A quartet of four excellent young improvising musicians based in London and Oxford, none of whom have ever been to the outer London suburb of Barkingside.
Over 25 years the 2 trombones of the German brothers Bauer and guitarists Kropinski & Sachse have released 3 albums, Outside This Area a "Walk" in 11 parts.
DVD and mp3s of two Chad and Jimmy Carl Black show from 1992, amazing modern hijinx on versions of Zappa, Hendrix, Beefheart, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, &c.
Eugene Chadbourne with Jimmy Carl Black in their Jack and Jim Show performances with guests from Chadbourne's month of curating The Stone, NYC in August 2007.
One of the strangest items in the Takayanagi (New Direction Unit) discography:- an acoustic guitar nontet playing covers of South American tango, milonga, vals, rumba, &c.
Grosse Abfahrt (Great Departure) mates Bay Area musicians with European free improvisers, here playing live @ Mills College with Frederic Blondy, Le Quan Ninh.
Virtuosic Dutch trio of the European Free Improv scene in deft and meticulous live recordings taken from different performances including the 2006 Ring Ring Festival.
Last Exit's 1989 limited edition release on MuWorks is considered by many fans to be their finest hour, and ironically, their least available work. Until now!
The first in a series of live releases from DMG's "New Music Magic Mystery Festival" at The Stone in December 2006, a superb set with Joelle Leandre directing.
Björn Lücker's three part Aquarian Drum Song is a fascinating and understated journey through the elements of drums, percussion, cymbals, tympani and piano.
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.
The adaptive improvising/electro-acoustic trio of Maybe Monday in their 3rd release with guests Gerry Hemingway, Carla Kihlstedt, Ikue Mori, and Zeena Parkins.
Limited 5 CD set of The Remote Viewers in collaboration with John Edwards, Caroline Kraabel and Dave Tucker, along with artists Kato Hideki, Darren Tate and Glenn Gupta.
Heretical new music for solo guitar conceived as impossible etudes and exercises on a variety of finger busting guitar techniques and performed by Marc Ribot.
1972-73 previously unreleased SME duo recordings of John Stevens on percussion & cornet and Trevor Wattson soprano sax from the cassette archives of Trevor Watts.
Ruins drummer Yoshida Tatsuya and Tipographica guitarist Imahori Tsuneo in fiery and dense improvised power rock taken at high speed, edited and overdubbed in the studio.
Delicate nuance and fascinating textures from the minimal improvisations of trumpeter Birgit Uhler, violist Ernesto Rodriguez and live sampling from Carlos Santos.
Zuerich composer and soprano player Juerg Wickihalder (Irene Schweizer, Omri Ziegel, &c.) in duo with pianist Wiesendanger playing Wickihalder's compositions.
The trio of bassist Gary Peacock, pianist Paul Bley, and trumpeter Franz Koglmann interpret and improvise on the music of avant song-writer Annette Peacock.
Australian improvising guitarist Candlesnuffer (David Brown) and Dutch guitarist Lukas Simonis in an album inspired by photographer Rosamund Purchell's book: "Special Cases: Natural Anomalies and Historical Monsters".
Keith Wood's Hush Arbors with bassist Jason Ajemian, guitarist Leon Dufficy, and drummer Ryan Sawyer, in their 2nd Ecstatic Peace album of driving avant-folk songs and instrumental sections.
Wakool is an interrogation into an expanded range of techniques and gestures from David Brown playing banjo, electroacoustic guitar, bandura, and eukolin.
Complex, twisted, technically interesting and eminantly enjoyable, eclectic and humorous rock mining a vast set of styles with ease; recorded and mixed by Bob Drake.
Composer and pianist Slava Ganelin meets Russian double bass player Vladimir Volkov for a surprising and impulsive release of spontaneous studio improvisations.
A masterful fountain of melodic ideas, intriguing rhythms, and exceptional technical skill from the duo of Hamid Drake on drums and frame drum, and Sylvain Kassap on clarinets and chalumeau, recording live at the France Musique at Studio Theatre dÕAlfortville and in the studio.
Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus named "Clinamen" the unpredictable (in time and space) swerve of atoms falling in the void, which aptly describes the unexpected directions taken in subtle free improvisation from this French trio, led by bassist Louis-Michel Marion, with Jacques Di Donato on clarinet, and Philippe Berger on viola.
The Swedish duo of percussionist Andreas Pollak and prepared pianist Johan Graden (Adam & Alma) in an album of references and innuendo, clandestine and furtive sounds that evoke great mystery and drama in beautifully shaped sound; evocative music that deceives to emerge from the electronic realm while in actuality coming from all acoustic sources.
Live concert DVD from Bunda Love (id & Mike) with Jamie Saft, filmed at Strange Maine in Portland, Maine; sheer communications in wierdness of doom metal meeting schizoid noise.
Electronic improvisations from Formian reed & electronics artist Fega, a member of Taxonomy with Elio Martusciello, as well as IATO and IXEM, Pangolino Orchestra, &c.
Bridging contemporary and improvised music, Montreal double bassist Nicolas Caloia wrote these pieces for textured and impossible rhythms; blending pieces by Nancarrow and Grand Master Flash; and manipulating poems by Genevieve Letarte; with supporting improv from Jean Derome & Lori Freedman.
Electronic improvisations from Formian reed & electronics artist Fega, a member of Taxonomy with Elio Martusciello, as well as IATO and IXEM, Pangolino Orchestra, &c.
Two basses and a lower-end saxophone from the trio of Damon Smith on double bass, Andrew Durham on electric bass, and Danny Kamins on baritone sax, Durham also adding effects and "Radio Manipulation" to their deep sound, Durham & Kamins the core of CARL with Damon Smith adding extra underpinnings to their slowly developing, sometimes pensive, sometimes cantankerous, profound improvisation.
Recorded live at Silence Sounds in Guelph Canada, the duo of Xavier Charles on clarinet and Eric Normand on electric bass & objects eschew idiom in favor of their unique natural language on their instruments, applying patient development of truly idiosyncratic and fascinating command through a single extended work punctuated in seven diverse passages.
From 2008-16 until drummer Frank Rosaly moved to Amsterdam, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella's Trio was an active part of Chicago's creative jazz scene; in early 2018 Rosaly returned for a visit and Mazzarella composed a suite of 6 new pieces to commemorate the trio's tenth anniversary, the exuberant result this excellent concert recorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere!
Since 1999 the duo of sax/clarinetis Tim Trevor-Briscoe and pianist Nicola Guazzaloca have been playing in Bologna, Italy, giving rise to a unique dialog.
A beautifully hypnotic album of saxophone, accompanied by Pan-Ney, Shruti Box and Organ, recorded in overdubs by composer/wind player Werner Durand in this 2nd chapter of his trilogy focused on the Pan-Ney, a self-built instrument for repetitive foundations, as Durand draws on elements of nature, mythology, dance, religion, literature and folklore.
Recording in Toronto, the core trio of drummer Nick Fraser, saxophonist Tony Malaby and pianist Kris Davis are joined on four tracks by tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Lina Allemano, in an album of composed and collective improvisation, merging Toronto, NY and European influences in an accomplished album of diverse approaches and orchestrations.
The 5th release from the trio of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Keiji Haino, guitarist Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi on wineglass and percussion is an introspective and beautifully developed set recorded live at their March 2013 concert at SuperDeluxe.
An extended and rich confluence of strings from R Keenan Lawler and John Krausbauer, using resonator guitar and banjo, sustained tones that intertwine in a beautiful and optimistic drone, minimalistic yet drenched in a profusion of harmonic detail; a beautiful and elusive dream mixing between an Indian raga and an alien electronic environment.
Recorded in the mid-90s, Livebatts! was a project of John White (Cornelius Cardew, Scratch Orchestra) developed to exploit "toy" keyboards of the 80s--cheap battery-driven instruments that hold tremendous potential for "serious" music-making--used here in a playful quartet with vocalist MJ Coldiron, Andrea Rocca (guitar & samples) and Nancy Ruffer (electrified flute).
Quietly lurking as it prepares to attack, this Kobra is the free improvising quaret of Aurora Nealand on accordion, alto saxophone, voice & objects, Steve Marquette on acoustic & electric guitars, Anton Hatwich on bass, and Paul Thibodeaux on drums, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain during the Instigation Festival for a mysterious 2-part "New Omens" and some "Telly Attire".
'Spilla' means 'to play' in the language of Neapolitan musicians, and playing here are NY guitarist and composer Elliott Sharp and Italian guitarist Sergio Sorrentino, presenting world premier recordings of 4 works recorded live in Vercelli, Italy: two improvisations and two graphic scores performed on electric guitar with incredible technique and passion.
Stochastic music for percussion and synthesizers from New York avant conceptualist and keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine, here on piano & electronics, with the Italian duo Trrma' of Giovanni Todisco on percussion and Guiseppe Candiano on synth, in two side-long works of irregular rhythm, complexity and dissonance that build and recede in a suspenseful journey.
First in a series of themed LP dedicated to improv / experimental / & noise music, this LP including Talibam!, Fessenden, Mialessot w/ Daniel Carter, &c.
A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.
A momentous 2020 concert at London's Cafe OTO, presented in two discs, the 1st with label leader Jean-Marc Foussat in a solo improvisation on synth and voice, the 2nd in a trio with Daunik Lazro on tenor & baritone sax, and Evan Parker on soprano sax, the 2 saxophones weaving and responding to Foussat's remarkable alien soundscapes and vocalization in an immersive extended improvisation.
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, both living and working in NY, and having worked together in a variety of groups including Laubrock's Anti-House, a trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey's Obligatto, &c. &c., concentrate their sophisticated playing with this duo album of 7 original compositions and 2 free improvisations.
Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez merges his Yells at Eel project with bassist Aaron Gonzalez and drummer/percussionist Stefan Gonzalez, with Texas-based experimental rock band Pinkish Black--Daron Beck on keyboards and Jon Teague on drums & synthesizers--for a gripping and masterful hybrid of improvisation, dark synthetic rock and heavy moods; a riveting journey.
Taking his title from a poem by Octavio Paz with titles from translations by Lysander Kemp of other Octavio Paz poems, this solo album from double bassist Damon Smith is his definitive statement on the instrument: 23 tracks from 46 seconds to 5 minutes 50, developed over 15 years and displaying Smith's incredible technique and creative intent; incomparable.