Experimental / Free Improvisation

*2024 stock* "I have always been fascinated by the improvising combos that give prominence to the classical guitar, but it is usually easier to find such productions on the contemporary side. So having caught this little gem with strong freeform accents, where it makes its worthy appearance was a sign of amazement. We specify that the Graculus do not give exclusive space to the six strings but that in reality they are a duo formed by the English Phil Hargeraves (flute, soprano sax) and Richard H…

*2024  stock* "Before I received this CD, I was told "this might not be up my street" which is always a funny assumption I feel, as I am rarely shocked thanks to my obsession with Romanian experimental music during my early 20's. Though this new album by bloodcog really gave a good stab at it. Experimental music is often stuck in a difficult situation, how far can it go? Is it music? Is it not music? I often feel it is limiting in the way peope discuss and think about it. Bloodcog, like most exp…

*2021 stock* Phil Hargreaves is a Liverpool saxophonist and bold improviser whose music evokes the voices and echoes of his home city. In his new album, Fall Through the Infinite, he duets with the drummer of Spaceheads, Richard Harrison, and they create an urban soundscape, sometimes forlorn, sometimes bursting with hope, which is constantly inventive and multifaceted in its sonic patterns. Hargreaves’s tenor horn rampages through Reach for the Tar in ardent conversation with Harrison’s scuttli…

"A splendid collaboration between experimental vocalist Maggie Nicols and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Phil Hargreaves. Human is a work in eight movements through which runs Hargreaves’ title poem. A long and delicate collage of vocal interventions, acoustic improvisations, field recordings, and electronic textures. Sophisticated, captivating, poignant at times [“Fugue (We Are Not Certain)”] and – the greatest feat here – imbued with honesty and immediacy, rare qualities in this kind of collab…

Fran Bass - electric bassRichard Harding - chapman stickPhil Hargreaves - saxes/fluteRichard Harrison - drums/percussionPete Smyth - electronics

Four fifths of Bloodcog, this is more of a playing session than Bloodcog's power electronics.

"A live recording of freely improvised improv captured at All Hallows Church in High Laver, Essex in 2023 from the trio of AMM drummer and Matchless label-leader Eddie Prévost, Zürich and Maastricht trumpeter Silvan Shmid, and London double bassist Tom Wheatley of the group Widdershins, heard in three investigative conversations of great creative drive." * squidco.com

Matteo Uggeri is an Italian visual designer and composer from Milan. He invests himself in sound poetry of everyday life, organized around a vast array of personal field recordings, plunderphonia and melodic compositions meticulously arranged in a story-telling way. He’s part of the duo Starlight Assembly along with Dominic Appleton and he plays in Sparkle in Grey, Open to the Sea and The Last Five Minutes. Recently, he has released an album in collaboration with Nigel Ayers, from Solstice to Eq…

Tip! Inspired by Georg Trakl's "Nocturnal Song" and recorded in separate locations during lockdown 2021. The Japanese free music players Harutaka Mochizuki and Makoto Kawashima excite with their haunting play in the spirit of Kaoru Abe – beautiful and sad and violent at the same time. The French lapsteel guitarist Michel Henritzi mixes the pieces together, they float naturally into a melancholic but vibrant soundpoem, envocating their ghosts, their desires and feeling the mood of Trakls poem, th…

Recorded at Dreamland, a historic church converted into a studio just a few miles from Woodstock, NY, August Light captures the organic and spiritual essence of its unique setting. Owned by acclaimed drummer Jerry Marrota, Dreamland’s sensational acoustics and vibrant wood surfaces provided the perfect backdrop for Richard Carr’s collaborative explorations. Joining him on this musical outing are cellist Clarice Jensen and violist Caleb Burhans, both shining lights of the new music scene. Togethe…

In 2022 Lori Goldston went on a small 4 date tour of Ireland playing in Cork, Limerick, Leitirm and Drogheda. Willie Stewart of Nyahh Records drove her on the tour and recorded each performance. With Lori’s permission, Willie edited and mixed each performance and put them together to make this album. The end result is a collection of improvisations and spontaneous moments. Every performance is drastically different to one another in mood, energy and technique. In these recordings you can hear ho…

Dating back to the 13th century in Wales, the Telyn Rawn is a nearly forgotten horsehair harp; UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davies researched the instrument and its unique sound, commissioning the construction of a harp on which he performs 18 improvisations of impressive technique and sonority, launching his new Amgen Records label with this album named for the instrument. "A Telyn Rawn is a harp strung with horse hair and predates the appearance of the triple, lever and pedal harps. The earli…

An epic second installment from the trio of Mats Gustafsson, David Grubbs, Rob Mazurek, nearly 90 minutes of intense live performances from January 2020. They converge here on a wide swath of sounds: expansive free improvs, full-tilt electronics, alt-universe chamber music and spontaneous arrangements of three previously released Grubbs’ songs.

Modern Obscure Music presents "Sakuraza," a live album featuring Eiko Ishibashi (flute and electronics), Jim O'Rourke (electronics), Kei Matsumaru (alto saxophone), Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (drums), and Giovanni Di Domenico (piano). Recorded at the Sakuraza jazz club in Kofu, Japan, this dynamic and sophisticated performance blends jazz, electronic music, and pop elements.Giovanni Di Domenico, a frequent visitor to Japan, organized this June 2023 concert with long-time collaborators Ishibashi, O'Rourk…

NoBusiness presents Live at Willisau 1993, a new set of recordings by  Juozas Milašius / Tomas Kutavičius / Dalius Naujokaitis and Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra recorded live 26th August, 1993 at Willisau Festival, Switzerland. Mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Juozas Milašius - guitarTomas Kutavičius - pianoDalius Naujokaitis - drums Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra:Vytas Labutis - saxophones, cymbal, clapping, tramplingVilija Naujokaitienė - vocal,…

Limited edition of 100 copies Som Desorganizado is an anual meeting on sound that takes place at Sonoscopia, in Porto, Portugal. In each edition there are several talks, concerts, sound installations and an artist doing real time illustrations of of conceptual contents of this event. Each edition is also celebrated with a special physical release, that tries to resume many of the issues debated in the meetings. For 2021, 100 classical records were silk printed in order to create loops, rhythms a…

2024 stock, rare private press LP. Plaintive and imbued with the  Mediterranean-inspired air, wide-ranging, and undeniably erratic. Ramuntcho Matta could employ African tribal rhythms, discordant progressive jazz, pretty folky melodies, throat-stretching vocals, spoken poetry, channeling the sounds of improv jazz and numerous traditions across the globe, its experimental approaches stitch an emotive world that brims with tension and life

Wasteland Jazz Unit is Jon Lorenz and John Rich on saxophone and clarinet. The first full length of this apocalyptic Cincinnati duo is simply akin to the sonic equivalent of pouring molten silver (at 700°C) inside an ear. Space Denial is a powerful destruction trip pushing all the limits of reed electronic manipulations to areas and heights only explored by the mighty Borbetomagus.

*200 copies limited edition* Tokyo-based pianist Fumi Endo has been performing since 2017, playing mainly jazz and improvised music. Her distinctive, minimalistic performances have garnered a great deal of attention. Endo has performed frequently at Ftarri since September 2020. While she participated in two 2022 Ftarri CD releases—Takumi Ikeda’s "Musical Procedure" (Ftarri Classical, ftarricl-663), and the eponymous "Masahide Tokunaga" (Hitorri, hitorri-970)—Endo had no previous releases on Ftar…

*2023 stock. 250 copies limited edition* Seijiro Murayama is a drummer/percussionist and improviser/composer who lives in Paris. His first CDs on Ftarri's three labels (Hitorri, Ftarri and Meenna) came out in 2009, and he has since released a total of 12 solo, duo, trio and quartet albums on Ftarri labels. Of the solo albums, the first was "Downdate" (2017), followed by "The Empire of Slip of the Tongue" (2018) and "mi-tai" (2020). While "Downdate" and "The Empire of Slip of the Tongue" are elec…

*300 copies limited edition* Cecilia Lopez: Synthesizer and electronics. Brandon Lopez: Double Bass. Recorded at GSI in New York, August 2020.Recorded by Jason Rostowski. Mixed by Cecilia Lopez and Jon Lipscomb. Mastered by Jon Lipscomb. Art and design by Ian Kornfeld

*200 copies limited edition* Leo Okagawa is a Tokyo-based musician. Just months after the December 2023 release of his field recording CD "just another day" on the Hitorri label, Okagawa has released his new work, "Sweet and Poisonous," consisting of improvised music on electronics. The CD consists of two works of 28 minutes each, performed by Okagawa at Ftarri, Tokyo, in September 2023.In 2019 Okagawa released the solo electronics improvisation CD "in the quiet room" on Hitorri. This new album,…

*200 copies limited edition* Frédéric Tentelier is an artist and composer residing in the Opal Coast region of northern France. He creates music using a variety of instruments including organ, Fender Rhodes, banjo, percussion, voice and objects, as well as field recordings. He also composes music for and directs many musical theater productions.The CD "L’égarement" is comprised of three works produced by Frédéric Tentelier between May and October 2023, taking inspiration from the labyrinth legen…

*200 copies limited edition* Tokyo-born recorder player/improviser Eiko Yamada has lived in Germany since 1984 and currently resides in Heidelberg. Yamada performs in formations ranging from solo to large ensemble, as well as with a variety of artists including dancers and poets. She returns to Japan once or twice a year and appears in a small number of concerts in Tokyo.During her stay in Japan in summer 2023, Yamada performed with pianist Fumi Endo at Ftarri on August 13. In addition to their …

*200 copies limited edition* Born in 1973, Sergio Merce is a saxophone player/sound artist based in Buenos Aires. Known for his use of microtone sax, Merce has released CDs on the experimental/improvised/contemporary music labels Potlatch (France), Edition Wandelweiser (Germany) and Marginal Frequency (U.S.). In August 2023, he released the solo album "Traslasierra (expanded landscape)" on the Hitorri label. His second solo album, "Amplified Resonances," is set for release on Hitorri just four m…

**Edition of 100** "Recorded with a 4-track cassette recorder in c/ Natalio Rivas 7, Granada, Spain, on the nights of June 23rd (Nido i) and September 21st (Nido ii), 2018. Electric guitar, toy instruments, recordings of my daughter playing in Las Mimbres, Granada. The two tracks were meant to be some sort of lullabies, some music my then-2-year-old daughter could fall asleep to." - Francesco Covarino

*75 copies limited edition* Hello and welcome to the world of man(()) [manpussy}, What is man(())? An audio journey in space and time.... "Music for Head" could be considered my version of ENO's Music for Films"; albeit a somewhat noisier take. MFH combines ambient, noise, found sound, beats, vocals, and other aural phenomena coalescing into a mind altering sonic experience. Beautiful, haunting, and fresh.It is in the spirit of community that we share and say F OFF to the negative and herd menta…

Other Minds is proud to present Tierceron, the first collaborative release between Senso di Voce (Esin Gunduz, voice, harmonium, composer, and Megan Kyle, oboe, English horn) and multi-instrumentalist Henry Birdsey.

*100 copies limited edition* British saxophonist Colin Webster has always had a mono-thematic approach when it comes to making solo albums. From ‘Antennae’ (Gaffer Records, 2013) which dealt purely with micro-sounds and minimal dynamics, to ‘vs. Amp’ (Raw Tonk Records, 2021) which focussed on the sonic capabilities of a baritone saxophone played through a guitar amplifier. Textural Studies – as the title suggests – is no different in approach. Each piece is a deep exploration and thorough interr…

*2024 stock* Øra Fonogram announces the worldwide release of Rökkur, the joint album of Norwegian composer and performer Maja S. K. Ratkje and Icelandic ensemble Nordic Affect (Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Marie Stockmarr Becker, Hanna Loftsdóttir, Guðrún Óskarsdóttir). What is ‘rökkur’? ‘Rökkur’ is the Icelandic word for twilight — the hour when shadows fall, a time of transition, ambiguity, and magic. When ‘rökkur’ fell in pre-electric times, a space appeared for storytelling, reading, yarn s…

There is a delicacy and a passionate hardness, stripped bare of cloying sentiment. Its rawness is the exuberance of sound overflowing, basking in its self-created luxury…. It is, every bit of it, composed the same moment you hear it.

Maromas is the debut recording of the duo of Ingrid Laubrock and Cecilia Lopez. Recorded in April 2022, the album is a collection of improvised pieces for tenor and soprano saxophone, processing and electronics. Maromas refers to the doing of tricksters, conjurers and acrobats. The music is dark, harsh but also playful in its pirouettes. The electronics process the saxophone as much as the saxophone plays the electronics. Both voices became a third two-headed creature sometimes alienating the so…

"If you're feeling pressed by the demands of the Imaginary Empire's vicious circuitry, whether you're on the outside or a little too inside for your comfort, here's an opportunity to experience something real, satisfying, and original. Most of the world may be going all wrong, but The Fully Celebrated Orchestra are always 'Right On.'" - Brad Lingham

*2024 stock* This music is improvised and inspired by Judith Schalansky’s book "Atlas of Remote Islands: 50 islands I never set foot in and never will." The music is an echo of her writing, of inspiration by islands, entities with different and changing characteristics.

Mature Defense Mechanism is an improvised experiment in the relationships between rock and jazz characterized by whimsy amidst seclusion. It’s natural territory for guitarist Kirsten Carey and drummer Aaron Edgcomb, who are both gaining reputations for adventurous and wide-ranging approaches to music making.

We maneuver through woody sounds created by individual movements and decisions. Our cello playing is free from classical patterns, a real achievement! It is not natural to develop one's own approach to this high culture instrument. In this trio there are three multi-layered variations of personal expressive will and power.

Tip! French free vocalist Isabelle Duthoit and trumpeter Franz Hautzinger recorded these highly unusual duos to celebrate Hautzinger’s 60th birthday year. Using extreme techniques to create 11 uniquely aberrant accompaniments to your most subtle and strange dreams.

Silver Dawn is an ethereal collection of improvised vignettes performed on solo Hardanger d’amore, a sympathetic-stringed relative of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. Resonant strings and wordless vocals are gently guided by the cyclical momentum of dance and the instrument’s lingering overtones, magnifying moments of transience in suspensions of time.

*60 copies limited edition* Live in concert at A New Wave Of Jazz festival, Hundred Years Gallery (London, UK) on February 8th, 2020.Graham Dunning : turntable, dubplates & spring reverbs, Benedict Taylor : viola, Daniel Thompson : acoustic guitar. Black Tape, Clear Box With Pins, Sealed. Design By Rutger Zuydervelt

Huuuuge Tip! Gustavo Costa is a central figure in the experimental Portuguese scene, being active as a musician, composer and promoter for the past three decades in diverse musical configurations, and also renown as one of the leaders of Porto’s collective Sonoscopia. Following his first solo percussion record Entropies and Mimetic Patterns, released in 2020, on Natura Mimesis the original composition techniques, which are mostly based on musical transcriptions from natural phenomena, are now ap…