New Arrivals / Last 2 weeks
Open, To Love
After Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations, and Keith Jarrett’s Facing You, Paul Bley’s Open, To Love was the third fabulous chapter in ECM’s quietly revolutionary solo piano manifesto, whose impact endures and continues to influence improvisers today. In the liner notes to this Luminessence vinyl edition, Bley biographer Greg Buium writes, “After more than fifty years, Open, To Love remains an imperishable gem, lodged forever in the present tense, and among the great masterpieces in ECM’s vast c…
Lullaby
For Lullaby, Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick draws on the quartet formation in a programme that includes some of his most exploratory and improvisatory qualities, with a cast of ECM familiars Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass, and new arrival Hans Hulbækmo on drums. There’s a sense of abandon within these melodic songs, as the musicians flow smoothly between harmonies, collectively building momentum from within the forms. Eick’s immediately recognizable and soothing tone i…
Under The Surface
Julia Hülsmann’s quartet resurfaces with a fresh Norwegian voice on horn in tow and presents an attractive batch of originals that finds the group thoughtfully exploring common ground with a knack for adventure. As on past outings, each quartet member contributes music to the session, the leader herself being responsible for half the programme. Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff’s introduction to Julia’s trio on 2019’s Not Far From Here already brought a new dimension to the group’s interplay – this se…
After the Last Sky
Eight years after Blue Maqams, Anouar Brahem returns with a poignant project, titled after a line of verse by poet Mahmoud Darwish, which asks “Where should the birds fly, after the last sky?” Graceful chamber pieces for oud, cello, piano and bass subtly address the metaphysical question and its broad resonances in a troubled time. While drawing upon the traditional modes of Arab music, Brahem has consistently sought to engage with the wider world, too, and found inspiration in many sources from…
Quique
Beggars Arkive have announced the release of Seefeel - Quique (Redux), a remaster and first ever vinyl pressing of the redux edition of the groundbreaking 1993 album, originally released on Too Pure. Seefeel's Quique emerged in 1993 on the Too Pure label, blending elements of shoegaze, ambient, and electronic music into an innovative and genre-defying sound. The record’s complex textures, pulsating rhythms, and ethereal melodies create an immersive listening experience, with tracks like “Climact…
Issue 123: Cluster (Magazine + 7" White)
You probably don't need us to translate ELEKTRONISCHES DEUTSCHLAND for you. But to expand on that a little, we're heading back to the 1970s and a country then known as West Germany for this month's Electronic Sound cover story. We're bundling the issue with an exclusive orange vinyl seven-inch by kosmische pioneers Cluster too.
Our cover image is based on the artwork of the debut album from Harmonia, krautrock's first supergroup, and you will find five connected articles inside the magazine, inc…
On Joy And Sorrow
“Graced with a moody cover uncharacteristic of its time, with the band largely hidden in shadows, the album is a nice time capsule of the 60s dream turning perhaps a bit darker…” – Plastic Crimewave
Poe Through The Glass Prism
“The Glass Prism were forerunners of the Goth movement. “The Raven” was the first true expression of Goth Rock." – Maxim Furek
Peacing It All Together
*2025 stock. LP-Style Miniature Sleeve CD reissue with OBI strip.* Lighthouse, though not a typical late-60s rock band, captured the era's free-spirited and complex ethos. Founded by Skip Prokop, who envisioned blending jazz horns, strings, and rock, the band quickly gained traction. Skip, previously with The Paupers, teamed up with Paul Hoffert and guitarist Ralph Cole to form Lighthouse.
Their 1969 debut, recorded after a surprise MGM signing, set the stage for a whirlwind career. Despite earl…
Suite Feeling
*2025 stock. LP-Style Miniature Sleeve CD reissue with OBI strip* The thirteen piece rock 'n' roll band Lighthouse was formed in 1968 by jazz composer Paul Hoffert and rock drummer Skip Prokop. Their fusion of rock, jazz and classical influences made them quite popular in Canada. Lighthouse's second album Suite Feeling, released in 1969, has a version of The Band's "Chest Fever" as the opening track. Not the world's greatest version - the group's four string players do the Garth intro (think ELO…
ESP Grifter / Junk Oracle
*200 copies limited edition* Church Shuttle “ESP Grifter / Junk Oracle” is an 8 track LP of alien abducted industrial music. Specifically Pure Michigan soundscapes Chris Durham has unveiled to us for over a decade.
“A depressed Whitehouse” - Tyler Hicks, Creode
Walks The Blue Circle
*200 copies limited edition* Technicolor Band is a revolving-cast, cross-genre improv unit based in Bloomington, IN. The group, initially instigated by multi-instrumentalists David Brown and Caleb Hickman as a regular gathering to explore improvisation behind closed doors, eventually made its way into public via a residency at a 50 cap bar called Orbit Room. Over the next two years a core lineup formed around the quintet of Brown (keys, percussion, tape manipulation), Hickman (alto sax, electron…
The Other World
*300 copies limited edition* "The Other World was recorded in the spring of 2023 by Greg Norman at his home studio in Chicago. Each track was done in a single take without editing or manipulation. The recordings were made using a Stratocaster running into a minimal effects chain, which was then fed into a small solid state amplifier and captured by a pair of stereo microphones. I was interested in a sound palette that was very blanketed and gray, which led me to cut the high end tone of the guit…
Vienna Suite
2025 stock We would like to introduce a new Polish- Austrian quartet led by the trumpeter and composer Piotr Damasiewicz and his Viennese connections- the meticulously passionate saxophonist Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Viennese-to-the-bone, versatile bassist Thomas Stempkowski, and the jazz and electronica drummer Alex Yannilos.The music of the quartet is best described as “(…) expressive, free though very rhythmic and melodic, manic at times, always lovingly passionate.” It goes back to dear to our hea…
Silentium
Four pieces by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, a pioneer of “holy minimalism.” The album centers around a never-before-released rendition of “Silentium,” the second movement of Pärt’s most famous concerto, Tabula Rasa, performed by Boston-based chamber orchestra A Far Cry. The group plays “Silentium” at nearly half the speed of the best-known version, released on ECM in 1984. The piece, known for its healing properties for the dying and often used in palliative care facilities (one patient famously…
Frames that lean, pictures that roam
'Frames that lean, pictures that roam’ is a collection of instrumental works by Ailie Ormston for tape, electric guitar, cello and double bass. This ensemble of instruments achieves a complex sound ranging from fully electronic (tape) to fully acoustic (strings), with the guitar occupying space in-between. The freeing of fixed material is the common thread throughout these six works – riffs and motifs are established before being reinvented and reimagined, bending and twisting within the bounds …
Stone and Worship
“Instructed by the chasm between pulseless discorporeality of elemental mass and a meditation on its reflection in human reproach” – unknown
Reverb
Kari Takemoto, who performs improvised live collaborations with various artists using sumi ink, flowers, painting, recitation, and dance, releases a solo guitar album. The album was mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama, a leading figure in the Japanese ambient scene. The album contains 10 tracks, including a song for the introduction video for the solo exhibition held at Ginza six by Chima, the ink painter in charge of the ink on the jacket of the album, as well as a song for the art event gallery.
Meido
This 2025 album by sound artist Yengo is a haunting exploration of sonic landscapes. Oscillators rise as if drawing curses from the depths of the underworld, surrounded by collage noise that drifts, vanishes, and gradually intensifies in ferocity. The album weaves a chilling atmosphere reminiscent of Japanese horror films with an experimental and avant-garde auditory sensibility, converging towards a sonic catastrophe. The cassette tape edition is uniquely packaged in a sleeve wrapped in bamboo …
Campanelli
Valentina Goncharova's work encapsulates a unique blend of innovation and tradition, providing audiences with an enthralling exploration of the vast possibilities within musical expression. Drawing upon her compositional skills honed during her academic studies, Valentina expertly manipulates the violin, seamlessly integrating it with synthesizers and drum machines. The result is a mesmerizing fusion of organic and electronic elements, characterized by slow, pulsating drone soundscapes.