Music from United States

Ramona Ponzini's personal touch is certainly her own particular Japanese chant, together with the use of traditional percussions, bells  and cymbals from Japan. Z'EV has been enchanted by all those elements (listening to Praxinoscope), asking to Ramona for this cooperation. This is the result of this "long-distance encounter". ANKOKU is a Japanese word which means "deep darkness". For this debut Ramona's voice and percussions has been registered by My Cat is an Alien in their mysterious studio, …

Here it is, the Mosaic’s awesome Anthony Braxton set, The Complete Arista Recordings, is a long-awaited dream-come-true for fans of the jazz avant-garde. The set’s liner notes were written by musician and scholar Mike Heffley, who gave Mosaic a draft that was twice as long as what they were able to use. Anthony Braxton is the sort of artist who triggers those heated “Is it jazz?” debates; whatever his music is, it is brilliant. By the time he signed with Arista Records in 1974 at the age of 29, …

The debt that modern guitarist composers owe to the late Robbie Basho can hardly be overstated. Though Fahey invented the genre and Kottke proved its marketability, it was Basho's technique, vision, and self-image that resonated most strongly with Will Ackerman and the so-called New Age guitar movement he founded. It's a crime Basho's music hasn't been available on record for many years. Now older guitar fans can welcome back an old friend and newer ones can learn where it all came from on this …

Forgiveness and Exile is Chris Connelly's ninth solo work, the follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed The Episodes. The album is again produced by Tim Kinsella (Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc), Ben Vida (Town and Country, Terminal 4, Bird Show), and Connelly himself, and the musicians comprise the same jazz and improvisational band that played on The Episodes. This time, however, Connelly's group is augmented by the addition of four of his oldest friends: David Miller (Fini Tribe), Shirley Manson (Ga…

Documents the early recordings of Glenn Branca within the realm of his legendary no-wave ensembles The Static & Theoretical Girls. Contains all the recordings from both singles by these groups, plus "outrageous and inspired home cassette recordings from the time." Crucial no-wave-into-the-eighties reference point, and some extremely influential music.

Over the last 20 years, besides his own music, Jim O'Rourke has worked with the Merce Cunningham Dance company, Takehisa Kosugi, Derek Bailey, and Tony Conrad amongst many others. He has produced albums for Beth Orton, Stereolab, John Fahey, Brigitte Fontaine, Faust, and Wilco and more. Between 1999 and 2005 he was a member of Sonic Youth. He has also scored films for directors Werner Herzog, Olivier Assayas, Shinji Aoyama, and Koji Wakamatsu and more. O'Rourke's own films were part of the 2004 …

John Cage's Five Stone Wind (1988) and Cartridge Music (1960), both written for Merce Cunningham dances, played by David Tudor, Takehisa Kosugi and Michael Pugliese. 2008 remaster of the 1991 release, Cage Edition volume 4.

Philip Glass' score to the film Neverwas is the fourth release from the Philip Glass Recording Archive. Neverwas, a film starring Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Nolte, Brittany Murphy, Jessica Lange and William Hurt, is a fantasy-mystery with a bold, playful and fantastical score by Philip Glass. The film never received wide distribution and was largely forgotten. The 53-minute film score (composed the same year the composer's celebrated music for The Hours) possesses some of Glass' most acce…

Performed by Daan Vandewalle, piano. Gordon Mumma (b. 1935) is best known for his pioneering role in the development and evolution of electronic and live-electronic music. The piano has played a significant if underestimated role in his career. With a few notable exceptions, this collection by pianist Daan Vandewalle marks the first commercial recordings of Mumma's music for solo piano composed over more than forty years. It provides an important new perspective on his work as a composer. The sp…

Carlos Giffoni's heavy synthesizer work recalls the crushing, massiveness of early power electronics. Completely consuming the air around it with heavy vibrations and total deprivation. These four tracks rip holes through the sonic barriers, loud and powerful but with entrancing subtleties and discreet builds. The nature of the 7" format does not harm Giffoni's work, which normally exists in extended lengths; instead very succinct and unwavering compositions result, creating four vignettes of hi…

2004 repress. Branca's long anticipated foray into orchestral music. Recorded in Nov, 1990. Performed by The New York Chamber Sinfonia, 'The World Upside Down' is a masterpiece of bright, organic structures & tones tempered in the eerie darkness typified by Branca's best work...Sonically and emotionally boundless, seemingly comprised of interplanetary musics from the netherworlds, 'The World Upside Down's celestial nature will especially appeal to fans of Branca's crystalline 'Symphony No. 3' re…

With their rhapsodic, Eastern-inspired melodies, spiraling rhythms and mesmerizing repetitions, Descending Monnshine Dervishes  and Songs for the Ten Voices of the Two Prophets  deftly illustrate just why an entire generation of musicians has looked to Terry Riley for inspiration. Hailed as the godfather of minimalism, Riley spent his early years exploring the possibilities of electronic keyboards through enigmatic, multifarious improvisations. Two classic albums documenting this significant cha…

Mention "minimalism" and certain names will pop up, both within and outside of the classical world: Terry Riley, Steve Reich, John Adams. The most famous one, however, would be Philip Glass. Unlike most 20th Century composers, Glass has reached far beyond the concert hall: his work includes film soundtracks (THE TRUMAN SHOW, THE THIN BLUE LINE), multimedia presentations ('1000 Airplanes on the Roof"), and collaborations with pop/rock writers/performers (his SONGS FOR LIQUID DAYS album). With SOL…

First in a Glass Trilogy of operas about men who changed the world through the power of their ideas, "Einstein"'s sub-text is science. The opera is non-narrative in form, and the producer has two options: to reproduce the original Robert Wilson production (which exists on videotape), or to create a new series of stage and dance pictures based on themes relating to the life of Albert Einstein. Opera in four acts, composed in 1976. Remastered reissue of the original 1979 Tomato Music Company / CBS…

Unreleased recordings from the late 70s, performed by Glass (Farfisa, Yamaha & Hammond organs, Fender Rhodes piano, Arp synthesizer). New release which contains three seminal works in Glass's musical history. In the late 1970s, Philip Glass was asked by two film producers, Francois de Menil and Barbara Rose, to write music for a film they were producing. The film was Mark di Suervo, Sculptor and it was Glass's first film score, predating even Koyaanisqatsi. The score took its titles from the nam…

One of the best albums of the late '60s and Tim Buckley's most underrated album, Happy Sad was a change-up pitch for the eclectic L.A. singer/songwriter. Sounding like a bit like Fred Neil's Capitol-era albums, Buckley and his small, acoustic-based ensemble create beautiful, jazz tinged folk-rock.

Recorded in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 10, 1968 this impressive 2-hour live concert presents the Washingtonian prodigy folk singer at his best. He was only 21 years old when he had this incredible chance to show the world his talent which would carry him through a short but prolific career -- 9 albums released between 1966 and his death in 1975. Accompanied by Lee Underwood, David Friedman and Pentangle's bass player Danny Thompson, Buckley caressed his 12 string acoustic guitar in an…

Seal of the Blue Lotus is the 1965 debut from the extraordinary folk guitarist Robbie Basho, who released numerous albums for John Fahey's Takoma label during the '60s. His mystical approach to six- and 12-string guitar improvisation shares many similarities to John Fahey in that Basho, too, was inspired by Eastern modalities -- his six-string melodies recalling the Indian ragas of Ravi Shankar's "Dhun in Musra Mund." "Mountain Man's Farewell" is an outstanding piece that displays the early seed…

The first 200 copies of this limited vinyl-only, packaged in handmade copper colored letterpress jackets.  Important Records is quite pleased to be presenting this split release consisting of two new drone works from Pauline Oliveros and Eleh. Oliveros, an early American minimalist who has pioneered the technique of Deep Listening, has created a new work exlcusively for this release. Drifting Depths is a new improvised piece made on a harmonica being processed through Pauline's Expanded Instrum…

Chronologically beginning the label's in-depth survey of the lesser-known psychedelic era of Sun Ra (1968-1971), these discs were painstakingly mastered from first and second generation passes of Michael Wilderman's original recordings and sound better than any collector has ever heard them previously. The Electric Circus show features an unknown female singer who was with the group prior to June Tyson. The Arkestra on stage at Newport cover photo is published in high resolution for the first ti…