A series of sound impressions and an audio documentary of metal barriers placed at entrances to public buildings after the coordinated 2015 Paris attacks by ISIS; 29 compositions recorded and mixed between 2018-2023 by Eric La Casa, wondering what the barriers protected Parisians from, and answering the question of what Paris sounds like to the barriers themselves.

Scott Field's 9-part Sands for 20 instrumentalists, three singers, and a conductor, in this case Fields himself, employs a modular performance system that integrates composition and improvisation, the conductor selecting modules from melodies, phasing patterns, long tones, improv elements, fragmented short stories, &c., spontaneously assigned live; a fascinating accomplishment.

The second part of Umlaut's Cartographie de rythmes, a sound exploration guided by an imaginary map of rhythm, here investigating the relationship between text and music through mysteriously breathing clarinet lines & harmonics by Fabrice Arnaud-Cremon, and patient narration by Julien Gaillard, Karl Naegelen and Aurélie Maisonneuve.

Six sound-oriented compositions for acoustic ensemble performed by the UK ensemble Apartment House, beautifully reflective and rich works, the first six pieces being text scores for open instrumentation, along with Peace/Tree, a seven movement work for violin, cello and piano that specifies pitches while leaving room for interpretation and improvisation.

Neha, the Slovakian word for tenderness, is expressed by composer Adrián Demoč in this lovely and gentle work performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; and "Popínavá hudba", written for the international symphony orchestra for new music, Ostrava New Orchestra, referencing the growth of climbing plants through an alluring melodic line that shifts and spreads in direction.

Written for and performed by the UK ensemble Apartment House, composer & performer Magnus Granberg's latest work reduces his working size from the larger Skogen ensemble to this sextet, opening new possibilities for composed structures that incorporate improvisation, in a work structured around components from Schubert's Abendbilder and So in Love by Cole Porter.

A work for voice, piano and electronics from experimental composer Laurence Crane, working with the closely associated UK ensemble Apartment House, Natural World is in three sections--"Field Guide", "Chorus" and "Seascape"--with vocalist Juliet Fraser and pianist & electronic artist Mark Knoop, Crane's work describing the natural world and portending the fragility of our ecosystems.

Commissioned by and recorded during the 2018 Ars Musical Festival, Fred Frith composed this work while under the inspiration of his residency at Lou Harrison's straw-bale house in the desert at Joshua Tree, CA, then performed with the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, along with two very unique improvisations, one recorded during the dress rehearsal and then again in concert.

Commissioned by and recorded during the 2018 Ars Musical Festival, Fred Frith composed this work while under the inspiration of his residency at Lou Harrison's straw-bale house in the desert at Joshua Tree, CA, then performed with the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, along with two very unique improvisations, one recorded during the dress rehearsal and then again in concert.

A live recording in 2020 at AXART in Los Angeles of Eliane Radigue's first acoustic composition, investigating the physical properties of resonating bodies and dynamic systems, composed in 2005 in collaboration with West Coast cellist Charles Curtis, who also performed on the original 2006 recording at Rglise de Notre-Dame de Bon Secours in Paris that is included in this 2-CD set.

Five interpretations of works by contemporary composers Franco Donatoni, Iannis Xenakis, Xavier Bonfil, Thanos Chrysakis and Tim Hodgkinson performed by a stellar set of performers in varying configurations, including bass clarinetist Jason Adler, trombonist Christian Larsen, bass clarinetist Yoni Silver, clarinetist Hodgkinson, horn player Julian Faultless, &c.

After performing together in Canada beginning in 2019, bass clarinetist & electronic artist Philippe Lauzier and NY percussionist Carl Costa remained in contact during the pandemic by exchanging compositional concepts, the 4-part "Sincronica Vaga" and "Soft Routine" the results, the former based on dovetailing motives, the latter on harmonic counterpoint interaction.

Recorded inside and using the resonance of a large grain silo at the Tablelands Center for Bio-Regional Art in Texas, the trio of vocalist Christina Carter (Charalambides), guitarist Andrew Weathers and bassist David Menestres recorded this haunting, swirling, long-form improvisation, a complement to their Waveform Alphabet release Plays a Word for Sun.

Following an exploration of the double bass in his 2018 Confront release Basse Seul, Swiss-French composer and saxophonist Bertrand Denzler again jumps into the deep end again with a quartet of accomplished double basssists--Sebastien Beliah, Jon Heilbron, Mike Majkowski, Derek Shirley--for two extended works of encompassing low-register tones.

During an artistic residency at the GMEA in Albi, France, composer & pianist Giovanni Di Domenico recorded with the trio of violinist Silvia Tarozzi and percussionist Emmannuel Holterbach performing on a large frame drum, completing the piece into this mysteriously insinuating and lovely triptych where sparse melodies emerge & submerge into a multidimensional expanse.

Giving homage to creative musicians before them, the Berlin quintet of Koen Nutters (upright bas), Heather Frasch (flute), Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Han-earl Park (electric guitar) and Quentin Tolimieri (bass & soprano melodica)--explore the notion of integrating open improvisations around melody and modal harmonies into a post-musical, conceptual, and social framework.

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.

Continuity, Fragility, Resonance is an extended compositions by Jürg Frey orchestrated for an octet of a string quartet and a saxophone quartet, here recorded after the 2021 premier of the work in a 2022 3-day recording session in Bern, Switzlerland in the presence of the composer at the Auditorium of Zentrum Paul Klee; gorgeous and delicate.

Composer & clarinetist based in Heerlen, Netherlands, Germaine Sijstermans, in a collaborative work with fellow Dutch composers and performers, Reinier van Houdt performing primarily on Indian harmonium and Koen Nutters on harmona organ, both employing field recordings, tapes, objects and sine waves in this peacefully meditative 2022 concert at Savelberg Chapel.

The third in Ilia Belorukov's series of electroacoustic compositions on Spina!Rec and Moving Furniture, here in a set of four compositions, each presenting detailed layers of acoustic and electronic instrumentation and field recordings captured throughout Europe and Russia, carefully placed over heavily laden synthetic drones that guide the motion of each piece.

Having presented a solo version of Stravinksy's The Rite of Spring at Opera Bastille in Paris with avant-flamenco dancer Israel Galván, Courvoisier developed a new work for two pianos performed with Cory Smythe, merging composition & improvisation as they invoke impressions of The Rite in tandem with Stravinksy-like reharmonizations of previous Courvoisier works.

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.

The solo debut album from Dutch composer & clarinetist Germaine Sijstermans: seven recent contemplative works in a Wandelweiser vein, composed between 2017-2019 and performed with six exemplary and complementary performers: Antoine Beuger (concert flute), Rishin Singh (trombone), Johnny Chang (viola), Fredrik Rasten (guitar, ebow), and Leo Svirsky (accordion).

The mysterious French audio collective The Dead Mauriacs led by Olivier Prieur in a 3-part work of electroacoustic compositions sourced from field recordings made during time spent in Brussels, developing these works based on daily recordings of audio observations at cafes, parks, churches, plus manipulated objects and some parakeets in a park; truly inspired collage work.

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.

PROMO HOLE PUNCHED THO BAR CODE

A set of lyrical, thoughtful and sometimes whimsical works from the Scottish-based duo of Rob Hall & Chick Lyall (Green Room Trio), who have been developing their musical language since 2003, drawing from a wide range of genres from Baroque chamber music to free jazz and folk idioms, their lack of boundaries lending itself to a uniquely diverse and embraceable music.

Ensemble XII performs pieces by percussionist Fritz Hauser that were composed with an attention to detail that is heard in the timbre, texture, density and dynamics of his arrangements.

Two works for piano composed under Stalinist rule by Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, recorded in 2009 by pianists Ufuk & Bahar Dorduncu.

The debut album by the chamber-jazz quartet resAUnance of Jonathan Golove on electric cello, Michael McNeill on piano, John Bacon on vibraphone and percussion, and Esin Gunduz on voice, blending compositional, improvisation, & Turkish folk music into passionate and beautiful works.

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.

Previously played Squidco store copy, used for cataloging and samples, in excellent condition.

"The album is a studio version of a chamber opera prepared by Joanna Halszka Sokolowska at Opera// REMIX at Komuna// Warszawa. The...

A series of unusual compositions originally written by Jacques Demmiere and Vincent Barras, here reworked by Demmiere and violinist Anouck Genthon, each piece focusing on sounds, breaths, frictions, silences, vowels and consonants, weaving and complementing each other through a mix of traditional, extended and unconventional techniques; fascinating.

Guitarist Falaise (Klaxon Gueule, Les Projectionnistes) in pieces that reference Aksak Maboul, Braxton, Beefheart, Donatoni, Les Granules, Nancarrow, Stravinsky, & Wyatt.

Four large and distinctive works by composer Christopher Fox performed by pianist Philip Thomas, who also writes the liner notes about the works, revealing and explaining the compositional elements, piano preparations, and physical requirements placed on the performer.

Joker brings together 12 vocalists, many core members of the Ambiances Magnetiques/Musique Actuelle collective including Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Michel F Cote, Lori Freedman, &c, performing unusual works of voice and narration composed by Joane Hetu.

Two large-scale compositions from "Through-Composer of Brutal Classical" Nandor Nevai, scored for 35 brass players and a vocalist, accomplished through 10 layers of Peter Evans (trumpet, piccolo trumpet), 9 of Steve B (tenor trombone), 7 of Ron Stabinsky (bass trombone) and 10 of Nevai himself on tenor trombone & voice; plus "Gospel Power Walls" for a chorus of 5 (bad) people.

Previously played Squidco store copy, used for cataloging and samples, in excellent condition.

Review Copy, not new but in mint condition. May have a strike, the word "Promo" or a drill hole. Inquire on condition if you are concern...

Long-time collaborators the Quatuor Bozzini string quartet of Clemens Merkel, Alissa Cheung, Stephanie Bozzini and Isabelle Bozzini join with Slavic composer living in Montreal Ana Sokolovic, to present a series of 14 short works -- "Ghost 1" & "Ghost 2"; "Commedia dell'arte" in 10 movements; "Blanc dominant"; and "Troisieme page apres le soleil".

The debut album by the chamber-jazz quartet resAUnance of Jonathan Golove on electric cello, Michael McNeill on piano, John Bacon on vibraphone and percussion, and Esin Gunduz on voice, blending compositional, improvisation, & Turkish folk music into passionate and beautiful works.

The third volume of this excellent German sound magazine and audio CD, 9 artists working in sound art, electroacoustic composition; a "listenable exhibition" of modern compositional approach.

A split LP from two electroacoustic composers: from France, Eve Aboulkheir presents a work inspired by an experience of perceptive disorientation, using modified, mutated and layered field recordings; and Norwegian sound composer Lasse Marhaug presents a work for modified tabletop guitar, field recordings, electronics & objects evoking a path through a forest avoiding large anthills.

A split LP from two sound and electroacoustic artists: Paris bassoonist Dafne Vicente-Sandoval deconstructs the instrument itself using an electro-acoustic device that generates feedback, developing compositions from those explorations; and Norwegian Lars Petter Hagen revisits Richard Strauss's Metamorfosen through decay and fragmentation of its musical lines.

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.

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.

Percussionist and electronic artist Matt Weston describes these four tracks as "songs", each demonstrating aspects of his compositional methods — multidimensional graphic scores, implied and aural notation, site-specific structures and frameworks, physical and otherwise — creating immersive and dramatic sonic environments revealing his increasing sophistication as a composer.

The Summer 2023 issue of Canada's finest music magazine covering contemporary improvised, composed and experimental music, with Simone Schmidt's Audible Songs of Defiant Meaning on the cover, plus features on Nicole Mitchell and Coco Elysses, Levy Lorenzo, Wayne Lavallee, along with recorded & live reviews, and a 10-track CD with pieces from the artist within.

After working with clarinetist Monika Bugajny on his + album, composer & electronic artist Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, joined again with Bugajny for a set of eight reconstructions of classical works from Debussy, Messiaen, Brahms, Stravinsky, &c., each reinterpreted work cleverly composed from Bugajny's recording of the original composition.

A delicate work of experimental chamber music from UK composer Jack Oliver Cooper (Modern Nature) performed by pianist Alexander Hawkins, cellist Anton Lukoszevieze and clarinetist Heather Roche, Arrival is delineated into twelve dovetailed parts that explore minimalism, patience and restraint; thoughtful music that rewards in close contemplation.

The fourth book in New York improvising bassist William Parker's interview with other improvisers, here with 29 interviews, and 24 works of art by Jeff Schlangler; interviews include Peter Brötzmann, Darius Jones, Ava Mendoza, Zeena Parkins, Tom Rainey, Bobby Zankel, Evan Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Micheal Bisio, Mario Pavone, Taylor Ho Bynum, &c.

A collection of six duo recordings from musician, composer, and improviser Peter Soderberg, investigating different tuning systems and the idea of hybrid instruments, recording with Katt Hernandez (violin), Stina Hellberg Agback (harp), Mats Persson (clavichord), Sten Sandell (piano), My Hellgren (cello) and Vilhelm Bromander (contrabass).

The premiere of late composer Julius Eastman's work for an eclectically orchestrated chamber ensemble, presented in 1974 at Composers Forum in Albany, NY, a uniquely joyful and absorbing work rendered in this original inspired performance that continues to bring interest to Eastman's work, now remastered by Jim O'Rourke and released in a deluxe double LP gatefold edition.

One of New York School minimalist composer Morton Feldman's later works, this extended composition spread across two CDs invokes waves of beautifully suspended, weaving strings from four violinists and cello, performed by the UK Apartment House ensemble violinists Mira Benjamin, Chihiro Ono, Amalia Young & Bridget Carey and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze.

A single-movement work for sho, Hammond organ and cello, jointly realized by Berlin-based collaborators, Tokyo contemporary and experimental musician & composer Michiko Ogawa, and British cellist & composer Lucy Railton, whose work bridges experimental electronic and electroacoustic practice, here exploring the combinations of different tuning systems inherent in their instruments.

Two works written for a group of Australian performers living in Berlin--Jon Heilbron, Rebecca Lane, Jess Aszodi & Sam Dunscombe--by Australian composer and pianist Anthony Pateras, A Dread Of Voids developed for a residency at the Archipel Festival in Geneva after enduring a pandemic quarantine; and Patterned Language, composed for the Astra Chamber Music Society.

Performing solo on the Hardanger fiddle, a Scottish folk instrument for which Sarah-Jane Summers holds a masters degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music, the composer and improviser entered the studio to develop these nine experimental pieces, reworking each piece into its fascinating blend of modern contemporary music that harkens back to folk tradition.

Reissuing Blume record's 2018 double album of New York avant composer Julius Eastman's "N****r Series" "Evil N****r" (1979) "Gay Guerilla" (1980) and "Crazy N****r", now in a deluxe wooden box set edition with a 12-page booklet with the original liner notes by Mary Jane Leach and Bradford Bailey, a new 2500 word essay by Bailey, as well as unseen pictures and a poster.

Composed for and recorded with the International Contemporary Ensemble, NY drummer Kate Gentile's 13-movement composition biome ii integrates improvisation into a chamber music ensemble, each movement describing fictional flora or fauna from a biome of creatures as quirky and fascinating as the music Gentile has developed for this idiosyncratic and exceptional symphony.

An introduction to Amsterdam-based percussionist and composer Domen Cizej through five studio-recorded CDs of differing configurations of his ensembles, one album each from the 8-piece Domen Cizej Percussion Ensemble, the trio Domen Cizej Koška Čias, the Domen Cizej Duo and Trio, and Cizej solo; a set of diverse and upbeat settings with liner notes by Joe Morris.

Fusing many styles into a strange jazz-like environment fueled by exotica, electronica, orchestral forms and unusual transitions, Dutch multi-instrumentalist & composer Jeroen Kimman, along with ten Amsterdam musicians including John Dikeman, Koen Nutters, Michael Moore and Mark Morse, present Kimman's unusual and often rubbery musical vision while continually fascinating his listeners.

A live performance at Koenji Jirokichi that draws on the works of Sergei Prokofiev, Bela Bartok, Manuel de Falla and Ludwig van Beethoven, from drummer Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei) and pianist Satoshi Mishiba (Kinniku Shoujotai, Tokusatsu), part of Yoshida's "Piano 10th Game" series, as the two layer and spectacularly interweave melodies and tight percussive work.

Based on the influential 1929 novel by Welsh writer Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica, about the disturbing ordeal of four children captured by pirates on the sea, realized through John Zorn's compositions for two guitarist--Julian Lage and Gyan Riley--and expressed through a spectrum of tranquil and portentous passages of virtuosic playing.

Exploring diverse landscapes and moments of extreme behavior changes through a single acoustic viola, composed and performed by Jordan Dykstra, in four pieces that vary his approach to the instrument through overlapping tones, drones, extended techniques and rolling cycles, performed in California at the California Institute of the Arts and at the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana.

A fascinating conceptual work on CD and printed score that attempts to sonically represent celestial events through guided improvisations, providing the performers an abstract of the main musical ideas and options on how to execute them, exploring microtonal sounds, harmonic interactions and sound as moments within physical boundaries, here in a studio realization in Zurich.

A powerful set of succint compositions, themes and sea shanties for the soundtrack for Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole's film Blow the Man Down , scored through the collaboration of composers Jordan Dykstra, who also performs on viola, piano, prepared piano, vibraphone & percussion, and Brian Mcomber, who also performs on keyboards and percussion.

The original score composed by Brooklyn violist and multi-instrumental Jordan Dykstra for the documentary movie Globes directed by Nina de Vroome, exploring the relationship between bees and humans through their history and affect on the global economy and our cultures, realized in a diverse set of contemporary musical forms from orchestral to electronica.

Six songs from Michael Pisaro's "Tombstones" project--experimental songs developed from recontextualized fragments of popular songs--heard in this 2012 Brooklyn recording directed by guitarist Jason Brogan, with Julia Holter (voice), Tucker Dulin (trombone), Andrew Lafkas (bass), Katie Porter (clarinet), Sam Sfirri (piano and melodica), and Ron Wiltrout (keyboard & percussion).

The third release in Editions Verde's series "Seeing the Forest in a Tree" are three iterations of interpretations realized by Joseph Clayton Mills, Fraufraulein, and the duo Sarah Hughes and Patrick Farmer, who were invited to interact with Morgan Evans-Weiler's score intended to be interpreted as both sound and sculpture, presented in three unique sets of recordings.

"Music of Changes" was composed by John Cage using the hexagrams of the I Ching and has no sense of structure, continuity, rhythm, or speed; change itself is the only consistent aspect of the work.

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.

A much-needed reissue of this 2000 CD of three orchestral works from late composer Morton Feldman--"String Quartet and Orchestra" (1973), "Oboe and Orchestra" (1976), and "Atlantis" (1959)--demonstrating the evolution of his incredible control in working with tone, mood and instrumental combinations, from his earliest large-scale work to later mature works.

Works for piano, percussion, and one including magnetic bands, from Luc Ferrari, composed between 1956-1988, here performed by pianist Satoko Inoue and percussionist Toshiyuki Matsukua.

Swiss drummer & percussionist Fritz Hauser's solo album creates a fictional percussion center that he uses as as springboard to compose solo works for spaces within the [non-existent] environment, depicted in both spacious and active sound work, generating open-air locations with bird sounds and cymbals and areas of quick-paced activity; absolutely impressive.

A percussive "Natchtprogramm" and a tonal "Syntax" from composer Torsten Papenheim, recorded in the studio in Cologne and Berlin, the former performed with trombonist Matthias Much, double bassist Achim Tang and pianist Philip Zoubek; the latter with Johannest Trondle (violincello) & Axel Haller (electric bass), then with Elena Kakaliagou (french horn) & Evi Filippou (percussion).

A tribute to the music of composer Iannis Xenakis through 12 new works referencing and reconstructing the original works of Xenakis, the title of each piece an anagram that reflects the elements of its source, realized by Elliott Sharp on bass, guitars & synth, Brandon Lopez on bass guitars and mandocello, Henry Kaiser on guitars and Scott Amendola on drums & percussion.

The music to composer Craig Shepards performance work that presents listeners with text drawn from court testimony in the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, here concentrating on the quiet long tones generated by wind instruments and ebow strings, where pure tones pass between the musicians to build a pulsating chord that then drops away tone by tone.

Stockhausen's late 60s composition "Mantra" was a return to his intricately systematised approach to musical construction, expanding the possibilities and potentialities of the serial principle to allow for more melodic and embraceable compositions.

A diverse set of works from Australian composer Cat Hope, employing acoustic instrumentation--strings, keys, flutes, reeds & percussion--along with electronics and field recordings, in chamber configurations from duos to quintets, performed by the Western Australia Decibel new music ensemble for which Hope is both director and a performer.