★Amalgam
Feelings
Feelings marks Jake Henry’s long-awaited return as a leader, more than a decade after his debut with Sweet Talk Glitterbomb. This album is a deeply personal exploration of the intricate harmonic language and angular counterpoint Henry developed during his formative years as a guitarist. Drawing on the frenetic energy of math rock, raw intensity of metal, and chaotic textures of noise, Henry recontextualizes common song form into a bold, genre-defying soundscape.
The quartet—featuring Brian Krock…
Enter The Misanthropocene
Abhorrent Expanse thrives on contradictions and draws strength from the muddled wastes between firm stylistic distinctions. The group conjures harrowing visions of the descent into true hysteria, abstracting the familiar hallmarks of extreme metal into ancient soliloquies intoned in forgotten tongues. Tectonic grinding, relentless needling, and claustrophobic encapsulation give way to violent flashes, pangs of dripping saturation, and wildly unnerving murmurs. Following the release of their debu…
Trips
Whisker is a duo consisting of modular synthesist Ben Baker Billington and bassist Andrew Scott Young. These are two space cadets who have emerged from the burned-out basements and sweaty lofts of the midwest noise scene to become leading figures in the Chicago music community. Billington has mastered trippertronics under his Quicksails project and provided tactile drum work to the pivotal Chicago industrial collective ONO, while Young’s bass playing has graced records by Ryley Walker, Circuit d…
Of the Essence
"In the early 1990s, trombonist Jeb Bishop became an essential part of Chicago’s musically and geographically outward-looking jazz community. His mastery of the full spectrum of trombone language, from earthy melody to abstract sound effects, made him indispensable in every band he joined—including the Vandermark 5, Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet, School Days, and Engines—and the indelible quality of his compositions made his recordings with his own bands landmarks of the era. Bishop left Chic…
Look Both Days
First meetings are always a risk, but if the vibrations are right and the doors are open, magic will be made. When the members of Look Both Days (brought together by Chicago pianist Erez Dessel) took the stage on the opening night of the 2023 Catalytic Sound Festival, nobody knew quite what to expect. With Marvin Tate on the mic, Mai Sugimoto and Fred Jackson Jr. both on alto saxophone, Erez Dessel on piano, and Ben Hall on drums, these stalwarts of the midwestern improvised music scene were poi…
Groppler Zorn
*2025 stock* Emerging from the fertile ground where language meets rhythm, Groppler Zorn proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated debut album. Conceived in the transition from spoken word to music, the project embodies the belief that the urge to speak and the impulse to dance spring from the same source. Far from being a singular vision, the album is the result of a series of creative dialogues — conversations between musicians and artists from diverse, and at times opposing, a…
Gleaners
*2025 stock* Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu’s music might best be described as genre bending, stream of consciousness, improvised spontaneous composition. Drawing on elements from the second Viennese School is as natural and organic as a contrasting modal, folk inspired melody, albeit with a deranged noise accompaniment. Investigations of delicate sounds might be interrupted by abstractions of animal voices. Quick reflexes determine sudden directional shifts, allowing the music to adapt to its ne…
Double Helix Quartet
*2025 stock* The acclaimed ensemble Double Helix Quartet proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated new album, an adventurous collection that redefines the boundaries between contemporary classical music, improvisation, and experimental soundscapes. With this bold statement, the quartet reaffirms its role as one of the most forward-thinking voices in today’s chamber music scene.
Fusing tradition with innovation, the album showcases the group’s signature interplay of precision an…
Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ...
*2025 stock* Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ... is the debut recording by Turtle Boat, a free-jazz outfit led by Abhilasha Chebolu (Null Copula, Princsex, Gault, Ryan Jewell Quintet) featuring her compositions with additional contributions from saxophonist Alex Burgoyne (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Gault, Liver Quiver, Ryan Jewell Quintet). Joined by Dan DiPiero (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Common Things), the trio first assembled in 2015 after a decade of playing together in vari…
Ism
*2025 stock* Ism highlights the distinct qualities of each member. Fred's methodical approach to melody, Ed Wilkerson’s relentless dynamism, Jim’s uncanny ability to subvert expectations, and Avreeayl's inescapable rhythm, which weaves through the music—shaping everything from textured explorations to intense grooves to wild improvisations.
Macrodose
*2025 stock* "Macrodose" marks Bill Harris's third solo record, following "Blinking Glue" (2022) and "Onomat" (2021). Harris's unique approach to solo drumming combines acoustic and electronic elements, utilizing feedback and timbral manipulation to create a distinctive auditory experience. Where Blinking Glue was a single-take, live performance which represented a snapshot of his live solo set, Macrodose returns to a similar format of Onomat, encapsulating shorter sonic spaces in a number of di…
Just an Umbra of Symmetry
*2025 stock* Paradise Complete is the sound collage duo of Nick Meryhew (Chicago, IL) and Bryn Davis (St. Paul, MN). Their work centers on ideas of collaboration, asynchronicity, improvisation, and serendipity. It’s fun strange music and it feels nice to listen to it. With this album, Paradise Complete explores the branching lives latent within a fixed set of material. These tracks tell their stories in distinct but mutually intelligible tongues with, to, and against one another. Half of this al…
Miniature Paintings And The Impossible Warehouse
*2025 stock* Founded in the Winter of 2017 Adam Shead’s Adiaphora Orchestra is a large mixed chamber orchestra performing the compositions and conductions of percussionist composer, and educator Adam Shead. The Adiaphora Orchestra, located in Chicago, IL, is comprised of the cities finest rising star improvisers from a variety of performance idioms and practices. Including a full string, brass, woodwind, auxillary, and rhythm section the ensemble performs what Shead calls “indifference music”. A…
Horizontal Shift
Horizontal shift, features the international trio, from Germany and U.S., of Birgit Ulher, Carol Genetti, and Eric Leonardson. The CD consists of a live performance recorded in 2018 at Elastic Arts in Chicago. Having known each other since the late 1990s, it wasn’t until early 2018 that Ulher, Leonardson and Genetti were able to perform as a trio at Elastic Arts in Chicago. All three are seasoned performers in their own right — each bringing their distinct palettes in combination to create an im…