Seth Josel performs Peter Ablinger's "33-127" for guitar and field recordings of transportation, graphic minimalism punctuated by bursts of activity - cacophony vs. tranquility.

Compositions by composer, conductor and teacher Peter Eötvös, Bernd Alois Zimmermann & Martin Smolka.

The duo of Jurgen Spitschka and Marta Klimsara performing works for marimba and percussion by Steve Reich, Astor Piazzola, Andy Pape, Maurice Ravel and Marcin Blazewicz.

Composer Simon Martin pays hommage to Quebec painters Ozias Leduc, Paul-Emile Borduas, and Jean-Paul Riopelle in contemplative works for each artist, performed by the ensembles Quatuor Bozzini, Quasar quatuor de saxophons, and Trio de guitares contemporain.

Asticcio Chamber Opera with works from Handel performed by Tenor J. Reichert and the Ensemble Teatro Affetto.

Two large works from Italian composer Luigi Nono, recorded at Germany's Experimentalstudio des SWR under the direction of Andre Richard.

Paul Paccione's compositions balance a love of "abstract" sound combinations with a vivid sense of lyricism, here in 6 works from 1993 to 2007.

Montreal saxophone quartet Quasar (Jean-Marc Bouchard, Marie-Chantal Leclair, Mathieu Leclair, & Andre Leroux) in their 3rd incredible album of contemporary saxophone compositions, presenting 14 rich and varied compositions, including commissioned and premier works.

The Quatuor Bozzini string quartet dedicate this double CD to emerging artists in a collection of miniatures written in 2011 by emerging composers for the QB's annual Composer's Kitchen event.

This is Moe! Staiano's (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) 1st CD of orchcestral compositions for Strings, Percussion, U-bolts, Wine Glasses, Prepared Guitar & Sirens recorded in 1998 and 2003.

Composer Tenney with early works for flute and clarinet and early drone compositions, exploring issues of unpredictable results and indeterminancy.

Distinctly far-ranging work from technical/conceptual phenomenon pianist McDonas and drummer Rivera, a mix of composed & spontaneous works, eclectic and amazing.

New works by Rick Burkhardt, George Lewis, Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels take NYC's Wet Ink Ensemble into new worlds of ensemble virtuosity, sonic explorations, and compositional inventiveness.

A composition for string quartet and trumpet in 9 parts by German composer Bojan Vuletic, a work inspired by and dedicated to Paul Celan, performed with the MIVOS String Quartet & Nate Wooley, and premiered in NYC's Issue Project Room.

Two Zorn compositions touching upon the mediaeval world: "The Holy Visions", a Mystery Play in 11 strophes for voice concerning mystic Hildegard von Bingen; "The Remedy of Fortune" is a string quartet inspired by the 12th century troubadour Guillaume de Machaut.

Bryn Harrison's highly acclaimed, labyrinthine composition for violin & piano from 2014, expertly realised by violinist Aisha Orazbayeva and pianist Mark Knoop, for whom this 5-part work of beautiful repetitions reflecting tapestries of sound was written.

A joint composition for violin and double bass, developed over six months in 2015 by violinist and Wandelweiser composer Johnny Chang with bassist Mike Majkowski, a fragile and beautifully revealing work in 5 parts that moves slowly through subtle harmonic changes.

Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith's extended composition for violin and percussion in 15 parts, performed by percussionist Simon Limbrick and violinist Mira Benjamin, a unique orchestration that reveals a journey of steady pace, tension and beauty.

Composer and pianist Slava Ganelin meets Russian double bass player Vladimir Volkov for a surprising and impulsive release of spontaneous studio improvisations.

Using a diverse set of instruments and percussive devices, from tennis balls to Jupiter 80 keyboards, electronics artist and performer Steve MacLean presents an exotic set of compositions using microtonal, poly-rhythmic and deeply engaging structures in unusual and captivating music.

Saxophonist Pierre-Antoine Badaroux and double bassist Sebastien Beliah formed Ensemble Hodos in 2008 to perform the music of composers who wrote scores that include freedom and/or improvisation for the players, here performing the music of Philip Corner.

erstwhile records releases their first CD on their ErstClass imprint, issuing and collecting historically important work, here with composer Michael Pisaro's piano works from 1994-2016, 11 compositions performed by Netherlands pianist Reinier van Houdt.

A beguiling and atmospheric work of overtones, harmonics, tonal and microtonal progressions from a trio of clarinetists (Hans Koch, Michael Thieke, and Paed Conca) with Japanese vocalist Maki Hachiya, an immaculately paced and exotic work of sound.

Canada's premiere music magazine, with articles on The Sound Future of Virtual Reality; Roarke Menzies; Heidi Chan; Erin Gee; Eric Normand; Carmen Braden; Nick Dourado; plus a CD with recordings from Eric Normand, Carmen Braden, Erin Gee, Nick Dourado, Heidi Chan, and Plumes Ensemble.

Soprano Juliet Fraser performs Morton Feldman's late work for 3 voices, performed by 1 vocalist (originally Joan La Barbara) who performs with themself on tape, in a work that Feldman described as "lucious", "sexy", and "gorgeous", as heard in Fraser's beautiful rendering.

Fascinating works for doublebass from American composer James Tenney, 3 pieces for solo doublebass, and a large work for viola, cello, doublebass and tape delay system, performed by bassist Dario Calderone with William Lane on viola and Francesco Dillon on cello.

Drummer Bobby Previte's "Mass" is based on heavy electrified rearrangements of 15th century composer Guillaume Dufay's "Missa Sancti Jacobi", performed by The Rose Ensemble, Stephen O'Malley, Don McGreevy, Mike Gamble and Jamie Saft, Marco Benevento, and Reed Mathis.

Three beautifully delicate works for Jurg Frey's clarinet, composed by the Amsterdam-based Wandelweiser composer/pianist Dante Boon, who has collaborated with Frey for several years and who accompanies Jurg on two of the pieces.

Six chamber works by the Paris-based Italian composer Giuliano d Angiolini, following his Edition Rz release by presenting more examples of Giuliano's careful and particular use of indeterminate elements in a series of compositions that are musically exquisite.

A composition for solo 'modified guitar' from Swiss composer d'incise peformed by guitarist Cristian Alvear, music "at the confluence of sound, melody and rhythm. Something quiet but somehow driven by a pulse, existing somewhere between the electroacoustic and the tonal conceptions of music."

Acoustic instruments and feedback devices in old stone spaces, rich multi-layered music recorded during a residency in the Czech Republic by the trio of George Cremaschi (double bass and electronics), Irene Kepl (violin and electronics) and Petr Vrba (trumpet, clarinet and electronics).

Portuguese stoner rock band Black Bombaim and German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brotzmann recorded this album live at Estudios Sa Da Bandeira in Portugal, a power trio + 1 of uncompromising and burning improvisation, a less common but completely rewarding setting for Brotzmann.

Sonic explorer Jason Kahn & Asher Thal-Nir in a 2008 concert at Boston's Axiom Gallery for a performance that creates inspired sound worlds by layering Kahn's planes of sound with Asher's environmental processing.

Sound explorer Olivia Block reflects upon human "webs of significance" and the way electronic communication and recording technologies both improve and complicate those webs, in a remarkably detailed set of layered recordings contrasting clear and fragmented sound.

Morton Feldman was a friend, flatmate and student of John Cage's innovative approaches to composition; he wrote this 3 part work for violin and piano in 1982 as a 70th birthday present for Cage, here performed by violinist Josje Fosie Ter Haar and pianist John Snijders.

Feldman's idiosyncratic large composition is also one of his more active, influenced by John Cage, and using a score that defines organizational procedures in chordal and chromatic patterns, as realized in this '93 recording by Rohan de Saram (cello) and Marianne Schroeder (piano).

Fascinating sound and drone music from this interesting German ensemble led by Reinhold Friedl, "ikebana" takes its name from the tradition of Japanese flower arranging which dates back to the 7th century, with 8 tracks named as such: Shoka, Rikka, Nigeria and Morimono.

Composer Jean-Luc Guionnet wrote "Distances ouies Dites" ("Distances: Hearsay") for the 7-piece Dedalus Ensemble, who are positioned in separate rooms at Le Consortium, each having to use the features of the room and distance from each other to confer liked musical ideas.

DVD-audio disc of Cage's piano works "Chess Pieces" and "Sonatas and Interludes" peformed by Margaret Leng Tan, with 3 documentary videos, and Vittorio Rieti's "Chess Serenade".

Developed from the 13th & 14th century concept of a "book of hours", a prayer book for laymen, and particularly the book of the Duke of Berry (1340-1416) which describes relationships between people; performed by Andreas Feilen, Eva-Maria Houben, and Erik Carlson.

Swedish composer and pianist Johan Lindvall in a series of 27 works performed solo or in an ensemble with Vilde Sandve Alnaes (violin), Kristine Tjogersen(clarinet), Jan Martin Gismervik(percussion), Henrik Munkeby Norstebo(trombone), Ina Sagstuen(voice), & Fredrik Rasten(guitar).

Christoph Schiller performs on the spinet, often improvising with electronics and objects; here he uses the spinet alone in patiently developing compositions that emphasize the individual tones and harmonics of the instrument played on the keys and inside the instrument.

Pianist Roger Admiral performs Canadian composer Mark Hannesson's "The Angel's Game", and "Memory Sustained", both minimal works for solo piano, the second using a set of instructions giving the performer advice and discretion over pacing and approach.

A 2003 recording from The Ensemble Daswirdas performing John Cage's 1960 composition "Cartridge Music", described as: "For amplified small sounds; also amplified piano or cymbal; any number of players and loudspeakers; parts to be prepared from score by performers."

Two works from two distinctive composers from different periods--Jurg Frey and Luigi Nono--both for two violins, Frey using the two violins in parallel to emphasize their distinction; Nono using powerful gestures of divergence and contrast in a dream-like duo.

Emilie Girard-Charest is a Montreal cellist, composer and improviser, here presenting 5 works, one of her own and 4 from Fredrik Gran, Sergio Castrillon, Maxime Corbeil-Perron and Joane Hetu, using extreme techniques and electroacoustic accompaniment in both joyful and terrifying ways.

Composed between 1926 and 1939, "Mikrokosmos" was Bela Bartok's attempt to solve certain technical problems in the art of piano playing, here adapted by the 5-piece Quartetski into a fascinating series of progressive exercises and etudes, oddly enough presented without a piano.

Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini string quartet worked with composer Christopher Butterfield, who wrote two of these pieces ("Trip" and "Fall") specifically for QB, alongside three other works from 20 years of composing that use unusual instructions and scores for the performers.

Juxtavoices is an anti-choir of 30 voices whose repertoire includes original compositions and arrangements of classic modernist poems and found texts, here in a CD/DVD release with a reinterpretation of early an Cabaret Voltaire recordings and a terrifying ascent into hell.

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.

A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.

Ensemble InterContemporain is viola player Garth Knox's string and percussion performance group, here called upon by John Zorn to present new interpretations of his "Book of Angels" Masada compositions, in nine magnificent recordings of great depth and intimacy.

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.

Two rich sound works: "Grounded Cloud" which gathers fragments of noise and tone into a continuous fabric; and "Hearing Metal (4)", an investigation into metallic resonance, performed by Pisaro with Dedalus members Stephane Garin (percussion) and Didier Aschour (guitar).

NYC vocalist, composer and keyboardist Judith Berkson in the debut album for her one-woman band Liederkreis (translating to "song-cycle", a reference to Schumann), taking a sharp turn from previous work through experimental synth, voice and effects in unique and often aberrant ways.

Silom is a Slovenian creative music trio using a variety of string, percussive, and melodic percussive instruments, focused on the acoustic aspects of complex evolving works that combine composed and improvised aspects to create rich music with ancient ethnic overtones.

Composer John Zorn's Simulacrum ensemble of Trevor Dunn (bass), John Medeski (keyboards), Kenny Grohowski (drums), Matt Hollenberg (guitar), and Sara Serpa (voice) in their 6th album of heavy improv, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the passing of painter Hieronymus Bosch.

Two long-form compositions combining acoustic and electronic orchestration by Antoine Chessex, convoluted works that take unusual twists and turns from spirited interaction to beautiful sonic passages, performed at London's Cafe Oto by an ensemble including Dominic Lash, Andrew Sparling, Jerome Noetinger, &c.

Draksler's interest in poetry drives this 2-CD release, with a chamber octet of improvisers and orchestra players, with 2 vocalists, two reedists (inc. Ab Baars), violin, piano, double bass, drums & orchestral percussion, performing Draksler's compositions for the words of Pablo Neruda and Andriana Minou.

The 20th anniversary of director Reinhold Friedl's Zeitkratzer ensemble, who have reinterpreted in surprising ways the music of a far-ranging and eclectic set of composers and performers, as they take on the innovative electronic rock band Kraftwerk in six interpretations from their first two albums.

The 2nd release in a new series of small groups drawn from members of the Discus Music family, where the group meets, writes, rehearses and records in one single session, here developing ten compositions from all four players edited into a continuous sequence of structure and improvisation, embracing melody, texture and pure abstraction.

Montreal-based Composer-percussionist Isaiah Ceccarelli, well known through his Ambiances Magnetiques releases, in 7 compositions, a mix of timbrally-based music in which he himself performs, and through-composed pieces that focus on harmonic progressions, performed as string duos, trios, and quartets.

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.

Ten pieces dating from 1995 to 2015 from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, performed by Quatuor Bozzini and Apartment House, the first in Another Timbre's Canadian Composer series, a 2-CD release focusing on Smith's "equal and simultaneous drive toward abstraction and lyricism" in slowly developing, lush and sophisticated compositions.

Three works from Canadian composer Chiyoko Szlavnics, two electroacoustic compositions incorporating sinewaves, one with a saxophone quartet and the other with two accordions, two flutes and two percussionists; and a string trio of long sustained tones and slow glissandi.

A musique concrete compositions written in 1967 by Luc Ferrari used for a television program by C. Caspari, using recordings Ferrari made in 1966 at an exhibition of Jean Tinguely's frantically moving sculptures; plus a 1964 soundtrack to a 33 minute black-and-white film by Jean Barral.

Composer, improviser, and trumpet player Nate Wooley continues to cement his place as an American iconoclast by releasing the complete recordings of his revolutionary solo [Syllables] compositions as a deluxe 4 CD set consisting of two reissues of out-of-print early works: 8 [Syllables] (2013) and 9 [Syllables] (2014) as well as the premiere recording of his 150 minute epic For Kenneth Gaburo.

Ensemble leader and tuba player Carl Ludwig Hubsch created this musical concept inspired by the guitar player Keith Rowe, exploring one static sound in the ensemble, maintaining it and in the same time interacting with utmost care and openness for any necessary change, in a 22-piece ensemble of exceptional players.