Using raw and primal rhythms, deep textures from amplified baritone saxophone and trance approaches to rock instrumental music balancing Steve Reich and Sunn O))), the French Hippie Diktat trio of Antoine Viard on baritone sax, Julien Chamla on drums and Richard Comte on guitar has toured Europe since 2011, here in recordings at l'Ecluse, in Reims from 2013.

Since 2010 the French band Drifting Box Celebration has blurred the lines between jazz, free improvisation and contemporary compositional music, led by drummer and composer Sylvain Marty and here with Stephane Arbon on double bass, Franck Pilandon on saxophones, Clement Gibert on clarinet & saxophone, David Audinet on trombone and Alexandre Peronny on cello.

Unusual approaches to rock song and instrumentals from this French duo of Apolline Schöser & Nocola Henry in collaboration with Valentine Noiret, Daniel Dariel on Japanese vocals, Louis Claus on Indian flute and Marie-Laure Gucciardi for poetic writing in Italian, &c.; peculiar and compelling, somehow reminiscent of Etron Fou...

A split 10" vinyl album of two very different works: first French sound artist Jean-Philippe Gross in a sonic assault of garish rhythmic electronic persistence and noise; then the Golden Oriole instrumental rock duo of Kristoffer Riis on guitar and Thore Warland on drums in a compelling work of grooving structure with diverse percussive interaction.

The French Lunar Error Ensemble employ acoustic and electric instruments including reeds, piano, percussion, electric guitars, synth & computers to create complex drone and sonic environments, here performing Jean-Luc Guionnet's work for micro-variations and harmonic interference, a slowly building and massive work recorded in the resonance of the Protestant temple, in Reims.

Using toys and handmade instruments alongside guitar, bass, synths, plundered recordings and electronics, the French Toys'R'Noise trio are a live performing group that borrows from electro-beat rock forms with overtones of IDM/ambient forms, building extended sections and then amusing with quick-witted sections that bridge a clear love of the music.

With a decade of experience, the Flandres, Netherlands free jazz quartet of Adrien Douliez on alto saxophone, Jean Baptiste Rubin on tenor saxophone, Maxime Petit on bass, and Frederic L'Homme on drums blend ethnic and world music with assertive playing, from groove oriented to more aggressive forms, a unique voice in free playing.

Two dark works of sound creating a mysterious chasm of drones, pulsations, electronic stretches, and mysterious percussive engines, a strange pair of recordings that definitely fit the title of this 7" record from Norwegian sound experimenter Lasse Marhaug.

An album of rich aural environments contrasted with clamorous action and disintegrating sound from the duo of French percussionist Rodolphe Loubatiere performing on snare drum and Berlin-based sound sculptor Pierce Warnecke, their second album as a duo presenting a sophisticated and diverse set of compositions that both entrance and disrupt their listeners.

The third album from the French/Belgium La Baracande, with vocalist/violinist Basile Bremaud leading a quartet of violin, guitar, lap steel, pedal board, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, and drone, singing long form ballads of epic tales of life and love that they describe as speaking with a voice to the living and our ghosts.

A rich and building improvisation from this French 10 piece ensemble, using 4 reeds, piano, zither, gangsa gantung, Indian harmonium, harmonium, mixing desk, contact microphones, banjo, objects, electric & acoustic guitars, effects, gong and drums to create a expansive audio universe that owes its sound to free improvisation and Ligeti.

The Norwegian & Danish freejazz-noise-rock trio Yes Deer of Anders Vestergaard on drums, Karl Bjora on guitar and Signe Dahlgreen on sax, in their second album of high energy, cacophonous and brutally joyful (they say "enthusiastic despair") collective improvisation.

A strange and bizarrely beautiful "fanzine" of three CDs, one each from hurdy gurdy drone artist Yann Gourdon, bass guitarist Maxime Petite, and Jean Luc Guionnet on organ, with illustration by artists Fredox, Celine Guichard, and 38Fillette; an odd and absorbing package.

An excellent instrumental 7-inch from the trio of Ava Mendoza on guitar, Maxime Petit on bass and Will Guthrie on drums, recording in the studio in France, four rocking pieces showing the band's chops, quirky asides, and aggressive yet clean playing style.

The alto sax duet of Jean-Baptiste Rubin and Sakina Abdou sculpt sound material that draws on the acoustic resources of the space within which they play, captured here in various locations in Northern France by the keen ear of saxophonist/conceptualist Jean-Luc Guionnet.

New York Drummer Tom Rainey met French guitarist Hasse Poulsen to record this album of dynamic duos in the studio, building works that ebb and flow between aggressive sound and reflective harmony, an impressive display of technical, lyrical, and powerful playing.

Thomas Bonvalet takes the banjo into unusual territory with Jean-Luc Guionnet performing on the organ at the protestant temple of Bergerac, France, in a beautifully terrifying album recorded during the MONC cultural arts centre's festival of avant-garde culture in 2010.

The French quartet or Quentin Biardeau on sax, Gabriel Lemaire on sax and clarinet, Valentin Ceccaldi on cello, Adrien Chennebault on drums and guest trumpeter Bart Maris in a set of composed, structured, and freely improvised pieces, with an ear to lyricism.