Experimental / All styles

This CD brings together four seminal tape works of Terry Riley. The Gift music was performed in Paris 1963 by Chet Baker, with tape manipulations by Riley-- the first use of tape delay to fragment, attenuate, and return time, looping tape through twin-tape recorders. The Gift recordings, referred to often by Soft Machine members, is the precursor to the landmark that launched the minimalist movement In C. "Bird of Paradise" is a radical tape-manipulation work, the earliset known plundering that …

The Kompakt label presents the work of Wolfgang Voigt's Gas -- a remastered deluxe package that includes all four of his Mille Plateaux albums: Gas (1996), Zauberberg (1997), Königsforst (1998) and Pop (2000). Wolfgang Voigt, in the past known under a great many pseudonyms such as Mike Ink, Studio 1 or Grungerman, is the driving force behind the rise of Cologne minimal techno and also Kompakt's co-founder and co-owner. In the 1980s, Voigt began working under a concept he named BLEI -- extracting…

Quartet (GTM) 2006 is Anthony Braxton's first release for Important Records. GTM stands for Ghost Trance Music and this four CD box set contains four Ghost Trance compositions recorded in quartet with Anthony Braxton playing reeds, Carl Testa on bass, Aaron Siegal on percussion and Max Heath on piano. This 4CD box also contains a definitive essay by Braxton on his Ghost Trance compositions. 

Uneasy Flowers is the second album by Autistic Daughters, the intercontinental trio of Dean Roberts (guitar, vocals), Martin Brandlmayr (percussion, computer) and Werner Dafeldecker (guitar, bass). It is also the fourth in a series of records in which Roberts, having begun in more abstract territory in New Zealand's mid-1990s 'free noise' ferment, has embraced song, lyric and voice as vessels for topographic and psychoanalytic tracings of the impacts of territory and nomadism on the subject. Thi…

Messidor is the fourth album from the UK's Aufgehoben, who record unformed improvised sounds and then, over a period of time, mix and mutate them into a not immediately identifiable form of raw instrumental rock noise. It is the discordant and hostile sound of mechanical beasts locked in a cage against their will via incredible levels of distortion, clattering percussion and a wide spectrum of overtones produced by scraped and scratched guitar strings. In time a sense of structure is revealed an…

All the sounds in this CD have been recorded live durino a four-month rehearsing session. There are no overdubs. The core of the I/O sound is the process that leads to the (dis)organization of the sonorous form rather than the song itself. The study of how the sounds interact with each other –either opposing or matching- is the most important stage in our conception of improvisation. Once again: the attention on the process (dynamic), more than the final result (static).

Uncode Duello is the result of a long period of hard job, careful listenings, readings and visions, studying use of instruments, sounds, dynamics, of newest and oldest machines and technology. But not only. This is “The” record by Cantù and Iriondo, because they have produced and thought by themselves, making treasure of past experiences and putting all into it (SMWM, A Short Apnea, Tasaday, Four Gardens In One) meeting and crashing as it’s necessary for important projects. Twelve years in a "du…

This 1993 recording from Jad Fair's Half Japanese is the album that pushed the group from the obscure fringe of the U.S. post-punk underground into a full-blown indie rock legend. Aided by the fact that Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Teenage Fanclub were all singing praise for the group, it was now finally time for a wider public to grasp the concept of one of the greatest unsung heroes of American underground rock. The 1989 documentary film about the group, The Band That Would Be King, is a must-see…

This record features Valentina Ponomareva in different combinations with Vladimir Chekasin, Bill Laswell, Vladimir Tarasov, Kazutoki Umezu, Haruna Miyake, Yuji Takahashi, Ayuo Takahashi, John Zorn.

Truly emotional listening music we are used to, from Roedeliusand Cluster There are ethnic touches, spacy electronicpassages and a rare live piece Consequently every Roedeliuswork, accurate inner chronicle, gives the listener theopportubity to become acquainted with the man behind theartist , sometimes melancholic, sometimes joyfull, infact it s his way to describe the world.

Featuring many of the pioneers of Japanoise (Merzbow, Null, Violent Onsen Geisha, Solmania, and 19 other artists),  demonstrates the flexibility of brute force as performed under the clever disguise of music. AA guaranteed kick in the head compliments of The Land of the Rising Sun. On the Furnace imprint. Very rare. Only one copy available.

Electronic prog "supergroup" formed by Mino Di Martino, Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale released in 1978 what I consider to be part of the finest albums produced in Italy. Curious, enigmatic, fractured and gorgeous, this albums features dense electronic soundscapes, including inspired analog synth excursions, classical music tendencies and off course massive "cerebral" avant gardist fantasies. "Live Pistoia" features loving spacey electronics, emotionally expressive and technically complex. The …

This album is somewhat a departure for French drummer Jacques Thollot. Gone are the uncompromising free jazz experiments of the 60s and 70s - but not forgotten. He is clearly able to channel them in order to profit a more structured environment which betrays a renewed interest for the melody. The set features a core quartet comprised of pianist Tony Hymas, guitarist Noël Akchoté, and bassist Claude Tchamitchian, with special guests trumpeter Henry Lowther on a couple of tracks, and Thollot's dau…

Bun-Ching Lam was born in Macao and holds a Ph.D in composition from the University of California at San Diego. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships including most recently the treasured Rome Prize for Composition. For her second Tzadik recording, she has assembled some of the greatest traditional music performers of China and matched them with some of New York's most creative instrumentalists in creating a beautiful and lyrical meeting of western art music and Chinese troubad…

Tzadik's Lunatic Fringe series continues with the work of manic visual artist and master of musical mayhem, Ken Butler. Performing on hybrid instruments of his own creation, Ken has been performing to enthusiastic audiences everywhere from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Pink Pony bar, accompanied by the intoxicating rhythms of Seido Salifoski and Stomu Takeishi. Ken Butler's music is a delightful anecdote to the humdrum sounds of today's popular stylings. Rubberband trumpet, double axe ce…

The hero of last year’s Self Indulgent Music collection is back by popular demand accompanied by his quirky band of kooks and renegades: Museum of Dannys is a compendium of Cohen’s best work from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, and features his now-legendary underground hits "Suicide"—"Ranting in the Street" —"I’m Not Me"— and "Judgement Day." Arrangements as creative as Esquivel, lyrics as real as Dylan, hooks as catchy as Brian Wilson. Danny’s unique blend of astral projections, bad tacos, Satanism …

Tzadik is proud to introduce you to three exciting new artists. This special CD release is a passport to their unique worlds of sound. Danny Cohen and Mike Boner both hail from California, Horse Cock Kids are based in Cologne but they all share an intense passion for their own self-indulgent fantasies. Songs about sex, degeneracy, puberty, loss of identity, truth, love and boredom from three of the most howlingly original songwriters you have ever heard. This is what Tzadik's Lunatic Fringe seri…

Mark DeGliAntoni, the talented sampler magician for the pop group Soul Coughing studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music and released his first recording in 1995 on the Avant label as part of the experimental composer collective Rough Assemblage. Horse Tricks is his first solo release and features many of his acclaimed musical colleagues in a variety of musical contexts showcasing the wide range of Mark's compositional interests. From instrumental trip-hop and rhythm tracks to ambien…

Composer, theoretician, inventor and instrument builder Frank Denyer is a legendary figure in the Harry Partch/Scelsi tradition. His music is utterly unique and intensely personal, often requiring specialized new instruments of his own design and radical playing techniques. Fired City presents six of his most dynamic compositions in definitive performances supervised by the composer himself. Having worked closely with Denyer for many years, The Barton Workshop is unsurpassed in this repertoire a…

Fima Ephron, the dynamic bassist for the psycho-semitic-avant-klez-band Hasidic New Wave steps out on his own for yet another new approach bringing Jewish music into the 21st Century. Soul Machine blends Jewish scales and sensibilities with jazz/rock fusion via Weather Report and late Miles. Boasting an incredible lineup of downtown’s newest jazz stars, Fima’s colorful program also features a moody remix collage by the talented composer/performer David Torn.

Active for over a decade, New York cellist Erik Friedlander is finally receiving due recognition, not just as a musician, but as a composer of note. These works display his unique take on Radical Jewish Culture - sweeping melodic lines (reminiscent of cantorial singing) in instrumental arrangements that are both adventurous and traditional. Friedlander's first album, Chimera, was released on Avant in 1995. He has performed and recorded with Framework, Joe Lovano, Myra Melford, Dave Douglas, Fred…

Norman Yamada is a brilliant young composer who has worked with Anthony Coleman, Marc Ribot, the Crosstown Ensemble, the Agon Orchestra and was previously heard on the Avant CD by Rough Assemblage. Being And Time, the first CD dedicated to his compositions for small ensembles is an atavistic exploration of rock gestures, ambient noise and today's post-modern malaise. A unique compositional statement from a new generation of genre-busting musical thinkers.

Whether singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino or French, Zahava Seewald is one of the most accomplished and soulful vocalists in the modern Jewish music scene. Following up on her very successful Tzadik debut Abi Gezint!, her latest recording takes a traditional klezmer repertory into a dynamic world mixing gypsy violins and Kurt Weill cabaret. Dedicated to the creative arranger/performer Martin Weinberg, whose premature death robbed Jewish music of one of its guiding lights, KOVED is a passionate …

Naná Vasconcelos' Fragments - Modern Tradition presents a stunning collection of film scores by the world's foremost Brazilian percussionist, whose virtuosity is matched only by the originality of his compositional vision. Released on Tzadik in 1997, the album ranges from his trademark solo music to ensemble pieces featuring some of his favorite collaborators, weaving together award-winning film music that bridges traditional Brazilian rhythms with contemporary experimental approaches. Juvenal d…

Gisburg's newest Tzadik recording couples two masterful compositions onto one disc. Her heartfelt opera for solo voice about the ups and downs of doomed and obsessive love is one of her most personal and striking compositional statements to date, a powerful combination of stark emotional content, minimalist melody and narrative charm. "Anna" shows Gisburg's profound command of classic instrumental writing - a lush and dramatic string quartet performed by the brilliant Cassatt Quartet.

Daniel Goode (1936), composer and clarinetist, was born in New York, studied philosophy, and then music with Henry Cowell, Otto Luening, Pauline Oliveros and Kenneth Gaburo. He is director of the Electronic Music Studio of Rutgers University, and co-director of the DownTown Ensemble, which he co-founded in New York in 1983. Tunnel-Funnel, composed in 1985 is one of his most ambitious and exhilarating works. It was premiered in 1988 by the DownTown Ensemble conducted by David Gilbert, repeated at…

Annie Gosfield's second amazing CD for Tzadik takes acoustic and electric music into dynamic new realms. Factory sounds…improvisation…lush sonorities…junk percussion…twangy guitars…classic minimalism…delicate harmonics…odd drones…rock…sirens…string quartets…driving rhythms…ambients…noise…complex structures…jack hammers and more from one of downtown's most interesting composers.

Shelley Hirsch is a marvelous performer with remarkable vocal talents, charm and a wicked sense of humor. She is one of the best-knownimprovisers of the Downtown New York City scene, performing with virtually every major experimental artist in New York and Europe, but has thus far released only two albums of her own music (both released only in Europe). An award-winning radio play and Hirsch's most ambitious work, O Little Town Of East New York is a semi-autobiographical musical suite about grow…

A beautiful CD of quirky instrumentals from the hip mind of Yuka Honda, co-founder of the pop band Cibo Matto. Combining a wry sense of humor with wit, elegance and impeccable taste, Yuka’s charming instrumental miniatures cross all musical borders hypnotizing you with funky breakbeats, heartfelt melodies and nostalgic soundscapes. Recorded at her home studio and featuring longtime associates Duma Love, Timo Ellis, Bill Ware and Dougie Bowne, this is a breakthrough project for Yuka Honda, who is…

It is truly an honor for Tzadik to release on its Composer Series a CD of music by Lee Hyla, one of America's most important composers of concert music. Concentrating on his dynamic music for piano, this exciting CD presents a fascinating sextet for hammered dulcimer, clarinet, piano and strings, and three solo piano compositions performed by Stephen Drury, Mia Chung and Judith Gordon, three of today's most acclaimed virtuosos. An exciting adventure into a new world of sound, space and texture f…

Born in California, raised in Texas and a New York resident since 1989, Susie Ibarra has become one of the most distinctive drummers in the world. Her latest project is a supergroup that crosses all borders. Driving rhythms and moody atmospheres are shaded with romance, lyricism and mystery. Featuring Susie’s exotic percussion, the classical violin of virtuoso Jennifer Choi, Craig Taborn’s angular pianistic fireworks and laptop electronics pioneer Ikue Mori, Songbird Suite is a delicate and comp…

Makigami Koichi is the leader of one of Japan's longest running underground bands, Hikashu, which has evolved from an electronic pop band to embrace world music, improvisation, noise and other styles. Makigami has recorded two previous albums on his own, including the star-studded, Zorn-produced Koroshi No Blues, a much sought-after import on Toshiba-EMI Japan. He has performed with Derek Bailey and Yamatsuka Eye, and is also the organizer of the monthly Tokyo performance of John Zorn's improvis…

A unique fusion of traditional Yiddish song with country blues, rock and reggae by Kerouac-inspired cult hero Wolf Krakowski. Recorded in 1995 and originally available in a limited edition on his own label, Transmigrations: Gilgul is a soulful contemporary reading of Jewish folk and theater songs mixing the Old World with the New. Yiddish world-beat soul that will delight both young and old.

In his dramatic follow-up to Transmigrations: Gilgul, Wolf Krakowski weaves unique and heartfelt world-beat soul stylings with Yiddish folk, theatre and pop songs to create a compelling international downtown sound rooted in the blues, country-rock, tango, reggae and native mameloshn. Produced by Frank London, this contemporary classic is the very embodiment of Old World meets the New.

One of the world's leading composer/performers presents a dynamic collection of his most important recent works. Professor, musical scholar, author, composer, virtuoso trombonist and computer music genius George Lewis has been a major name in new music since the mid '70s, having worked with just about everyone you can imagine, but his recorded output has been all too rare. This first release for Tzadik highlights the wide variety of his compositional approaches, with music for creative music orc…

Another eclectic rock/pop band out of the infamous Kansai scene that produced the Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba and more. This exciting young three piece unit based in Kyoto presents their debut recording after years of playing in just about every small club from Tokyo to Fukuoka. Visceral power pieces offset with charming female vocals, pointillism and dub effects. Striking originality and a childlike curiosity point this band towards a new Kyoto rock sound.

Trumpeter Frank London (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave) presents his most intimate and personal work to date, evoking the passionate, imploring voices of the great cantorial virtuosos Rosenblatt, Sirota and Kamiol. Recorded live in the Community Synagogue in the heart of the Lower East Side, Invocations is a soulful collection of classic hazonos, scored for trumpet solo, harmoniums, glass harmonica and bass. A lush and beautiful contemporary reading of an ancient yet under-appreciated Jewish tradi…

Another brilliant collection of scintillating originals and Jewish classics from the unique and twisted mind of guitar madman Gary Lucas. Gary’s first release for Tzadik was a delightful and uproarious collection for children. With Street of Lost Brothers, Gary has turned to the dark side. Dances, dirges and doinas for Gary’s versatile touring band, with special guest appearances by insane vocalists Kenny and Larry, sax squealer John Zorn and Walter Horn.

Their first, orginal album, released in 1980, with one-of-a-kind handmade covers. It’s noisy, electronic, folksy, naive, and the TV set is always on. All these years later, it’s still a lot of fun. The CD version came in a special box. Every cover was different! Every copy of NEGATIVLAND, whether LP or CD, features a completely original hand-made cut-and-paste front cover, mostly out of advertising images cut out of old magazines.The CD issue comes in a 5X5" reel-to-reel tape box decorated with …