The free improvising Amsterdam quintet of Andrius Dereviancenko (tenor saxophone), Henk Zwerver (guitar), Nico Chientaroli (piano and keyboards), Raoul van der Weide (bass, objects and squat box) and Onno Govaert (Tilburg, drums) are heard in this live recording at Zaal100 in 2020 for a quirky and first rate free jazz album of wry humor and impressive skill.

Using a diatonic accordion and electronics, Robin Servant from Rimouski, Canada explores the acoustics of the places he visits by making them vibrate with his accordion and electronics, presenting 3 recordings from concerts in PiedNu in Le Havre, France, the Old Theater of St-Fabien, in Quebec, Canada, and at the Beaulieu Culturel du Temiscouata, in Quebec.

The 3rd volume in NY guitarist Elliott Sharp's "Octal" project, using a Koll 8-string guitar/bass, an electroacoustic hollow-bodied guitar with 2 extra bass strings, presenting unedited improvisations of technical and sonic power.

Writer Iain Sinclair joins The London Experimental Ensemble to perform his narrative work, a sequel to Living With Buildings: And Walking With Ghosts, telling a surreal story of the imaginary 25-year journey of a whalebone box, told in detailed images and incredible sonic support through keys, strings, brass, winds, guitar, electronics and voice; profoundly powerful.

New York reedist Josh Sinton takes the contrabass clarinet on a wild ride, performing live with no overdubs, using clip-on mics, a mixing board, a sans amp box, a volume pedal, and a bass amp, as he explores sonic possibilities and unexpected directions for this big reed instrument in his quest to redefine the old Slavic word for beauty or splendor: krasa.

Bringing together a wealth of experience in contemporary improvised music, Berlin-based cellist Guilherme Rodrigues and soprano and sopranino saxophonist Harri Sjostrom developed these 12 pieces, combining and contrasting their instruments, at times seeming to complete each other's phrases, in a remarkably sophisticated and virtuosic "Treasure".

A live performance at CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon in 2019 from the quartet of Emilie Skrijelj on accordion, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Tom Malmendier on percussion, Lluvia referencing Rain as the quartet quietly builds and releases tension through subtle cues, persistent figures, tonal innuendo and shades.

Since 2014 the collective [SNDNG STTNS] has explored theatrical situations between musictheatre, staging and composition with live music, instruments, recordings, samples, speach and live editing, this work featuring cellist Guilherme Rodrigues bridges the art of the brazilian "violeros" with contemporary music, acoustic and electronic composition and improvisation.

SNIK IS led by trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and bassist Ole Morten Vagan, who provide the compositions for their quartet with saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts and drummer Erik Nylander, in an album that ranges from meditative free playing to hard swinging bop oriented jazz.

West Coast sound artist Nicolas Snyder is a composer, filmmaker, sound-documenter, gardener, and forager; fascinated by the sounds of nature, he took recordings from streams and National Parks in Vietnam, Pennsylvania, and California and merged them with music composed in the studio to create these works of great beauty as a study of locational and emotional memory.

Assembling 13 tracks from obscure compilations released from 2011-2012 by the various monikers of 910 Noise artist August (September) Traeger, a wide-ranging and captivating set of approaches to sound & noise work.

The third part of Somnaphon's trilogy, a complex record that ranges from destructive sounds to convoluted construction of rhythm and noise, with the Pony Grabbers on 1 track.

Unusual noise work from Somnaphon (August Traeger) in a 3" CD format, weaving acoustic, electronic, and destructive digital sound into five varied and decidedly not normal pieces of sound.

Brooklyn's Sontag Shogun (Ian Temple-piano; Jesse Perlstein-electronics; Jeremy Young-tapes & electronics) in their debut album, compiling three years of composing and directed textural improvisations, presented in 9 rich musical works.

An exploration of space, not outer, but the space we give to each other, the space between events and the space between musical expression, as composed by electronic artist Rafael Toral, using acoustic & electronic feedback and amplification with his quartet of Hugo Antunes on double bass, Nuno Mora on drums & percussion and Nuno Torres on saxophone & electronics.

Two unusual approaches to the vibraphone in a duo--Dale Gorfinkel using the tremolo mechanism, additional motors, bows and creative percussive techniques; and Robbie Avenaim using homemade electronic sticks and vibrating objects to create rhythms and textures.

Rapid fire playing and a wicked humor fuels drummer Olie Steidle's album with guitarist Frank Mobus, keyboardists Kit Downes and Dan Nicholls, and bassist Phil Donkin, mashing together electro-jazz, art rock, hardcore and club music into upbeat and twisted music, building up to a narrative "Speed Junky on Funny Human Darts"; insanely embraceable and stunning.

Chicago free improvising mainstay Fred Lonberg-Holm's Stirrup trio with Nick Macri on double bass and Charles Rumback on drums crosses genres and grooves in an album balancing lyrical and hard-grooved tunes, with Lonberg-Holm taking up guitar on a number of tracks.

This supergroup of strings--16 musicians on violins, viola, cellos, double basses, piano, psaltery, zither, and guitar--in an intensely restrained collective improvisation recorded live at O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal in 2017, as String Theory's 4th album continues their title themes from the physical universe named here for the rare metalloid "Tellurium".

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A concept record from Gaudenz Badrutt (electronics & synth) and Christian Muller (electronics & contrabass clarinet), starting with an improvised piece which is then resampled live into 6 new pieces, changing the character with each pass, and presented in reverse order.

This "Sub-unit" from Boston's improvising Leap of Faith Orchestra presetns a duo between Eric Zinman on piano, percussion and synth and David Peck on an array of saxophones, clarinets, bassoon and other reeds, plus small percussion, Theremin and accordion, in a unique and active duo with both players suggesting a larger ensemble through diverse strategeis and instrumentation.

Ex-Spaceseed wordsmith/gizmoist Serson Brannen explores the outer limits of high tech spoken word space art .

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The third album on Creative Sources for this 10-piece ensemble with 5 string players, piano, sax, trombone, electronics and percussion, freely improvising in an extended work themed for the Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term typically translated as nature or physics, in a rich tapestry of meticulous detail and profoundly subtle communication.

The fourth release from the Portuguese lowercase electroacoustic ensemble Suspensao, merging viola, cello, bass clarinet, alto sax, electric guitar, piano, double bass, percussion and electronics in intensely detailed, slow moving improvisation, revealing impressive tension and suspension of time in impeccably concentrative collective conversation.

A substantial live work from the 2019 CreativeFest XIII at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon from the improvising ensemble Sfumato lead by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, fulfilling the title of the album in great tension and suspense as the 11 members improvise, generating waves of activity between concentrated and meditative moments, an incredible example of power and restraint.

1 Suspensao X 31:47

Known more for his double bass work, Christian Meaas Svendsen releases a stunningly beautiful album of unusually orchestrated pop songs with an 8-piece band of Nordic improvisers and performers, a dramatic album of tension and release which, despite lyrics in Norwegian, draws all listeners in through inventive and innovative musical structures.

Jeremy Young, aka Szilard, in his debut full-length release as a solo performer on guitar and sine waves, with texts from Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs Du Mal" (1857) read by Aki Onda, Ella Joyce Buckley, Liam Singer and Catherine Metayer.

A sound project by experimental musician Luis Tabuenca with Wade Matthews and ethnomusicologist Ana Maria Alarcon-Jimenez, inspired by the sonic heritage of Aragon, in pieces that reflect and question issues of memory, space & place.

A string quartet of doubled cello and viola, recording in the studio in Berlin in 2018, as free improving innovators, Creative Sources cellist and violist Guilherme Rodrigues and Ernesto Rodrigues, meet contemporary compositional and improvising cellist and violist Hui-Chu Lin and Marie Takahashi, their complementary approaches bringing unique voices to a captivating encounter.

Canadian artist Ryan Waldron (The Riderless) works with collected and constructed instruments, here in a mystic release inspired by the sound and polyrhythms of frogs.

Finnish saxophone & flute player Jorma Tapio and his group Kaski of Ville Rauhala on bass and Janne Tuomi on drums & percussion, with both Tapio and Tuomi playing Kantele, a traditional plucked string instrument, present a beautifully rich and spiritual album named for a shaman's trip to the underworld, reflecting on local folk music and free jazz traditions.

Argentinean pianist Emilio Teubal has lived for more than a decade in NYC, presenting his blend of jazz and Argentinian music, rhythmically and harmonically rich compositions.

The 3rd Clean Feed album from this Portuguese band of unusual orchestration and intentions that cross jazz and rock idioms, from the trio of Sergio Carolino on tuba, Mario Delgado on guitar, and Alexandre Frazao on drums, with rapid fire attacks and tight compositional moments balanced by wonderful open, sonic moments, surprising with a cover of King Crimson's "Starless".

West Coast/San Diego violinist Keir GoGwilt and bassist Kyle Motl are Treesearch, improvising on contrabass and violin with warm strength and expression, using a mix of traditional and creative approaches to their instruments as they bridge jazz and modern compositional approaches to create their own unique approach to free improvisation.

The 2nd album from the trio of Keir GoGwilt on violin, Kyle Motl on bass and Nicolee Kuester on horn, the pieces combining original poems written by GoGwilt and Kuester with precise musical arrangement and poetic structures, around which the trio improvise with melodic and unexpected approaches, fascinating their listeners with peculiar insight and superb playing.

Combining folk and ethnic rhythms in traditional popular forms, the Trio La Soustraction of des Fleurs of Jean-Francois Vrod on violin & voice, Frederic Aurier on violin & voice, and Sylvain Lemetre on zarb & voice focuses on the music of the mountains of the Massif Central, melodic music with unique timbres, forms, pre-texts, and a richly complex set of musical objects.

The project of Southern Italy's Giovanni Todisco (percussion) and Giuseppe Candiano (synthesizer), since 2015 touring Japan and Europe to perform in festivals and venues, this album presents their experimental improvisation combining classic afrikaans and symphonic percussion with modular synthesis, merging ancient rhythms with modern electronic excitement.

The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.

A larger than previous Boston collective's Turbulence ensemble with 6 of the regular horn players from Leap of Faith Orchestra, performing multi-reedist and instrumentalist PEK's extended framework, with drummer percussionist Yui Zbitnoff; the ensembe breaks down to three duos and guest saxophonist Bob O'Brien, captured live at Outpost 186, in Cambridge, MA in August 2018.

David Peck's quartet rendering of Turbulence features Evil Clown regulars Bob Moores & Eric Dahlman on trumpets, Duane Reed and PEK on reeds and winds, all bringing electronic & electroacoustic instruments, alongside an arsenal of exotic percussion, following PEK's framework which balances moments of clarity with paroxysmal "seizures" of sound; gripping.

Turbulence Cosmocentric Edition, the extended horn section for the Leap of Faith Orchestra with the core of PEK on winds & percussion, Yuri Zbitnoff on drums & percussion, plus guest Michael Caglianone on saxophones, sheng, game calls and percussion, in an extended piece that holds reflections of Sun Ra's work through powerful rhythms and diverse and unusual instrumental passages.

Turbulence, the wind instrument and sometimes percussion branch of the Leap of Faith Orchestra is represented by leader and composer David Peck (PEK) on winds, reeds and percussion, and Yuri Zbitnoff on drums and percussion, with saxophonist Michael Caglianone joining and also performing on bells, as they perform an extended framework composition from PEK.

The extended horn section for the Leap of Faith Orchestra is heard here as a quintet with PEK (reeds), Jim Warshsauer (reeds), Bob Moores (trumpet), Eric Dahlman (trumpet) and Duane Reed (baritone horn), all using an a vast collection of percussive instruments, game calls and other devices, to create a journey of tone, color, interactive playing and rhythmic intervention.

Turbulence is a smaller grouping of the Boston-based Evil Clown collective, typically with a majority of horns, here as the quintet of PEK (reeds & winds), Ellwood Epps (trumpet), Bob Moores (trumpets), Jim Warshauer (sax and winds), and Michael Caglianone (saxophones), a fully acoustic group of wind instruments and brass, taking a chamber approach to distinctive improvisation.

The Brooklyn trio of Yuma Uesaka on tenor saxophone & clarinets, Cat Toren on piano & synthesizer, and Colin Hinton on drums, percussion, gongs, glockenspiel, & vibraphone, in a sophisticated album of modern creative improvisation with a lyrical attitude and a confidently introspective approach, all three players contributing original compositions to this debut album.

An extremely unusual album of sonic interactions from the long-running peformance duo of Ali Robertson and Malcy Duff, aka Usurper, recorded during a residency in Helsinki in May 2010, an eccentric display of vocal and aberrant apparatus with a unique inner logic.

The duo of Carlos Santos and Jorge Valente developed this project around the metallics of a cymbal, recording it and digitally manipulating and transforming it into a musical structure using the maxmsp programming; this recording was captured live at the Hertzoscopio Festival in Fabrica da Polvora, Barcarena, Portugal in 2004.

Based on the anthems of nations that have endured recent struggles, from the duo of Marcin Masecki on keys and Candelaria Saenz Valiente on vocals and percussion, embraceable songs with unusual structures paying tribute to the beautiful themes for each nation.

1 Maneries Ramonandi Fournellos 33:16

Amsterdam guitarist Raphael Vanoli in a solo record of discovery, hiper-amplifying his guitar so that slight motions create forceful statements, where gently blowing on the strings creates dynamics and harmonics rarely explored, effected to create complex sonic compositions with unique, unusual and fascinating properties.

A dynamic and exciting concert captured during the 2018 CreativeFest XII of a conduction by Ernesto Rodrigues leading an ensemble of 28 free improvisors performing on a mix of traditional acoustic & modern electronic instruments, plus a toy piano, with powerful wind & string sections, as Rodrigues directs the musicians into both passionate and peaceful sections.

Put this one in your Wishlist for the next holiday season: 5th in a series drawing on Vancouver's best; unusual approaches to the classics in a oddly skewed yet sentimental ways.

The fourth in the Elliot Sharp curated "Meta Guitar" series brings a wealth of diverse styles and approaches to the guitar, from Knox Chandler, Tashi Dorji, Monika Roscher, Rhys Chatham, Kalle Kalima, Ryan Choi, Marco Oppedisano, Bern Nix, Markus Reuter, Hahn Rowe, Pete Matthiessen, Robert Poss, Ron Anderson, Morgan Craft, Roberto Zorzi, and Erdem Helvacioglu.

The second of a five-volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from David Stackenas, Jessica Ackerley, Jorge Espinal, Usui Yasuhiro, Scott Fields, Sebastian Sequoiah.Grayson, Sam Shalabi, Shinobu Nemoto and Nyctalllz.

The final of five volumes from this series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Harvey Valdes, Antonio Guillen, Boris Belica, Sandy Ewen, Denis Sorokin, Arvind Ganga, Pengboon Don, Josue Amador, Todd Clouser, and Mohammed Ashraf.

The fourth of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Janet Feder, Martin Vishnick, Ikbal Lubys, Edward J. Gibbs, Joshua Weitzel, Guram Machavari, Eric Wong, Garth Erasmus, and Bill Horist.

The first of a five-volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from L. Hein, Davaajargal Tsaschikher, Alan Courtis, Marco Cappelli, Elliott Sharp, Hery Ujjaya, Killick Hinds, Gilbert Isbin, and Nick Vander.

The third of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Sergio Sorrentino, Christian Vasseur, CharbelHaber, Misha Marks, Henry Kaiser, Nick Ashwood, Emil Palme & Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen, Sharif Sehnaoui, Colin Robinson, Martin Huba

Thirteen emphatic "rituals" from the Argentinian duo of saxophonist Hernan Sama, recording in the studio as they employ an array of techniques including extended bowing and plucking approaches, saxophone smears, growls, vocal utterances, odd reed techniques, &c, to engage their listener's ears as they unfold dialog that merges jazz forms and fully free improvisation.

A multi-national trio from Slovenia (Bostjan Simon-sax), Norway (Stephan Meidell-guitar, bass & electronics) and Portugal (Luis Candeias-drums) bringing a diverse set of modern influences including electronics, alternative rock and sound/noise to excellent free improvisation.

Hazy free jazz in an hallucinatory blend of passionate music influenced as much by experimental and rock forms as traditional improv, from the trio of Bostjan Simon on sax & electronics, Stephan Meidell on guitar, bass, percussion & electronics and Luis Candeias on drums.

Five fascinating works by the Belgian composer Maya Verlaak, realized by Apartment House and soloists Sarah Saviet & Mark Knoop, experimental compositions including a work of personal reflection based on "Alouette"; a conceptual game piece; a composition layering pre-recorded segments of "Greensleaves"; and two interactive acoustic & computer pieces.

"The jazz is not always subject to their premises. Even the breaks in their future creative. The jazz in the present century, taking the legacy of its past vanguard’stico, welcomes new resources, other parameters as technical and musica...

Electronic sound artist Franck Vigroux uses electronics, guitar, percussion, and his voice in this dark release with vocalist Annabelle Playe.

Violinist, improviser, songwriter and composer from Thessaloniki, Greece, Dimos Vryzas creates a virtual electroacoustic ensemble using violin, voice and effects, contrasting acoustic and electronic sounds in the search for music expression, his studies with Fred Frith and Alfred Zimmerlin a good indicator of the kind of sound approach Vryzas employs.

Norwegian violinist Adrian Løseth Waade's first release as a leader is this melodically-inclined album of brightly evocative improvisation, buoyant strings and creative rhythmic drive with Waade providing all compositions, performed with Kjartan Laereid Gullikstad on guitar, Bardur Reinert Poulsen on bass, and Simon Olderskog Albertsen on drums.

Czech improviser and sound musician Tomislav Federsel started work on this project in 2002, remixing in experimental forms the songs of Czech folk musician Wabi Danek, a project Federsel scrapped and rebuilt three times, Jaroslav Tarnovski joining in this ultimate version of the rich, imaginative and well-considered renderings of Danek's music.

London-based composer Emmanuelle Waeckerle in a project of spoken word, flute and melodica with contributors including Antoine Beuger, using minimal and multiple narrations in texts that blend erotic literature, conceptual writing and verbal scores, presented as 2 Scores for voice(s) and instrument(s) based upon Pauline Reage's "Story of O".

Guitarist and 910 Noise artist Jason Ward in a release that explores concepts in sound and string, music that ranges far and surprises with both lovely playing and distressed processing.

Grooves with Energy, or Sandunga Jazz Fusion as guitarist and leader Allen Weber describes his mix of jazz rock fusion infused with Latin, Carribeo, Funk, Blues, R & B and Rock.

Performing on drums, trumpet, guitar, bass, moog bass, and keyboards, Philadelphia born and West Coast drummer/multi-instrumentalist Grant Calvin Weston, a member of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time Band, presents an album or fierce drumming and powerful electronic sources balanced with beautifully paced sonic environments, 16 tracks of diverse and gripping music.

A powerful recording that features heavy, intricate and deep grooves from Philadelphian Grant Calvin Weston (Ornette Coleman's Prime Time) on drums, percussion and synths and Lucas Brode on guitars, effects and loops, a great album of creative improvisation that blends fusion-oriented playing balanced with modern sound collage and atmospheric moments.

Guitarist Ed Williams, active in the experimental music scene of Marseille, France, is heard here in two concerts presenting a triptych of solo performances on bowed classical and electric guitar, improvised with no effects, with two parts on electric guitar recorded at the concert series "Aux Soirs Du Chercheur De Noises", the 2nd, "Spectrum, NY" on classical guitar.

Vancouver guitarist Tony Wilson in his 1st solo release recorded in an island cabin, showing his influences from Leadbelly, Fahey, Coltrane, and Ribot.

"Minneapolis-born Hong Kong raised and Berlin-based guitar performer Eric Wong is the author of this amazing release on Portuguese label Creative Sources, named after the initial of each of the five pieces he collected here. Since the o...

A series of vignettes inspired by and dedicated to the Saami people living at the top of Fenno-Scandinavian peninsula from Chandra Shukla (Xambuka), in absorbing beats and effects, synthetic sound sculptures and exotic sound.

"5th January, 12th January, 19th January, 4th February of the year 2015 have a thin red line (or I'd rather say a black line, considering their color on a calendar). They occurred on Monday, the first five Mondays of that year to be pre...