Alarmed by the warning signs of social deterioration, political overreach and planetary damage warning of an imminent need for revolutionary change, composer and sound artist Michael Pisaro-Liu sought and plundered references in sound from historic and current sources, producing 53 tracks that are arranged to tell a story in a mosaic form; an incredible achievement.

Three distinct compositions from the collaborative work of sound artists Vanessa Rossetto and Lionel Marchetti, the first a wonderfully complex work of musique concrète and acousmatic sources guided by the composers' instincts; "The Tower" expands their concepts through the addition of 18 voices, while the final track features the violin of Anouck Genthon.

Berlin-based composer & pianist Quentin Tolimieri's goal for the 15 compositions of "Monochrome" was to hear the acoustic piano differently, removing traditional structures of European harmony, each piece focused on a single or "monochromatic" theme that unfolds over an extended period of time, whether languorous or intensely active, each piece unique and self-contained.

Interested in compositional work involving sound, timing, space, physicality, memory, noise & environment, Dutch composer Reinier van Houdt shares six works developed for erstwhile record's festival AMPLIFY 2020: quarantine, each piece focused on a specific day of the month; and a complementary set of four compositions about everyday recurring situations.

French composer & pianist Melaine Dalibert's 6th solo album, works developed using an algorithmic approach to composing, such as retrograde sequences or cellular automaton, generating beautifully delicate patterns that he performs on instruments chosen for their tonal qualities, David Sylvian adding electronic coloring to the pieces "Yin" and "Yang".

An electroacoustic composition of environment & sound punctuated with subtle percussion and electronic interventions, developed from field recordings, performances on Roosevelt Island, and studio recordings in Brooklyn by the duo of Tucker Dulin on bells, bowl, can, cymbal, lentils, mallet & whistle and Ben Owen on paper mic, speaker boxes, op amps & cassette.

Recording in two locations in Seoul by Taku Unami, electronic, sound and noise artists Choi Joonyong and Jin Sangtae present a series of unusual interactions using sonic events, concrete and acousmatic interjections and aberrant expression, patiently conveying each event with clarity and intention and an almost theatrical sense of drama and narrative.

Beijing sound artists Yan Jun and Zhu Wenbo developed this hour-long sound composition from independent recordings, a set of abstractions through recordings in the field, mechanical and electronic devices, human voice and utterance, acoustic and electronic instruments, &c. &c., made cohesive and compelling through independent time assignments by each artist; inexplicably interesting.

It was during this recording at the 2015 "zoom in" festival in Bern, Switzerland that AMM guitarist and improviser Keith Rowe made the decision to cease performing solo, affected by Parkinson's Disease, this being his final recording as he performed on lapstick guitar, Boss RC-3, Boss PS-3, six band EQ, Sony ICF-SW22 and Roberts R984 radios, 2 contact mics & a metal strip.

For their 2nd collaboration, sound artists Toshiya Tsunoda & Taku Unami present a series of acoustic experiments, each track using a single field recording — fishing spots, birds, a hiking trail, &c, — recording and manipulating those recordings using specific processes, seeking to emulate the way our minds process the senses that we encounter to create our perceived reality.

A live performance at Fridman Gallery in New York City as part of erstwhile's AMPLIFY 2015 festival from sound artists Taku Unami & Devin DiSanto, using electronics, concrete sounds, and spoken word to create diverse active environments of narratives and pure sound.

Engrossing interactions of electronic sound, abstract percussion, static, metallic ringing and other ephemeral sonic assertions, from French-based Spanish sound artist Clara de Asís and UK-based Japanese-Korean installation & sound artist Ryoko Akama: three tracks of live electroacoustic improvisation, and three compositions extracted from those sessions.

An unusual narrative of field recordings, electronics and chamber instrumentation from composer Vanessa Rossetto, through two CDs weaving an abstracted and detailed story of recurring motifs, indescribably intertwined with spoken word, equestrian moments, environmental recordings, and melodic progressions of strings and harps; a momentous work of collaged composition.

Nine song pieces for piano, harp, and vocal by The Giving Shapes, a Vancouver-based collaborative project between harpist/vocalist Elisa Thorn and pianist/vocalist Robyn Jacob, lovely pieces that weave their two voices with two compatibly yet uniquely timbred strings, merging contemporary popular forms with modern compositional music.

Using "recordings" and "devices", this is the first release from the long-standing collaboration of Eric La Casa and Taku Umani, 15 untitled tracks of curious and subtly discursive sound work recorded in a diverse set of locations.

Sound artists Graham Lambkin and Taku Unami create two large works using material which they recorded together, and then which independently assembled into a single CD each, with "Whistler Vanishes in Wind" composed by Taku Unami, and "Small Mistakes in Nature" by Graham Lambkin, both fascinating collages that alternately distract and absorb the listener.

Superb 1st erstwhile 'pop' release as only an erstwhile artist could define the term: abstract lower case and perceptive songs with dual clarinets creating harmonic interactions (Kai Fagaschinski & Michael Thieke, aka The International Nothing), guitar & voice from Margareth Kammerer and electronics & vocals from Christoph Kurzmann.

Performed as part of the AMPLIFY 2011 festival at The Stone in NYC, the duo of trombonist Radu Malfatti and electronic/visual artist Taku Unami presented this long, minimal and dramatic soundwork in a pitch-black room lit only by Unami's visuals.

Wandelweiser founder and composer Antoine Beuguer and French composer Anastassis Philippakopoulos in a work for voice (Philippakopoulos) and breath (Beuguer), employing spaces of silence against utterance and sibilant expression, a patiently developing work that floats by in deceptively simple ways, captivating through each articulation that seems perfectly placed.

Translating to League of Shadows, Swiss composer Jürg Frey's sublime twilight compositions for solo piano are performed by Dutch pianist Reinier van Houdt, presenting seven of Frey's works written from 1984-2018, including one previously unreleased composition, in all 20 movements spread over 3 CDs ranging in time from 1:47 to 40:34, a significant addition to both musician's oeuvres.

Occupying a unique area between composition & folk music, classical & jazz/improv, tension & serenity, these duos also include recordings from Klaus Filip and dieb13.

Two acoustic guitars collaborate in a beautiful and spare dialog, using extended techniques including bowing and percussive approaches that never detract from the sublime elements of their playing.

Referencing the collective NY Loft scene of the 1980's, the trio of Jean-Jacques Avenel on bass, Siegfried Kessler on piano, keys & ring modulator and Daunik Lazro on alto sax & tuba sax, are heard in a Béziers Jazz Action concert recorded in the crypt of a Franciscan theater, in two suites of collective improvisation, the 2nd adding unusual electronics from Kessler.

Fred Frith's West Coast Cosa Brava with Carla Kihlstedt, Zeena Parkins, and Matthias Bossi playing all Frith compositions driven by his love of the (improvised) rock format.

Re-issue of one of the earliest Confront releases, the trio of trumpeter Matt Davis, violinist Phil Durrant and cellist Mark Wastell performing subtle and sophisticated free improvisation at St. Michael's and All Angels church, Chiswick, London in 2000.

The first trio collaboration between London pianist and innovator Pat Thomas and Swedish improvisers, Sture Ericson on saxophones, and Raymond Strid on drums, performing live at Cafe OTO in London in 2019 for four improvised soundscapes about the fictional character "Bagman", using extended and prodigious technique with both disruptive and melodic intentions.

1. Ma(R)Ker #1 4:32

2. Ma(R)Ker #2 4:38

3. Ma(R)Ker #3 3:30

4. Ma(R)Ker #4 5:55

5. Ma(R)Ker #5 6:15

6. Ma(R)Ker #6 3:04

7. Ma(R)Ker #7 5:23

8. Ma(R)Ker #8 4:59

9. Ma(R)Ker #9 3:42

10. Ma(R)Ker #10 8:13

11. Ma(R)Ker #11 5:34

Out free improvising vocalist Viviane Houle's debut solo release in duos with a veritable who's-who of Vancouver's finest improvisers including Peggy Lee, Jesse Zubot, &c. &c.

Grid Mesh drummer Willi Kellers Quartet with the dual saxophone lineup of Paul Dunmall and Frank Paul Schubert and bassist Clayton Thomas (BassX3, Ames Room) performing live at Black box/CUBA, in Muenster, DE; powerful and innovative improv.

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

Two hauntingly beautiful works in microtonal composer and violist Catherine Lamb's "Prisma Interius" series, the first a duo with violinist Johnny Change and Xavier Lopez on the "secondary rainbow synthesizer", which channels the sound outside of the performance space as a generator of ambient sound; then a sextet of strings and winds with two secondary rainbow synthesizers.

lowercase improvisations from no-input mixer Nakamura and laptop artists Mark Trayle (The Hub, Wadada Leo Smith), three long and complex works from sound, static and feedback.

The second recorded collaboration of Japanese no-input mixing board player Toshimaru Nakamura with London-based electronic artist Ken Ikeda and Japanese sound artist Tomoyoshi Date, a large, rich and detailed work of slowly evolving sonic environments, showing masterful control in developing sumptuous sound and then subtly deflecting it with unusual excursions.

Anthony Pateras was commissioned to compose this work by Synergy Percussion for their 40th birthday in 2014, performed with a six piece ensemble including electronic artist Jerome Noetinger, using the same instrumentation as Xenakis' "Pleiades" of more than 100 orchestral percussion instruments, including Xenakis' 17-pitch microtonal metallophones.

The electroacoustic duo of singer Andrea Silvia Giordano and drummer Nicholas Remondino, working with Pierre Bastien, E-cor Ensemble, Gianluca Verlingieri, Maria Dybbroe and Torstein Lavik Larsen, create uniquely motioned works of decay, deconstruction and destruction, percussion and voice weaving amid unusual sonic sources both abstract and rhythmic.

"Vancouver pianist Paul Plimley and his comrades, bassist Lisle Ellis and drummer Scott Amendola, have issued a tough little gem of a recording in Safe-Crackers. Plimley's pianism ranges in voice from fierce avant-garde improvisation to...

The UK/Europe trio of Albert Cirera on saxophones, Rafal Mazur on bass guitar, and Nicolas Field on drums, in five ordinal improvisations recorded at Alchemia Club in 2018, for a concert of vigorously assertive playing and seething interactive layers, laying back at times to build their progressions, ending the concert with an explorative "Fifth" improvisation.

A massive and rewarding work of organized sound extending ea-improviser, AMM guitarist Keith Rowe's work "The Room" into a massive 4 CD set of compositions, layering work familiar from his recent improvisations with classical compositions, field recordings, &c. &c.

Keith Rowe first met Graham Lambkin at erstwhile's 2007 Amplify 2011 festival in NYC, playing again in 2013, and recording this album at Lambkin's house that same year, creating something unusual and unique from each player's perspective.

The fourth set from Keith Rowe's duos at Erstwhile's AMPLIFY 2008 festival in Tokyo, a duo with long-time partner Toshimaru Nakamura, intense ea-improv from two masters.

The fifth CD in the Canadian Composers Series is also the debut appearance on Another Timbre by the Jack Quartet, performing works by composer Marc Sabat--two string quartets and a violin/cello duo--all combining an exploration of the soundworld of Just Intonation with a strong underlying lyricism.

A richly refined and sophisticated album drawing on improvisation, experimenation and rock elements from the collaborative Vancouver ensemble Sick Boss of core members guitarist Cole Schmidt, bassist James Meger and drummer Daniel Gaucher, with guests including guitarist Tony Wilson, cellist Peggy Lee, trumpeter JP Carter, synth player Tyson Naylor, &c. &c.

An amazing solo CD of free improvisation from guitarit David Stackenaus, showing incredible technique and melodic intent, equally at ease when exploring tonality and melody or abstract noisy textures; compelling and impressive playing!

910 Noise presents: Douceur Violente A 14 track compilation of electronic and noise artists from Wilmington, North Carolina.

The Norwegian & Danish freejazz-noise-rock trio Yes Deer of Anders Vestergaard on drums, Karl Bjora on guitar and Signe Dahlgreen on sax, in their second album of high energy, cacophonous and brutally joyful (they say "enthusiastic despair") collective improvisation.

The final night of Otomo and Sachiko's first residency at London's Cafe OTO in 2009 saw the pair joined by the long-running trio of Evan Parker, John Edwards and Tony Marsh and special guest John Butcher, for an exceptional set of creative improvisation.

Translating to League of Shadows, Swiss composer Jürg Frey's sublime twilight compositions for solo piano are performed by Dutch pianist Reinier van Houdt, presenting seven of Frey's works written from 1984-2018, including one previously unreleased composition, in all 20 movements spread over 3 CDs ranging in time from 1:47 to 40:34, a significant addition to both musician's oeuvres.

Two realizations of Michael Pisaro-Liu's 2006 work for sustaining instruments, harmonium & field recordings, recorded first at Wild Gallery, in Brussels with Guy Vandromme (keyboards) and Adriaan Severins (field recordings and synthesizer); then at the Museo Archeologico San Lorenzo, in Cremona, Italy with Luciana Elizondo (viola da gamba) and Fabio Gionfrida (field recordings), in collaboration with Guy Vandromme (Indian harmonium).

Mego founder and electronic artist Peter Rehberg met with Schmickler (Kontakta) in 2007 for two days of explosive, dense recording with a remarkable clarity.