Bias
*100 copies limited edition. In process of stocking* Through its focus on process and materiality, Bias opens the practice of sound ecology beyond the acoustic to consider the audibility of the chemical composition of soil. From scraps of muddied media buried across three sites in Austria, Greece and Italy, Lami crafts a series of melancholy studies which seem to question the inevitable legacy of human culture and industry in the geological strata.
Top Natural Drum
Following releases on West Mineral and Lillerne Tapes, Iggy Romeu’s inimitable Mister Water Wet project makes its Soda Gong debut. “Top Natural Drum” feels like a double entendre ode to digging culture, drawing equally from the plantlife in the dirt and the grooves in the stacks. Tracks like opener “Soak” concoct a haze of resonant ceramic/wooden percs, skittering drum programming, and addictive yet diffuse melodic and harmonic textures. Dusty-fingered nodders like “Caged at Last”, “Classicfit,”…
Na Margem Sul
Haunted ice-cold electric guitar minimalism, shimmered and expertly restrained, 'Na margem sul' is a recording of David Grubbs and Manuel Mota's first public performance as a duo. They've been working together for over a decade - 2018's "Lacrau" is a particular highlight - but it's taken them this long to actually play together in front of an audience. Grubbs admits that although they've met countless times, they rarely talk about playing. From David Grubbs: "This recording documents Manuel Mota…
MU V / MU VI
Original 1984 copy of self produced studio album from 1984. Recorded and mixed at Conny’s Studio. Insane instrumentation, expanding the boundaries of percussion. Michael Ranta is an american percussionist based in Cologne since early seventies. Known for his one off collaboration with Toshi Ichiyanagi, Takehisa Kosugi, live performances with Hartmut Geerken and his own improv group Wired. This one is a solo recording of Ranta playing Sha-tik, Mu-yu, Mok-eo, Mu-ban, Bamboo Tubes, Bungkaka, Tongat…
Under & Cracked
Limited edition of 200 copies.* Aonghus McEvoy is an Irish, Dublin-based experimental guitarist, who has played with musicians such as Annette Krebs, Ricardo Jacinto, Adam Pultz Melbye and Damo Suzuki. Aonghus’ long-term projects include a duo with chaotic synthesist Tristan Clutterbuck and he is a member of pioneering exploitation folk-rock group Woven Skull and the brutalist punk quintet Worst. Likewise, he counts among his many inspirations Eva-Maria Houben, J.S. Bach, Cornelius Cardew, Rhodr…
Trending
*2022 stock.* Sofa Music is proud to welcome a new project on board. It’s Propan, a duo comprising the two Norwegian vocalists; Natali Garner and Ina Sagstuen. On their second album Propan continues its research within the frameworks of the song form and presents a psychedelic, and more delirious landscape than on its first, somewhat more electroacoustic album, Baby. The duo explores the meeting point between improvised music and studio production, and builds the album around Propan's well-estab…
To Sail, To Sail
One of the most profound solo statements to date from a musical master who has been crossing musical borders for over three decades! Concentrating exclusively on the acoustic guitar, Fred Frith stretches himself and the instrument like never before, performing with the eloquence and grace of a master in peak form. With a prodigious technique and elegant sense of maturity he draws upon a lifetime of study and experience to bring together influences as diverse as classical, blues, folk, gypsy and …
Denmark's Intuitive Music Conference 1997
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock* "This disk documents the music made at the opening of DIMC '97 by a dozen delegates, most of whom had never played together before. Assuming there was no conductor (none is credited) and no pre-arranged sequence of events, the result is pretty astonishing.
Twelve strangers improvising together is a recipe for disaster; what usually happens is this. The music begins tentatively, unstructured, with no-one wishing to tread on toes. Slowly, pressure builds up as …
Fullmoonimprovisations 1999/2000 Tryllehaven
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock* "There is a particular approach to improvisation which can seem slightly strange when you first encounter it, although it's been around in free improv at least since the days of the AACM, and so probably since free improv existed at all. This approach finds a commonality with field recordings of "exotic" musics rather than with the studio, and seeks, one way or another, to embrace that commonality in a non-contradictory way.
Rohstoff represent one way of doin…
Alterations Live
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock* "Alterations on record is a bit like listening to the soundtrack to a movie without the picture show. Essential to their 'performance' was the aspect that making music can be both visually & musically entertaining; which hints at the notion of entertainment as a valid musical form - and suggests that 'High Art' can be born from "playing for laughs" - (which the Alterations perfected to such a fine art as to become 'flavour of the month' for a year or two).
At…
Summing
*2022 stock* Oscar Jan Hoogland is the sound of Amsterdam in person. He plays in the Muziekgebouw (Amsterdams main hall for modern composed music) as well as in the Bimhuis (Holland’s main jazz venue) that is literally attached to it, as in its parking garage. He is an instant composer, pianist and inventor of his own instrument by putting a clavichord, a keyboard instrument from the 17th century, on 220 Volt electricity.
As the last student of the late pianist, composer and improvisor Misha Men…
7
*In process of stocking* Vocals, bass, drums, Masked Pickle is three singular "voices" who express their ideas in a unique way, follow their flow but also like to break it, deconstruct the easy path of the sound by yelling, whispering, blowing, bawling, roaring, scraping, declaiming, knocking.
Hárr
Tip! An homage to the wildlife and mountain people of Benedicte Maurseth’s home area in Hardanger . The acclaimed and innovative visionary musician Benedicte Maurseth is coming forth with the wonderful all-consuming album Hárr. The sound of her magic Hardanger fiddle is woven seamlessly together with that of birds and the other musicians’ musical impressions. Always moving forward with a steely calm disposition, the record draws you into a world where one feels to be one with nature, wandering o…
Geometry Of Trees
This foursome is resolute in its acceptance of communal responsibility and creation. Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura sings and speaks in wordless flurries matching Taylor Ho Bynum’s brassy exhortations on cornet. Cellist Tomeka Reid and guitarist Joe Morris worry and pluck their respective strings, applying speed and torque in the loosing of spidery cascades of crinkled and crenelated tones. Pitch and timbre differentials are a big part of the interplay with instruments juxtaposed in bursts of activity.
Refuge
Alexandra Grimal’s new record is an exploration of her inner improvised language in resonance with the very special acoustic of the castle of Chambord. Refuge was recorded in the double revolution staircase in the castle of Chambord in September 2020.
A Grain Of Earth
*In process of stocking* ‘A grain of Earth’ is the first solo venture and expression of several years of working with instant compositions and the timbral possibilities of an acoustic piano. This has been wrapped in an idea of realities beyond our perception, and a thought that we are a part of a big organism where everything goes endlessly bigger and smaller in scale of size, time and speed. Everything moves in constantly interfering waves of energy; echoing and reflecting, in ceaseless dance o…
Another Day, Another Vector
Forbes Graham (trumpet, drum machine, laptop computer) is joined by Cecilia Lopez (analog synth) and Brandon Lopez (bass) on a session recorded at Firehouse 12 in August of 2021. Each musician is wholly distinct and themselves on this recording, but their sounds unite to create a dark and quizzical sci-fi journey.
Trasluz
Amidea Clotet's Trasluz is the result of research into the sound and textural possibilities of the electric guitar treated as a source of sound amplification. Clotet creates spontaneous, raw and vivid soundscapes, which call for the importance of the present moment, of knowing how to listen to what surrounds us and to ourselves.
The Industrious Tongue
The Industrious Tongue of Michael Foster is a 2-part work probing the most intimate and sensitive glands of the saxophone's internal architecture. This work is dedicated to several filmmakers whose work explores the erotic extremities and complexities of contemporary intimacy which has served as a focal point of inspiration for this album: Hisayasu Sato, Takashi Ishii, Naomi Tani and Jacques Rivette.
The Outlier
*In process of stocking.* Paul G. Smyth is an Irish pianist who has worked with such innovative free improvisers as Evan Parker, John Russel, Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey and Keiji Haino, and runs the Weekertoft label. John Wiese is an American electronics musician, known for the Sissy Spacek project as well as his work with Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Merzbow and Evan Parker. The duo of Smyth and Wiese was recorded at the National Concert Hall in Dublin in February 2015.
"The Outlier" is a 54-minute…