Rotterdam based band comprising two Portuguese players--Gonccalo Almeida on bass and Hugo Costa on sax--and German drummer Philipp Ernsting, the trio adding electronics, keys and effects, in their third album slamming hard free jazz and rock angst into a controlled chaos, a maelstrom of powerful riffs, rugged soloing, and mesmerizing grooves.

Hailing from Rotterdam's rich underground scene, the trio of Hugo Costa on alto sax, Goncalo Aleida on bass, and Philipp Ernsting on drums, with all 3 doubling on electronics, in a dramatic and energetic album blending free jazz, improv, metal, and punk music.

A darkly ritualistic, scrabbly album of darkly ritualistic improvisation from the Portuguese trio of saxophonist Mestre Andre, also on electronics, percussion, mbira and voice, double bassist Bernardo Alvares and drummer/percussionist Raphael Soares.

Performing on double bass, amp and a volume pedal, Gonçalo Almeida (LAMA, Albatre, The Attic) explores new sonic environments and possiblities for the large strings, using feedback that modifies based on the physical location between the amp and the resonator of the double bass, Almeida improvises with bowing strokes, pizzicato and unusual string preparations.

Formed as a collective in 2016, Baraque à Free brings together young free improvisers from Toulouse, France, who leverage influences from jazz, contemporary and rock forms, creating passages that include harmonious tranquillity, noisy spaces, rhythmic rage, math rock, and hints of orchestral chamber music; a positive album of musical statement and emotional release.

Known for the psychedelic dance band Gunerius & Verdensveven or The Harvey Steel Show, Norwegian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Bergsten assembles an ensemble that blurs the lines between long improvisation and psychedelic-spiritual jazz, from freak jams to ECM-like electric beauty, tinged with Captain Beefheart or Faust; difficult to describe, intensely creative.

Swiss musicians, trumpeter Marco Von Orelli and drummer Sheldon Suter and their Portuguese partners, guitarist Luis Lopes and electronics artist Travassos, in an album of unconventional collective improvisation using extended techniques in a large work of evolving, subtle interactions, magnifying sound and gesture in an engrossing sonic environment.

Swiss musicians Marco Von Orelli (trumpet, slide trumpet) and Sheldon Suter (prepared drums) and by their Portuguese partners, Luis Lopes (electric guitar) and Travassos (electronics) release a new chapter in their project Big Bold Back Bone, all players embracing a unique electro-acoustic improvisation through transformation of their instruments.

Portuguese stoner rock band Black Bombaim and German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brotzmann recorded this album live at Estudios Sa Da Bandeira in Portugal, a power trio + 1 of uncompromising and burning improvisation, a less common but completely rewarding setting for Brotzmann.

Portugese violist Joao Camoes, living in Paris, in a duo with Jean-Marc Foussat on electronics and voice, which he approaches like those of the acoustic improvised music and free jazz; the two present two long works where Foussat processes and extends Camoes' sound.

Originally formed in 2005 by guitarist Pedro Gomes as a Portuguese free rock group, this Lisboa-based band has transformed into this burning quartet that bridges rock and free improv in both savage and brooding moments, from the superb quartet of Gomes on guitar, Pedro Sousa on saxophone, Gabriel Ferrandini on drums and Miguel Abras on electric bass.

Clean Feed's side label Shhpuma presents a solo release from multi-instrumentalist Guilherme Goncalves (Gala Drop), dreamy and informed guitar-driven music borrowing from kosmische musik, Edgar Froese, or Loren Connors, in gorgeously paced lush instrumental music.

Portuguese composer and pianist Simao Costa in an album of solo prepared piano in the style of John Cage, using transducers, speaker & objects, paced like a Morton Feldman composition, balancing tones and percussive sound in exquisite compositions.

A set of beautiful electro-acoustic compositions, dream-like and rich in details using sources of acoustic instruments, field recordings, guitar, electronics and voice, organized into hazy and beautiful reflections, with contributions from Margaret Hermant on xylophone & violin, Jeremy Young on electronics, and Lee Ranaldo providing field recordings and voice.

Using violin, viola, synth and effect pedals, Portuguese string player Maria da Rocha creates rich environments of sound and unusual rhythmic structures over which she plays with subtlety and transcendence, in her first solo album, using her unique language as she tells the story of a beet and a witch, inspired by Odyssey Ulysses and Circe from Cortazar.

Two guitarists with unique approaches to their instruments -- Paris-based Julen Depsrez and Lisbon-based Luis Lopes -- in an experimental album of evolving sound through extreme modification of guitar sound and sustain, mysteriously building their interactions from whispering sonics to growling harmonics, tightly controlled but bristling with complex energy.

Taking guitar and flute into very strange territory informed by vast experience and technical skill, NY flutist Robert Dick and electric guitarist Nicola L. Hein create truly unique and dramatic sound worlds, sometimes tense, sometimes beautiful, but always fascinating in momentum and expression; unique musical structures that refuse to be easily categorized: extraordinary!

The Toronto-based duo of Colin Fisher on woodwinds and percussion and Carl Didur on keyboards and bass bridge acoustic and electronic improv with science fiction sensibilities in their two part "Exegesis", a critical exposition of un-genred music that borrows from global sources in service to their unusual and exotic tale; a wonderfully perplexing album.

Portuguese legendary rocker and experimenter Flak (Rádio Macau, Maquina do Almoco Da Pancadas) invited an ensemble of rock, free improvisors and electronic musicians--Rodrigo Amado, José Lencastre, Luís Lopes, Guilherme Rodrigues, Francisco Rebelo and Rui Alves--for this improvised live performance in Lisbon, merging genres in inventive and intriguing ways.

Helen Mirra uses the index of a W.G. Sebald's novel to create a mysterious, intriguing and fascinating audio world, performed by Mirra on printing press and acoustic guitar, and Fred Frith on rainsticks, mbira, charango, music box, voice, shoes and other objects.

The duo of Joana Gama on piano and Luis Fernandes on electronics is expanded with Ricardo Jacinto on cello to create rich, mysterious works inspired by Erik Satie's score for the ballet "Relache", graced with the image of the double cross he used when he founded his 1-member church in 1892.

Classical pianist Joana Gama and live electronic processing artist Luis Fernandes bridge compositional and experimental forms in this lyrical work, where Fernandes transforms, dissects, loops and otherwise mutates the Gama's playing in unexpected and elegant ways.

Andre Gonvalves, known for the ADDAC System brand of modular synthesizers and several devices for electronic music, in a solo album combining analog and digital sounds and tools, processing of field recordings and ready-made materials, a rich and beautiful work.

A compilation of compositions for conventional, acoustic, musical instruments, performed through synthetics and computer processing as an album of electronic music, composed by Lisbon based sound and media artist André Gonçalves, each of 9 parts simply titled "Instrumental", and each a fascinating microcosm of kinetic, synthetic-acoustic potential.

Using an electric guitar, preparations, and objects as a tool of reflection, Nicola L. Hein presents an album of philosophical bent, about the question of skepticism in music, or a skeptical form of improvisation, through tumultuous playing of impressive technique caught live at Spectrum in NYC, as each track title presents observations or questions that Hein seeks to resolve.

A collaborative French instrumental rock band led by and with compositions from the core quartet of Anthony Belguise (drums), Jean-Loup Faurat (guitar), Regis Laugier (bass) and Nico Morcillo (guitar), with a list of 22 international guests across 8 songs and instrumentals, including Rafael Toral, Maria Radich, Paulo Furtado, Carlos Zingaro, Rui Carvalho, &c.

Hailing from Atlanta, GA, guitarist Tyler Higgins is also a multi-instrumentalist and composer who merges genres of moody, cinematic music based around folk, blues, jazz and twisted with unusual approaches, aided in his endeavors by drummer Paul Steven and wordless vocalist Ellen Higgins, producing a alluring set of musical narratives.

Blues with a strong sonic sense in Atlanta, GA guitarist Tyler Higgin's 2nd release on Shhpuma, his trio again featuring drummer Paul Stevens, and here adding bassist Gabriel Monticello, known for symphonic, jazz and rock forms, bringing masterful skill to this album that richly blends blues, gospel, folk, jazz and rock forms with passion and style.

Cinematic aesthetics and themes from the Norwegian Holy Mountain duo, performing on the uncommon pairing of two instruments--accordion played by Andreas Angell, and drums with acoustic and electronic parts and vintage synthesizer played by Aleksander Tidemann--in their 3rd release inspired by the dystopian sci-fi visions of John Carpenter, Philip Glass and Daft Punk.

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.

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.

The Ich Bin Nintendo trio of Christian Skar Winther (guitar & voice), Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard (bass) and Joakim Heibo Johansen (drums) take their improvised noise music into the post-punk world with demanding and energetic music that voices it's power and exultation.

The Ich Bin Nintendo trio of Christian Skar Winther (guitar & voice), Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard (bass) and Joakim Heibo Johansen (drums) take their improvised noise music into the post-punk world with demanding and energetic music that voices it's power and exultation.

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten, for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

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.

Sporting a strange sense of humor and blending rock and improvisation, instrumentally this Amsterdam is the duo of Raphael Vanoli on guitar, synth, & electronics and Gerri Jager on drums, synths, & electronics, with Sandor Caron providing sound design, here in an album of stylistic amalgamations of unexpected and upbeat rhythmic oddity and fun melodic inventiveness.

A truly fascinating and seamless hybrid of improvised and composed music, alongside an exploration of feedback and "its acoustic double, a harmonic noise", from the merging of two projects--LAMIEE and Dròlo Ensemble--plus Italian poli-instrumentalists Nicholas Remondino and Andrea Giordano (OTONN), yielding wonderfully complex and enveloping sound worlds.

Drummer Joao Lobo's trio with guitarist Norberto Lobo and double bassist Soet Kempeneer perform the drummer's dynamic compositions, along with one traditional works, a tight trio of highly interactive playing and a sense of familial interplay as the band weaves around Lobo's layered drumming and emphatic grooves, taking time for introspection among their energetic spontaneity.

With only an electric guitar, Luis Lopes (Humanization 4tet) Love Song presents the mostly composed work "Post-Ruins", recorded live at Teatro Maria Matos, in Lisboa, using notes, intervals and chords chosen with the intention of transmitting the perception of an eternalized moment occupying the space like a sculpture, full of emotions, infinite in itself.

The third release in Portuguese guitarist Luís Lopes' Love Song Project is a solo album performed on a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar, six beautifully peaceful and introspective improvisations revealing a calm side to Lopes' often assertive electric guitar work, instead allowing harmonics and notes express his curiosity of life and love of music.

Taking advantage of stereo placement and strong effect processing, Portuguese guitarist Luís Lopes (Humanization 4tet, Lisbon Freedom Unit) releases the antithesis of his recent Love Songs series with this improvised guitar album, splitting his signal through two unique sequences of analogue pedals into tube amplifiers, creating hypnotically corrosive music.

Solo work from Portuguese guitarist Luis Lopes, showing a different side to his work with Humanization 4tet or his Noise Solo project, instead presenting a gentler and more romantic music marked by seductive playing with an unexpectedly tender appeal.

Two unconventional and experimenting improvisers--French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot and Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth--in a deceptive album of acoustic improvisation that elusively takes on electric qualities in the hands of these two innovators, seducing the listener through unusual twists and turns of perfectly paced interactions.

Luis Jose Martins uses classical guitar, prepared guitar, electronics, and percussion in a solo album of incredible detail and lyrical, beautiful playing of original compositions that blend his playing with modern techniques and electronics into melodic masterpieces, performed in the natural resonance of the church of the convent of S. Bento in Avis.

Originally a solo project for cello, electronics and resonant objects, Ricardo Jacinto (Pink Draft, String Theory, LFU) expands his concept that focuses on the relationship between sound and space with this septet, captured live at CCC in Portugal and featuring an instrument developed for the project using multiple microphones on the cello connected to resonant objects.

Bringing together NY drummer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, also on prepared piano, with Berlin bassist Bernhard Meyer for an album that blends textural rock, electronic and jazz approaches in 9 elusively calm yet structurally turbulent pieces, using complex systems of cross rhythms against atmospheric immersion, occasionally disruptive but generally eccentrically controlled and exploratory.

Leaning more towards rock than jazz, but blending compelling blues-based improv, NY guitarist Nick Millevoi leads his Desertion project through a look at Wildwood, NY, the core of the trio as bassist Johnny DeBlase (Many Arms, Sabbath Assembly) and drummer Kevin Shea (Mostly Other People Do The Killing, Talibam!), with Jamie Saft on organ throughout.

Guitarist Nick Millevoi leads an ensemble that includes Jamie Saft on Hammond Organ, Ches Smith on drums, Johnny Deblase on bass, Dan Blacksberg on trombone and June Bender on violin, for an album equally embracing and subverting a wealth of rock and jazz forms.

Mir 8 brings electroacoustic artists Andrea Belfi (drums/percussion), Werner Dafeldecker (electroncis, bass), Hilary Jeffrey (trombone) and Tim Wright (computer & electronics) together for their debut album of four cinematic tracks following an abstract narrative through panoramic landscapes.