SQUIDCO/SQUID'S EAR NEWS August 7, 2007

We should be tired of saying that the previous month was one to be excited about, but with more than 100 interesting and excellent releases in July we don't mind repeating ourselves! There are also links to new Squid's Ear articles and radio shows at the end of this newsletter.

• Allen, Marshall / Grassi, Lou: Live At Guelph Jazz Festival (Cadence Jazz Records (CIMP))
• Amado, Rodrigo / Zingaro, Carlos / Ulrich, Tomas / Filiano, Ken: Surface: for Alto, Baritone, and Strings (European Echoes)
• Art Ensemble Of Chicago / Pullen, Don: Fundamental Destiny: Live at Frankfurt, Germany Jazz Festival (AECO)
• Ayler, Albert: Holy Ghost - Rare and Unissued Recordings (1962-70) (Revenant)
• Baker, Jim / Hunt, Steve / Sandstrom, Brian / Williams, Mars: Extraordinary Popular Delusions (Okka)
• Bennink, Han / Ex, Terrie: Zeng! (Terp Records)
• Berthiaume, Antoine / Brzytwa, MaryClare: Bebe Donkey (Ambiances Magnétiques)
• Bisio, Michael : Cimp 360: Circle This (CIMP)
• Catlin, Tim / Mueller, Jon: Plates and Wires (Crouton)
• Chabala, Barry / Lavelle, Matt: I Like To Play (Roeba)
• Cherry Quintet, Don: Live at the Café Montmartre 1966 (ESP)
• Chicago Underground Trio: Chronicle (Delmark)
• Cline, Nels / Parkins, Andrea / Rainey, Tom: Out Trios Volume Three (ash and tabula) (Atavistic)
• Coleman, Steve: Invisible Paths: First Scattering (Tzadik)
• Dörner, Axel: Sind (Absinth Records)
• Fields Ensemble, Scott : Dénouement (Clean Feed)
• Gratkowski / Nabatov / Robertson / Manderscheid: Celebrations (Leo)
• Grid Mesh: Grid Mesh (Farai-Records)
• Hideaki, Kondo: Structures (PSF)
• Houle, François: Aerials (Drip Audio)
• Howard, Norman / Phillips, Joe: Burn Baby Burn (ESP)
• Kelsey Quartet, Chris: The Crookedest Straight Line Vol. 1 (CIMP)
• Kowald, Peter / Petit-Jouvet, Laurence: Off The Road (RogueArt)
• Laginha Trio, Mário : Espaço (Clean Feed)
• Lane Quartet, Adam : Buffalo (Cadence Jazz Records (CIMP))
• Laporte, Jean-Francois: Soundmatters (23Five)
• Letarte, Geneviève : Âmes soûles (Ambiances Magnétiques)
• MacDonald, Raymond / Sommer, Günter Baby: Delphinius & Lyra (Clean Feed)
• Mahall, Rudi / Dörner, Axel / Roder / Jan / Jennessen, Uli: Die Enttäuschung (Intakt)
• Marucci, Mat / Webb, Doug / Filiano, Ken : Change-Up (CIMP)
• McPhee, Joe: Soprano [VINYL] (Roaratorio)
• Momin's Trio Tarana, Ravish : Miren (A Longing) (Clean Feed)
• Morris, Joe / Vandermark, Ken / Gray, Luther: Rebus (Clean Feed)
• Namchylak, Sainkho / Carroll, Roy: Tuva-Irish Live Music Project (Leo)
• Namchylak, Sainkho: NOMAD (Leo)
• O'Leary, Mark : On The Shore (Clean Feed)
• ONJO: Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz: LIVE Vol.1 series circuit (Doubtmusic)
• Parker Double Quartet, William: Alphaville Suite: Music Inspired by the Jean Luc Godard film (RogueArt)
• Parker, Evan : A Glancing Blow (Clean Feed)
• Parker, Evan / Rothenberg, Ned : Live at Roulette (Animul)
• Petrova, Evelyn / Balanescu, Alexander: Upside Down (Leo)
• Philadelphia Company, The: #1: The First Meeting (Roeba)
• PINX: milieu (Farai-Records)
• PINX: PINX (Farai-Records)
• Playstation 6 (Ten Hoorn / Boeren / Delius / Kaufmann / Kneer / Lovens): #1 (Evil Rabbit)
• Price Quartet, Rob : I Really Do Not See The Signal (Gutbrain Records)
• Speicher, Martin / Wolf, Georg / Grassi, Lou: Shapes and Shadows (Clean Feed)
• Sun Ra: Intergalactic Research: Lost Reel Collection V.2 (Transparency)
• Swell's Fire Into Music, Steve : Swimming In A Galaxy Of Goodwill And Sorrow (RogueArt)
• T.E.C.K. String Quartet: T.E.C.K. String Quartet (Clean Feed)
• Takase, Aki / Eberhard, Silke: Ornette Coleman Anthology (Intakt)
• Timeless Pulse Quintet: (Mutable)
• Underground Jazz Trio: Radio Free Europa (Leo)
• Various Artists: Movement Soul Vol 2 (ESP)
• Various Artists: White Night Festival, Tel-Aviv 2006 (Kadima)
• Wissem, Jozef van: Stations of the Cross (Incunabulum)

• Chrysakis, Thanos: Klage (Aural Terrains)
• Creshevsky, Noah : To Know and Not to Know (Tzadik)
• Deupree, Taylor / Willits, Christopher: Listening Garden (Line)
• Dijkstra, Raymond: Maskenstilleben [VINYL] (Crouton)
• Eleh: Floating Frequencies / Intuitive Synthesis Volume 2 [VINYL] (Important Records)
• Friedl, Heribert: trac[k]_t (Line)
• Helvacioglue, Erdem: Altered Realities (New Albion)
• Ishida, Naoki: Tone Redust (Quasi Pop)
• Marhaug, Lasse: It's Not The End Of The World (Quasi Pop)
• Tietchen, Asmus / Chartier, Richard: Fabrication (Die Stadt)
• Tietchens, Asmus: Notturno (Die Stadt)

• Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: Crystal Rainbow Pyramid Under The Stars (Important Records)
• Barbez: Mexico City Impressions b/w Somebody Get Rid Of The King [7" VINYL] (Important Records)
• Black Magic Disco: Black Magic Disco (Important Records)
• Blossom Toes: If Only For A Moment (Sunbeam Records)
• Blossom Toes: We Are Ever So Clean (Sunbeam Records)
• D.F.A.: Kaleidoscope (MoonJune Records)
• Garland, David: Noise In You (Family Vineyard)
• Hammill, Peter: Singularity (Fie! Records)
• Hopper, Hugh / Picard, Simon / Franklin, Steve / Hayward, Charles: Numero D'vol (MoonJune Records)
• Larsen and Friends: Abeceda (Important Records)
• LEK: Giant World Knowlege Bliss Control (LEK Music)
• Magma: Mythes et Legendes, Volume 3 (Seventh)
• Makoto, Kawabata: Hosanna Mantra (Important Records)
• My Cat Is An Alien / Text of Light: Cosmic Debris, Vol.I (Opax)
• Opalio, Roberto: The last night of the Angel of Glass, Vol.I & II (Opax)
• Rational Diet: Rational Diet (AltrOck Productions)
• Simak Dialog: Patahan (MoonJune Records)
• Simmons, Jeff: Straight Years: Naked Angels / Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up (World in Sound)
• Soft Machine Legacy: Steam (MoonJune Records)
• Thee Majesty: Vitruvian Pan (Blossoming Noise)
• Van der Graaf Generator: H to He, Who Am The Only One - remastered + bonus (Virgin (UK))
• Van der Graaf Generator: Real Time (Royal Festival Hall) (Fie! Records)
• Various Artists: Tokyo Flashback 6 (PSF)
• Vialka: Plus Vite Que La Musique (Vialka)
• Wolf Eyes: Slicer (Hanson Records)

• Cage, John / Feldman, Morton: Music for Keyboard 1935-1948 / The Early Years (New World Records)
• Clementi, Aldo: Works with Guitar (Mode Records)
• Kim, Ha-Yang : Ama (Tzadik)
• Lunyov, Svyatoslav : Para Pacem - Para Bellum (Quasi Pop)
• Pitre, Duane / Pilotram Ensemble: Organized Pitches Occuring In Time (Important Records)
• Radulescu, Horatiu: Clepsydra / Astray [VINYL] (Edition Rz)
• Various Artists: The Busy Drone (BVHaast)
• Xenakis, Iannis: Xenakis Ensemble Live (BVHaast)

• Chicago Underground Trio: Chronicle (Delmark) [DVD]
• Cohen, Ira: The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (Arthur) [DVD]
• Galactic Zoo Dossier: #6 2CD/BOOK (Drag City)
• MusicWorks: #98 Summer 2007
• The Wire: #282 August 2007 Magazine
• Wu Ming 1: The Old New Thing: A Free Jazz Anthology (ESP/ABRAXAS)

"The musicality and range of playing on this concert over and over will suggest this is more than a duo. No safety nets here - and none needed when these two inventive fellows reunite."-CJR

"Like the preceding disc from Rodrigo Amado entitled The Space Between (Clean Feed), this outing works the same tightrope. The Portuguese saxophonist adds cellist Tomas Ulrich to this trio of Carlos Zingaro (violin) and Ken Filiano (bass) for an uncommon chamber jazz experience.

Amado is probably best known for his recordings with the Lisbon Improvisation Players and recently for the critic's favorite Teatro (Clean Feed 2006) with Paal Nilssen-Love and Kent Kessler.

This [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Impressive live recordings from the Frankfurt Jazz Festival of the Art Ensemble with Don Pullen in 1991.

New Reduced price of this beautiful box set, while stock lasts!

"By 1958, Albert Ayler and his horn had made some rounds: from boy prodigy to teenage member of Little Walter's Blues Band, from "Little Bird" of Cleveland to featured US Army Band soloist. Then he resolutely set out to forget everything he'd ever learned about how to properly play the sax so that he could really PLAY it -- unhinged, free from strictures of pitch and form, drawing on spirituals, folksong, marches, and other [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Pianist Jim Baker with frequent collaborators from the Chicago scene, including Ken Vandermark associate Steve Hunt. The pieces are dynamic electric improv group compositions.

Zeng! is the second duo CD of Han Bennink and guitarist Terrie Ex, their previous being the Laughing Owl, also on Terp.

Free improvisations on guitar, electronics and sample sources in unusual and fascinating ways.

"This meeting is essentially an update of Mike Bisio's Quartet which last recorded in January 2005. The circumstances surrounding the two sessions are similar in that both came near the end of short tours but this time the raison d'être is even clearer.

The period between dates has not been uneventful for Mike as he has settled into the East Coast after relocating from the Pacific Northwest. In addition, he's gotten active "in the scene," an easy adjustment as his reputation was [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Australian guitarist Tim Catlin and American percussionist Jon Mueller's approach to their instruments is based on their shared interest in the vibration of material and the changes in sound that result in modifying those vibrations. Over a year in the making, Plates and Wires features a series of different situations involving guitars, gongs, snare drums, and bass drum, and their resonant effect upon one another. The recording of Plates and Wires was mastered by James Plotkin [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

New York multi-instrumentalist Matt Lavelle joins the Bailey-inspired Barry Chabala in this set of playful duos.

"Don Cherry, more than any other artist in the jazz of his era, pioneered the music's internationalist nature that has now come to be commonly accepted as an integral part of its character. The individuality of Cherry's contribution to the history of jazz has often been unfairly obscured by his admittedly important association with the music of Ornette Coleman. While the (pocket) trumpeter's position as Coleman's front line partner in the altoist's first revolutionary quartet was indeed a major [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Chicago Underground has never shied away from being bold and innovative. They prove it all over again with this performance, where everything is completely improvised. Ajemian, who plays as part of the trio for the first time, sets things in motion with "Initiation." His two-handed attack on the solo opens a spectrum of sound, from lithe prancing to a bass weave, from tapping the strings to strapping chunky chords. Then it all explodes.

The interaction between Mazurek, Taylor and Ajemian [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Nels Cline, Andrea Parkins, and Tom Rainey can play anything from fiendishly complex charts to being consummate improvisers, and it's the latter end of that spectrum that's on display on the appropriately titled Out Trios, Vol. 3. The seven freely improvised tracks don't approach anything resembling a groove until the end of the disc, but clearly demonstrate what excellent players and listeners they all are. Cline's mastery of guitar and effects and Parkins' sampling abilities mean there are [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"One of the most accomplished and influential saxophonists in the world in his first ever solo recording. In the best visionary tradition Steve Coleman has traveled the world from India to Egypt in search of knowledge, truth and beauty. Drawing upon centuries old traditions of numerology and mysticism, he has created a veritable textbook of revolutionary musical concepts through the instrument whose modern language he has helped to define. This is a long overdue intense personal statement by [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

22 solo tracks from trumpeter Dörner, intended to be played in any sequence.

"The music on Dénouement — which was recorded 10 years ago and pressed on Scott Fields' obscure Geode label — is quite different from his first Clean Feed release, "Beckett." Although both projects, like virtually all of Fields' music, intentionally muddle up the written and improvised parts, one is a chamber jazz quartet interpreting word-for-word settings of Samuel Beckett plays while the other is mirror-image trios playing intertwined, but contrasting free-jazz compositions. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"These four played for the first time together on that wintry evening in Cologne, incidentally the birthday of Simon Nabatov. But the musical interconnections inside of this ensemble are manifold: Frank Gratkowski and Dieter Manderscheid's collaboration in Frank's quartet, Gratkowski's fabulous participation in Nabatov's quartet and octet, Herb Robertson's unique contribution in Frank's double quartet and Simon's quintet. With all this in place, they celebrate their first meeting in four musical [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Through creative and anarchic dealings with their vocabulary the musicians of Grid Mesh almost give the impression to move into a non-idiomatic realm: scenes may be reminiscent of rock or d&b, but are nonetheless floating in a non-repetitive rubatoish condition, melodic saxophone lines are endangered by noise-guitars just to melt into bizarre sound collages. A strong focus on counterpoint and connected textures erodes the classification in soloists and accompanists."-Farai

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"First solo album by Hideaki Kondo, leader of Japanese leading improvisation collective, Exias-J. Kondo is known for the theoretical rigor that lies behind his technical mastery of the guitar, and for the multiplicity of his methodologies, encompassing free jazz, avant-garde, rock and folk forms. As in the playing of the late Masayuki Takayanagi, there is an originality and clarity of thought, a combination of historical understanding and contemporary intentionality in Kondo's approach to guitar [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Clarinetist François Houle has established himself as one of Canada's finest musicians. His performances and recordings transcend the stylistic borders associated with his instrument in all of the diverse musical spheres he embraces: improvised, electro-acoustic, new music, classical and jazz. Aerials is a set of improvisations exploring the clarinet's uncharted territories. Developed during a five-week residency in Italy at the 15th century Castello Civitella Ranieri, the music [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Despite the profound obscurity of Norman Howard's music, and that of his mate Joe Phillips, it's crucial as a window not only into the influence that Albert Ayler carried in creative music, but into how the Aylers affected the musicians of their hometown. Most importantly, this reflects on how vital free music has been at the local level, where it remains so to this day."-Clifford Allen

"Chris Kelsey's last CIMP session was recorded in March 2005 and since that date, there has been the occasional gig and a solo recording of standards (CadenceJazz 1183) issued. Other than that, there is not, to my knowledge, too much to account about his musical life past what has been already documented in the notes of his previous CIMP sessions over the past 10 years. And this is the same trio he's been working with for a number of years. All of which might suggest a sort of stasis to Chris' [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Two DVDs and a CD of material from the late German bassist Peter Kowald, who's premature death in 2002 cut short an inspiring and multifaceted journey in improvisational musics.

DVD descriptions from the back of the CD:

Disc 1 (DVD): Off The Road, a film by Laurence Petit-Jouvet

The German bassist Peter Kowald (1944-2002) was one of the major figures of Free Improvised Music. The film Off The Road was made on and around his extended tour of the USA in 2000. A journey [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Commissioned by the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2007, "Espaço" is more than a wonderful jazz piano trio record. Architecture is the motive sustaining this geometric but organic music: the idea of regular and irregular structures, continuous and discontinuous lines, plane or distorted surfaces, space and absence of space is transferred to the sound world, resulting in a unique opus about form and its contradictions. The aspects are many: street configurations in a city ("Tráfico," [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"In February 2005, Adam Lane's Trio recorded two releases for the CIMP label (#s 325 and 335), collectively and individually still considered to be among the participants' finest work. After those CIMP sessions, the trio concluded its tour with a performance in Buffalo, NY. At that time they were joined by Paul Smoker and here are the results. It doesn't get better than this."-CIMP

"Soundmatters is the first major compendium of the recordings from French-Canadian sound artist Jean-Francois Laporte, including his highly acclaimed composition "Mantra." In balancing formal precision and intuitive expressionism, Soundmatters results in a series of visceral compositions that build upon the traditions of minimalism, graphical composition, and phonography. Laporte reveals his colossal talents for experiential composition through deftly processed recordings of tumultuous [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Geneviève Letarte's 3rd album entitled Âmes soûles gathers intimate songs that are seducing with their yeasty melodies, Latin rhythms, and their poetic-country tone. Third in the trilogy that started with Vous seriez un ange and Chansons d'un jour, this new production attests the artist's maturity and the evolution of her relation with great musicians who follow her (Claude Fradette, Normand Guilbeault, Pierre Tanguay, and Guido Del Fabbro, Ivanhoe Jolicœur, Guillaume [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Here it is, naked to the bone, free jazz in all its glory, loose, intense and furious, not in hanger but with "joie de vivre." A sax-drums duo like this, in which one of the performers is Gunter "Baby" Sommer, a hallowed name in European improvised music, makes you anticipate an essentialist approach to the communicative powers of improvisation. This is an encounter of generations, German percussionist and free-jazz pioneer Sommer meets a new presence on the international scene, Scottish saxophonist [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Mat Marucci and Doug Webb have been working together for years. Although Doug has recorded frequently with big bands (Gordon Brisker, Charles Rutherford, Carl Saunders), diverse groups (Horace Silver to Freddie Hubbard to Carly Simon), and a number of commercial acts-it was a series of small group club demo recordings with Mat that really caught my ear and brought Doug and his direct, fluid, very likable improvs (absolutely fluent in the Bop vernacular) to my attention. That quality, coupled [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"A document of Joe McPhee's first solo concert devoted exclusively to the straight horn, Soprano is both a companion volume to his previous LP for Roaratorio (the critically lauded Everything Happens For A Reason) and a follow up to his classic album Tenor, which raised the bar for solo saxophone music over 30 years ago.

Recorded live in St. George's Church at the Guelph Jazz Festival in 1998, Soprano was inspired by Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening performance at the venue [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This is a new Tarana. The trio recorded here includes violinist Sam Bardfeld and oud player Brandon Terzic occupying Jason Kao Hwang's and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz's seats on the earlier "Climbing the Banyan Tree." Tanya Kalmanovitch guests on viola on one track. Although changes in personnel inevitable lead to differences in the music, there is a constant: the project leader is percussionist Ravish Momin, expressing his flavor of "world jazz" with Oriental, Middle Eastern, and African motives [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Joe Morris plays guitar on this record, and that is good news. He certainly is one of the best players in that music called "free jazz" that traces its roots to the sixties and seventies. And if on recent records you have longed for Ken Vandermark's tenor saxophone sound, here it is. After a period of focus on bass and soprano clarinets and on baritone sax, he returns to his first instrument. Only two other titles joining Morris and Vandermark exist, "Like Rays" and "Joe Morris with DKV Trio." [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"For two years, in 2005 and 2006, Sainkho lived in Ireland. She was struck by similarities between these two countries and especially by stone sculptures from Boa Island and Tuva. She was also struck by mysteries of Ireland where old traditions blend with modern computer technology. Tuva-Irish Live Music Project has been developing for two years. Roy Carroll plays the computer and both musicians programme electronics in such a way that compositions sound in an entirely new way each time they [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"The release of this CD marks the 50th anniversary of Sainkho Namchylak, the extraordinary and totally unique artist from Tuva. Nomad is a compilation consisting of 14 songs presenting Sainkho in different contexts from solo to big-band and in different styles of singing accompanied by different sets of musicians. Almost half of the songs have never been released in the West before. Prepare yourself for the most beautiful melodies followed by the most extraordinary sounds which can be produced [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"He's been working since the eighties, but has until now escaped wide recognition. That could be because his home is Cork, Ireland, perhaps near in the heart of Anglo-Saxon culture but hardly a regular stop on the creative music circuit. Now, however, he's starting to turn heads. In a flurry of activity starting in 2004, the guitarist has established his name in the jazz scene. Make that in the several jazz scenes, and even beyond jazz's invisible frontiers. Mark O'Leary's astonishing capacity [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Live recordings from 2006 on this double CD release of Otomo's (incredible) New Jazz Orchestra.

A new studio album from New York bassist and composer William Parker. Alphaville Suite uses players familiar to Parker (Rob Brown, Hamid Drake, Jessica Pavone, etc) with guest Leena Conquest on vocals, to present this ten piece suite inspired the Jean Luc Godard Film of the same name.

"Gee! An Evan Parker album with a new star of the drum kit, Chris Corsano, and one of the most intriguing bassists to emerge in the last few years, John Edwards? This is a record you can't miss! "A Glancing Blow" is destined to make history. The instruments are the same of Evan's "classical" trio with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton, but the approach is quite different. The master saxophonist uses his trademark multiphonics and circular breathing techniques in a surprising, new context that only such [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Following on from their '97 Leo record Monkey Puzzle this CD presents six live improvisations from their 2006 concert at Roulette in NYC. Superb interaction from two masters of extended technique and amazing ideas.

"The first solo CD by Evelyn Petrova on Leo Records (CD LR 395 - Year's Cycle) in 2004 created quite a stir. As soon as the CD was released she received numerous invitations to perform at big and small festivals all over Europe and Canada. For her second CD she wrote the music and invited one of the best violin players worldwide Alexander Balanescu to record it in St. Petersburg. The sound of accordeon and violin provide a perfect blend for her music which fluctuates from beautiful sadness to [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Harkening back to the days of John Steven's Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Derek Bailey's Company events, The Philadelphia Company has borrowed from both of these models the idea of a somewhat permanent, ever-changing group of improvisers performing in various combinations."-Roeba

"Strong melodies, complex grooves, aggressive ensemble parts and abstract sounds are just a few elements of the music heard from Berlin-based quartet Pinx. Their interactive way of playing together reminds of bands from the Free-jazz-tradition, but their sound involves contemporary influences from independent-Rock, noise and free improvisation."-Farai

"[Berlin based] Pinx, a quartet offering astonishing authenticity, with trumpet, saxophone, electric bass and drums stretches from tight organized structures to free playing to soundscapes."-Bert Noglik, Deutschlandfunk

Groups compositions from this excellent set of improvisers. All live recordings, no overdubs or edits.

Guitarist Price's second quartet record with Jim Black taking the place of Joey Baron after the 2004 Gutbrain release At Sunset. Interesting compositions and excellent playing, as you might expect from players of this calibre.

"Much has been said about the art of the improvising trio since the triangular interaction between Ornette Coleman, David Izenzon, and Charles Moffett. Now Martin Speicher, Georg Wolf, and Lou Grassi contribute another chapter to that long tradition. "Shapes and Shadows" is a wonder of musical integration of three diverse personalities investing all their energy in a common purpose. It is proof that real collective music is possible. This is structured improvisation, explorative, agitated, surprising, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Two live performances from separate tapes by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. This is classic Ra, at one of the strongest periods of time for the band. "Intergalactic Research" is a fully developed piece never previously released. There are only two other know unreleased recordings of this spectacular piece."-Transparency

"The music on Dénouement — which was recorded 10 years ago and pressed on Scott Fields' obscure Geode label — is quite different from his first Clean Feed release, "Beckett." Although both projects, like virtually all of Fields' music, intentionally muddle up the written and improvised parts, one is a chamber jazz quartet interpreting word-for-word settings of Samuel Beckett plays while the other is mirror-image trios playing intertwined, but contrasting free-jazz compositions. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Wonderful, impressive, exciting, almost odd, and in any case fascinating: two women play Ornette Coleman tunes in a duo with reeds and piano, and beyond that with selections from the phase when the jazz innovator consciously left piano out of his groups. Aki Takase, the Grande Dame of jazz piano based in the tradition but open to freedom, meets the young saxophonist Silke Eberhard, who has made a name for herself with her own bands. They play early Ornette Coleman tunes. And it's soon clear: [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Formed in 1993 in a residency at the Deep Listening Institute, the musicians of Timeless Pulse - whose members come from jazz, classical and electronic - make music together through listening and responding in the moment. The five compositions on this recording from 2005 are warm, compassionate tapestries of soft, rolling sounds performed by accordion, cymbals, drums, gongs, bells, chimes, sampled sounds, and voice.

Thomas Buckner has been singing, presenting, recording and producing composed [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"The seventh CD on Leo Records by the hugely talented guitarist Mark O'Leary. Recorded in Chicago in April 2006, Radio Free Europa is a coming together of Mark O'Leary (who rubbed shoulders with Paul Bley, Matt Maneri, Matthew Shipp, Tomasz Stanko, Uri Caine, Steve Swallow, Tom Rainey, to name just a few), John Herndon (drummer with Tortoise) and Matt Lux (Isotope 217). It is underground music with a subtle Orwellian tinge to the dialogue. Chicago indie jazz meets European chamber improv."-Leo

"A continuation from the earlier Alan Ribback work, produced by Michael D. Anderson. The CD examines untapped and historically important achievements and tragedies in the lives of a people during the Civil Rights era. This compilation presents facts on events in black history that merit their being acknowledged. Other forth coming volumes will present further historical developments that will remain an important part of American history seen and unseen. Each CD will examine different aspects [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This disc is comprised of selections from the second annual White Night Festival in Tel Aviv. The Festival is a twelve-hour musical marathon, promoting creative, improvising music and facilitating collaborations between Israeli artists and artists from abroad. It also fosters the development of young musicians. Live recordings made direct to two track."-from the CD notes

"New release from baroque conceptualist and improviser, Josef Van Wissem, who, for more than a decade, has been quietly but surely reinventing the vocabulary of that most unlikely of instruments, the lute. With the exception of the odd Renaissance preservationist context, the lute, which was once the most popular portable instrument in the Western world, has all but disappeared from our musical landscape. Despite the arcane associations of his chosen instrument, Van Wissem is no revivalist; his [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Klage, the first release of Aural Terrains, contains compositions based on a relatively wide range of timbral, rhythmic and melodic material, aiming to achieve a confluence between its structuring forces; acoustic instruments and electronic sounds. It is preferable to be listened to not as separate tracks but as an aural manifold of different distances/proximities, and contours; at times creating a sense of hovering, suspending time, while at others a more directional trajectory."-Thanos [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"A former student of Boulanger and Berio, Noah Creshevsky has been creating expressive and exhilarating electroacoustic compositions since 1971. Using an extended, all-inclusive sound palette, Creshevsky deconstructs familiar bits of words, songs and instrumentals, and reconstructs them into striking new formal aggregates. This special Tzadik release features a wide range of Creshevsky's utterly original sound world, and includes several pieces for voice and electronics. Human yet superhuman, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Listening Garden was developed as a sonic alteration of two quiet indoor/outdoor tea spaces installed at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media in Yamaguchi, Japan in June of 2004. The audio installation was designed to heighten visitor's senses and alter the sonic space as they sat, read, or had quiet conversation amongst the trees. Taylor Deupree and Christopher Willits composed a number of short, randomly sequenced multi-channel soundworks using guitar and electronics. The fragments of sounds, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Stunning special edition vinyl LP release from Netherlands based electro-acoustic composer, sculptor and painter Raymond Dijkstra, stored in a black box with sliding front plate. Dijkstra creates electro-acoustic music with emphasis on acoustic and unusual sound concepts, odd and very personal and expressionistic sound worlds. His recordings are created using only acoustic sources, combining them with simple electronic devices to "adjust the hard sounds of the outerworld to the soft sounds [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Eleh's Floating Frequencies/Intuitive Synthesis Volume 2 requires dedicated and careful listening. High volume and/or headphone use is highly recomended for maximum experience - especially on the B side which is focused on ultra low end bass pulses being slowly modulated by bass frequencies well below the level of human hearing. Side A is a detailed account of the emerging frequencies resulting from the carefully crafted meeting of 7 sine waves.

It is also highly recommended that stereo [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This is the final work in the series of works-encompassing ataraxia, bradycard, trans~, and back_forward-using the cymbalon as source material. The process of working with this hammered stringed instrument for this series has been a "discussion" between the instrument and myself, an exploration of traditional playing, digital processing, and mixtures of both.

I feel that trac[k]_t should convey the scope of using an instrument without losing both its intrinsic nature of engagement as well [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Fascinating electro-acoustic compositions using acoustic guitar manipulated by live electronics.

"Altered Realities is an album of solo acoustic guitar and live electronics. All of the compositions were recorded in real-time, directly to DAT (Digital Audio Tape) without any overdubs, mixing, editing, post-processing, or the use of previously recorded material. All of the textures were created based only on the acoustic guitar signal with no other sound source used during the recording. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Gorgeous environmental and relaxed atmospheric music guided by Ishida's acoustic guitar, music that this young Japanese guitarist describes as acoustic ambient. The pieces show the influence of both modern electro-acoustic improvisation and Japanese traditional music, though in muted and transformed ways, yielding ultimately to the description "digital folk". A beautiful backdrop that stands up to detailed listening, really lovely and contemplative sound.

Norwegian experimental noise artist Marhaug re-issues his limited 2006 CDR album on the Chinese label Doufu, re-mastered and with additional tracks. Here Marhaug presents a series of noise experiments from the harshest of sound to oddly treated recordings. It's LOUD, but with a dynamic that fans of his work will appreciate. Collage cover art by Marhaug.

"The first collaboration by these two renowned sound artists. Fabrication saw its beginning during the production of Re-Post-Refabricated, a project in which artists were selected by Richard Chartier to rework/create new works from his 1998 CD Postfabricated for its reissue in 2003. As it was intended as an open project, Asmus Tietchens continued to explore the source materials and suggested further formal collaboration. This evolved into the collaborative work Fabrictaion. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

The 10th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991.

"By the time "Studie fur Klavier" (FORMEN LETZTER HAUSMUSIK, DS84) was released it actually wasn't my first attempt to use the piano as a sound source. Various pre-studies came before this, but all which either were not characterized as such in their title or simply didn't make it onto record. I was intrigued by the great range of sounds it offers in general, but also by the multiple possibilities [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Brand new full length album from the Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO featuring their recent addition, female vocalist Kitagawa Hao. Recorded over a period of four months at The Acid Mothers Temple this is a very clean sounding and polished AMT. Frontman Kawabata Makoto admitted, only half joking, that this has the "cleanest sound in AMT history! More controlled than many of their speaker destroying fuzz blasted speed guru jams, Crystal Rainbow Pyramid is focused on mystic [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

New Yorks excellent extended rock band in a vinyl 7" release, part of Important Records' Arts And Crafts series, pairing music with packaging made by the musicians.

"These two intense numbers were inspired by both a pleasant trip through a small historic neighborhood in Mexico City and the detestable Iraq war. Cover art was inspired by the abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Look for the next Barbez record sometime soon on John Zorn's Tzadik label.

These two songs were recorded [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Black Magic Disco is the new all-star band featuring Tom Greenwood (Jackie-O Motherfucker), Maurizio & Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (Painting Petals On Planet Ghost, Praxinoscope).

The project was born out of an idea from Tom Greenwood, leader of the avant-folk-blues ensemble JOMF, who invited Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka the Italian improv duo My Cat Is An Alien (MCIAA), and their close collaborator Ramona Ponzini (also involved with the two brothers [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Blossom Toe's second and final studio album followed 1967's we are ever so clean's by two years. If Only For A Moment shows the band settled down into more complex song forms, and working with other artists including Julie Driscoll or US folk singer Shawn Philips. Produced with the band's full involvement, this first CD reissue includes seven bonus tracks taken from non-LP singles, demos, out-takes and live performances; a full-color 12-page booklet with rare photographs and [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Blossom Toes put out two albums between 1967 and 1969 that are advanced examples of heavy psych rock; in fact the band's problem live was that the complex orchestration and use of studio trickery couldn't well be recreated live. Brian Godding and Brian Belshaw were the core of the band, having met as apprentices at the Hilger and Watts scientific instrument factory in Islington. The band was initially an R&B outfit named The Ingoes. The band took off when Yardbirds' manager Giorgio Gomelsky [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"With two critically-acclaimed albums - here reissued as one double-CD package with bonus live material - under their belts, DFA have proven themselves one of Italy's leading lights in the new generation of progressive rock bands that appeared in the wake of the genre's 1990s revival. With fifteen years of experience and live appearances across the globe, they are now ready to confirm their status with their highly anticipated third studio effort.

Formed in Verona during 1991 around Alberto [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Noise In You is an album of gorgeous music about noisy emotions: our desires and distractions, anxieties and passions, love and loss, and the living hum of our bodies. It is David Garland's 8th album since entering New York City's downtown scene in the 1980s, and it's the first to receive the wide distribution and attention his music deserves. Garland is a multi-instrumentalist currently exploring the sumptuous jangle of a 12-string guitar; he sings with a voice that's deep, honest, and intimate. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

If you only associate Peter Hammill with the seminal prog band Van der Graaf Generator then you're missing one of the 21st centurie's most prolific and interesting song-writers. With more than 40 albums as a solo artist, Hammill has engaged in vast explorations of the potential of the song and the place that the voice holds within it. Through his career he has honed a multi-layered approach to singing that has reached a level of exquisite subtlety. In any given song he harmonizes, counterpoints [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Free improvisations that grooves from fuzz-bass and Canterbury icon Hugh Hopper and his latest project. For those who think that free jazz is inherently unapproachable, Numero D'Vol proves that it's possible to be completely spontaneous while creating music with an instinctive focus. Saxophonist Simon Picard, keyboardist Steve Franklin and drummer Charles Hayward join Soft Machine Legacy's Hopper for a session that proves there's even room for a backbeat in purely improvised music. There's also [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This CD/DVD features a beatiful live performance at a sold out concert in the Teatro Colosseo in Torino, Italy featuring David Tibet (Current 93), Julian Kent, Johann Johannsson & Baby Dee. Using visual, linguistic and musical language, the expanded Larsen line-up pays tribute to the word of Czech avant-garde designer, typographer, founder of Devestil and cultural radicalist Karel Teige and his Abeceda - a 926 collaboration with poet Vitoslav Nezva which minimalised text down to its basic [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

New York/NJ based world traveler Greg Padrusch and collaborators in intense instrumental rock using spoken narratives and occasional vocals that cover rational, philosophical or absurb premises. Padrusch's influences are eclectic but generally tend to thick groove based rock that has a strong improvisational feel with good melodic overtones - fans of Sonic Youth or Psi Com will probably be very comfortable with Padrusch's approach. Information about the band is a bit difficult to unravel: from [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

In May, 2005, Magma took over the Parisian club "Le Triton" for four weeks to present a retrospective of 35 years of Magma music, showcasing some of their best known pieces from 1970 to the present. This is the second in a series of four DVDs which captures the best of those performances and presents them to the world beyond Le Triton. This release presents material from the band created during the years 1973-1979.

"Guitarist, violinist, performer on numerous traditional instruments, composer, leader of the Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata Makoto expresses in this solo performance all his mantric cosmical vocations and spins them into space sonorities! He took inspiration from the Popol Vuh album of the seventies Hosianna Mantra, during his visit to A Silent Place headquarters in late Winter 2006.

In a sunny Sunday noon spent in the country-side, eating and drinking Apulian specialities and listening [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"CD re-issue of the first installment in the new "Cosmic Debris" split ART-LP series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka MY CAT IS AN ALIEN. This Volume I sees the two space brothers from Torino, Italy, alongside Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and his all-star ensemble TEXT OF LIGHT (here featuring Alan Licht, Dj Olive, Ulrich Krieger and Tim Barnes). Their track "033103 Paris" has been recorded live at Centre Georges Pompidou in 2003 and mixed in dual mono by Ranaldo & Licht at NYC Echo [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Double CD set reissuing the acclaimed "The last night of the Angel of Glass, Vol.I", original soundtrack to the omonimous film by Roberto Opalio (released on the long-out-of-print DVD-R/CD-R set by Foxglove, USA), plus the totally previously unreleased "Vol.II" (entire disc 2), representing the second half of a unique recording session.

The work here available for the first time in its entire and remastered version was recorded by the artist himself at home in Torino, Italy, on November [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Hailing from Belarus, which is wedged between Russia and the Ukraine, Rational Diet create RIO-oriented chamber rock and improvised rock with a strange sense of humor that reflects their East-European roots. They quote their influences as Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Webern, Ives, Henry Cow, Art Bears, Universe Zero, Present, Debile Menthol - an interesting set of comparisons that gives an idea of the complexity of the music, but not of the odd combination of styles from dark and demanding rock [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Compelling Indonesian electro-acoustic progressive jazz-fusion with a distinctive cultural bent. For its first international release Jakarta-based simakDialog delivers Patahan, a live recording that suggests how Pat Metheny might sound were he from the Far East rather than the United States. A combination of electric and acoustic instruments, the 14 year-old group is innovatively propelled by two percussionists rather than a conventional drummer, but the result is no less powerful. Keyboardist/composer [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This 2 CD set presents the Straight label years of Zappa's multi-talented and 'shimmering sideman.' Both albums, Lucille has messed my mind up and Naked Angels" were recorded in L.A. 1969. Naked Angels, a soundtrack for a biker movie is a sequence of mostly instrumentals that combined melody and fuzz guitar: heavy, psychedelicized surf-rock. The Lucille album, the second one, was produced by Zappa under the name La Marr Bruister, who wrote the title track, co-wrote 'Wonderful Wino' [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Steam combines collective freely improvised jams with new writing from Hopper, Etheridge and Travis. Gone are the keyboards that so defined 1970s Soft Machine. In their place are modernistic sampling/looping and sonic processing, creating expansive soundscapes not possible during Soft Machine heyday. Between Etheridge broad sonics, Hopper's legendary bass loops and "fuzztonics" and Travis system of ambitronics - allowing him to sample his saxophones and flutes in real time and naturally [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"New studio recordings from Bryin Dall of 4th Sign of the Apocalyse and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle & Psychic TV with elegant insertions by Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge and Baba Larriji. Printed with vegetable-based inks on recycled custom folders & featuring artwork by Derek Rush."-Blossoming Noise

"The foreboding crawl of the Hammond organ is what made Van Der Graaf Generator one of the darkest and most engrossing of all the early progressive bands. On H to He Who Am the Only One, the brooding tones of synthesizer and oscillator along with Peter Hammil's distinct and overly ominous voice make it one of this British band's best efforts. Kicking off with the prog classic "Killer," an eight minute synthesized feast of menacing tones and threatening lyrics, the album slowly becomes shadowed [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Van der Graaf Generator reunited in 2005, driven by demand and the inevitable need to express themselves. On May 6, 2005 the original lineup minus Nic Potter came together, perhaps for the first time, as David Jackson has now left VDGG a power trio. The recordings are excellent, perhaps the best of all the live VDGG material, and the pieces draw from both the most recent album, Present, to as far back as 1970's The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other, as well as Hammill's solo [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Number 6 in PSF's compilation series of the Tokyo Psychedelic underground music.

"When two nomads of different origins set their way of life to music, we can only be struck by the sincerity of their originality and fascinated by the perseverance with which they defend the improbability of their musical entity. Born after a long 18 month incubation period, the album "Plus Vite Que La Musique" recorded and mastered by Bob Drake (renown personage of the Rock In Opposition movement) marks the blossoming of the Vialka duo, owing to their elegant fusion of tradition and modernity. [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"In short order, Michigan audio-masochists Wolf Eyes will be judiciously recognized as one of the best experimental noise groups on the planet, alongside rising-star contemporaries like Black Dice, Nautical Almanac, and Lightning Bolt. With well over fifty releases, most hand-reproduced using tape recorders, lathes, and CD-R's, Wolf Eyes have done more than shape the direction of a sound. They have pioneered a particular thread of lo-fi aesthetic, rooted in necessity (thanks to lack of funds) [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"This double-CD set combines two of the key titles of Columbia Records's legendary "Music of Our Time" series curated by David Behrman. Jeanne Kirstein's recording of Cage's early keyboard works remains a touchstone of Cagean interpretation notwithstanding the passage of time. Christian Wolff recalls, "I remember Cage saying that Jeanne Kirstein's playing caught the spirit in which the pieces were written at the time he wrote them-a kind of simple excitement and enthusiasm (also, surely, out [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Like his near contemporary Franco Donatoni, Aldo Clementi (b.1925) is an Italian composer who has had a very fruitful association with that most Italian of instruments, the guitar.

Both Clementi and Donatoni shared similar paths in their compositional development: the early influences of major early 20th-century composers through the adoption and later rejection of serialism and the Darmstadt courses they both attended, culminating in their very individual mature styles.

Clementi's [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Born in Seoul and now a resident of Brooklyn, Ha-Yang Kim is a cellist, composer and improviser who has developed a unique language of extended string techniques and electronics. Drawing upon influences as far ranging as Balinese and Karnatic traditions, jazz, rock, western classical music and downtown experimentation, she has created an original music of imagination and passion. Her first CD features a startling solo piece, two pieces for her long running duo project with percussionist Nathan [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Ukranian composer Svyatoslav Lunyov has had his work performed by The Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Kyiv State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyiv Symphony-Pop Orchestra, National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, "Kyiv" Municipal Choir, National Culture University Choir, Ricochet Contemporary Music Ensemble, conductors Vyacheslav Blinov, Volodymyr Syrenko, and the Canadian Veronique Laqroix. His emotional and spiritual works meld traditional compositional music with [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

"Organized Pitches Occurring in Time consists of two 25 minute pieces of music, both spawned from the same conceptual composition/score by Duane Pitre, titled Ensemble Drones. With their form reminiscent of works by La Monte Young's Theater of Eternal Music and their tonality touching on the floating works of Terry Riley, The Ensemble Chord in Eb with a Minor 7th and a Pump Organ Base & The Ensemble Chord in C with a Major 7th and a Guitar Base are aural tapestries based on a minimal tonal [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Romanian-French composer Horatiu Radulescu with two works from 1983, "Clepsydra" for 16 Sound Icons (a grand piano laying vertically on its side, with the strings played by bowing), and the 1984 work "Astray" for 6 saxophones and Sound Icons. Radulescu is noted for compositions using spectral techniques, which "comprises variable distribution of the spectral energy, synthesis of the global sound sources, micro- and macro-form as sound-process, four simultaneous layers of perception and of speed, [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Reedist Willem Breuker has a fascination with the mechanical organ, particularly instruments like the European street organ. The mechanical organ works like a player piano, and on these recordings is controlled by either Ben Uijtiens or Chris Weeda. His previous Bvhaast album, LUNCHCONCERT for three Amsterdam streetorgans recorded from 1967-1969 is an unusual album of organ work that takes the instrument is lesser known territories, and included a tribute piece to John Coltrane. The [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

Great garage/psych/rock hand-drawn fanzine, Galactic Zoo Dossier #7 is a big issue with interviews w/ Clive Palmer of Incredible String Band, Strawbs, Kevin Coyne, Gary Panter, Ed Askew, Pentangle's John Renbourn, AMM's Keith Rowe, Vanilla Fudge and more. Includes two sets of trading cards (72 cards total). Features on Dark Psychedelic, Hippies, Motown, Soul-Acid Blues, Plus comix, contest, &c. &c.

Excellent Canadian music magazine covering CA and international artists with intelligent writing and featuring many articles from musicians. In this issue: On the Cover - John Oswald a time to hear for here by Kelvin Browne / Trevor Wishart by W. Mark Sutherland / Remember James Tenney by John Luther Adams / John Weinzweig (1913-2006) by John Beckwith and Elisabeth Bihl / Of Music Creativity, Royalties, and the Canadian Listener by Tim Brady / Milenko Micanovic in Belgrade / Micheline [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

On the cover: Ricardo Villalobos. Features: Whitehouse; The Primer: British psych-folk from the 60s & 70s; Invisible Jukebox: Jonathan Harvey; Cross Platform: Laurie Anderson; Axolotl; Matthew Dear

This double CD and book anthology compiles tracks from the essential NY free jazz label ESP, with 21 tracks from an excellent set of artists. Wu Ming writes and selects the tracks, and the book includes many never before seen photos from the label's archives. A great and highly readable history of incredible improvisation.

Rob Mazurek & Chad Taylor's Chicago Underground duo and trio have been going for over a decade, taking an eclectic instrumentation that includes electronics and native instruments to create their unique flavor of improvised music. Filmmaker Raymond Salvatore Harmon directed the movie, capturing Mazurek and Taylor in trio with bassist Jason Ajemian, using shifting multilayered visual to provide an evolving framework of color and light that complements the transformative nature of the music.

"The first-ever, fully authorized commercial release of Ira Cohen's legendary 1968 film, The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda. Celebrated internationally for more than 30 years, and recently screened as part of the 'Day for Night' program at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, Invasion is released as a fully restored and mastered director's cut DVD. High-quality transfer from the original 16mm film, with color correction supervised by the director.

The legendary soundtrack, newly re-mastered [ ... continued @ Squidco ]

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