Mux
*In process of stocking* Since his Beat Diary debut (a 12xLP box set comprising 365 beats recorded daily over the course of a year), Julian Sartorius has immersed himself in unique and ambitious projects - trekking the path not travelled to arrive at rhythmic life forms through found objects and prepared instruments. Equally as mighty are his two other escapades, the most recent being Locked Grooves - 112 beats cut as endless loops on vinyl spanning 56 dense 1.8 second compositions per side. Pre…
Black Tape II
Black Tape II is only the second widely available release by Ohkami No Jikan (The Time of the Wolf), one of the more esoteric groups of the 1990’s Tokyo underground. Recorded in 1992, it illuminates a largely undocumented facet of Nanjo Asahito’s psychedelic cosmology, distinct form his better known work with High Rise, Musica Transonic and Toho Sara. Aside from a handful of limited, handmade cassettes and CD-Rs on his La Musica label, there’s only been one Ohkami No Jikan album, Mort Nuit, that…
Dalbergia Retusa
Extraordinary double LP of solo guitar music by Hans Reichel (1949-2011), curated by Oren Ambarchi. Twenty-three pieces from 1973-1988 documenting Reichel's radical instrumental rethinking: custom-built guitars with additional strings, moveable pickups, special capos. Sounds simultaneously strange and beautiful, from romantic lyricism to alien sonorities. Essential.
Wunderkammer
On Wunderkammer, Jan Bang, Michael Francis Duch, Erik Honoré, David Toop and Mark Wastell assemble a single 38‑minute live trance of electroacoustic chamber‑drift, where Moe‑Repstad’s disembodied voice moves through gongs, bass and quietly uncanny objects like a ghost cataloguing its own reliquary.
Contra Madre
The late pedal-steel guitarist Susan Alcorn leaves a final surprise hinting at new directions left underexplored on her collaboration with Nomad War Machine, the improvising metal duo of drummer Julius Masri and guitarist James Reichard. Their death-metal-influenced pummel adds new fire to her molten flow across a suite of improvised tracks that show off the vast range and simpatico of the trio. Julius Masri and James Reichard of Nomad War Machine: An unexpected opportunity arose out of a catchi…
The Schmetterling Variations
Since 1983 Dan Burke and his conspirators have dug through almost every facet of the avant sound plane, from early industrial pop deconstruction to blindingly minimal sound art to densely surreal found-sound collage, each unique approach bending and reconstituting the expectations and possibilities of each realm.
Plowing through layered field recordings, deeply rumbling tones, and eerie electroacoustic sounds with seamless transitions between cut-and-paste collages and manufactured drones, it’…
Repercussions
On Repercussions, Kakuhan and Adam Golebiewski tangle sampler, cello and hyper-physical percussion into a 10-part suite of splintered rhythm and scraped resonance, a hallucinatory electroacoustic organism that keeps mutating between dance impulse, free improv and liquefied drone.
Pra'
Tommaso and Jean have been a duo for several years, touring extensively throughout Italy, France, and Quebec. Their second release was recorded in a new and inspiring environment: a cabin nestled in the hills surrounding the Genova Prà neighborhood. Perched atop the hill, the cabin offers breathtaking views of the seaside and the bustling commercial port of Genoa. This space, typically used as a storage room, captured the sounds and noises generated during a two-day residency hosted by Davide Ce…
Orassion
“Orassion,” halfway between improvisation and composition, is born from the timbral and contemplative union of percussion and positive organ. Recorded in September 2023, the album is the result of a shared prayer created from silence and sounds deeply amplified by the precious acoustics of the Church of St. Martin in Bondo, a small village in Switzerland. The white walls of the church, the precious embroidery of the paintings, the immaculate colors, and the golden atmosphere surrounding the soun…
Grani d'Impacts
"Silence. Presence. Breath. It was 1999 when I first met Michel Doneda, with Tetsu Saitoh, leading a free improvisation workshop in Genoa, my hometown. Looking back, it's remarkable how much that workshop influenced my life and led to many subsequent encounters with Michel, thanks to Cepi and Barre Phillips. When Michele Anelli asked me if I was interested in releasing this album, there was no doubt that the answer would have been positive. I find Michel's breath and gasps still uncompromised an…
Flutterings
Jeffrey Alexander is one of those guys whose brain and hands are constantly in motion whether working with bands, doing solo stuff, installations, paintings, label shit…whatever. Anyway, he’s always a pleasure to work with, and we have done so on many occasions. That said, I sorta feel as though this new CD might be closer to taking a walk through Jeffrey’s head than anything else I’ve heard.
Flutterings was done using guitars, keys, percussion, electronics and gimcracks of all descriptions. The…
Good Night
On January 11, 2010, I received a message from a woman who introduced herself as a friend of my good buddy Aki Onda. She was going to be part of a music night at a space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, called Death by Audio. She asked if I’d be willing to do a solo set there as well. That’s how I came to be leaning against a doorframe, after having played my own set, listening to Margarida Garcia on her electric double bass. Her music was original, soulful, thoughtful, and laden with mystery. Upon …
Inoue
Patrick Shiroishi returns to his brutal prog roots for an album of 60 saxophone exercises, equally punishing and rewarding. Executed during the plague years and delivered in two halves, one featuring pieces composed strictly with programmed drum accompaniment, the second with additional metal/wood sound sources, Inoue truly stands out in an extensive and captivating discography.
Improvised Textures
Pianist Bas Bulteel has been actively exploring the boundaries of solo piano work for several years now. This resulted, among other things, in his first solo album Eye Of The Storm, which was released in 2024 on W.E.R.F. Records. In the compositions for that album, he drew inspiration on the one hand from the minimalist school and on the other from contemporary avant-garde pianists. However, his hunger for experimentation was not satisfied after just one solo album. Shortly after finishing the a…
Collusion And Collaboration
Avant-garde multi-woodwind maestro Vinny Golia and innovative bassist-vocalist-composer Kelsey Mines unite in a dynamic duo recording. Stripping back to just their voices and instruments, this collaboration delivers finely nuanced interplay where Golia’s rich spectrum of woodwinds weaves organically with Mines' deep rhythmic foundation and expressive vocal textures.
Holy Trinity
Rooted in Altman's exploratory practice, she weaves clarinet alongside a sparse palette of preparations, objects, tapes, and feedback. She crafts a series of pieces that are at once delicate and textural yet bold and expressive that reflect both the unique acoustics of the space and her subtle, inquisitive approach to sound, offering a contemplative and tactile listening experience that blurs the line between instrument, environment, and intervention.
Per Samie
Per Samie captures Matias Guerra, Valerio Leg, and Falco Baldaya in a single, fragile orbit around a plant wired as a silent listener, an improvisation where every sound feels like an offering and every pause like shared breath.
1 - 7
*150 copies limited edition* Headlights Recordings presents Manuel Mota's new work 1-7. Manuel Mota is known for the personal vocabulary he has developed for the guitar. His music draws inspiration from a multitude of references loosely rooted in the blues tradition to craft a sound which was highly regarded by Derek Bailey. Actual but transmitting an enigmatic sense of timelessness. The moment of creation- composition, and the instrumental execution- playing, are to him indistinct, and that's w…
New Spring
*300 copies limited edition* Pianist Fumi Endo, alto saxophone player Kanon Aonami and Tokyo-based British guitarist Sean Colum have performed together several times in duo and trio formats at Ftarri, Tokyo. The year 2023 saw the release of "Kanon Aonami Composed Works" (meenna-954), an album consisting of duo and trio performances by these three musicians. On January 3, 2024, Taku Sugimoto, a guitarist/composer renowned on the international improvised/experimental music scene, joined the three …