity-era compositions.

Compositions from Éric La Casa and Jérôme Noetinger built from site recordings made while exploring buildings emptied of their activities, crossing spaces abandoned by their occupants and drifting through the ghostly traces of vanished presence, revealing a mysterious electroacoustic force that lingers within the shifting textures of these emptied environments.

Recording at the historic Muziekcentrum van de Omroep in Hilversum, Dutch pianist Reinier van Houdt performs twelve solo piano works spanning more than three decades of Swiss composer Jürg Frey's output, revealing an evolving yet remarkably consistent compositional voice through performances of great restraint, sensitivity, and quiet intensity, balancing fragility, warmth, and crystalline clarity.

A debut solo album of eight songs for voice and guitar from Japanese singer-songwriter Shoko Numao, blending poetic introspection, translucent vocal timbres, and quietly expressive melodies shaped through years of performance, as she crafts intimate, subtly shifting pieces that balance lyrical clarity with a gentle, atmospheric sense of stillness.

A four-part work for two pianos, clarinets, bass clarinets, violas, cello, and double bass, unfolding through quietly repeated dyads, chance-shaped harmonies, and sparse, non-directional gestures, as Reinhard's ensemble traces near-silent textures that accumulate, recede, and hover in a state of delicate, slowly evolving stillness.

Three intimate chamber works from composer-cellist Laura Cetilia unfold in finely sculpted layers of cello, voice, violin, and vibraphone, blending delicate harmonics, quiet resonance, and attentive presence into a spacious, quietly immersive soundworld that bridges classical lineage with exploratory clarity and luminous restraint.

Recorded across two sessions eight years apart, Nels Cline and Elliott Sharp forge a vivid acoustic-guitar dialogue that blends crisp articulation, percussive attack, spectral overtones, and patient, boundary-pushing interplay, creating a set of inventive, empathetic improvisations that expand the guitar-duo tradition with wit, texture, and fearless curiosity.

Improvised live at Evil Clown HQ in Massachusetts this chamber-sized quartet + live processing version of Leap of Faith spins from airy quietude to dense noise, each multi-instrumentalist shifting timbres and extended techniques through a fluid electro-acoustic soundworld of horns, reeds, percussion, signal processing and inventive instrumental colour.

Conducted by PEK using an expanded system of graphic signs, cue windows and directional frames, this large Turbulence Orchestra realises a continuous narrative of shifting density, guided entrances and exits, and evolving instrumentation, the players responding in real time to PEK's visual triggers to create a vivid, shape-shifting electro-acoustic improvisation.

Centred on improvised spoken absurdism about science and monsters, this Boston septet's playful humour drives a sprawling electro-acoustic free improvisation, each player shifting between wild sonorities, noise sources, rubber chickens and synthesised colour as PEK steers the Neurodivergent Orchestra through a gleefully chaotic sonic experiment.

A powerful 1972 duo performance from alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and pianist Stan Tracey, and the 2nd release on Cadillac Records, recorded live at Surrey Hall and unfolding as a nearly 47-minute continuous improvisation, blending OsborneÕs fierce, vocal intensity with TraceyÕs harmonically adventurous, percussive drive in a richly inventive and compelling exchange.

Guitarist John Welsh presents a deeply personal solo performance captured live at Solar Myth in Philadelphia in October 2024, bridging free improvisation with the creative tradition of Great Black Music, including an interpretation of the standard "Just Friends" alongside spontaneous explorations shaped by his ties to the NYC improv scene.