The final recordings of Un Drame Musical Instantané with co-founder Bernard Vitet, compiling sessions from 1998 to 2000 with the Machiavel Quartet and guests including Baco Mourchid and Nem, blending free jazz, electroacoustic experimentation, and multimedia spontaneity into cinematic improvisations that showcase the ensemble's enduring commitment to collective creation and sonic innovation.

Reissuing the 2013 box set of the 1980s UK/Euro improvising rock band Cassiber, including their 4 remastered studio albums + 2 additional CDs, a 2 hour DVD, and a 32-page color book, revealing an amazing band merging experimental rock, fringe jazz, punk, pop, plunderphonics, improvisation, & musique concrete with an energetic and complex form of studio composition - superb!

A song-oriented, genre-blurring album from the French quartet Poudingue (Pudding), drawing from the spirit of Rock in Opposition with richly layered arrangements, experimental textures, and playful lyricism, as multi-instrumentalist Nicolas Chedmail, guitarist Frédéric Mainçon, synthesist Jean-Jacques Birgé, and drummer Benjamin Sanz fuse improvisation and composition into an irreverent and inventive set.

A retrospective spanning ten decades (1958-2018) celebrating Jean-Jacques Birgé's multifaceted career through compositions reflecting each era, blending archival recordings with new works through a remarkable ensemble of longtime collaborators, from brass and strings to electronics and voice; a sonic journey bridging past, present, and imagined futures with impressive orchestration and narrative.

The groundbreaking 1977 debut of Un Drame Musical Instantané is a fully improvised yet strikingly structured work blending synthesizer, trumpet, guitar, film dialogue, and radio broadcasts into a dynamic sonic collage, here reissued in 2004 with a new master and the bonus track "Sancta Papaverina", the album captures the trio's bold fusion of avant-garde improvisation and experimental composition.

Consisting of 28 short works, Hélène Sage collaborates with composer and performer Benoît Lavoisier, computer artist Marc Demereau, percussionist Pascal Portejoie, sampler Alex Piques, and vocalist and writer Nathalie Desmarest to craft an avant album blending Dadaist humor with experimental soundscapes, intertwining musical and literary elements to create a distinctive auditory experience.

An imaginative and genre-defying return from Hélène Sage in an eclectic blend of songs, jazz-inflected fanfares, and humorous yet critical texts performed in multiple languages, featuring a striking ensemble of avant-garde musicians whose voices, instruments, and unconventional approaches craft a surreal and adventurous sonic world; of interest to RIO fans.

The final recordings of Un Drame Musical Instantané with co-founder Bernard Vitet, compiling sessions from 1998 to 2000 with the Machiavel Quartet and guests including Baco Mourchid and Nem, blending free jazz, electroacoustic experimentation, and multimedia spontaneity into cinematic improvisations that showcase the ensemble's enduring commitment to collective creation and sonic innovation.

Guy Segers (Univers Zero) in his 5th expansive EMBand project, assembling an ensemble of progressive and avant-garde musicians in ever-shifting configurations, for an album that evolves from introspective and textural atmospheres to dynamic and complex sonic landscapes, incorporating voices, poetry, and intricate instrumental interplay; a compelling example of Europe's progressive music scene.

A visionary 1989 release by French multi-instrumentalist and composer Hélène Sage, this 14-track album blends electronic, modern classical, and experimental elements, featuring collaborations with Jean-Jacques Birgé and Bernard Vitet; surreal yet meticulously crafted, the album showcases Sage's eclectic style and innovative compositions in standout pieces like "L'invitation Au Voyage" and "Les Sept Merveilles Du Monde."

Merging jazz, tango, waltz, blues, chanson, and contemporary vocal experimentation, Michèle Buirette (accordion), Geneviève Cabannes (double bass), and Dominique Fonfrède (voice) craft an inventive and modern soundscape, combining traditional melodies with experimental techniques in an album that is melodic yet unpredictable, exploring themes with a blend of humor, depth, and originality.

A retrospective spanning ten decades (1958-2018) celebrating Jean-Jacques Birgé's multifaceted career through compositions reflecting each era, blending archival recordings with new works through a remarkable ensemble of longtime collaborators, from brass and strings to electronics and voice; a sonic journey bridging past, present, and imagined futures with impressive orchestration and narrative.

Recorded across studios in France and Denmark and at the Festival Les Enchanteuses, the charming and experimental trio of Birgitte Lyregaard (vocals), Sacha Gattino (sampler, percussion, zither, &c.), and Jean-Jacques Birge (Theremin, keyboards, reeds, &c.) blend experimental, jazz, rock, and folk influences, in a genre-defying amalgam of songs, free improv, rare instruments, and cutting-edge technology.

A profound 1994 GRRR label release, Sarajevo Suite is a conceptual collaboration produced by Jean-Jacques Birgé and Corinne Léonet, featuring a global assembly of jazz and experimental artists-including Lindsay Cooper, Henri Texier, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the Balanescu Quartet-crafted to support Bosnian war victims.

Consisting of 28 short works, Hélène Sage collaborates with composer and performer Benoît Lavoisier, computer artist Marc Demereau, percussionist Pascal Portejoie, sampler Alex Piques, and vocalist and writer Nathalie Desmarest to craft an avant album blending Dadaist humor with experimental soundscapes, intertwining musical and literary elements to create a distinctive auditory experience.

The groundbreaking 1977 debut of Un Drame Musical Instantané is a fully improvised yet strikingly structured work blending synthesizer, trumpet, guitar, film dialogue, and radio broadcasts into a dynamic sonic collage, here reissued in 2004 with a new master and the bonus track "Sancta Papaverina", the album captures the trio's bold fusion of avant-garde improvisation and experimental composition.

An imaginative and genre-defying return from Hélène Sage in an eclectic blend of songs, jazz-inflected fanfares, and humorous yet critical texts performed in multiple languages, featuring a striking ensemble of avant-garde musicians whose voices, instruments, and unconventional approaches craft a surreal and adventurous sonic world; of interest to RIO fans.

An eccentric and captivating sonic collage from Jean-Jacques Birgé and the ensemble Un Drame Musical Instantané — with Francis Gorge and Bernard Vitet collaborating alongside extraordinary guests including Brigitte Fontaine, Joëlle Léandre, Luc Ferrari, Henri Texier, Carlos Zingaro, and René Lussier — in an inventive fusion of electronic improvisation, free jazz, and experimental sound art.

The avant-rock and experimental ensemble founded in 1976 by Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet, and Francis Gorgé in their first song-based release from 1991, introducing pioneering compositions that intertwine avant-garde instrumentation and emotive vocals across nine tracks, marking the start of a remarkable series of albums exploring new dimensions of their creative vision.

A strikingly inventive work from Un Drame Musical Instantané, as Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet, and Francis Gorgé blend synthesizers, trumpet, guitar, voice, and unconventional instrumentation in a satire of television and religion, merging free improvisation, jazz, electronics, and contemporary composition into a provocative and unclassifiable sonic experience.

Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.

A great set of 11 succinct songs and instrumentals from multi-instrumentalist, prog icon Bob Drake of Thinking Plague, The Science Group, VRIL, and Peter Blegvad fame, vignettes that play with pop formats in insidious ways around recurring Drake themes including a Planet of Dogs, three rustic tales, and a perturbing room in the tower, all noted in a colored foldout poster with lyrics.

The improvising string duo of stalwart London improvisers, Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar and Phil Durrant on the octave mandola, are heard in two settings of texturally rich, intricate interactions, first at Cafe OTO in 2022 for an extended improvisation, then at Cable Street Studios two months later for six succint, impressively diverse dialogs.

Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.

While still a member of Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith released his first solo album simply titled Guitar Solos in 1974, a remarkable album of expression through preparations, treatments and effects; 50 years later Frith expands on that album with new compositions using a similar setup as the original, paired in this 2-LP release with the remastered original album.

Reissuing the 2013 box set of the 1980s UK/Euro improvising rock band Cassiber, including their 4 remastered studio albums + 2 additional CDs, a 2 hour DVD, and a 32-page color book, revealing an amazing band merging experimental rock, fringe jazz, punk, pop, plunderphonics, improvisation, & musique concrete with an energetic and complex form of studio composition - superb!

Creating structured works from real time improvisations, Guy Seger's (Univers Zero) large ensemble of absolutely impressive players breaks down to smaller grouping to record the layers of each piece, which Seger then uses as raw material for each finished piece, as elements of rock, jazz, composed, and experimental forms merge into accomplished and engaging compositions.

After The Work and his involvement with This Heat, guitarist Mick Hobbs formed Officer!, a shape-shifting RIO band that presented Hobb's unique, amusing and incisive songs, releasing three proper albums and, in 1989, a cassette on the Swiss label No Records that is here reissued, half of the album written for a stage play called Bandagen by Grazia Pergoletti.

Bringing together two noise improvisers and experimenters, Guro Skumsnes Moe from Sult and MoE performing on octabass & electric bass, and Philippe Petit (who has albums on Aural Terrains, Monotype and Bolt) performing on synthesizer and turntables, both also providing vocal utterance, for two thick journeys of twisted, diverse and often deep sonics bridged by an abstract interlude.

A unique exposition of an 1893 text by Robert Charles Hope exploring the legends of England's "holy wells", the water of which was purported to have healing properties, adapted to atmospheric songs by Drake and performed on a 1940 Hammond model BC organ and a Challen upright piano; delicate and descriptive songs that detail the legends and the hope they inspired.

Originally released in 2001 on the Magaibutsu label, the 3rd studio album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei led by drummer/vocalist Yoshida Tatsuya energetically blends progressive rock, chamber rock, fusion and composed forms, here revisited for the 2nd time with the 2009 expanded reissue remixed again with new additions, plus three bonus tracks from a 2020 concert.

Expanding on the history of Henry Cow in new recordings discovered after the 19-CD Cow Redux box, including: a well-recorded concert at the the first Glastonbury Fayre in 1972, the earliest recordings of the quartet of Martin Ditcham, Fred Frith, John Greaves and Tim Hodgkinson; a 1978 grouping with Phil Minton; unrecorded compositions from 1977 in Bilbao; and a 1976 Chaumont Concert.

Originally released by Woof Records in 1982 on cassette, this double CD reissues an essential lo-fi document from The Work (Bill Gilonis, Mick Hobbs, Tim Hodgkinson and Rick Wilson) in live performances from gigs and rehearsals assembled in cut-up form, adding new pieces and expanding on others, joined at times by Catherine Jauniaux, Bob Ostertag, Chris Cutler, &c.

Creating soundscapes from homemade instruments, Text-To-Speech, AI voices, lap steel guitar, found objects, field recording, &c., the duo of sound artists Sam Scranton from Chicago and Neil Quigley from Kilkenny, Ireland, present six unusually unfolding compositions of deceptively relaxed environments layered with mysterious elements and a sly sense of humor.

"As Frogworth says in one review: 'Two giants of Australian avant-garde music getting together here, dedicating their record to Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, whose house in Paddington, Sydney is used for residencies/sabbatic...

Led by Univers Zero bassist and composer Guy Seger, the third album from Eclectic Maybe Band combines elements of rock, jazz, electronic and abstract landscapes, performed by an ensemble of chamber rock players including Discus label leader Martin Archer, varying groupings within the band focusing on each section in a mix of composed and improvised approaches.

One of the most intense and unusual of the 80s Downtown NY groups merging rock and improvisation with strong attitudes and incredible musical concepts, these live recordings, including songs never before released, are taken from American and European concerts by the trio of guitarist Fred Frith, cellist Tom Cora, and either electric harpist Zeena Parkins or reedist Dave Newhouse.

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.

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.

Eschewing his many monikers (Birg Borgenthal, Elan Pauer and Ra Ra da Boff) pianist Oliver Schwerdt steps away from EUPHORIUM_freakestra, uses his given name, and takes the stage of the Bauhaus building in Dessau where such legends as Fred van Hove and Alexander von Schlippenbach have played, to record these four exemplary and extended, kinetic & free solo piano improvisations.

Adhering to the tenets of "Dissonance, Speed, Aggression, Weirdness, and Singularity", Weasel Walter leads his Flying Luttenbachers in their 15th album of no wave, punk jazz & brutal prog, Weasel switching to guitar and yielding the drum chair to Sam Ospovat, as the band rips through ridiculously complex twists and turns, even taking on Albert Ayler's strange '66/'67 musical suites.

An electroacoustic composition of environment & sound punctuated with subtle percussion and electronic interventions, developed from field recordings, performances on Roosevelt Island, and studio recordings in Brooklyn by the duo of Tucker Dulin on bells, bowl, can, cymbal, lentils, mallet & whistle and Ben Owen on paper mic, speaker boxes, op amps & cassette.

Recorded in 2005 with an ensemble of like-minded instrumentalists and then edited and collaged for the next year and a half, this was a project of Charles Hayward during his time at The Albany in Deptford, London, using their digital recording suite to create a large work using a variety of strategies and developed in a dramatic story form, issued here for the 1st time.

2 CDs of works for violin, piano & vibraphone, composed and performed by two young American composers and members of the ensemble Ordinary Affects, who have recorded music by the Jurg Frey, Magnus Granberg, Michael Pisaro, Eva Maria Houben, &c.; the 1st disc presents the Feldman-esque work of JPA Falzone, while the 2nd contains an exquisite new work by Morgan Evans-Weiler.

Bob Drake takes his listeners on a 22 piece instrumental journey through a "Beastley" garden of confident melodic foundation anBob Drake takes his listeners on a 22 piece instrumental journey through a "Beastley" garden of confident melodic foundation and experimental forays, captured by day and night, a tour de force of conception and execution.

Caught live at Jazzklubb Fasching in his home of Stockholm, Swedish bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg's The Great Question band with Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Jonas Kullhammar on saxophone & flute, Alberto Pinton on reeds, and Jon Falt on drums, perform 6 inventive compositions in an amazing concert of modern, upbeat, innovative jazz.

This Heat and Camberwell Now drummer, songwriter, vocalist, experimenter and sociological observer Charles Hayward steps away from his drums for an intimate album of song, performing on piano with minimal accompaniment as he presents new songs and new versions of songs including pieces from Camberwell Now; powerfully fragile, insightful, fascinating.

Fred Frith's solo career started on the West Coast Ralph Records label, home of The Residents; Frith met Residents front man Hardy Fox in passing in 1991, making recordings on a Pacific beach using Fox's Walkman, which they brought to a multi-track studio to record the basis for an ultimately unreleased album, now revived decades later as Fox rediscovered this fascinating material.

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.

A unconventional yet lyrical album of creative jazz from the New York quartet of Angelika Niescier on alto sax, Denman Maroney on hyperpiano, James Ilgenfritz on contrabass, and Andrew Drury on percussion, Maroney's piano preparations and Drury's objects complementing complex time signatures and intricate notated materials that yield lush, beautiful music.

"Anamnesis: Ecumenical Mysteries was Yugoslavian saxophonist/composer Boris Kovac's first release out of Europe (on the Canadian label Disques Victo). It was also his first work recorded in Yugoslavia following the war that forced him t...

"Superb, simply superb, but also disorienting and disquieting: that's Happy Wretched Family, Non Credo's second album, seven years after Reluctant Hosts. The avant-pop format found on the first LP has evolved into twisted shards of pop ...

During 2012 Patrick Farmer walked half of the Welsh Coast, writing a series of observations, which on this release are read in environmental settings by Antoine Beuger, Jeph Jerman, Bruno Guastalla, Sally Ann McIntyre, Holly Pester, Daniela Cascella, & Michael Pisaro-Liu.

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).

Madrid multi-instrumentalist and cross media artist Edith Alonso in an album of prepared solo electric bass improvisations, a four part work of muscular and shadowy sound, dark vibrations with crepitating edges making a sinister and cathartic dungeon of sound.

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.

An incredibly informed instant-composing ensemble drawing on free jazz and post rock sensibilities with nods to Indian ragas, jazz-inflected minimalism, Zappa-esque bouts of sonic anarchy, and German rock music from the 1970s, captured live at Toronto, Guelph and Hamilton, Canada in 2012.

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.

London's Remote Viewers in their 13th release, quoting W.H. Auden in an album of excellent structured improvisation with David Petts, Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch & Adrian Northover (saxes), John Edwards (bass & drums), and Rosa Lynch (keys and percussion).

Arrive, formed in 2001, is Aram Shelton's Chicago band with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tim Daisy, a remarkable album of structured free playing.

A live multitrack recording from 2009 of the collaboration of Acid Mothers Temple SWR - Kawabata Makoto, Tsuyama Atushi, and Yoshida Tatsuya - with saxophonist Umezu Kazutoki.

Fred Frith's 1982 live album of his solo concerts at various venues in Japan, 1981, performing on guitar, throat mike, violin and piano; long out of print and now remastered by Tom Dimuzio.

Luigi Nono associate Roberto Fabbriciani on hyperbass flute improvising with Berlin-based tuba player Robin Hayward at the Basilica di San Domenico in the Tuscan hilltown of Arezzo.

The quartet of Cosottini, Melano, Pisani, Miano (EAQuartet Electroacoustic) in compositions referring to the 4 cardinal map points using graphic scores, games, open readings, &c.

Sim is the 3 piece electronic/rock band of Teruyuki, Yoshio & Masahiro, here with Otomo Yoshihide on turntables and synth, and amazing album of rhythms in a This Heat "Repeat" mode.

Violinist Del Fabbro (Fanfare Pourpour, Rouge Ciel) present 13 pieces for up to ten players with Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay in a melting pot of avant-rock & compositional forms.

Henry Cow captured in concert between their "In Praise of Learning of Learning" and "Western Culture" releases. in concerts that featured Robert Wyatt in his last public performances.