Best of 2016
Cathedrale de Strasbourg
The latest transmission from Joachim Montessuis curated Erratum imprint sees the return of the inimitable Charlemagne Palestine, casting a spellbinding invocation of organ ritual music. A self-described “maximalist composer”, Palestine originally developed his organ technique in 1964 with a debut performance as an organist in New York City, after decades of recognition since the 1960s, as a leading Minimalist composer and visual artist. He has long been fascinated by drones, rituals, repetition…
Blizzard
Recorded in the midst of an actual extreme winter weather event, Blizzard conjures the early synthesizer experiments of Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream combined with the gritty reel-to-reel tape manipulations long employed by both Aaron Dilloway (Hanson Records / ex-Wolf Eyes) and Robert Turman (founding member of the pioneering industrial outfit NON and a celebrated solo artist in his own right).As the story goes, Blizzard was recorded in January 2009 during an Ohio snowstorm which hit on the ver…
Dramatest 1974
**CD version** Absolute music composed for keys which sound is processed in order to obtain particular effects, timbre and soundscape. There would not be other words needed to describe “Dramatest”, a release of experimental library music published in 1974 by Fonovideo and signed by Oscar Rocchi (and his moniker Chiarosi) and Fabio Fabor. Rocchi, an excellent pianist and composer, had worked with heavy weights of Italian jazz such as Dino Piana e Oscar Valdambrini (on their amazing album Afrodite…
Variations IV
Anything can happen and often does. This is John Cage. A seminal example of indeterminate music from an icon on experimental sounds. This work was originally used as music for the choreographed piece by Merce Cunningham, "Field Dances," with stage and costume design in the original version by Robert Rauschenberg (from 1967 the designer was Remy Charlip). Variations IV is the second work in a group of three of which Atlas Eclipticalis is the first (representing 'nirvana', according to Hidekaz…
Vertical Pillars
Reissue of early 80s underground releases by Pekka Airaksinen, NWW-listed founding member of legendary Finnish improv group The Sperm. Vertical Pillars comprises 5 electronic instrumental improvisational pieces: Kanakamuni, Kashyapa and Shakyamuni are from Sugatas album (1984) and Jambusuvarnadhvajakacanabhasa which has slight jazz ifluence comes from Jewel comet (1983).
” The inspiration to these compositions come from ancient texts. According to Indian beliefs Buddha is the pinnacle of human…
Imaginations of Light + Hallo Rabbit
This fine double LP release combines two full-length albums from the German acid/kraut-folk duo Flute & Voice, which was formed by Mannheim-based multi-instrumentalists Hans Reffert ('Flute') and Hans Brandeis ('Voice'). The debut-LP 'Imaginations Of Light', originally released in 1970 by the legendary Pilz label, features wonderful trippy and progressive folk music with ethnic and even jazzy elements. This LP should appeal to fans of fellow Germans s.a. Witthueser & Westrup and Bröselmaschine, …
Musique Barbare
** First reissue of Karel Appel's masterpiece Musique Barbare*** Widely regarded one of Europe's most important figures in the post-war avant-garde, abstract expressionist painter Karel Appel developed an idiosyncratic visual and sonic language. Founder member of the avant-garde Cobra movement in 1948, Appel booked time in the Instituut voor Sonologie in the Netherlands to compose music for a documentary that cinematographer Jan Vrijman was making on Appel's work. Musique Barbare was born.Made …
Le Berceau de Cristal
In 1975 I was doing a series of concerts in France with Lutz Ulbrich, where we were presenting 'Inventions for Electric Guitar' and other compositions, which we developed together that year. In August, we were invited for two concerts in the South of France, one in the wonderful Roman theater in Arles, the other at the Festival Palace in Cannes. This is where we met the musicians of the German band CAN and the singer Nico, who also played at the festival. After the concerts we stayed together a …
Sternzeit
LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Adelbert Von Deyen's debut album Sternzeit, originally released in 1978. Adelbert Von Deyen is a protagonist of the so-called Berlin School (Berliner Schule) of electronic music. On his debut album, he takes his time to develop sound structures, often drifting, floating blissfully into tonal interference. The listener also requires time and patience, but will be rewarded with a Zen-like state of contemplation. Adelbert Von Deyen's musical backstory follo…
Atmosphere
LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Adelbert Von Deyen's third album Atmosphere, originally released in 1980. Album number three from electronic musician Adelbert Von Deyen marks the end of his ambient phase. Whilst Atmosphere largely swathes listeners in familiarly vast expanses of sound, the driving analog drums of the opening track (Von Deyen's most successful, as it turned out) signal a shift towards electro-kraut terrain. Atmosphere showcases Adelbert Von Deyen at the peak of his powe…
Filmmusik 1
LP version. Bureau B present Filmmusik 1, a selection from Conrad Schnitzler's archive. In Conrad Schnitzler's sprawling archive, there are two tapes marked Filmmusik 1975 A and Filmmusik 1980 B. It is hard to say which videos this music belongs to, particularly as the pieces have been left untitled. Perhaps there isn't really any film material at all. The dates are of no great help either, since the tapes feature the same tracks, albeit in varying degrees of quality. Filmmusik 1 presents an ini…
Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus)
Recorded across two nights in 1981 at New York's legendary Performing Garage and originally released in 1983 on cassette, Symphony No. 1 has been remastered for vinyl and reissued for the first time as a heavyweight 180 gram 2LP set in a deluxe gatefold jacket. The limited edition pressing features additional liner notes written by Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) alongside the original notes by Jon Pareles (The New York Times) and now includes photos by Paula Court (New York Noise). The ensemble …
Impressions On Reading Aldous Huxley
Conceived as a studio project and conceptually inspired by the world of sci-fi novelist Aldous Huxley, Brave New World was created by Reinhart Firchow (recorders, flutes, ocarina, Stylophone, percussion, vocals), John O'Brien-Docker (guitars, organ, percussion, vocals, wind chimes) and Herb Geller (flutes, cor anglais, saxophones, organ). They where aided by Dicky Tarrach (drums, percussion), Lucas Lindholm (bass, bass fiddle, organ, piano) and Esther Daniels (voice). Irishman John O'Brien-Docke…
Sonambient : Recordings of Harry Bertoia
Harry Bertoia's Complete Sonambient Collection features all 11 of Bertoia's original records newly restored from their master tapes and housed in replica jackets. A heavy duty box, printed with metallic inks, holds the 11 discs as well as a 100-page book containing a lengthy historical essay, an interview with Harry Bertoia from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, exclusive Sonambient-era material from the Bertoia archive, modern and archival photos of the Bertoia barn, and reflections on …
Isole del Suono
* 2021 Repress * Previously unreleased, high quality recordings from the italian experimental trio Futuro Antico. The sound experience it's a mysterious synergy between the elements of Nature, a magical encounter between different souls but with elective affinity. Walter Maioli’s ancient and ethnic wind instruments are the breath of the Air, Riccardo Sinigaglia’s electronic spirit produces liquid sequences of the Water, while Dabiré’s african percussions materialize the voice and rhythms of the …
Magnetophonics-Australian Underground Music 1978-1984
Outstanding!!! Massive and comprehensive overview of Australian underground music originally released as tapes/cassettes or vinyl between the late '70s and early to mid '80s. The first two LPs, called Edge City Broadcasts are Andrew Lonsdale's (Browning Mummery) selection of rare and essential tracks representing the great variety and diversity of sounds inside the Australian underground music scene of the period. LP3 is dedicated to one side each of label recordings from the Lymph Product…
The Moment In and Of Itself
Instruments which sound like instruments!!! Unbelievable real-time compositions for the unlikely instrumentation of piano, trumpet and violin courtesy of North Of North: Anthony Pateras, Scott Tinkler and Erkki Veltheim. This is no random grimprov get together or free jazz blowout, this is a serious engagement with compositional parameters combined with instrumental virtuosity from a working band. Drawing from Xenakian architextures, Carterian set theory, Carnatic music, sharp-edged point…
OH Audiopoems
Totally stunning double LP record from the elusive The Balsam Flex legendary catalog is now available again thanks to Jan Van Toorn Slowscan imprint. Balsam Flex was a cassette label run by the artist Erik Vonna-Michell in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and evidence of a relatively overlooked moment when a number of London-based British poets were producing work that was influenced by performance art, conceptual art, sound art, text-sound composition, Fluxus, and situationism.One of their most …
Electronic Music from the Seventies and Eighties
2019 Small Repress. This 3LP set contains a selection of seven early works by American composer Carl Stone, all previously unpublished except for “Shing Kee,” which appeared on the 1992 New Albion CD release, Mom’s. Notorious, formerly elusive recordings like "Sukothai," "Shibucho," and "Dong Il Jang" exemplify how Stone masterfully guided his art through the transition period when New Music exited the loft scene of the 1970s for a stab at commercial presence in the 1980s, satisfying both impul…
Pop Electronique
Remarkable record of 1960’s French electronic library music, of a somewhat experimental bent. Cecil Leuter (whose birth name, implausibly, is Roger Roger) was a busy, ‘proper’ bandleader at the time, but it turns out he had a real knack for crafting wildly unusual electronic miniatures. Pop Electronique is full of them! Reissued on Fifth Dimension. France seems to be the secret kingdom of electronic music, experimental music and movie soundtrack music also known as library music. Roger Roger…