Experimental / Free Improvisation

First Blush is the first album by a wild improv trio formed by Argentinian musician Javier Areal Vélez (guitar), and New Yorkers Kevin Murray (drums) and Chris Pitsiokos (alto sax). This is a joint release, coming on CD and digital as the first album of brand new label 1039 Records (NYC) and on cassette by Lurker Bias (Chicago). This live document of the three musicians' only recording session so far proves to be hellish 20' drive down a terrible road, with all the windows locked up. Within the …

*43 copies limited edition* 'On his first solo album 'Onomat', Bill Harris, from Pittsburgh, who lives in Chicago, who is also the founder of the collective Amalgam, limits himself to his drum kit, microphones and amplification, producing a collection of striking sound sculptures. A good example where this approach leads is 'Mangosteen', in which the percussion movements are creatively distorted into an alienating stream of gritty sounds. We also find it in pieces like 'Razbliuto', only here it …

*300 copies limited release* Live at Commend, NYC documents an evening under the spell of Carlos Niño and a cast of new and familiar friends and cosmic collaborators including Laraaji, Surya Botofasina, Photay, and Will Logan. Performed and recorded at Commend, the once and future gravitational center of RVNG Intl., on November 16, 2021, Live at Commend, NYC transcends format for serene, celestial sound.

** A brand new Double cassette featuring one tape of studio recordings and one tape of live recordings! First pressing of 250 with artwork by Jaime Zuverza. ** Brand new sprawling double cassette document from Lisa Cameron & Sandy Ewen! "Sea Creatures Too" features one tape of newly recording studio tracks and a second tape of live tracks recorded on their Texas tour of 2019 (to celebrate the initial release of "See Creatures"). Almost 2 full hours of evocative soundscapes that expand upon their…

* Edition of 175 * Recorded on May 30th, 2018 at Tempo Reale Festival in Florence, Italy. Mixed & Mastered by Ryan Power. Performed by Otomo Yoshihide - guitar and turntables and Chris Pitsiokos - alto saxophone and electronics. Layout & Cover Art by Jaime Zurverza.

Edition of 70 copies. We are back with good old fashion live recording of two jingling guitars, just the way you like it. Two long tracks, some jokes in the middle and long loooong applause at the end, of course, because this show was so good, that it just had to be transferred onto tape. This recording is a perfect showcase of Arn's and Bogner's (aka Margaret Unknown) artistic versatility. On this eerie two acoustic guitar bonanza, they are giving a big nod to Derek Bailey with their mind boggl…

This bundle includes the following:Smegma "Infringements" (LP) **Edition of 230** This is alga marghen’s third installment of Smegma’s original “Suburban Primitive Avant-folk music” Period (1973-1975) based in Pasadena, featuring three previously unreleased tracks from the deep vault of their home recordings. In the beginning, the Band Smegma had only one rule. No Musicians. Starting from scratch, they took the Road much less traveled. They were inspired by outsider musical artists of the time s…

Internationally renowned musician and composer Roscoe Mitchell since Sound, his debut on Delmark in 1966, has defined a unique language based on a creative approach toward jazz and its relationship with contemporary music. Splatter, drawn from two concerts at the AngelicA Festival in Bologna in 2017, presents the most recent developments of this research. Here are two pieces from his cycle "Conversations for large orchestra". A project based on the transcription and orchestration of some pure co…

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…

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…

*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…

*50 copies limited edition* Astral Spirits presents Unfamiliar Ceilings. Lina Tullgren: violinAlec Toku Whiting: koto, bass kotoTed Reichman: synthesizer, pedals (track 3) Engineered and mixed by Ted Reichman at Subtext Sound SystemMastered by Jack Callahan

*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…

*2022 stock* First vinyl reissue of the landmark 1966 debut album by Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Exact replica with gatefold sleeve (+ additional bonus CD). Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its recording in 1966, this reissue makes one of the cornerstones of the experimental music tradition available again in its original form. A testament to the interaction between the experimental avant-garde and the free improvisation, the album was originally released on Rca, and playe…

*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…

*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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Rune Grammofon are delighted to welcome back the mighty Supersilent with a brand-new record, their first in four years. Recorded during three different sessions back in 2011, Supersilent 12 is produced by Deathprod from hours of recordings at his own Audio Virus LAB, Athletic Sound in Halden and the Emanuel Vigeland Museum, known for its 20-second natural reverb. Since the very beginning, Supersilent have always moved forward with the greatest integrity. Supersilent music is collective work,…

This fourth Supersilent installment once again features the tantalising quartet lineup of Helge Sten (aka Deathprod), Ståle Storløkken (synthesizer), Arve Henriksen (trumpet), and Jarle Vespestad (drums). If you haven't encountered their work before, Supersilent 4 is a good place to start - a sumptuous arrangements of tracks often described as "Death Jazz", though the title is somewhat misleading. Deathprod's arrangements and production techniques loom large over these amazing pieces, coating th…

Debut triple CD by a Norwegian deathjazz improvising unit! The group features Helge Sten (audio virus), Ståle Storløkken (synthesizer), Arve Henriksen (trumpet), and Jarle Vespestad (drums)." Many hours of studio recordings, which have been trimmed down into this debut. "Difficult music, perhaps, but also playful and stunningly beautiful, always trying to stretch the limits." New packaging, now comes in an elaborate fold-out digipak.

*200 copies limited edition. In process of stocking* "These performances are all about the process, about exploration and they more than once reminded me of a quote by Derek Bailey about the creation process as a kind of jigsaw puzzle: “Emptied out of the box, there’s a heap of pieces, all shapes, sizes and colors, in themselves attractive and could add up to anything— intriguing. Figuring out how to put them together can be interesting, but what you finish up with as often as not is a picture o…

Reading Group is thrilled to introduce the debut LP from a new improvising group of three singular artists: Fred Moten (voice), Brandon López (double bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). López and Cleaver have been improvising together as a duo for a number of years, over which they’ve developed a secret, unspoken language of organically growing repetitive figures in a wide range of sonic palettes. López and Cleaver have long been recognized as some of the most vital voices in contemporary experim…

Tip! Sampler / Sampled is an album made of two interdependent parts rather than a double-album. The first part of the project, Sampler, is a trumpet solo album that catalogues the unique sounds and extended techniques that Mazen Kerbaj developed for the instrument in the past 25 years; it consists of 318 pieces ranging from less than a second to forty seconds each, and presenting different sonic materials. This catalogue of sounds works on various levels: first and foremost, it is a trumpet solo…

Anne-F Jacques lives in Montreal, Québec. She started running crustacés tapes from 10 years ago, and in last year she stopped it and start a new label named presses précaires. I always love the sound she made, and we traded cassettes many times, shipping always taking too many days. We have not met each other though we have some common friends, and seems it might be difficult in the following a few years. In the summer of 2021, we started talking about some possible collaborations. A collaborati…

A truly stunning piece of work, Aspen Edities’ latest - Eyvind Kang’s “Sonic Gnostic” - radically bridges the worlds of minimal composition, rigorous experimentation, and improvised forms, in ways that locks Kang in the mind as one of America’s most original thinkers in the contemporary landscape of sound.

The legendary Lebanese trio of trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj (Karkhana, Johnny Kafta), guitarrist Sharif Sehnaoui (Calamita, Karkhana, Johnny Kafta ) and bassist Raed Yassin (Praed, Praed Orchestra) celebrates their 20th anniversary with The Binding Third on Unrock. They still create acoustic improvised drones that range from insistent, chiming resonances with emergency alarm bells to low, thrumming hums but with growing intensity. Avoiding conventional technique, A Trio manages to create sounds like m…

Tip! "Recorded during the first lockdown in July 2020. All pieces are derived from improvisations experimenting with extended techniques / prepared bass, microtonality and Harry Partch's 11-Limit tonality diamond tuning system, overdubbing and long formless melodies. Inspired and dedicated to my daughter Yumi who was born on 25th April 2020." - Michael Bardon

For Avant-Garde / Improvised Music enthusiasts, this is a Holy Grail!

There are enough ideas in the first couple of numbers to fill a whole album, with wailing sax and clarinet and lightning propelled guitar in the brief opener ‘Heat Patch’- think Zappa- then Fripp in ‘The Celebration Restriction’. It’s a whirlwind, visceral listen with the free spirit of experimental jazz and the nous of heavy rock." Phil Jackson. Conceived and realised over an 8-month period of intense solitary work, "Gated" is Alex Ward's most ambitious musical statement to date. The ten pieces…

A new trio from three master improvisers in the great sax / bass / drums tradition. This suite of compact pieces sees the players move between pure jazz skill and areas where extended techniques on all three instruments take the music into more textural and abstract areas. Paul Hession has played percussion with a wide range of improvising  musicians from around the world including Derek Bailey, Peter Brotzmann and Marshall Allen. Bassist Michael Bardon featured in the Nat Birchall Quartet and S…

Eclectic Maybe Band is the creation of Guy Segers, a player / composer / producer first prominent as bassist with legendary band Univers Zero, and subsequently active in many live and studio projects. “Again Alors?” is the third release by EMB which brings together detailed studio work with the creativity of real time improvisation. Using different groupings from within a large ensemble cast, which includes many well-known names, Guy has created an album where half the tracks are drawn from live…

*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 100 copies.* Headlights Recordings presents Manuel Mota's new work Lux. 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 …

Tip! "Language is the Skin" is the fourth full length release by New Monuments, the quartet co-led by Don Dietrich (Borbetomagus) and Ben Hall (Graveyards/Bill Dixon). Hall and Dietrich continue applying pressure to the structure of the relationship between saxophone and percussion. "Language" branches out to include totally new forms, line-ups, and instrumentation. New to the band, replacing C. Spencer Yeh, are Don's 25 year-old shredder daughter Camille adding 'cello, big Stockhausian refriger…

*In process of stocking.* Minimalism is the keyword for the release from Bryan Eubanks. He composed work for four double basses, and Jonathan Heilbron, Mike Majkowski, Andrew Lafkas and Koen Nutters are the performers here. The score/concept is explained on the cover here; this is an excerpt: "[..] .....Each bass bows natural harmonics on one of the strings (I, II, III, IV), holding each note for the chosen duration and allowing a pause equal to half of this duration between each note. ..... All…

Tip! On this third release The New Boyfriends breaks out from duo formation, introducing Masa on saxophone to become together a brain blistering harsh jazz trio. First part is filled with two scorching harsh noise tracks where junk metal abuse, harsh pedal noise and fierce sax blowing collide intensively. The second one focuses more on atmosphere and textures while retaining the qualities of harsh noise

Tip! "noel meek is from new zealand. he used creates electronic music. he also runs a label called "end of alphabet". we have never met yet. once in 2016 he asked me to compile an album. i then contact zhu wenbo for expand the idea. the result was the “there is no music from china” compilation. in summer or late spring of 2020, while everybody was trying to understand the pandemic thing, noel emailed me about to record an album together. i said yes, and maybe we can do it this way... but could y…

Zhao Cong used micro-cassette player, spray, bug zapper, pop rocks, voice, magnetic pickup, microphone and other daily objects.