A meditation on the inner mental environments that one encounters and endures during times of work-related travel, intended as a distraction in airports, bus stations, train stations, subway terminals, &c, reflected in literal and abstract sound for a mix of patience and terror.
Unusual sound work from the Japanese duo of Takahiro Kawaguchi and Utah Kawasaki (Astro Twin), using self-made instruments and electronics to create unexpected sonic emissions that follow curious paths separated by periods of quiet or textural sound.
British guitarist Jon Attwood's Yellow6 solo project finds him performing on guitar, bass, electronics, and drum programming for a beautiful album of shoegaze rock with elements of minimalist, electronica, and ambient sound.
Anders Bryngelsson and Mattin make up Regler, a project of varying genres performed on rock instruments, following sets of rules to create conceptual sound works; Regler #4 deals with harsh noise walls, generating a 30 minute piece of thick, savage sound.
Goh Lee Kwang performing on no-input mixer meets Julien Ottavi on TamTam, bass drum and a computer running Puredata and Apodio 10 for an album of electronic improvisation recorded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Nantes, France, balancing aggressive and meditative sound.
Recordings from the CHOPPA Experimental Music Festival in Singapore, 2015, and the New Combo Jazz Club, Fukuoka Japan in 2014, from the free improvising sometimes ea-improvising trio of Yong Yandsen (sax), Darren Moore (drums) and Brian O'Reilly (contrabass & electronics).
An unusual release of drawings and coins - 98 tracks in 8 1/2 minutes, where each track is the sound of one or more coins dropping by the hand of sound artist Goh Lee Kwang, plus one track from Woody Sullender; the book has pencil drawings apparently inspired by the sound.
Trombonist Steve Swell presents an homage to composer Bela Bartok, applying jazz techniques to the composer's music to find something new and unexpected, in an amazing quintet with Connie Crothers (piano), William Parker (bass), Chad Taylor (drums) & Rob Brown (sax).
Live recordings from 2012 & 2015 by German pianist Uwe Oberg performing a mix of original compositions and work by Monk, Bley, Lacy, & A. Peacock, balancing melodic and exploratory playing with passionate conviction backed by masterly skills and impeccable pacing.
The trio of Joelle Leandre (bass), Benoite Delbecq (piano), Francois Houle (clarinets) recording the 7-part "rue Paul Fort" at 14 rue Paul Fort @ Helene Aziza in Paris, France in 2013, beautifully fluid free improvisation from a set of superlative players.
Experimental improvising in the 3rd studio release from Andrew Weathers and his Ensemble paying homage to America's myriad cultural traditions in sound tapestry and song, completing a trilogy that began in 2011 with "We're Not Cautious".
Merging the sensibilities of compositional, jazz, and free improvised music, pianist Thollem McDonas and Lukas Ligeti on drums and electric "marimba lumina" create a hybrid that takes the best of all three in distinctive, disciplined, and heartfelt ways.
A live recording at Alte Feuerwache Mannheim, Germany from Skein, extending the trio of Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (reeds), and Wilbert de Joode (bass) with Okkyung Lee (cello), Richard Barrett (electronics) and Tony Buck (drums) for an amazing album of instant composition.
Recorded at the festival Neposlusno (Sound Disobedience) in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2012, the AMM duo of Eddie Prevost on percussion and John Tilbury on piano perform an extend improvisation of tension and dynamic, delicately balancing sound in a rich dialog.
Superb free improvisation from the UK trio of Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass, and Eddie Prevost on drums and bowed tam-tam, three generations of improvisers pushing the envelope of spontaneous composition in accomplished and playful dialog.
Recorded at a concert in London, September 1984, this supersession brings AMM stalwarts Keith Rowe and Eddie Prevost together with saxophonist Evan Parker and bassist Barry Guy for an amazingly diverse and cohesive long improvisation.
SNIK IS led by trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and bassist Ole Morten Vagan, who provide the compositions for their quartet with saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts and drummer Erik Nylander, in an album that ranges from meditative free playing to hard swinging bop oriented jazz.
Jean-Luc Guionnet creates a portrayal of Lake Annecy near his home as described through its geographical location, and heard in a series of snapshot field recording compositions that describe the environment, fauna, people and civilization that abound around it.
Real time dark but beautiful composition from the Portugese trio of Susana Santos Silva on trumpet & flugelhorn, Torbjorn Zetterberg on double bass, and Hampus Lindwall on organ, a beautiful mix of experimental playing set against rich tonal music.
This progressive/folk/jazz/improv/experimental/psych quartet from Norway covers a diverse set of approaches to improvisation, from textural, minimalistic and radically abstract, like something AMM would play, using graphic and written notation.
A burning spiritual session inspired by John Coltrane's "Live at the Village Vanguard Again" that began when Jamie Saft told Joe Morris about his deep admiration for Alice Coltrane's playing, adding McPhee and Downs as the perfect complement to realize this excellent album.
The 4th release from the piano-double bass-drums Belgian trio De Beren Gieren of Fulco Ottervanger (piano), Simon Segers (drums), and Lieven Van Pee (double bass), slowly morphing compositions of strong jazz compositions punctuated by short, informed works.
The Netherlands trio of Tobias Klein on reeds, Goncaio Almeia on double bass, and Martin van Duynhoven on drums, is inspired by all kinds of adventurous music of the last 50 years, on this album including compositions for Henry Threadgills, Oliver Lake, and Ornette Coleman.
Miles Perkin takes the late bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel's place in pianist Benoit Delbecq's trio with Emile Biavenda on drums and percussion, in an inventive and lyrical album balancing structure versus improvisational freedom in engaging ways.
Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen (Zanussi 5, Bushman's Revenge, Puma, &c.) leads his new Acoustic Unity trio of Petter Eldh on double bass and Andre Roligheten (Albatrosh) on sax through 8 tightly conceived original jazz compositions with contributions from all 3 players.
With members from Angles, Universal Indians, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Friends and Neighbors, &c. the quintet of Martin Kuchen (sax), Thomas Johansson (trumpet), Mats Aleklin (trombone), Jon Rune Strom (bass) and Tollef Ostvang (drums) play modern, energetic jazz that kicks Satan's ass; highly recommended!
Four Norwegian jazz musicians--Thomas Johansson (cornet), Kristoffer Alberts (reeds), Ola Hoyer (double bass) and Gard Nilssen (drums)--representatives of a new generation of Scandinavian jazzmen playing creative music with the tools and forms of the older generation.
Intense free improvisation recorded in the studio from the Netherlands duo of Rene Aquarius on drums and Otto Kokke on saxophone, in an ever-shifting display of technical prowess and twisted approaches to playing, a controlled grindcore of cathartic jazz.
Composer/performer Thanos Chrysakis in a studio electronic work, using a diversity of methods and approaches that imply his usual free improvisational approaches by creating a rich and elaborate sound world of distinctive, unique and often warped electronic sound.
Half of Chicago's Fast Citizens sextet, Aram Shelton (sax), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello & electronics), and Frank Rosaly (percussion) recorded these free improvisations in the studio then post-processed them to enhance their intricate and unusual electroacoustic dialog.
Kare Kolberg was a pioneer of electroacoustic music in Norway, having written the first Norwegian work for computers in 1973; this CD presents works from 1969-2003 written for the Polish Radio Experimentral Studio, blending and expanding on concepts of concrete music.
Rinus van Alebeek and Michal Libera made frequent excursions into Calabrian towns to follow Alvin Lucier's suggestions to make large and small resonant environments sound, presented through field recordings and readings of text adaptations of Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities".
Sound essay, horspiel, reading, electroacoustic music, plunderphonics, sound portraits, collection of songs: a sonic exposition of melancholia from Tyto Alba, (Michal Libera and Ralf Meinz) accompanied by samples from classical music, birds, and saxophone playing by Martin Kuchen.
Tomek Mirt resurrects the memory of Norwegian composer Arne Nordheimie through this five part work of slowly shifting electronics, tense atmospheres, and gentle murmurs, detailed work that reveals its meditative depth through repeated listenings.
A series of electroacoustic compositions from composer Slawomir Kupczak, combining the sounds of instruments via electronic means to create new hybrid sounds of alien character, released in carefully building works from near-minimal to unsettling eruptions of sound.
Seven sonnets from William Shakespeare in a 50-minute song cycle that unfolds as an evocative journey using the perceptive words written in 1609 as a basis for compositions for quartet and countertenor, bringing depth and new appreciation to The Bard's sentiments.
Helmut Kajzar's theatrical play with themes of physicality and death with sound performed on synthesizers and electronics, in it's 4th recording including stage directions in the narrative (in Polish) with an insert providing English translations of a selection of dialog.
Composer Petit in an opus dealing with the dynamic of resonance and its incidences: a microphonic exploration of a single sound body made to resonate by means of different types of percussion, building a dramatic story from sampled and processed percussive elements.
A diverse set of radio compositions by three Warsaw artists from different fields of art -- Martin Masecki, Wojtek Zra ka-Kossakowski and Martin Lenarczyk -- who reconstruct and commemorate the memory of Poland's most famous composer, Frederic Chopin.
The trio of Joe Morris on guitar and Mat Maneri on viola, with Ivo Perelman taking the tenor saxophone taking the place of the late Joe Maneri from their long-standing trio association, in an album of superb chamber jazz focusing on unusual compositional structures.
A collection of performances by tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp, each piece named for characters from arias sung by Greek opera vocalist Maria Callas, 16 lyrical free improvisations as Perelman evokes Callas' distinctive voice.
Brazilian-born, New York tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman in a duo with drummer Whit Dickey for an extraordinary album dedicated to and with pieces named for saxophonists Hank Mobley, Ben Webster, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler and Sonny Rollins.
Sardinian pianist Claudio Sanna, versed equally in the classical, jazz, and electroacoustic traditions, in his debut recording of 8 original compositions blending composition and improvisation, revealing an enthusiastic and curious approach to music.
Drummer Harris Eisenstadt continues his excellent NY quintet with Nate Wooley, Matt Bauder, Chris Dingman, and new bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, through 7 original compositions of lyrical modern jazz that leaves room for open-ended and extraordinary soloing.
The 5th installment in saxophonist/composer Darius Jones' expansive "Man'ish" Boy epic, a well-balanced album of jazz and voice performed with Matt Mitchell (piano), Sean Conly (bass), Ches Smith (drums), Emillie Lesbros (voice, piano) and Pascal Niggenkemper (bass).
A 3 CD box set of new and previously unissued long-form works from world-renowned composer-bassist William Parker, 10 compositions with musicians including Hamid Drake, Cooper-Moore, Charles Gayle, Rob Brown, Mike Reed, Klaas Hekman, NFM Symphony Orchestra + Choir, &c.
Cellist Daniel Levin Quartet leads his quartet with Nate Wooley on trumpet, Matt Moran on vibes, and Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass, in open-minded modern compositions that blend jazz, chamber, and experimental improvisation of reserved and riveting character.
The music of bassist Jason Roebke and his trio of guitarist Matthew Schneider and drummer Marcus Evan is rooted in the leader's solid bass work and the tasteful and informed lyrical freedom of his sidemen, as heard in this live performace Chicago's Hungry Brain.
French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot's large ensemble drawn from 5 nations in an excellent set of compositions that employ a diverse set of approaches, slyly drawing the listener into unique and encompassing sound worlds of remarkable elements and superb improvisation.
