New Arrivals
W2 (1998-2008)
"We think that we « make a journey » but soon enough it's the journey that makes – and unmakes - us." (Nicolas Bouvier, "l'usage du monde"). When I listen today to these pieces, I hear, of course, a geographic inventory of all the places I encountered. Above all, though, and as if by default, I hear the sonic journal of twelve years spent recording sound.My relation to the sites wasn't based on a desire to « document » but it is worth noting, however, that a « sound story », more trivial perhaps…
Suspensão
'Ernesto Rodrigues - viola, harp, metronomes, objects. Guilherme Rodrigues - cello. Gil Gonçalves - tuba. Nuno Torres - alto saxophone. Abdul Moimeme - prepared electric guitars. Armando Pereira - accordion, toy piano. Carlos Santos - electronics, piezo elements. José Oliveira - percussion.' (label info)
(1975-1991)
Just arrived! The research-performance group kiva was created in 1975 by the American trombonist John Silber and the French percussionist Jean-Charles François as part of a research project at the Center for Music Experiment at the University of California San Diego. During the period of its existence (1975-91) various members (often graduate students from UCSD) joined the two permanent musicians, John Silber and Jean-Charles François, to contribute to the groups artistic production. Two persona…
Entraxes inégaux Craquer les liants
Reissue of two LPs from Bloc Thyristors label and two groups run by the drummer Jean-Noël Cognard. Empan with Judith Kan, voice, Jac Berrocal, trumpet, piano, Dan Warburton, violin, keyboards, Béatrice Godeau, cello. Tankj with Serge Adam on trumpet, Jérome Noetinger on electroacoustic devices and tape recorder, Titus Oppmann on doublebass. Recorded and mixed by Patrick Müller.
Atrees / Nomos Alpha
The works on these two discs were all written in the 1950s & 60s, at a time when Xenakis was at his most productive. It has to be said that, to the casual listener, this is not easy listening. However, to the more adventurous collector and to those prepared to explore new musical avenues, this set of the music of Xenakis will prove a rare and valuable opportunity. Featured works: Atrées, Morsima-Amorsima, Nomos Alpha, ST/4, Akrata.
Motion - Movement In Australian Sound
Motion – Movement In Australian Sound is a generous, 2-CD overview of 22 artists representing Australia’s burgeoning terrain of electronic and experimental music. From Scott Horscroft’s mesmerising piece for eleven guitars, the sublimely sweet, driving tones of Pretty Boy Crossover, Sue Harding’s melodies from dot matrix printers to renown veteran Alan Lamb’s awe-inducing casting of field recordings from the West Australian outback, Motioncasts wide to expose some of the most creative and …
Fukushima!
A double CD inspired by a lecture given by Otomo Yoshihide at Tokyo University of the Arts on April 28, 2011, 'The Role of Culture: After the Earthquake and Man-made Disasters in Fukushima'. With John Tilbury, Greg Kelley, Annette Krebs, Chris Abrahams, Burkhard Beins, Choi Joonyong / Jin Sangtae / Hong Chulki / Joe Foster, Mural, Magda Mayas, Mark Wastell & Jonathan McHugh, Michael Pisaro & Greg Stuart. All the money collected will go to a non-gouvernemental organisation - Japan Society …
Four malleable
This is a limited edition of 300 copies. "Imaginative Elements" (2004), "From Modified Tapes" (2005), "Sceneries" (2006), and "Nocturne" (2009). "My work over the last several years has focused on the investigation of aural phenomena, environment, spatial listening, structure, natural and evolving processes, function, possibilities, and materiality. My interests have led me to explore acoustics, psychoacoustics, binaural beats, and diverse methods of recording sound, and the application of syste…
Tramp (Deluxe Edition)
2CD deluxe edition includes the album, demos for each album track, plus a bonus track demo. Repackaging includes a self-portrait & liner notes about each song taken from VAN ETTEN's journals. A startling collection, filled w/ as much defiant rock as pious, minimal beauty. There are declarative hymns, & remarkably sultry numbers. Guest appearances from Jenn Wasner (WYE OAK), JULIANNA BARWICK, Zach Condon (BEIRUT). NO CANADA/NO EXPORT(SAKI)
Klavierstücke I-XI / Mikrophonie I & II
Beautiful double CD set, containing a mindblowing Mikrophonie version... Mikrophonie is the title given by Karlheinz Stockhausen to two of his compositions, written in 1964 and 1965, in which “normally inaudible vibrations . . . are made audible by an active process of sound detection (comparable to the auscultation of a body by a physician); the microphone is used actively as a musical instrument, in contrast to its former passive function of reproducing sounds as faithfully as possible” (Stock…
Michelangelo Antonioni
The third (and perhaps final) project in the film director series which began with Andrei Tarkovsky - Another Kind Of Language and Yasujiro Ozu - Hitokomakura. Michelangelo Antonioni - Trilogy And Epilogue focuses upon the Italian auteur's landmark 'tetralogy' of films L'Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), L'Eclisse (1962) and IlDeserto Rosso (1963). Antonioni was known for not being very keen to use music in his films, partially because he wanted the films to tell their stories free from 'add…
The Art of the Improviser
"The Art of the Improviser", a 2XCD, is Shipp's most audacious attempt yet to answer the enigmatic question of what it means to be a modern jazz musician. Already having explored the possibilities of electronically infused jazz on critically acclaimed projects with the likes of DJ Spooky, Scanner, and Anti-Pop Consortium, Shipp revisits an acoustic sound for this fearless voyage into the psyche of the improviser. Shipp's "idiosyncratic genius" shines through on this album, explaining once again …
Ligeti Edition
Terrific nine-CD box (digipack CD sleeves!) at a fantastic price! The heart of Ligeti's output, and the basis for the consensus that places him among the 20th Century's most important composers, is the series of masterworks written during his middle period, which lasted from roughly 1957 (after his escape from Hungary) to 1977 (marked by the completion of his opera Le Grand Macabre). The "sound surface" compositions from the period, including Atmosphères, the Requiem, Lux Aeterna and much of the…
12 Madrigali
Salvatore Sciarrino, in league with the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart, embarks on the investigation of a new ecology of sound, through a form of polyphony reduced to chamber-music scale. The lyrics selected by the Italian composer are based on six haikus by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashô (1644–1694). A comprehensive explanatory text on the production is contributed by Max Nyffeler. The world premiere of the work was recorded at the 2008 Salzburg Festival and is now made available on CD for the fi…
Melodies & Harmonies
Cage is by no means a synonym for obligingness. All the more astonished we listen to the melodious and harmonious objects Annelie Gahl and Klaus Lang present on this album. Lang, the trained organist and internationally renowned composer, performs these pieces on a Fender Rhodes for the first time. Gahl, known as a versatile interpreter of both Old and New Music, plays the violin exactly as requested by Cage, without vibrato and with minimum weight on the bow. The musical material dates …
Psappha; Rebonds A & B; Okho pour trois djembés
This amazing CD contains some of the great works for solo percussion by the authorities in the field of contemporary music. The performances and recording quality are both superb! Clearly all care and effort went into the recording and text however, the dual layered dvd /cd is in PAL format, and will require said player or a media transfer to see the studio footage and interview with Xenikas. Considering we spend much time searching for the "right music" to add to our collection, this disc…
Triadic Memories
In the summer of 1990, i released on Sub Rosa a recording of Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman (1926-1987). It was one of the first recordings of this long work for solo piano completed on July 23, 1981.The score i used had been published by Universal edition as number UE17326 in 1987. Shortly after my CD came out, Universal published a new edition. At the bottom of page 2, under a dedication to Aki Takahashi and RogerWoodward is a small-print mention: 'corrected edition: 14.2.1991. I disr…
3 Nights In Oslo
Awesome 5 CD box set recorded over 3 nights in Oslo on February 19-21, 2009 at Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene. This time out the Tentet +1 includes Mats Gustaffson, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Joe Mcphee, Johannes Bauer, Per Ake Holmlander, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang & Paul Nilssen-Love.
The Warrior
"Not since Albert Ayler stalked the hamnar of Stockholm and reverberated his fire music off the walls of LES tenements has there been an avant-garde jazz saxophonist who can all out wail like Virginia Genta can. Don’t let her calm presence fool you. Nor should David Vanzan’s taller stature lead to believe this is not an equal opportunity free jazz freak-out. From when their poles first were converged by the Cosmic Force in 1999, Italy’s (with Finnish godparents) Jooklo Duo has been winning he…
Entelechy
the second full-length album by the experimental/free-jazz quartet 7k Oaks, live recorded in concert at the InterAct Festival in Hasselt. This new release is at the same time a confirmation of their musical background as well as an exploration of new territories: about an hour of full-blast energy, with a variety of directions ranging from walls of electro-acoustic noise to free-jazz bursts, hypnotic rythmic patterns and lyrical melodic themes. It is the entelechy of …