January 15, 2025:
The big news this week is the arrival of three vinyl LPs from the Ictus Remastered Collection, two of them reissues from the Real Time series by the trio of Alvin Curran, Andrea Centazzo, and Evan Parker. The third is an LP drawn from 1977 recordings made during the same week as both Real Time albums, featuring the duo of Centazzo and Parker, Bullfighting On Ice! Live In Padova 1977. All three are extraordinary documents of forward-thinking free improvisation with a strong electroacoustic component. The excitement and advanced technical skill on display across these concerts is staggering, and the compatibility of the performers makes the results both fascinating and grippingly compelling.
An interesting note on Bullfighting On Ice! is that the title comes from Evan Parker's response to hecklers in the audience who simply didn't understand what the duo was attempting to achieve. The confrontation pushed the music to greater intensity, and you can hear Parker addressing the crowd: "Bring back bullfighting, bring back bullfighting... whoa... Bullfighting on ice!" as well as "Bring on the lions!" Hence the title — and the remarkable synergy that emerges between the performers, the audience members who were listening intently, and those who were pushing back. It's a remarkable and, in my mind, important album that captures both the turbulence of the era and the rapid shifts in improvised music that had unfolded over little more than a decade.
 Curran, Alvin / Andrea Centazzo / Evan Parker: Real Time Two [VINYL] (Ictus Remastered Collection)
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.
 Curran, Alvin / Andrea Centazzo / Evan Parker: Real Time [VINYL] (Ictus Remastered Collection)
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.
Focus on Alexander Zethson & Thanatosis Produktion:
Alex (Alexander) Zethson is a Swedish pianist, keyboardist, and composer active in contemporary jazz, improvised, and experimental music. Based in Stockholm, he is a long-standing member of ensembles including Angles (notably Angles 9 and related iterations), Goran Kajfeš Tropiques, Fire! Orchestra, Je Suis!, VÖ, and Yokada, and can also be heard in collaborations with artists such as Sven Wunder and Mariam the Believer. Zethson performs frequently as a solo artist and works across a wide range of acoustic and electronic contexts. In addition to his performance and compositional work, he is a concert organiser and runs the Thanatosis Produktion record label. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he earned degrees in jazz performance.
Below is a selection of releases featuring Alex Zethson as a leader, collaborator, or sideman, along with titles issued on Thanatosis Produktion.
 Bromander, Vilhelm Unfolding Orchestra: Jorden Vi Arvde (thanatosis produktion)
A stunning second album from Swedish bassist and composer Vilhelm Bromander's Unfolding Orchestra, expanding on his acclaimed debut with richly textured, spiritually resonant compositions inspired by political urgency and environmental reflection, featuring a 13-piece ensemble delivering lush orchestrations, patient development, and profound, hopeful expression.
 Egberth, Dennis: The Dennis Egberth Dynasty (577 Records)
Blending the cosmic textures of electronic experimentation with the raw energy of free improv, drummer and composer Dennis Egberth leads a handpicked sextet through hypnotic soundscapes of modal grooves, ambient flourishes, and dynamic interplay, channeling the spirit of late-'60s and '70s jazz while forging a forward-thinking approach to contemporary creative music.
 Angles & Elle-Kari with Strings: The Death of Kalypso [VINYL 2 LPs] (thanatosis produktion)
The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!
 Angles & Elle-Kari with Strings: The Death of Kalypso (thanatosis produktion)
The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!
 Vathres: Liturgy of Lacuna (thanatosis produktion)
Three expansive works from composer and keyboardist/pianist Alex Zethson, developing concepts from themes and motifs developed over more than a decade, recorded over two years with exceptional care as he and his collaborators create subtle and beautifully evocative sonic environments that seamlessly incorporate acoustic, electronic, drone and feedback elements.
 Bromander, Vilhelm: In This Forever Unfolding Moment [VINYL] (thanatosis produktion)
Drawing on ideas from the 60s and 70--Ornette Coleman, John and Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry, and Charlie Haden--bassist Vilhelm Bromander assembles an accomplished ensemble of Stockholm improvisers to perform three works of warmth and spiritual power, incorporating jazz, world and contemporary music in a stunning and rich album that exudes a wealth of experience and musical clarity.
 Zethson, Alex: Terje (Supertraditional)
Two movements from a live score for the classic silent film Terje Vigen by Sjöström composed and produced by Swedish pianist & keyboardist Alex Zethson (Angles 9, VÖ, Fire! Orchestra), two long-form tracks of dark and sombre, pulsating folk-drone featuring Norwegian vocal ensemble EMBLA plus appearances by, i.e., Christer Bothén, Kristin Amparo Sundberg and Goran Kajfeš.
 VO (Zethson / Hogberg / Berthling / Sander): The Sounds Of VO [2 CDS] (thanatosis produktion)
A rare mix of collective and chamber approaches to free improvisation from the Swedish sextet VÖ of Eva Lindal on violin, Anna Hogberg on alto saxophone, Johan Berthling on double bass, Leo Svensson Sander on cello, Alexander Zethson on piano & pump organ and Giannis Arapis on acoustic guitar, performing deeply introspective conversations that explore modernity and tradition.
 Zethson, Alex: Residy (thanatosis produktion)
The Residy, or remains of a unique variation on JS Bach's Goldberg Variation no. 21, performed live by pianist Alex Zethson who maintains the structure, rhythmic movement and note order of Bach's composition, while dispersing the notes and intervals into two synths and an E-bowed grand piano to evoke these meditative and expansive interpretations.
 Talp, Linnea: Arch Of Motion (thanatosis produktion)
Performed with Stockholm musicians including pianist Alexander Zethson, wind player Martin Küchen and trombonist Mats Äleklint, organist Linnéa Talp explores the areas of sound that emulate breathing, push/pull or back & forth motion, in eight beautifully paced recordings led by the organ's rich and microtonal vibrations & timbre and imbued by the contributor's subtle additions.
 Zethson, Alex Ensemble: Some Of Them Were Never Unprepared [VINYL] (thanatosis produktion)
Exploring how a composition can provide a sense of weightlessness, and influenced by the music of gamelan, krautrock, Tony Conrad & Arnold Dreyblatt, composer Alex Zethson structured these works to influence the 13 performers in his ensemble into a state of intense focus and listening as they strike, bow and pluck their instruments, creating an ecstatic sense of infinite motion.
Squidco Publishing Roundup:
You can view our latest fully cataloged albums in the Recently Section.
You can also browse new titles as they enter our Just In Stock Section — meaning we physically have the album and can ship it, though we may still be updating additional information about the release.
To see restocks of previously listed titles, visit our Recently Restocked page.
And if you're interested in a future release, you can ask us to notify you by email via our Upcoming Releases page — no obligation necessary.
January 8, 2025:
 The first blog of the year was intended for last week, but between the holidays, some unexpected health issues, a really fun car problem, and the holidays themselves, I'm finally catching up here. That said, all is well, though we continue to struggle with importing albums due to the chaotic rollout of tariffs and changes to customs and de minimis shipments. I want to reiterate that we believe in free trade, and this is a clear example of how monetizing shipments reduces cross-cultural communication. It has also created challenges for us and the labels we work with, on whom we rely to stay in business. I can only hope that 2026 will ease some of the unnecessary stress the current US government has placed on small, independent operations like ours.
To that end, we ended the year with a reduction sale as an attempt to meet our goals during what are typically the quietest weeks of the year. That downtime gave us the opportunity to receive and process some very important new releases, and this week we've introduced a substantial batch of Creative Sources albums, completed the proper cataloging of the Thurston Moore / Byron Coley free jazz book, added Peter Evans' excellent Ars Ludicra, and stocked two releases on Discreet Archives: a fascinating narrative work from Nate Wooley, and an album from the Eventless Plot ensemble working with field recordings, percussion, tape, modular synth, flute, and voice.
We also received copies of the Otherlands Trio (Crump / Jones / McPherson), which we were initially shorted on, picked up additional copies of the excellent Fohn Ensemble (Foschla / Duerinckx / Northover) after it sold out very quickly on its first arrival (well deserved!), and released the excellent solo piano album from Leo Genovese, Solo Brooklyn. My own album on Love Earth Music arrived just before the new year, the subliminal sound project Fortrexx. This week also sees the release of the new Swarming album continuing the audio observations and compositions of Eric La Casa & Seijiro Murayama, Paris Public Spaces 2.
 La Casa, Eric / Seijiro Murayama: Paris Public Spaces 2 (Swarming)
Recorded across various public spaces in Paris, this collaborative work extends the practice of Eric La Casa and Seijiro Murayama as they document subtle vocal interventions and field recordings that explore attentive listening, bodily presence, and sonic autonomy, positioning sound-making as a quiet, animist act of witness within complex urban environments.
 Evans, Peter / Being & Becoming: Ars Ludricra [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (More Is More)
Expanding their language through dense composition and open improvisation, this iteration of Peter Evans's ensemble moves fluidly between explosive dynamics, electronic textures, orchestral color, and rhythmic propulsion, as brass, vibes, synths, and percussion interlock in a restless, polyphonic music driven by play, risk, and a continually evolving collective imagination.
 Fortrexx: Breathless (Love Earth Music)
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.
 Otherlands Trio (Crump / Jones / McPherson): Star Mountain (Intakt)
Uniting bassist Stephan Crump, drummer Eric McPherson with alto saxophonist Darius Jones, this trio channels a deeply connected improvisational language built on evolving vamps, elastic grooves, and shared momentum, as Jones's emotionally direct alto moves freely through shifting forms shaped by trust, vulnerability, and a collective pursuit of intensity without hierarchy or hesitation.
 Eventless Plot: Unlearning Noise (Discreet Archive)
Blending field recordings, percussion, tapes, and modular synthesis with Marina Katsarou's voice and text and Eva Matsigou's flute, Eventless Plot reshape urban sound into a finely detailed electroacoustic work that invites listeners to reconsider noise as a living, expressive presence, revealing the shifting textures, hidden meanings, and poetic potential embedded within the everyday sonic fabric of the city.
 Wooley, Nate: A Fine Rain Anoints The Canal Machinery (Discreet Archive)
In a subtly detailed journey, Nate Wooley layers field recordings, trumpet, piano, sine tones, whistling, and bodily sound into a stark, reflective work that probes the uneasy coexistence of nature, machinery, and human presence, shaping a quietly political soundscape in which environmental detail, isolation, and mechanical intrusion collide in fragile, contrapuntal tension.
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Alexander Zethson:
Lao Dan:
Szilard Mezei Quartet:
MARANATA (Wesseltoft / Stiberg / Escalante):
Birgit Ulher:
Joe McPhee / Susanna Gartmayer / John Edwards / Maria Portugal:
Ivo Perelman / Tyshawn Sorey:
Michel Doneda / Frederic Blondy:
Larry Stabbins / Mark Sanders:
Elliott Sharp:
Parker, Evan / Andrea Centazzo: Bullfighting On Ice! Live In Padova 1977 [VINYL] (Ictus Remastered Collection)
Coley, Byron / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore: Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings (1960-80) [BOOK] (Ecstatic Peace Library )
