Best of 2021
The Age of Electronicus
In astounding gatefold sleeve, tip! Dick Hyman’s 1969 opus, The Age of Electronicus - a visionary, funky excursion into the vast potential presented by the newly developed Moog synthesizer - stands as a shining example of the post-war avant-garde’s infiltration of the popular realm. Awash with creative optimism about the role of progress, change, and technology in society at large, it’s one of those obscurities that’s long been championed by diggers across the world, but has never fully gotten i…
Fusione
Carried by a blast of pure joy comes Black Sweat’s latest LP, the self-titled debut by the mysterious Milan based ensemble Fusione. Channeling free and spiritual jazz, funk, and a globally minded ear, all carried by heavy dose of druggy psychedelic experimentalism, it’s one of the most exciting sonic journeys that we’ve taken all year.
Piano and String Quartet
Piano and String Quartet is a luminous example of Morton Feldman’s ability to reshape the boundaries of chamber music, offering a listening experience rooted in patience, transparency, and quietly shifting texture. Rather than following standard models of interplay and development, Feldman crafts a world in which piano and strings inhabit parallel spaces, bringing into focus the ebb and flow of color and resonance across nearly an hour and a half of music.
This recording stands apart for how it …
Seeking a Vision
** Edition of 100 hand-numbered copies ** "February 2021. During a stay in an isolated house in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, I returned to four compositions Renaud Bajeux had sent me a few months prior. I had listened intently and enjoyed them very much, but in this new setting, at this very moment, they took on another dimension. For several days, I went on long walks in the surrounding nature and this album, all in half-light, became an obsession. In sync with the perfection of this moment, wi…
Number Pieces
Number Pieces, the expansive four-disc set performed by Apartment House, presents a strikingly comprehensive exploration of John Cage’s celebrated late works. Composed in the twilight of Cage’s life, these pieces reflect a deep engagement with silence, time, and musical indeterminacy - a period often characterized by a profound calmness and openness, quite distinct from the composer's more angular early output. Apartment House, under the direction of Anton Lukoszevieze, approach the scores not s…
The Great Wall / Chanta Khat
Michael Ranta has collaborated with Takehisa Kosugi, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Jean-Claude Eloy, Conny Plank, Mike Lewis, and Hartmut Geerken, just to name a few. He was also assistant to Harry Partch and performer in the Gate 5 Ensemble in the 1960s. Additionally, Ranta performed in Stockhausen's ensemble during the 1970 World Expo in Osaka. Ranta's resume also includes recordings by Helmut Lachenmann, Herbert Brün, Toru Takemitsu, Josef Anton Riedl, Mauricio Kagel, among others. Throughout his extensi…