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Anatomy of a South African Village
One of the most beautiful albums of the first production of the great South African pianist. Recorded live in 1965 at Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, in trio with Johnny Gertze - double bass and Makaya Ntshoko - drums, "Anatomy of a South African Village" shows the various aspects of the poetics of the then Dollar Brand and future Abdullah Ibrahim. From the circular and hypnotic pianism of African inspiration to the angularity of Monkish style, here expressed in the declared reinterpretation of c…
Cologne Curiosities:The Unknown Krautrock Underground, 1972-1976
“Cologne Curiosities” collects, for the first time on vinyl, all the otherwise unpublished/un-reissued material that firstly appeared on the three "Unknown Deutschland - The Krautrock Archive" CDs released on Virgin during 1996. These CD only releases were originally compiled by Trevor Manwaring (Paratactile, Impetus, Virgin, Harmonia Mundi) from tapes supplied to him by Toby Robinson. Toby - aka The Mad Twiddler, aka Genius P. Orridge - is well-known to Krautrock collectors as one of a number …
Ode To Quetzalcoatl
Repress in vintage-styled tip-on hard cardboard sleeve. Guerssen Records present a reissue of Dave Bixby's Ode To Quetzalcoatl, originally released in 1969. Since its discovery in the late '90s, Dave Bixby's legendary $2000 private press album from 1969 is considered by all serious record collectors as the king in the loner / downer folk genre. After being involved in '60s Michigan folk and garage-rock bands such as The Shillelaghs and Peter & The Prophets, Bixby started playing acoustic guitar …
It's Always Now
Ralph Alessi’s fourth appearance as a leader for the label follows a singular album run that’s been met with nothing but praise from The New York Times to The Guardian. The latter lauded Ralph’s previous recording Imaginary Friends (2019) for its “elegant balance of poignant, playful original compositions and gracefully probing improv” and declared it “his best album yet”. It’s Always Now however brims with arguments that there is a new contender for that title. On his new album, Alessi’s unique…
Noumena
Second volume of unreleased solo material by Tim Barnes, Noumena explores the thresholds of perception with long-form compositions built from minimal gestures, field recordings, and ambient textures. A durational and meditative counterpart to Lost Words.
Lost Words
After decades of being the rhythmic architect behind some of underground music's most essential recordings, experimental percussionist Tim Barnes steps forward with Lost Words, a deeply personal collection that celebrates collaboration while exploring new sonic territories. Released on Drag City, this remarkable album brings together an extraordinary cast of musicians who have shared Barnes' musical journey over the years. Lost Words represents both a culmination and a new beginning. The album f…
Angel Song
“Destined to go down in history as a jazz classic” was the verdict with which The Guardian greeted this album on its release in 1997, saying, “Wheeler’s compositions and four of the world’s greatest improvisers make for a tranquil set that rewards with every listening. This is beautiful, golden music.” Angel Song is among the apexes of the label’s catalogue, uniting four master-improvisers – each with a unique artistic identity – in an intimate, drummer-less quartet session. Kenny Wheeler is the…
September Night
Recorded at Munich’s Muffathalle twenty years ago, in September 2004, this previously-unreleased concert recording of the Tomasz Stanko Quartet is a fascinating document, capturing a developmental chapter in the music between the song forms of the Suspended Night repertoire and the improvised areas that the Polish musicians would explore on Lontano. The Munich show was a highlight in a year in which the Stanko Quartet played a record number of gigs, with extensive tours of the US and Europe. T…
John Scofield
John Scofield’s first guitar-solo-recording ever gives a résumé of all the influences and idioms he has cultivated over his career in performances on guitar, accompanied by his own rhythmic pulse and chordal backing using a loop machine. Besides jazz, John is known to have always also had a soft spot for the rock and roll and country music he grew up with, revealed here in unencumbered renditions of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and Hank Williams’ “You Win Again”. Between elegant and personal re…
Pop Music
LP version. Includes digital download with two bonus tracks: the tracks on the Dilatation/Scale 45. Reissue, originally released in 1970. Cool library-styled French album. Psychedelic, proggy jazz-funk with Brazilian/bossa touches. Groovy flute by Bernard Wystraëte plus heavy bass, drums (by André Ceccarelli), violin, occasional fuzz-wah guitar and Urszula Dudziak-like scat vocals. In 1970, the AFA label asked flautist Bernard Wystraëte to register a "pop" album after the worldwide impact of pro…
Lambi
Originally released on the Moshé-Naïm label in 1976, here's the first ever vinyl reissue, expanded to a double album including some essential bonus tracks taken from the recording sessions. Master tape sound. Sommor Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Synchro Rhythmic Eclectic Language's Lambi, originally released in 1976. Impressive jazz-rock-fusion with progressive, funk, Afro-Caribbean and Zeuhl elements courtesy of multi-cultural French band Synchro. The band features drummer St…
Musique Pour Ombres Mécaniques
Shantidas Riedacker, known for his work with Aluk Todolo, Diamatregon, and formerly Blacklodge, is set to release his first full-length solo album, Musique pour Ombres Mécaniques. Shantidas has carved a unique niche in the world of avant-garde and experimental music. His diverse career includes bold and innovative projects that push the boundaries of sound and performance. From his fiery experiments with firecrackers to his unconventional use of vinyl turntables and an electrified shopping cart,…
Compassion
*2025 stock* Pianist-composer Vijay Iyer follows his 2021 ECM disc Uneasy — the first to showcase his trio featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey — with Compassion, another album in league with these two gifted partners. The New York Times captured the special qualities of this group, pointing to the trio’s flair for playing “with a lithe range of motion and resplendent clarity… while stoking a kind of writhing internal tension. Crucial to that balance is their ability to c…
Terrace Of Memories
*250 copies limited edition* 1992’s Terrace Of Memories is an organic ambient album of longing and gentle melancholic minimalism. Sam Rosenthal (Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s founder/synthesist, then based in Los Angeles) and Dirk Serries (then recording under the moniker vidnaObmana in Belgium) blended their atmospheres and somber contemplative electronics on this timeless album filled with lush, dark and beautiful impressions. Energized by a passage of text written by Sam concerning a lost love…
Chante
LP version. Sommor Records present the first reissue of Claude Lombard's Chante, originally released in 1969. Presented in the original French edition gatefold artwork. Produced by Roland Kluger (Chakachas, Free Pop Electronic Concept), arranged by Willy Albymoor and recorded at the legendary Madeleine Studios in Brussels. "If you know the 1968 Eurovision song, or the TV kids cartoons tunes which Claude Lombard sang, it will be hard to believe what's happening there... Beautiful pop songs sung i…
No. 5
LP version. "While on the island of Syros in the Aegean Sea for a film festival performance, Christina Vantzou experienced what she characterized as 'a moment of focus' -- a specific vision for the sprawl of raw recordings she'd been amassing for her fifth album. Upon relocating to the Cycladic island of Ano Koufonisi, she situated herself outside at a patio table with a laptop and headphones, taking brief breaks to swim, and began the 'reductive process' of shaving and shaping the source materi…
Rare and Lost 70s Recordings
LP version. Ultra-rare recordings by '70s UK avant-rockers Red Square, the missing link between original free-noise practitioners like AMM, Nihilist Spasm Band, and Peter Brotzmann and post-no wavers à la The Blue Humans, Borbetomagus, Fushitsusha, and The Dead C. Named after the early Soviet Constructivists, Red Square is a pioneering free-improvising, avant-rock band. They bridged the worlds of psychedelic rock, noise, and avant-jazz, and many of the techniques and approaches to music that…
N 4
Christina Vantzou follows her role in the superb CV & JAB album for Shelter Press with the starkly haunting No.4 in her chrono-numeric series of albums for Kranky. No. 4 took shape across roughly two years, incorporating a diverse array of musical and conceptual collaborators, including fellow Kranky artists Steve Hauschildt and John Also Bennett (of Forma) as well as Angel Deradoorian (ex-Dirty Projectors), Clarice Jensen, Beatrijs De Klerck and members of Belgium’s Echo Collective. During the …
Rufus
A memorable session in August 1963 when in the hot New York, John Tchicai - alto sax, Archie Shepp - tenor sax, Don Moore - double bass and J.C. Moses - drums, met each other. Four young lions of the New Thing struggling with scratchy themes and a lot of highly contagious rhythms.
Conspiracy
A new ECM studio album and a programme of new music from Terje Rypdal is cause for celebration. On Conspiracy the great Norwegian guitarist seems to reconnect with the wild inspiration that fuelled such early masterpieces as Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away, Odyssey and Waves, exploring the sonic potential of the electric guitar with both a rock improviser’s love of raw energy and a composer’s feeling for space and texture. Keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, who contributed to Terje’s Vossabrygg and Cr…