Experimental / Free Improvisation

Ava Mendoza has never made an album quite as personal as her second solo full-length, The Circular Train. Through her decades of collaborations with Nels Cline, Carla Bozulich, William Parker, Fred Frith, Matana Roberts, and Mick Barr—plus years leading her power trio Unnatural Ways and playing in Bill Orcutt’s quartet—the guitarist’s name has become synonymous with virtuoso technique, raw passion, and visceral resonance, a player pushing the edges of the guitar’s possibilities. Along the way, f…

** Six-panel digipak, photos by Yan Jun/Zhu Wenbo, design by Yuko Zama ** Erstwhile Records presents Twice by Yan Jun and Zhu Wenbo. Yan Jun: recorded in Beijing, Feb 2021. Zhu Wenbo: recorded in Qingdao and Beijing, Sept 2020 - Feb 2021. Photos/image scans by Yan Jun/Zhu Wenbo. Design by Yuko Zama. Produced by Jon Abbey.

Tip! The difficult to classify musical practice of Don Brown & Dan Reynolds is presented here in this unauthorized 2008 live recording of an 8 piece ensemble realizing 4 different compositions at a Grange Hall in Gresham, Oregon. An outstanding group of musicians/others, who were very active in the Portland region during the time and receptive to the ideas of Brown and Reynolds, assembled to record these 4 works which were composed decades apart. An essential piece of the Brown/Reynolds/Old/Holy…

"I listened to the demo recordings for the “Ta Yu Ta I” CD. The track begins with the sound of a stone, and, for a moment I doubted my ears, thinking that it was the iwafue stone flute that I had lost overseas in 2005. The flute actually used on this recording was a replica on an ancient flute, one of three that have been handed down within my family. But until that moment when I heard the sound of it echoing inside my skull, I had completely forgotten about it. It was my living flesh that breat…

The first release from Arkeen – a 7 track, 30 minute full length from Los Angeles based Ted Byrnes. Percussive abuse and aural assault. Fragmented time creating spaces between what you are about to hear, and have heard. The present does not exist. Previous output has been released by Claimed Responsibility, Foul Prey & Absurd Exposition. Ted Byrnes is a drummer/percussionist living in Los Angeles. An alumnus of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, he comes from a jazz background and has s…

*Limited Edition CD in Digipack with Liner Notes.* Everything you will hear on this disc is the result of a short but intense collaboration: Germaine travelled from Heerlen in the Netherlands to the East Bohemian city of Pardubice to work with the Prague Quiet Music Collective for a week, improvising and rehearsing her music and two pieces by Ian Mikyska. A shared understanding and smooth sailing. Sounds between pitches and noise. Gentle gestures. Slow time in a slow city. Many thanks to Zdeněk …

Recorded and mixed at Sonoscopia May 2022  by Gustavo Costa (drums and percussion), Ignaz Schick (electronics and turntables), Henrique Fernandes (acoustic laptop, amplified objects and doublebass), Vicente Mateus (drums and feedback), João Ricardo (electronics).

Limited to 50 copies and hand numbered. João Ricardo, electronics Gustavo Costa, laptop Ján Solčáni, electronic circuits and radio.

Horse Lords bring the fervor and fury of their live show to the confines and comfort of your trusted playback device with As It Happened: Horse Lords Live, a collection of recordings that capture the quartet’s galvanic energy as never before while toying with the trope of the live album. Captured at a series of concerts across Europe spanning Horse Lords’ multiple 2022 and 2023 tours, As It Happened is a mediated, sometimes obviously edited presentation of a live performance that strives for a c…

Eddie Prévost & Veryan Weston. Recorded in England, 5/98, mixed by Evan Parker. "'Beauty as an Ear Thing' is a meticulous exploration of texture, full of soft explosions, the reverberant ring of spinning metals, and overtones that glow like embers, dying into silence; this music wouldn't be misplaced on an AMM disc. 'Clustered' rebuilds something out of the emptiness. The dislocated rhythmic feel is like an abstraction of something Monk and Max Roach might have played together. 'Fingers and drum…

Matchless Recordings presents an historic recording. Eddie Prévost's Silver Pyramid performed by Music Now Ensemble directed by Keith Rowe in London in 1969. Includes Cornelius Cardew, Lou Gare, Keith Rowe and others. The music is continuous. Time codes have been inserted at intervals to assist retrieval. Pre-Scratch Orchestra Ensemble formed by / for the occasion of the four day 'Music Now' event at the Roundhouse, 1969. The motley crew perform Eddie Prévost's 'composition' 'Silver Pyramid'. En…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost - bowed percussion and Jennifer Allum - violin. This album is composed of two parts: Investigative Study recorded at The Welsh Chapel, Southwark Bridge, Road, London on 13th July 2010, and Dolwilym Penumbra, recorded at the Mwnci Studios on the Dolwilym Estate, west Wales on 12th October 2010. Jennifer Allum alternates two bows, a 17th century German one and a 'conveyor-belt' bow. Eddie Prévost picks a mass-produced model and two more…

'Making a journey to a Bright Nowhere' series - marking Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday. Volume 2, Cafe OTO 16th July 2022

Full Spectrum Records dips our toes into the new year with a split release featuring two newcomers to the label, Merche Blasco and Derek Baron.

"Masses is an utterly unexpected, and utterly gripping, collaboration between the East London duo, Spring Heel Jack and a group of top-flight improvisers, drawn largely from New York’s ascendant free jazz network but also including Evan Parker and microtonal violinist Matt Maneri. If there are precedents for this particular mix, in which studio-processed audio environments are played back in real time as the triggers for, and fixed components in, a series of group improvisations, they feel few a…

*In process of stocking* Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker have emerged as one of the most interesting duos in contemporary improvised music. First introduced to Unseen Worlds through their performance on the Philip Corner recording "Extreemizms: early & late", Tarozzi and Walker elevated recent recordings, Eliane Radigue "Occam Ocean 3", Pascal Criton "Infra", and Tarozzi’s own "Mi specchio e rifletto" to greatness. Their finely tuned sound makes even the most adventurous tones compelling. With…

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Tomaga's debut album, 'Futura Grotesk', Hands in the Dark are re-releasing the long sold out record in a limited edition of 500 copies. The reissue is accompanied by the first-ever vinyl pressing of the band's inaugural EP, 'Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats', featuring new artwork and 300 units available. Both records have been remastered by Marta Salogni for the occasion. Always in search of exploration, with an obvious obsession for deconstruction their norm…

Testimony to the first encounter of the trio during a concert given at the cave12 on the 28.10.2020, on the same evening of the new Covid announcements which brought on a re-confinement in France, and eve to a six-month long shutdown of cultural places in Switzerland. A concert from which we emerged staggering and with burning ears due to the ongoing crisis surrounding us. A masterful sonic performance. Before silence. Drawing from the dense and intense sound material of the evening, Francisco M…

*200 copies limited edition* Beijing-based Sun Yizhou (born in 2000) represents the young generation of artists on the Beijing improvised/experimental music scene established by Yan Jun, Zhu Wenbo, and others. He also runs a label and organizes events. Using electronics, Sun produces unexpected sounds through unconventional operations, nonetheless creating works with splendid overall structure. On July 3, 2023, Sun Yizhou gave a solo concert at Ftarri, Tokyo. It was such a great performance that…

Almufaraka brings together the breath and voices of Gaëlle Debra, Patrick Guionnet, and Maryline Pruvost, alongside the sound textures of skins, wood, and metal played by Peter Orins. This quartet explores all technical means to create a music that is both archaic and avant-garde, drawing inspiration from a mythical primitive tradition. By recreating a form of serenity, the music immerses us in an original sonic imagination. The recording offers a journey through the full sound spectrum, from th…

Though each member of the 13th Assembly is acclaimed in their own right this group is very much a singular musical experience. A planned NPR piece should help raise exposure for this sublime recording. The Thirteenth Assembly began as a touring collective made up of four musicians and four musically distinct small ensembles: Tomas and Taylor's duo; Mary and Jessica's duo; Taylor's trio with Mary and Tomas; and the collaborative quartet featured on this recording. The group is a microcosm of an e…

Formed for the purpose of playing 2008's Instal Fest, this trio comprises C Spencer Yeh (of Burning Star Core), Ben Hall (of Graveyards) and Don Dietrich (of Borbetomagus), coming together for the common cause of relentless, ear-blasting improv. Sax-toting noise legend Dietrich is no stranger to the more abrasive school of free improv, having been operating in the field since the early 1980s, but the comparatively fresh-faced Yeh and Hall hold their own here (manning violin and traps, respective…

Violinist/vocalist C Spencer Yeh & unrivaled saxophone elder-titan Paul Flaherty team up without the assistance of acclaimed drummer Chris Corsano for the first time.Along for the jamz is bonkers Boston trumpeteer Greg Kelley. After performing numerous times and honing a distinct group dynamic as a trio over many years with celebrated percussionist Chris Corsano, Yeh and Flaherty decided to try it out one-on-one. The record comprises of the best from two live sets from a short duo tour in the No…

Portland guitar wizard Marisa Anderson's long-awaited solo guitar record. Marisa has been a fixture on many a music scene for years and years, playing with everyone from the Evolutionary Jass Band to Tara Jane O'Neil to The Dolly Ranchers. In any context, she can't escape her rag/blues/folk roots, no matter how hard she tries. On this LP featuring only guitar, no vocals, no overdubs, we are treated to a very intimate-sounding home recording filled with delicate grace. Comparisons to John F…

Tip! Sofa is thrilled to present the beautiful music of the Dutch snare drum player Etienne Nillesen with his new album “en.” With a snare drum only, Etienne explores simplicity of setup, movements, and material, developing music that is full of complexity and depth. Etienne’s technique is highly original, involving the use of a thin drum stick against the surface of a granular drum skin, which produces sustained pitches and harmonic layers. The product of his own groundbreaking research into th…

Big tip! Laptop electronics pioneer Ikue Mori joins forces with vocalist Charmaine Lee for their highly anticipated debut release, Elevator Music, on Lee’s newly launched Kou Records. This 7” record marks the first official recording from the duo, whose collaboration began in 2019, and showcases their extraordinary blend of laptop electronics, modular synthesis, and the voice. Elevator Music captures the duo’s omnivorous imagination, merging Lee’s unique vocal techniques with Mori’s ever-evolvin…

These 10 CDs (and DVD) collect together solo work, compositions and collaborations made between 1972 and 2022 by percussionist and lyricist Chris Cutler and include as well as three previously released solo CDs ('solo', 'twice around the earth' and 'there and back again'), more than five hours of unreleased materials, as well as a double CD collection of tracks culled from official recordings featuring Henry Cow, Art Bears, Cassiber, News From Babel, Aqsak Mabou, Duck and Cover, Peter Blegvad, R…

We are living through the same time. The worst day ever for someone might be a happy day for someone else. "The Days" are solo saxophone pieces of drama from someone's life.

Promise of Faithfulness was created during a winter in Brussels, between the search for new sounds and the interest of what we might call spirits in music. This debut solo album is a tribute to the last words of Albert Camus's speech for the Nobel Prize : "It remains for me to thank you from the bottom of my heart and to make before you publicly, as a personal sign of my gratitude, the same and ancient promise of faithfulness which every true artist repeats to him/herself in silence every day."

Tip! Dan Blacksberg’s Psychic/Body Sound System takes a gutsy leap into a set of otherworldly sub-bass drones, fiery free jazz declamations, and melancholic sonic stories. This fully improvised album, recorded live with no effects or overdubs shows Blacksberg wielding his trombone like a seer across varied sonic environments, real and imagined. Woven together by poetic fictionalizations by Alex Smith and stunning artwork by James Dillenbeck, Psychic/Body Sound System is a trombone-driven reverie…

a groundbreaking musical project by Nate Wooley, unites legends like Paul Lytton (Evan Parker’s longtime collaborator) and David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol, Bastro) in an ecstatic sonic journey. Inspired by Thomas Merton’s spiritual exploration, the piece transcends religion, channeling the raw energy of free jazz and modern noise. Premiered at NYC’s Festival of New Trumpet Music, it blends improvisation, ambient textures, and bold experimentation—a testament to Wooley’s visionary artistry.

The fifth installment of Yasushi Utsunomiya's divine sound "Utsunomia MIX" series! Free, immaculate, and unrestrained, even a single note is a miraculous improvisation that is divine. Otomo Yoshihide and Isobata Shinichi, a guitar duo of two former students of Takayanagi Masayuki, Otomo and pianist sara's first duo, and lastly, a trio. An hour of intense human drama! It has been more than 30 years since Otomo and Isobata were students of legendary guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi (passed away in 19…

On the impulse of Jacques Demierre, DDK trio was created in 2014 at the Festival Météo Mulhouse, France. Made up of three major figures on the international music scene, this trio plays music that is totally oriented towards the present moment. It continues the tradition of "instant composition" - going back to Lennie Tristano and passing through the legendary Jimmy Giuffre trio - and deploys an expressive palette ranging from silence to massive acoustic eruptions, while paying particular attent…

*2023 stock. 200 copies limited edition* This is one in a trilogy of live recordings made at Ftarri, Tokyo, documenting some of guitarist/improviser Tetuzi Akiyama's outstanding performances of 2021. The CD releases feature covers drawn by artist Shigeo Mizuta. The two tracks here (31 and 39 minutes respectively) were recorded at Akiyama's duo concert with percussionist Ryotaro Miyasaka at Ftarri on February 8, 2021. Born in 1995, percussionist Ryotaro Miyasaka lives in Tokyo. In this concert he…

*2023 stock. 400 copies limited edition* Improviser Junji Hirose is not just a sax player; in the 1980s he started playing the SSI (self-made sound instrument), which he created by combining numerous devices and everyday objects from which noise sounds are produced in a scattered way. In 1989, Hirose recorded the SSI/turntables duo album "Silanganan Ingay" with Otomo Yoshihide and released it independently as an LP. Three decades later, in 2022, a new SSI/turntables duo album by Hirose and Otomo…

*2023 stock. 200 copies limited edition* Masahide Tokunaga is a Tokyo-based alto sax player/improviser who carries out extremely distinctive performances comprised mainly of long tones. On the Hitorri label he has released the improvised performance CDs "Alto Saxophone 2" (2015) and "Bwoouunn: Fleeting Excitement" (2017), as well as "while your master is sleeping" (2020), on which he performs a composition by Taku Sugimoto. With the exception of that composition recording, "Masahide Tokunaga" is…

Cosa Brava is an experimental rock and free improvisation group formed in March 2008 in Oakland, California, by multi-instrumentalist and composer Fred Frith. The band comprises Frith on guitar, Zeena Parkins on keyboards and accordion, Carla Kihlstedt on violin, Matthias Bossi on drums, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and The Norman Conquest on sound manipulation. All About Jazz described their music as somewhere between folk, Celtic, modern chamber, Latin, funk, Eastern, and prog-rock. Cosa Brava reco…

Encoder returns to his electronic deliriums with a new minimal, claustrophobic and voyeuristic work. Recorded on July 2, 2024 in San Rocco al Porto. Improvisation in the Bedroom using 3 microphones outside the window, electric bass - looper - sampler.Mastered by Angelo Bignamini

Temporary Super Offer!  Christoph Gallio and Markus Eichenberger, both born in 1957, have known each other since the early eighties and have played together a lot during this time, listening to music, visiting bars and occasionally taking a dip in the Rhine. At some point, their paths got lost until they crossed again in 2018 to regularly sound out their musical languages and create something new. Their performance at the "40 Years of WIM Zurich" festival remained unforgotten for many. Eichenber…

Temporary Super Offer! ”In its sum, Draw From The Source recounts a multidimensional journey whose sources and paths constantly cross. Marco von Orelli and Sheldon Suter reveal a lot about themselves, about their individual idiosyncrasies and about their common feelings in this performance carried by finest lyricism. But behind this journey from the north to the south, from urban stagnation to Mediterranean lightness, there is also a call for us to reflect on the true nature of our existence in …