An incredibly inventive album of 21st century jazz incorporating a twisted wealth of rock and electronic elements, in the 2nd album from Killing Popes led by drummer Oli Steidle and keyboardist Dan Nicholls, with Frank Mobus (guitar) and Phil Donkin (bass), Philipp Gropper (saxophone), Jelena Kuljic (voice & sampler) plus Natalie Sandtorv & Liv Nicholls on voice.

Using baritone and alto saxophones, speakers and an iPod, Swedish improviser Martin Kuchen (Angles, Exploding Customer, UNSK, Looper, &c) takes his listeners on a demented tour of extended technique and curiously unexpected sounds from the saxophone, focusing on textures and non-abrasive approaches to create an abundance of unexpected and oddly engaging, concise improvisations.

This album of improvised music was born out of mutual appreciation and admiration for the respective art forms of Ann Coman and experimental sound artist Barry Chabala, who performed original guitar improvisations while Coman intuitively created visual artworks from those performances, then reversing the process where Chabala interpreted Coman's art as visual scores.

The first album from 2006 of the Ember electro-acoustic improvising chamber jazz-oriented quartet of Urs Leimgruber on soprano & tenor saxophones, Alexander Schubert on guitar, electronics & percussion, Oliver Schwerdt on piano, percussion, guitar & electronics, and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion; an album of insightful and meticulous interaction.

Five chamber works written by composer UK Oliver Leith, the debut CD release from the creative music group Explore Ensemble including a piece they commissioned--Me Hollywood--, the compositions spanning four years of work and reflecting a sort of portrait of the composer as he experiments with unusual arrangements, sampling sounds, and new instruments.

Sound and visual installation artists Joakim Forsgren and Andreas Hiroui Larsson use a multiplicity of approaches, both rhythmic and abstract, and a vast set of instruments (flutes, bass, drum machines, saxophone, maracas, sythesizer, &c) and objects (kitchenware, nails in a box, aluminum foil, &c) to create a universe of quirky and embraceable song-like structures.

Reminding of Downtown NY bands in the vein of No Safety or Curlew, this Chicago/NY 7-piece blurs rock, jazz and funk forms with intelligent and often satirical lyrics, upbeat and joyful music that defies categorization through groove-based songs that playfully critique while keeping it all danceable and fun, in a wonderfully talented and enjoyable album.

A 60 page book and CD from sound artist Jason Kahn, the audio composition representing an interconnected set of sound impressions focused on the Indian city of Varanasi, using field recordings of life on the street, the people, animals & music heard there, into the holy sites of the city, the school rooms, ending with a cremation and inevitable quiet at end of day.

Ominous and dense with layers of strata intended for nighttime listening, the German quartet of Axel Dorner on trumpet & electronics, Matthias Lorenz on cello, and both Robert Landfermann and John Edwards on double bass recorded these four tremendous electroacoustic improvisations at their live performance at naTo in Leipzig, Germany in 2013.

The title referencing a Blind Willie McTell entreaty to himself, Elliott Sharp's contemporary blues project Teraplane truly "kicks" in 8 burning pieces of concentrated guitar work from Sharp, solo and in overdub, recording in Studio zOaR while performing on electric guitar, vong co guitar, lap steel guitar, console steel guitars, mandocello, mandola, basses & drum programming.

An algorithmic composition for Elliott Sharp's Orchestra Carbon modeled on biological paradigms of growth and reproduction, recorded at Tonic in 2001 with a large ensemble of instrumentalists including Ned Rothenberg, Steve Swell, Jim Pugliese, Andy Laster, &c. and programmers and sampler performers including David Weinstein, R. Luke Dubois, and Zeena Parkins.

Originally released in 2001, Elliott Sharp's production of this 3-CD set collects 171 1-minute pieces from international artists over a vast field of musical approaches, with contributors including Christian Marclay, Eric Mingus, Fred Frith, Harry Smith, Henry Kaiser, Ikue Mori, Jack Womack, Jad Fair, Joey Baron, Marc Ribot, Merzbow, Phill Niblock, Zeena Parkins, &c. &c.

A modern spoken opera by NY composer Elliott Sharp and librettist/narrator Jack Womack (Terraplane) with several narrators, reflecting the events surrounding a 1981 killing in New York's East Village, set in a darkly instrumental soundtrack developed by Sharp using guitars, saxophones, clarinets, synthesizers, bass, percussion, drums programming and samples.

An early EUPHORIUM_freakestra performance recording at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany, in 2002 and 2003, in an 11-piece electroacoustic band that includes electric guitar, a full brass and horn front end, synth, electric bass, drummers including Gunter Baby Sommer and a percussionist, in a great blend of funky electronics and powerful free improvisation.

In many ways a prelude to the EUPHORIUM_freakestra to come, this double album of Oliver Schwerdt's open-minded ea-improv big band was recorded in Eisenach, Germany in 2000, in Bellers, Germany in 2001 and finally in Leipzig in 2001 & 2002; despite the vastly different band configuration the concepts of the Freakestra are clear in these spectacular recordings.

Like a blanket of twilight sound and insidiously fragile detail, the results of two days of uninterrupted sonic exploration between New York multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound artist & recording engineer Joseph Branciforte and German vocal innovator & electronic artist Theo Bleckmann are heard in four compositions from their collaboration: gorgeous, lulling and edgy.

Tkać means to weave, as Swedish electroacoustic sound artist Marta Forsberg interwines drones, first through a work of sound and light using frozen and processed violin sounds that slowly shift in minimal repetition; then in a synthetic work exploring darkness, light and colour by means of LED light, fabric, sequins, and minimalistic drone-based electronic music.

RESTOCKED: Fred Frith's 1999 box set, presenting a large, flexible ensemble project using marked photographs and rules as scores while Frith directs and conducts as well as performing; permanent members are Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins, otherwise the balance of the 44 strong ensemble changes; recordings here are taken from 5 concerts, including the first in 1992 at AngelicA.

A "travelogue" of Swedish composer and songwriter Adrian Knight's guitar explorations, works originally released on his digital-only and now dormant label Pink Pamphlet, drawing from work recorded in his home studio that developed from sketches and experimentation, along with new recordings including one with saxophonist David Lackner; beautifully moody and elegant music.

Bringing together Lisbon artists active in contemporary classical, electroacoustic soundscape and improvisation, the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Joana Sa on soprano saxophone, Luisa Goncalves on piano and Carlos Santos on electronics delicately "Melt" or merge these elements in a subtle and absorbing concert captured live at Lisboa Incomun.

A mammoth undertaking by Boston multi-instrumentalist David Peck, 3 CDs of studio improvisations about language, one part per CD, performed on a vast array of reeds, percussive instruments and unusual sound sources, with drummer Yuri Zbitnoff joining for intermediate mixes, resulting in a multi-layered and unique sonic universe of depth and dexterity.

Based around gongs, chimes, glockenspiel, Tibetan bowls and many other metallic sounds, plus reeds and horns, signal processing & synths, the Boston improvising core duo of Metal Chaos Ensemble is formed by percussionist Yuri Zbitnoff and multi-reedist David Peck, here joined by guest electric bass player Mike Gruen to create a power trio edition of the band.

Crossing experimental sound and rhythmic approaches that blend elements of electronic music, krautrock, noise, electronica and indescribable sonic environments, the quartet of Cory Bengtsen, Bob Newell, Phillip Klampe and Mike Richards are heard in their 6th full-length release, an embraceable and well-paced album of compelling beats and sonic surprises.

An exploration of texture and mood through electronics, performed by Romanian poet and plastic artist Gili Mocanu between 2015 & 2016, divided in four suites of striking and specific interpretive sound inspired by the eclipse of August 21, 2017, detailed in a beautiful 16 page booklet of eclipse imagery from the artist, packaged in a DVD snap case.

An album of electronic rhythmical work, glitch, soundscape experimentation and hallucinatory sound from Robert Newell, a member of Amalgamated, with fellow Amalgamated member Phillip Klampe assisting in contribution and production; 14 concise and diverse examples of twisted conceptual sound following a concept of life forming from the brine.

Emulating a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse in two evolving improvised chamber works that take the quartet of Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Mariana Carvalho on piano, Joao Valinho on percussion and Ernesto Rodrigues (switching from viola to harp & deploying electronics) through mysterious soundwork that move from darkness to light in detailed and subtle ways.

A fascinating Italian project using improv techniques on voice, bass clarinet, prepared guitars & banjos and live electronics, allowing each musician to generate sounds by using their senses to listen and reflect on the world around them, from Elio Martusciello (live electronics), Chiara Liuzzi (voice), Francesco Massaro (reeds & electronics) & Adolfo La Volpe (guitars & objects).

Electronic improviser Carlos Santos, whose sound work started with VITRIOL in 1989, a laboratory for experimental sound actions, also studied painting and works as a graphic designer; here he joins with cellist and sound artist Ulrich Mitzlaff for two extended works taking their cue from the visual arts as they study and sonically reflect subtle modulations in color fields.

Before initiating the live improvisation that makes up Complex & Real Dimensions, reedist and multi-instrumentalist David Peck built a foundation track including electro-acoustic instruments created by Tim Kaiser, particularly the loop-capable "Large Spring Box", creating tone, timbre and interludes over which PEK passionately performs.

Recording as An Orchestra of PEKs--overdubbed tracks performing with his arsenal of metallic, percussive and electronics devices--intermediate mixes here of electric cello and electric upright bass through Moogerfooger stomp box and syntrix analog synthesizer and a metallic percussion mix, the various timbres interacting as a larger environment for PEK's reed improvisations.

Music written to accompany a light & juggling performance by German contemporary circus artist Kolja Huneck, Rutger Zuydervelt developing the compositions of these works using only short looping structures that weave and develop into a tapestry of sound, inspired by the repetitive motions of Kolja's performance and the 30 centimeter round discs with which he performs.

Featuring electronically-augmented vocal interpretations of lieder songs by such composers as Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, New York vocalist Judith Berkson also presents purely electronic pieces engaging noise and feedback-oriented vignettes, the evolution of her project started in 2016 as she re-contextualizes classical music in powerfully expressive ways.

Exotic improvisation from Korean musician based in Berlin, You Jin Sung, performing on the gayageum, a large traditional Korean plucked zither sometimes augmented with electronics, in a duo with French cellist Vincent Laju, both performers using tension and space contrasted with moments of intensity through six improvisations of cross-cultural, contemporary conversation.

Calling his music jazz and not jazz, bassist Brandon Lopez demands of his listeners to dance, as the quartet of Lopez, Steve Baczkowski on saxophones, Gerald Cleaver on percussion and Cecilia Lopez on synthesizer are heard in this energetic live concert at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, blurring free jazz with experimental sound that never loses its strong grooves.

Darkly meditative and somber compositions for the lower registers of the grand piano accompanied by synthesizer, in two extended pieces by Je Suis! and Angles 9 pianist Alexander Zethson, using the interactions between the deep piano keys and synth more as a sound source than as a distinct instrument, each reshaping the other to create a cloud of sound.

The edges of electroacoustic improviser and composer Thanos Chrysakis' shards are sharpened by the quartet of Dawid Frydryk on trumpet & electronics, Edward Lucas on trombone, Sue Lynch on flute & tenor saxophone and Adrian Northover on soprano saxophone, as Chryaskis generates evocative sonic environments over which the four horns mysteriously interact.

Each track named after a mythical Scottish character, the Ukrainian trio of Stanislav Bobrytsky on modular synth, Pavlo Lisovsky on tenor saxophone and Anton Boldenko on viola create a music merging free jazz principles with modular synthetic drone, creating an orchestral sound that still elucidates the detail of their uniquely orchestrated, rich sonic explorations.

String player Antonio Bertoni (Leo Records, Astral Sprits) in his solo Ongon project seeks to bring back the shamanic elements of Moroccan Gnawa Music, particularly using the trance-inducing bass instrument guimbri, his hypnotic and exotic music set into a rich weaving of electronics, samples and concrete synthesis built ad hoc by Bertoni himself.

Antonio Bertoni's solo Ongon project, trying to remove the mistreatment that the Moroccan Gnawa Music suffers due to the heavy western productions, as he performs on the trance-inducing bass instrument guimbri, his hypnotic and exotic music set into a rich weaving of electronics, samples and concrete synthesis built ad hoc by Bertoni himself; reference Natural Information Society.

A stunning sound collage made from recorded fragments of Fujii's studio piano, captured inside and out using traditional piano sonorities and preparations that often microscopically detail the instrument, then edited into two electroacoustic compositions of startling and unexpected expansiveness and wonder; a unique and fascinating release in Fujii's large oeuvre.

Beautiful long-form drones and harmonic interactions develop and are then shaken up with sonic deformations and collisions, returning to beautiful environments and then reversed once again, from the duo of sonic explorers Bob Bellerue and Christian Ronn, recording in Copenhagen using organs, electronics, winds, and feedback to create these wonderfully alien domains.

Initiating like a jet shaking the sky, the trio of Kevin Corcoran on percussion & objects, Giacomo Salis on percussion, objects & field recordings and Paolo Sanna on percussion & objects create otherworldly sonic environments that project collapsing and ringing events above often turbulent foundations, creating side-long journeys that engage through mysterious and surmisable sound.

A series of unusual improvisations between London free improvising trombonist Edward Lucas (Hyperion Ensemble, London Experimental Ensemble) and experimental sound artist, turntablist & percussionist Graham Dunning, merging acoustic sources with controlled feedback, objects and field recordings, pressed to dubplate to create these engagingly strange and concise dialogs.

Using small objects and contact microphones to create peacefully clacking, mewling and idiosyncratic utterances, sound artists Takamitsu Ohta and Anne-Francoise Jacques developed this installation shown in 2019 at the Bonjour! Gendaibunmei gallery in Kyoto, recorded by Jacques as a tour of the various sonic manifestations that a visitor to the gallery might experience.

The fourth release from the long-standing sonic research duo of Montreal sound artist Anne-F Jacques, who uses "rotating devices" based around small amplified motors, and Montreal ex-patriot living in Kobe, Japan Tim Olive (845 Audio), using magnetic pickups on objects and self-built instruments, here in six richly detailed and sometimes curiously menacing recordings.

Applying techniques similar to those of the prepared piano, Japanese experimental artist Kayu Nakada uses circuit bending--circuit boards from electronic instruments short circuited for new effects--joining forces with Japan-based Canadian electronic instrument maker Tim Olive (845 Audio) for four works of intriguingly interactive glitch, hum, static and sonic inexplicables.

Using handmade devices and contraptions including small motors and found objects, Montreal sound experimenter Anne-Francoise Jacquese amplifies her miniature devices to create unexpectedly large textures and rhythms, which she manipulates with great instinct to create fascinating sonic environments, heard here in four pieces recorded in Montreal and Sackville from 2018-19.

The first live album from the CP Unit led by alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos and his quartet with Sam Lisabeth on electric guitar, Henry Fraser on electric bass and Jason Nazary on drums & electronics, captured live at the 2018 Moers Festival in Germany in 8 compositions drawn from previous studio tracks and two new pieces; thrilling and brilliant modern jazz!

Since 2002 this large ensemble electric supergroup or "freakestra" has performed uncompromising free improvisation that draws on the best of modern approaches in a staggering display of style and technique.

Two major works designed for multi-channel sound projections from electronic composer Marcus Schmickler: "Sky Dice / Mapping the Studio", a work for ARP 2500, Publison DHM89B, Publison Infernal Machine and Computer, premiered at Donaueschinger Tage fur Neue Musik in 2018; "Fortuna Ribbon" a 6-part work based on spatial hearing and auditory otoacoustic distortions.

Inspired by the 70's Leo Smith Trio and the AACM tradition, during pandemic lockdowns UK multi-reedist & wind player Martin Archer, Charlotte Keeffe on trumpet & electronics and Martin Pyne on drums, percussion, vibraphone & toy piano, developed these 12 pieces where each member recorded four ideas independently, the other two arranging and recording their own parts in response.

A stunning solo album showing the widely diverse interests of UK clarinetist and guitarist Alex Ward, recording in the studio in 10 multi-track pieces using clarinets, saxophones, guitars, keyboards, electric bass and assorted software instruments in a mix of pre-composed and improvised approaches, burning the spectrum from contemplative to aggressively assertive performance.

Using a vast array of instruments categorized by clarinets, double reeds, flutes, free reed aerophones, strings, electronics, electroacoustic sound-makers, percussion, duck calls, sirens and voice, David Peck layers his improvisation into four renditions of himself, which he refers to as a Quartet of PEKs, this work focusing on new instruments developed by Tim Kaiser.

The sixth PEK Solo effort of 2020 in Boston-based improviser and composer David Peck's series, this album is a followup to his Clarinet Family album earlier in the year, here creating a virtual symphony of saxophones by layering his composition in the studio through four separate recordings, working in the vein of Rova Sax Quartet or the World Sax Quartet.

Part of Boston multi-wind/instrumentalist David Peck's "Orchestra of PEKs" series, this extended improvisation finds PEK interacting with a pre-recorded Ableton Mix of synthetics developed during his Semantic Notions album, over which he improvises on clarinets, saxophones double reeds & flutes, along with many percussive instruments, particularly a Chinese guqin.

A follow-up to Stretching the Fabric of Space, this solo release from David Peck presents an extended layered set of fize improvisations using a base of prerecorded and premixed tracks with some electronic processing to speed up and slow down, to raise and lower pitch, and to build up thick mixes of sounds from the same sonority set.

The first "Orchestra of PEKS" album to feature Tim Kaiser's recent electro-acoustic instrument, this multi-track solo recording also introduces multi-wind / multi-instrumentalist David Peck's new West African Kora, in a wild electroacoustic set performed on a dizzying array of reeds, winds, strings, electronics, metallic percussion, wood percussion, sirens and thunder tube.

Led by Argentinian guitarist based in Lisbon, Javier Subatin, the core of his band is fellow Portugal-based Argentian bassist Demian Cabaud and drummer Pedro Melo Alves, with guests improvisers on a number of tracks, presenting a series of "Mountain" tracks interspersed with "Rocks", "Birds", "Cave", &c. in impressively advanced use of time, rhythm, structure and harmonics.

Three CDs of three concerts at London's Iklecktik Club, presenting primarily compositions by David Petts plus collective improvisations, from Adrian Northover, David Petts, Caroline Kraabel and Sue Lynch on saxophones, John Edwards on bass and Rosa Theodora on piano, with Northover, Edwards & Petts adding percussion and electronics to their cryptically rich music.

Thirteen succinct improvisations pitting Gordon Grdina's swinging middle-eastern flavors on the oud offset by gritty, experimental guitar work against drummer Jim Black's well-chosen and rock-solid grooves, an engaging album that shifts and explores a tremendous range of ideas and adventurous attitudes that span jazz, rock and experimental genres with ease.

This mercurial and impressive 2021 Victoriaville Festival concert brought together improvisers from three duos as a quartet: guitarist Rene Lussier, who has a long running duo with turntablist Martin Tetreault; Erick d'Orion on computer and electronics, who also has a experimental sound duo with Tetrault; and frequently collaborator with Lussier, drummer Robbie Kuster.

A fun and lyrical jazz album that references a host of culture and style, performed in collaborations with the NAD core of keyboardist and "soundmaster" Nicola C. Salerno and guitarist Roberto Zorzi and artists including the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, presenting original compositions and eclectic covers from Ornette Coleman, Chocolat, and even Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive"!

Based in NY but born the Netherlands, sound artist Flin Van Hemmen's title refers to observations from his hometown of Nijmegen, the concept focusing his work, with many samples originating from his previous Casting Spells & The Coves album, along with new field recordings and studio work, resulting in richly detailed worlds of sound and momentum.

A series of collaborative electracoustic improvisations recorded remotely during the pandemic by long-time associates, electric guitarist Charles K. Noyes and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp, here performing on arches h line (a 9-string double neck instrument), violinoid, triple course bass pantar, analog synthesizers, sax & bass clarinet.

Three expansive and stunning performances at Centro Cultural de Vila Flor as part of the Guimaraes Jazz 2020 festival by drummer and percussionist Pedro Melo Alves' expanded 23-piece Omniae Ensemble directed by Pedro Carneiro, adding electronics, voice and a diverse orchestration that gives his band both power but also flexibility to express an astonishing array of moods.

Exploring dream-like instrumental states in electrified modern creative jazz, drummer and composer João Lencastre leads an octet featuring saxophonists Albert Cirera & Ricard Toscano, guitarists André Fernandes & Pedro Branco, pianist Benny Lackner and bassists João Hasselberg & Nelson Cascais through six original compositions of fascinating free-flowing forms.

Presented as a a tribute to past jazz masters John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry and Charlie Haden, Rotterdam's Ritual Habitual trio led by double bassist Gonçalo Almeida with drummer Philipp Ernsting and Riccardo Maronga on tenor sax, bass clarinet & synthesizers, create a sense of ritual through deep repetition of modern creative jazz rooted in free jazz tradition.

Drawing on genres blurring avant jazz, compositional forms, experimental rock and their uniquely twisted sense of humor, the Portuguese trio of guitarist Andre Silva, bassist Filipe Louro, and drummer Pedro Alves (also credited for screams!) present their sophomore album, a strange and compelling set of delirious improvisations in three Parts organized across 13 tracks.

Essentially written by Philadelphia multi-instrumentalist D. Liedel, who handles most of the parts on this unusual blend of rock, electronics, jazz, pop punk and a number of unlikely genres, presenting strange songs that take sharp turns into twisted realms, neatly layering each piece into a heady brew that's hard to pin down, but a great deal of fun trying.

Blurring abstract electronics with folk improvisation in gently evolving music with an experimental edge, the London Panang Food Tigers duo of Stephen Lewis and Spencer Grady use keyboards, guitars, dobro, charango, field recordings and electronic sources to create contemplative atmospheres, a sort of ambient-folk music drawing out forgotten daydreams and moods; beautiful.

Berlin trumpeter Liz Allbee's solo work focuses on the interaction of voice, extended approaches to her instruments, which includes her self-designed quadrophonic trumpet, electronics and acoustic homemade instruments, on Rille presenting four enigmatic works of dramatic pacing--environmental and rhythmic--guided by impressionistic spoken words and moments of tonal clarity.

Thirteen succinct improvisations pitting Gordon Grdina's swinging middle-eastern flavors on the oud offset by gritty, experimental guitar work against drummer Jim Black's well-chosen and rock-solid grooves, an engaging album that shifts and explores a tremendous range of ideas and adventurous attitudes that span jazz, rock and experimental genres with ease.

Turbulence, the extended horn section for the Boston-based free improvising ensemble Leap of Faith Orchestra, here with leader PEK, plus Michael Caglianone, Zack Bartolomei, Bob Moores, and Eric Dahlman, all playing instruments from their arsenal of percussive instruments and devices, including recently added electroacoustic devices expanding the band's sound.

Using a combination of controlled feedback, samples, computer processing and Eurorack electronics, Arcane Device aka David Lee Myers continues his long exploration of electronic music, focusing here on evolving and complex patterns complemented by beautiful tones and occasional rhythmic foundations, a great collection of elegant electronics.

Two major works of evolving acoustic soundscape from Swiss violinist & composer Patricia Bosshard realized by the 27-member Orchestra des Nouvelles Creations, which includes Bosshard, Stephane Rives, Bertrand Denzler, &c.; "Sillon" employs a percussive pulse over 27 independently transforming grooves; "Reflets" a harmonic composition for bowed strings, including three double basses.

Exploring the details of everyday life as he examines the relationship between his environment and himself, microscopic audio explorer Éric La Casa investigates sounds beyond the threshold of auditory hearing, capturing barely perceptible sonic manifestations with incredible clarity and detail, constructing engaging works from these surprising and intriguing sounds.

A series of "Rooms" and related electronic environments from New York sound artist David Lee Myers, whose long running Arcane Device project runs parallel to these nearly ambient works that Myers intimates are for intimate environments, developed through deft use of Eurorack electronics, feedback, sampling and other elegant electronic processes.

Canada's leading avant music magazine in their Fall 2021 issue, with articles on Understory (Nicole Rampersaud, Parmela Attariwala, and Germaine Liu), Frank Denyer, Taylor Brook, record & live reviews, plus a 14 track CD with pieces from Rocío Cano Valiño, Understory Show One: Gabriel Dharmoo/SlowPitchSound/Lan Tung, Frank Denyer, Nick Storring, &c.

With a combined history of dj production, engineering, writing and arranging in a variety of settings from small and large ensembles, electronic music, experimental rock, classical orchestration &c, the N/UM trio of Elias Meister, Jeremy Loucas and Emil Bovbjerg (VAVAV) release their fourth album of innovative live electronics developed through a carefully conceived collective creativity.

The intersection of Austrian violinist, vocalist and sound artist Mia Zabelka and Canadian sound artist and multi-instrumentalist Glen Hall, using recordings of live improvisations, electronics and unusual applications of software to structure fourteen compositions of accomplished playing and startlingly unpredictable sound, a magnificent and often breathtaking journey.

One of Corbett vs. Dempsey's Black Cross Solo Sessions, Joe McPhees approaches his album recorded during pandemic lockdown in his home through tenor sax, voice, water, objects and field recordings, the center of the album a cycle of compositions by Charles Mingus, alongside works by Carla Bley and influences by Joni Mitchell, and a virtual symphony of saxes on the title track.

Conceived by saxophonist Kirstoffer Berre Alberts and Lasse Marhaug, who composed this large acoustic work for strings, percussion, blowing instruments, pipes (organ and accordion) and vocals, soliciting solo recordings created in isolation during the pandemic which they layered and blocked in the studio to create these two remarkable works of eccentric timbre, motion & pitch.

With core members Drew Davis, Tim Gick, and John Olsen (Wolf Eyes), the wonderfully eclectic ensemble on each Crazy Doberman album shifts as they introduce musicians who can express the experimental improv structures required for each project, blurring genres and using whatever tools necessary to move from abstract to high intensity motion; a sublimely eccentric big band.

An introspectively lovely and reflective album of electroacoustic composition through minimal electronics, piano, samples and electronics, from the collaboration of Italian sound artists Michelangelo Decorato and Leo Cicala, with trumpeter Luca Calabrese joining on one piece; sophisticatedly languid, alluring and detailed ambient music.

Post-pandemic, the electroacoustic IKB ensemble returned to the stage in 2021 at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon with some of Portugal's finest improvisers performing under the direction of violist Ernetso Rodrigues, to express in sound the large rainforest beetle Titanus Giganteus, represented in an extended collective improvisation of restraint fueled by masterful and creative skill.