Berlin-based improvisers Christian Lillinger on drums and Tobias Delius on tenor sax and clarinet in an album of powerful rhythms, instant melodies, and quick-witted responses, bridging a generation of experience in dialog and give and take that works well head on and in reserve, a great encounter from two modern and active creative players.

French free vocalist Isabelle Duthoit met world traveling improviser and Zeitkratzer trumpeter Franz Hautzinger in New York City to record these highly unusual duos, using extreme techniques and inexplicable intent to create 9 uniquely aberrant accompaniments to your most subtle and strange dreams; reference Phil Minton, Axel Dorner, Freddie Kruger.

A great collection of short film soundtracks and pieces that appeared on compilation albums and out-of-print CDRs, including the "Nerf" EP, the tracks for the book "Things That A Mutant Needs To Know" by Reinaldo Laddaga, and 3 soundtracks of which two are for a short movie and one for a video installation, alongside tracks from other compilations.

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.

Named for the moment when a Peregrine Falcon falls from flight to attack its prey, the Vancouver duo of Gordon Grdina on guitars, oud, electronics and Kenton Loewen on drums and percussion present a heavy album of improvised rock with raw energy, riveting technique and powerful grooves with an Arabic influence and essence; of interest to King Crimson fans.

Eric La Casa and Jean Luc Guionnet recorded this conceptual work in Melbourne, Australia, combining different scales of time, space, & attention, with different working strategies to create a gallery installation, and this book & DVD package exploring the acoustic phenomenon of "standing waves" to engage with the physical relationship between sound and space.

Portuguese electric guitarist Luis Lopes met Chicago free improvising cellist and electronic artist Fred Lonberg-Holm in the studio in Lisbon to record these five improvisations, both using innovative approaches to effect processing to expand their sound into unusual sonic environments, balancing beauty and abrasive sound.

The duo of Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga on zither and Mark Wastell on his electronics set including bowls and shruti box, formed for the release concert for Angharad Davies' "Six Studies" in 2014, recording this excellent improvised dialog of rich and unusual sound.

A plethora of objects being struck and stroked from the meeting of drummers Cote (Bruire, Klaxon Gueule) and Ceccarelli, complex interactions of percussion, feedback and electronics.

Two saxophones, two voices; two gargoyles, two satyrs; two forces of nature that agitate, whistle, squeak, scrape, blow, and bite, transforming music into a secular incantation and a banquet of sound.

Using saxophones and their voices, Jean Derome and Joane Hetu create songs of improvisation that invoke their primal human nature in creative and beautiful ways.

Virtuosic French-based trombonist Mathias Forge and Brussels-based electroacoustic composer-turned improviser Olivier Toulemonde recording live in Sheffield, 2010.

British saxophonist Simon Rose uses extended and evocative techniques in this exceptional set of duos with Paul Stapleton, who plays a Bonsai Sound Sculpture, an assemblage of unusual electronic and acoustic components allowing a wide range of expression.

Montreal/Actuelle turntablist Martin Tetreault and Berlin turntablist Ignaz Shcick in two sets of recordings from two encounters in Belgium and Switzerland, 2006.

Viola player Nori Jacoby and soprano saxophonist Ariel Shibolet performing live at Hateiva, Tele Aviv in 2010, part of Kadima's Cy Twombly live performance series.

Rafael Toral's Space Program, post-free jazz electronic music, is made manifest in this duo between the electronicist and drummer Davu Seru, performing live in Minneapolis during Toral's 2011 tour of the US.

1st release for the duo of wind player Linsey Wellman and percussionist Mike Essoudry embracing stasis and movement, meditation and exuberance, delicacy and amplitude.

Montreal Musique Actuelle turntablist Martin Tetreault and sound artist Erick d' Orion created this project as a tribute to the original explorers of electronic music and musique concrete -- GRM, Stockhausen, Henry, Oram, Schaeffer, &c. -- using historic sound recordings and new sources, presenting this incredible concert live at Au Mois in Quebec.

Taking their band name from an Ornette Coleman album, this European quintet presents new compositions in the style of Ornette, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and John Carter, ecstatic free jazz with a hard bop foundation, extended with modern technique and experience.

Guitarist and singer Sylvie Chenard in duet with musician/performance artist Jon Asencio, joyfully exploring the energies of resistance and anarchy, in shades of science-fiction and totalitarian reality.

The duo of Jean-Luc Cappozzo on trumpet, horns and objects, and Geraldine Keller on voice flute & objects in an album of tones and tongues, an unusual set of adventurous free improvisation.

A collection of guitar, electronic and voice pieces from Anne-James Chaton and Andy Moor, originally released as a series of four seven inch singles here combined into a single CD with 3 bonus tracks.

An experimental sound and voice duet featuring eRikm and Natacha Muslera: extreme, convulsive and immersive sounds that alternately surprises and seduces in brutal and beautiful ways.

The first meetings of Jason Kahn (analog electronic) and Tim Olive (one-string magnetic pickup device) recording in a studio session in Kyoto, 2012 for four eventful and intricately structured works with a distinct developmental momentum.

Sparse but detailed improvisational journeys from the long-running duo of saxophonist Philippe Lauzier and bassist/electronic artist Pierre-Yves Martel.

Saxophonist Marc Baron & bassist Loic Blairon recorded 6 improvisations and then recomposed and organized them into these two 30 minute works, one acoustic and one digital.

Part of Ayler's Guerilla Series, percussionist Laurence Cook and keyboardist Eric Zinman in an album of textural duos developed over a year while working with the Yamaha CP300 stage keyboard.

Lawrence Casserley is a pioneer of real time electroacoustic music, since the 60s working with other artists and developing his Signal Processing Instrument, using physical gestures to process and morph sounds; here he works with British vocalist and Deep Listening teacher Viv Corringham in an other-worldly collaboration of voice and electonics.

A pairing of two innovative players, Berlin-based pianist Magda Mayas and Australian sound and wind artist Jim Denley, Mayas playing inside and out of the piano and Denley on alto sax and bass flute, both providing field recordings adding unexpected elements in a set of extremely balanced recordings that entrance the listener with unlikely and captivating settings.

Pioneering improvising pianist Fred Van Hove at UK's Cafe OTO for the first time, captured in a duo with UK drummer/percussionist Roger Turner, their first recording together, for a night of exceptional improvised interplay, sophisticated and complex playing that is constantly buoyant and charming, an enthralling conversation between two veteran players.

Waterscapes is the performing duo of New York saxophonist Blaise Siwula and guitarist Jorge Nuno, interwining distinct approaches to acoustic and electric improvisation, creating rich sound environments and rapid interaction that draws the listener in and then sweeps them off their feet with passionate, complex and informed dialog.

Recording at the GRM Studios, the French duo of Eryck Abecassis and Francisco Meirino (phroq) use unpatched modular sythesizers that they program during performance, adding a level of risk and unpredictability to their detailed and rich sonic conversation, informed by decades of research and performance that both musicians bring to this intensely interesting album.

A series of duo recordings between saxophonist, clarinetist and cornet player Udo Schindler and pianists, all recorded at Schindler's Salon for Sound and Art at Krailing, Germany between 2013 and 2016, with Claudia Ulla Binder, Masako Ohta, Elisabeth Harnik, Katharnia Weber, and Lisa Ullen; song titles taken from SONDAGEN (Soundings) in memory of poet Thomas Kling.

At the same event in Scotland that John Butcher recorded his excellent "Resonant Spaces" album, he also joined forces with sound artist Akio Suzuki on a variety of objects and sound devices to record the first 5 tracks of this unusual album of very free improv, the last track by the duo recording at the 2015 Ftarri Festival at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo.

Two German trombonists, Matthias and Matthias Muche, extend the trombone language through four open improvisations using advanced techniques and bizarre language, each appropriately titled for phonemes, as the two players explore the strangest and most interesting sides of their instruments to the benefit of the intrepid listener.

A magnificent album of sound-oriented free improvisation from the French duo of Jean-Luc Petit on bass clarinet, alto saxophone and sopranino sax, and Benoit Kilian on the horizontal bass drum, a beast of an instrument that create massive tones over which Petit employs an incredible array of techniques and tones on his reeds, creating other-worldly sonic environments.

On their 5th album together, pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura push the limits on approach and technique with their instruments, creating otherworldly and captivating improvisations, both players deciding against using "normal instrumental sounds", instead using preparations and textural approaches to create truly unique music.

After a six year break, the Humcrush duo of Stale Storlokken on keys and Thomas Stronen on drums & electronics return with this studio album of rhythmic angularities and experimental sound worlds, drawing on their experiences with bands including Supersilent, Food, Elephant9, Time is a blind guide, Meadow and Motorpsycho.

Phil Minton started as a trumpeter and became one of free improv's most outside vocalists; Joelle Leandre is a double bassist who also performs free vocal improv; this is their first recorded collaboration, and it's an unusual and wonderful album of heavy tone improvisation, plucked and bowed, and a masterfully odd free association of vocalisation.

Using a diverse set of strategies in free improvisation, from abstract textures, sonic and microtonal exploration to solid counterpoint, French saxophonist Matthieu Donarier and Spanish electric guitarist residing in France Santiago Quintans delight in the variety and dynamic approach to their album, in 14 tracks that surprise and captivate their listeners.

An intimate dialog between frequent collaborators, UK guitarist Fred Frith and Copenhagen saxophonist Lotte Anker, both players listening carefully as they interact in a fragile dialog of profound technique and inventive approach, using texture and nuance to create unusual and captivating interchanges that demonstrate how compatible these two very different instruments can be.

Matching two distinct keyboards--Xavier Camarasa's piano with Jean-Marc Foussat's synthi AKS--two improvisers present two extended works roughly translating to "The Immensity of The Instincts" and "There, or all is water ...", contrasting between melodic and otherworldly sounds, a complex tapestry that guides and excites the listener in an unusual convergence.

"Both Giesriegl and Gratkowski are responsible for the sound in the gearbox. It deals with an extreme range of vocalisms, which are often composed of elements of spoken language, which are part of the sound ensemble. He draws from an al...

"Over the years I don't think I reviewed a lot of music by Klaus Janek, who plays processed double bass. In Vital Weekly 962 there was his release with Claudio Rocchetti, a tour document of their concerts in the Far East. Here he shows ...

"Argentinian pianist (by way of Amsterdam) Nicolas Chientaroli delivers a solo performance that demonstrates the piano's architectural sound beyond the usual demarcation points of its 88 keys. Cada Fuego Es El Primero opens with plucked str...

Mexican composer and vibraphonist based in Berlin since 2012, Emilio Gordoa in a duo with guitarist Nicola L. Hein, using preparations to their vibraphones, percussion, and guitar, in an 8 part composition of diverse approaches to improvisation, from exuberant interaction to Reich-like minimalism to cantankerous experimentation, a well-rounded and interesting album.

"On "Pip", we get another fabulous performance, now by Norwegians Fredrik Rasten on guitar and Torstein Lavik Larsen on trumpet. Their acoustic music is minimal, repetitive, slow and with an eery intensity. It is less dark than some of...

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The two-headed snake on the cover of this album aptly describes the sublimely sinuous and dark interplay between London free jazz drummer Steve Noble and bass clarinetist Yoni Silver, their 4-part improvisation taking on sinister elements of exceptional cymbal techniques, unusual drum tones, and extended lower register tones and high harmonics; excellent.

Two women in a duo of voice and amplified objects, Lali Barrier using a variety of devices that are clearly micro-amplifed and mixed in performance, as Marta Sainz intones vocal sounds, never speaking but creating innuendo and drama at a cautious pace, allowing Barrier's objects to interact, creating an unusual sonic environment of unpredictable and interesting discourse.

NY Composer and Zs founder Alex Mincek's first release since 2011 also launches Sound American's Young Composer Portrait series, presenting 4 chamber works--"Pendulum VII"; selected movements from "Harmonielehre"; "Pneuma"; and "Torrent"--performed by Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, and Yarn/Wire, in a deluxe hardcover book package with interviews and notes.

Trombonist Jeb Bishop and North Carolina-based Out & Gone Collective member, violist Dan Ruccia, after touring and performing with Eugene Chadbourne, Dan Lilley, and David Menestres, found their sound so compatible that they recorded this duo album using the languages of free jazz, chamber music, and extended improvisations to create something unexpected and rare.

The peforming duo of Tokyo pianist Yoko Miura on conventional piano, toy piano and melodica, and free improvising vocalist Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg are recorded in the studio for 14 succinct and unusual improvisations, Fou Records leader Jean-Marc Foussat recording the affair and providing electronics on one track; wonderfully weird and informed.

A beautifully complex album of resonant improvisation from Swazi born trumpeter Yaw Tembe, who is committed to bring Africa to the Portuguese free music scene, Yaw, along with Paris veteran percussionist/objects manipulator Monsieur Trinitee, blend patient sonic environments with percussive platforms and both meditative and scrabbly trumpet work; an absorbing release.

A quirky and ingenious duo from two saxophonists using extended techniques: Alipio C. Neto on soprano sax and Thelmo Cristovam on C-melody sax, using the reeds, body and breath to create an unusual and uncommon dialog.

A beautiful album of darkly lyrical jazz duos from Israeli saxophonist and bass clarinetist Albert Beger and collaborator and member of the Albert Beger Quartet Shay Hazan, on double bass and guimbri, for seven pieces recorded in the studio: 6 improvised works and the composed piece "Cycles".

Nine freely improvised introspections as "enlightening spots on different forms of life in a rather muddy environment" from Lucerne, Switzerland based tenor saxophonist Elio Amberg and pianist Christoph Baumann, wonderful miniatures of great style and skill, a diverse exploration of their fictional pond that's quite spellbinding and exciting.

Double double bass from the duo of John Edwards and Olie Brice performing live at Iklectik Arts Lab, in London in 2017, a return of sorts as Brice's first live improv gig was opening for the Sunny Murray Trio with Edwards and Bevan; here the two combine, in contrast and confluence as they demonstrate massive technique and concentrative conversation.

Acoustic free improvisation with an ea-attitude, improvising drummer/percussionist Pedro Oliveira (Bernardo Sassetti) and classical pianist Paulo Mesquita used prepared instruments in a dialog that contrasts solid rhythmically melodic piano progressions with a mix of propulsive percussion, deep resonant tones, environmental timbre, and percussive interventions.

The 2nd volume in New York free improvising basist William Parker's "Conversations" series, more than 500 pages with 32 interview between William Parker and artists including Marshall Allen, Tim Berne, Wadada Leo Smith, Mark Dresser, Henry Grimes, &c &c, plus a CD excerpting those interviews and punctuated with duos between Parker and saxophonist Kidd Jordan.

Polish composer and recorder player Dominik Strycharski wrote these pieces in response to a work for the recorder by composer Louis Andriessen that he dedicated to Frans Bruggen: "Melodie"; Strycharski response is "Harmonie", performed in a duo with pianist Sebastian Zawadzki to demonstrate the impracticability of harmony in its purest forms.

Bridging folk traditions with modern aesthetics, the duo of Evan Baker on guitar and Austin Glover on violin, both contributing songs, sing about everyday events, music, and life, the songs having a bluesy and even early Kinks feel at times, made unique through a cappella moments and languid instrumental sections.

A duo between two Italian born improvisers--New York based drummer and 577 Label leader Federico Ughi, and pianist Gabriele Meirano, active in the London jazz club scene for more than a decade--for an album of insightful free jazz in a dialog that shows both thoughtful and challenging moments in an open-minded, ultimately lyrical conversation between two like-minded players.

For more than 15 years multi-reedist, wind and trumpet player Daniel Carter and drummer Federico Ughi have collaborated in live performance and on record, here showing the results of their work in this duo album, the vinyl edition of their exceptional 2013 CD release that shows their melodic and technical sides, their jazz roots, and their warm camaraderie.

In 2012 choreographer Ivan Perez asked Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) to work on a score for his dance piece, "Hide And Seek", and to create the piece in collaboration with cellist and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Martin, this album, a rich electroacoustic collaboration, presents the first sketches of what would eventually be one long continuous collage used in performance.

Swiss composer and percussionist Cyril Bondi, recording with d'incise, renders his piece "euhesma" (a genus within the bee family in Australia), a work performed on indian harmonium, melodica, harmonica, pitch pipes, and electric organ that slowly introduces and overlaps tones, varying the pitch, harmony, and amplitude to create rich aural environments.

Three compositions for voice and piano from German composer Eva-Maria Houben, also performing on piano with soprano vocalist Irene Kurka--"Adagio" in three pieces; "Lyri"; and "Lieder Fur Die Insel (Songs for the Island)--with texts from poet Felix Timmermans (adagio) and Hilde Domin (lyrik); beautiful, stark, haunting music that presents at its own pace.

Five works for harp and voice from composer Eva-Maria Houben and soprano Tatiana Kuzina, opening with a lovely "Aeolian Harp", and including two works from her "Voice and Piano" album recorded for harp--"Adagio" in 3 movements, and "Songs for the Island" in 5 movements--alongside "Hatid" and "Two Songs with Piano" in two movements.

The duo project of Berlin-based clarinetists Kai Fagaschinski and Michal Thieke, (Magic I.D., Christof Kurzmann, Splitter Ochester) in their 5th album of timbre-rich, harmonically fascinating and slowly evolving reed interactions, returning to their core duo after their previous quartet album, here presenting a large rich and beautifully weaving work.

Live at the 66th SALON fur Klang+Kunst in Krailling, Munich, Germany finds festival leader Udo Schindler on cornet, bass, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone in a duo with Berlin-based Istanbul-born computer musician Korhan Erel, who designs his own unique instruments with unusual controllers, performing 9 singular dialogs of ethereal and unorthodox sound.

A duo between Swedish guitarist Finn Loxbo (Fire! Orchestra) and bass clarinetist Erik Blennow Calalv, in a low-key, moody and tranquil album of improvisations with titles implying their unhurried approach to their dialog--"Clouds", "Moving, Dancing", and "Ryoanji"-- making a beautiful album of nearly ambient but decidedly determined music.

A fantastic album of free improvisation between two creative and versatile players captured live at Kerkje van Oostum, Groningen, The Netherlands in 2015--percussionist Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Samuel Blaser--both using immense talent and unorthodox approaches to their instruments as they shift from unexpected atmospheres to lyrical richness.

Creative uses of percussion from Italian drummers Giacomo Salis and Paolo Sanna, who explore gesture, movement, listening, and the investigation of natural materials and found objects, in five studio tracks that present the results of their research in both rhythmic sections and sections of abstract sound, honed from concerts, studio albums, and a collaboration with Jeph Jerman.

Aural Terrains label leader and electronic composer Thanos Chrysakis in a work in five movements based on field recordings, synthesized, and acoustic instrumental sounds.

Live recordings from the duo of saxophonist Frank Gratkowski and drummer Hamid Drake performing in New Orleans in 2009; amazing and far-ranging dialog from two masters.

A series of acoustic guitar duos between Henry Kaiser playing on an 18-string harp guitar, and Ed Pettersen, playing an 8-string Weissenborn guitar, freely improvised and with a psychedelic/cosmic impulse as the two draw on elements of Americana and roots-based folk music in four extended recordings, the camaraderie and mutual intent evident in this fascinating album.

The acoustic bass duo of New Yorker Sean Ali and European Pascal Niggenkemper use unusual techniques and preparations for the large double bass to make a series of 22 concise, diverse, and engaging improvisations.

Recorded in concert during "Culture with a Big Q" in Toulouse, France in 2017, the duo of Xavier Camarasa on piano/prepared piano and Matthias Mahler on trombone, take Camarasa's compositions and arrange them to alternate between melodic free sections and contemporary abstract passages using extended techniques, heard in this captivating and versatile performance.

Verge Music founder Daniel Kernohan aka Dee Kay and radio host Dan Lander developed this album of electroacoustic interaction between 1987-1989 in a dilapidated row house on "the wrong side of the tracks" in Toronto, using "instruments, toys, stuff, sound" to create an amusing, sometimes startling, and insightful series of interactions; unpredictable and interesting.

Unexpected directions in this meeting between Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, in an introspective album of beautiful tonal conversations, relaxed and sophisticated dialogs that mostly eschews the more aggressive side of both musicians in deference to a thoughtful, reflective and elegant set of tunes.

Following on New York pianist Matt Mitchell's solo album of Tim Berne compositions, the two join in the studio to record these 8 compositions in a dynamic album of dialogs that includes energetic interaction, explorative playing, and beautiful lyrical work, a profoundly intimate and connected release borne from their long history of collaboration.

Five recordings from the duo of Jason Kahn and Yan Jun, recording ostensibly on voice, though all recordings from their rehearsals and live performances were muted, deleted, or suffered technical issues, so what remains are the extraneous sound of the rooms and concert spaces, alone or layered, the final piece layering incidental sounds from 5 concerts.