An Italian quartet playing rootsy jazz and blues compositions from John Carter, Charley Patton, Julius Hemphill, Phil Cohran, Sun Ra, Blind Willie Johnson, Olu Dara, alongside and a few originals; gutsy, informed, spell-binding Hoodoo from the delta blues to outer space.
Toronto drummer and composer Nick Fraser in a superb trio with saxophonist Tony Malaby and pianist Kris Davis, performing Fraser originals that merge free improvisation, jazz and avant compositional approaches with astonishing solos from all three.
The extraordinary trio of three masterful players from different generations who have broken with convention while playing within free forms--Evan Parker on sax; Joe Morris on guitar; and Nate Wooley on trumpet--performing live at Firehouse 12 in Connecticut, 2014.
The 1st meeting between Simon Nabatov on piano (inside and out) and double bassist Mark Dresser, recorded live at the Loft in Cologne in 2014, for a remarkable dialog of empathetic communication, outrageous technique and dynamic exchange from two authoritative players.
French soprano saxophonist Stephane Rives and US Sound artist Bryan Eubanks on oscillators and feedback synth recorded this extended improvisation after performing live together in Berlin in 2014, using twisting acoustic and electronic tones punctuated by dramatic confrontations.
Odd beats, strange solos, a reggae feel here, an avant-garde jazz angularity there, from Rollerball, a goth-tinged pop band with vocalist Mae Starr leading the quintet through catchy melodies with unexpected twists and turns.
Label leader Brian John Mitchell in his first Small Life Form release, seven instrumental drone pieces ranging from contemplative to noisy and disturbed, designed so they may all be listened to simultaneously while looped.
If Thousands present a beautiful blanket of sound recorded as a soundtrack for falling asleep. Quite beautiful and soothing. Fans of Godspeed You Black Emperor and Stars of the lid should love this one.
A trio of collective-improvisers recording in NYC's East Village in 2015 for exceptionally sympathetic dialog, instigated by electric keyboard improvisor Thollem McDonas, with Nels Cline on guitar and Charles Gayle cohort Michael Wimberly on drums; Fred Frith liner notes!
Two masters who rarely play together--guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist Evan Parker--performing together as a duo at the 30th Musique Actuelle Festival in Victoriaville, Canada for an amazing exchange of ideas and intensely subtle dialog.
A hybrid of theater, music, sound poetry and political manifesto from Sylvaine Helary, focused on the "Arab Spring" in Egypt, using intertwining words and voices around the quartet performances of Hugues Mayot, Sylvain Lemetre, Antonin Rayon and Sylvaine Helary.
Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser pays tribute to clarinetist and composer Jimmy Giuffre, in a quartet with Russ Lossing on piano & keys, Drew Gress on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, merging Giuffre's lyrical forms to create new and innovative compositions.
First album by French rock band Ghost Rhythms's keyboardist and co-composer Camille Petit, orchestral instrumental rock with a progressive rock feel, latin rhythmic influences and strong melodic tendencies, performed by a large ensemble to create an embraceable blend of music.
The French trio of saxophonist Bertrand Denzler, guitarist Jean-Sebastien Mariage and drummer Antonin Gerbal in two extended works beginning and ending on a sustained plateau while maintaining a constant state of anticipatory suspense using no electronics, treatments or effects.
The duo of tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and percussionist Antonin Gerbal, 2/3 of the Zoor trio, in an album of free improvisation contrasting simple and complex sounds, organic and mechanical rhythms while evoking asymmetric, geometric or enigmatic shapes.
A compilation attempting to cover a wide spectrum of modern electroacoustic experimentation from the Greek Thirsty Leaves label, presenting Giorgos Christianakis, Shanyio, Fastus, Xu(e), Gusev K.P., Steven Sandberg, John Daly, Moody Alien, Zenjungle, KR Seward, & James Ross.
With members from Fire!, Red Trio, Amado Motion Trio, &c., the trio of Pedro Sousa (sax), Johan Berthling (bass) and GabrielFerrandini (drums) push the envelope in free improvisation that is energetic, argumentative, restless, and ultimately extremely intelligent.
French free improvisers Benjamin Duboc (double bass) and Jean-Luc Petit (contrabass & clarinet) in a moody album of bass tones, deep harmonics and rich timbral interaction with beautiful pacing that rises in confrontation and then descends back to artful darkness.
Drummer Joe Herteinstein's followup to his 1st Clean Feed HNH album from his New York trio with Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Thomas Heberer on cornet, adding a New York attitude to European modern jazz, with oustanding playing using a mix of traditional and inventive approaches.
Crossing tonal material with post-bop playing, trumpeter Susana Santos Silva leads her LAMA trio in electroacoustic and traditional playing, with guest reedist Joachim Badenhorst adding a masterful edge, as they interpret the novel by the Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago.
Bassist and composer Hugo Carvalhais in an album hinting at chamber jazz with Dominique Pifarely's extraordinary violin work, but taking the music into unusual territory with his own keyboards, electronics, and by Jeremiah Cymerman's electronic manipulations.
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.
The free improvising trio of John Dikeman on sax, Jon Rune Strom on bass, and Tollef Ostvang on drums, invites Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and alto sax for a release of rugged free improv using unorthodox approaches and amazing dexterity in their playing.
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!
A multinational jazz trio using compositional and improvisational approaches, led by drummer Dre Hocevar, with Bram De Looze on piano, and Lester St. Louis on cello, plus NY electronics artist Sam Pluta providing signal processing on the title track.
A superb octet including pianist and leader Kris Davis providing innovative compositions, with the powerful support of Ben Goldberg, Oscar Noriega, Joachim Badenhorst & Andrew Bishop on reeds, Nate Radley on guitar, Gary Versace on organ, and Jim Black on drums.
A 2-CD release from Japanese percussionist Seijiro Murayama, performing solo on "objects" which combines clearly percussive objects and other electroacoustic items of obscure origin, creating active, rich and curious sonic environments that envelop the listener.
A work for heavy electronic drone and glitch, Herbal International Label founder Goh Lee Kwang presents this live performance from Malaysia's Finders Art Space in Kuala Lumpur, for 36 minutes of mysterious intensity that settles and fills the listening space like a pall.
A cohesive work of processed bass, field recordings, and feedback developed during the tour of Klaus Janek and Claudio Rocchetti through China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, at times adding Li Zenghui, Yan Jun, Stephen Roach, Feng Hao, Liu Xinyu, Torturing Nurse and Sin:Ned.
Sound artist Luigi Archetti has developed his Null series over several years, here presenting his second Box set of 4 CDs, the word "null" (German for "zero") a metaphor for a state of pausing and anticipatory waiting, as the sound evolves slowly using static tones and drones and the transitions between, generated from e-guitars in unique tunings.
Composer Gregory Buttner captured recordings from the 19th century French Performance Arts Forum in St. Erme, Picardy in 2011, using the house as a sound generator, resonant space and instrument, organizing the recordings into this excursive and exploratory composition.
Rodolphe Alexis composed these works from a diverse set of recordings of trains, factories and other potent sounds, pairing them with recordings from saxophonist Stephane Rives using extended and unusual techniques, yielding these inventive and irrepressible sound works.
Two extended works from Herbal International label leader Goh Lee Kwang: the two part "Vurnmmkied" the first of static sonic environments that slowly morph, while the second varies with a mix of subtle and harsh sound; "3753" contrasts with gentler, slower territory.
Sound artist Jason Kahn performing in Zurich at the Kunstraum Walcheturm arts organization, recording fourteen short improvised sections, focusing on heavily effected drums and percussive elements augmented with synthetics, radio, plus work exclusively for voice.
Patrick McGinley (Murmer) in a series of bold experiments with untreated field recordings, exploring notions of musicality within the structures of found sound, written partially as a reaction against the idea of documentary or objective presentation of found sound.
A document of a musical performance recorded in the open air near a castle in France by Pascal Bathus and Emmanuel Petit on electric guitars, and Lionel Marchetti credited with "electricity", recorded while Yoko Higashi performed a butoh dance during their music performance.
A series of unusual electronic constructions from Malaysian sound artist Goh Lee Kwang, Herbal International's label boss, a diverse set from indistinct squiggly sound to full-on noise, with lengths from 31 seconds to 37 minutes; unusual, peculiar, and fascinating.
Pascal Battus in a series of compositions realized with recordings of cymbals, using specific techniques that enable him to sustain the sound and allow pure frequencies to emerge as he develops each piece as extended audio journeys based on improv and organized sound.
A diverse set of electronic compositions from hauntingly beautiful to tormented soundscapes, composed by Goh Lee Kwang for a multimedia stage work based on Rashomon, a short story about moral ambiguity written in 1915 and based on a 1000-year-old Japanese tale.
Jason Kahn uses feedback and electronic noise to create a large work created from static, hiss, and unusual electronic sound, dynamic and ever-shifting aspects of both lovely and aberrant electronics, captivating in ever-shifting sounds that inform but do not overwhelm.
Noise and sound artist Zbigniew Karkowski and Canadian born Japanese based noiser Kelly Churko in four recordings from Super Deluxe and Soup in Tokyo, bookmarking the release with harsh distortion offset by spacious and dynamic glitch and subtly aberrant sound.
A journey in sound from composer Eric La Casa, who organized these recordings of water and wind captured over 12 years as a sonic journal of the various geographic locations he visited, transforming them into an absorbing story about the living world.
On the surface an album of organized field recordings, which Eric Cordier recorded in both France and Japan, from outdoor sounds (frogs/birds) to indoor environments, over which Murayama added percussion and vocal utterances, synthesizing unusual and engaging environments.
Sound artist Roel Meelkop compiles various limited vinyl 7", 10" and lathe cut releases from Korm Plastics and related labels, along with one work made for this release, showing the variety of approaches and concepts Meelkop applies to his fascinating sound work.
Compositions by Lasse-Marc Riek of the Gruenrekorder label, created from field recordings of sounds in harbors, recorded between 1999 & 2007 in Finland's Bjorkoby and Ostero harbors, and in Germany in Wismar and Hamburg harbors, rich evocations of the sea.
Lowercase free improvisation from the duo of Sabine Ercklentz and Andrea Neumann performing on trumpet and a specially designed amplified piano frame, recording 5 detailed and mysteriously constructed works using space and structure in intriguing sound work.
A fun and unusual electronic album from Malaysian sound artist Goh Lee Kwang's, whose instrument of choice is an old Roland Jupiter analogue synth, with toy keyboards, saxophones, bass and drums also thrown into the pot and merrily melted down by Max/MSP.
The trio of trumpeter Peter Evans, electric bassist Tim Dahl, and drummer/percussionist Mike Pride have played together since 2010, crossing the boundaries of improvisation, composition and rock in dynamic genre-defying music intended to be played loud.
Stepping away from the saxophone, composer/improviser Jean-Luc Guionnet presents two large compositions for the organ, each taking a single CD to explore the organ's border effects, resonances, natural saturations, all artefacts that sign the acoustic, analogic, digital, process.
A reissue of the 1995 album from the duo of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar, electronic sound work in a Zoviet France mode, using looping structures but also freeform improvisation to create dark and alluring audio environments with beautiful sonic elements.
