Experimental / Free Improvisation

*100 copies limited edition* Belgian musician and filmmaker Jef Mertens has been an active force in the experimental music and film scene for nearly two decades. Known for his documentaries on artists like Sonic Youth and Borbetomagus, as well as his work with the now-defunct Dadaist Tapes label, Mertens continues to push the boundaries of sound exploration. His previous solo works include NO MATHEMATICS, released on KRAAK/Feeding Tube Records.With Orchid Alto, Mertens dedicates himself to the t…

The first few minutes of ‘3 × hullo, hullo’ sound like a little mole creeping up through the soil. The little thing hoes and scoops up some sand, building a small pile of dirt. But then, anger... because this drives them mad—those who want their lawns clean and spotless. A clean lawn: a desire we inherited from the Brits. Dumped into our collective consciousness by humorless Victorians who enjoyed having their black pudding on the lawn. An uninspired impression from their misreading of Italian p…

For a while the trio just called itself "Me, you and Sue", which suited them - none of the three has ever seemed especially concerned with naming things. Adam Bohman, Sue Lynch and Crystabel Efemena Riley found each other through London's Horse Improvised Music Club and have been playing together in various rooms for years. This is their first record as a three, and it needed a real title. Lynboril Lisinopril takes Lyn(ch), Bo(hman) and Ril(ey), puts the invented word into a search engine and ke…

* Edition of 100 copies * Chant is the starting point. Not chant as decoration or as a mood, but late medieval chant as a compositional problem, taken up by someone working alone with a bass clarinet, a piccolo, her own voice and a rack of analogue electronics. Emily Rach Beisel has described what drew her to it: music from before the rules hardened, with a wild freedom and density that later codification would take away. Multiple voices, as she puts it, "both intertwined and independent." Which…

Second An'archives album from Tokyo trio archeus - Keiko Higuchi, Shizuo Uchida and Tomo - recorded in a single day in Koenji, with guest Kiyotaka Moriuchi on two pieces. Free improvisation moving from dense noise to near-silence. Edition of 290 with silkscreened jacket and obi.

Bill Orcutt built The Four Louies by dropping Steve Reich's Four Organs onto "Louie Louie" - two of the most stubborn riffs in American music, high minimalism and dumb garage, forced into the same frame. This is what happened when he took it off the record and into a room. At Roulette last March the four organs became six, the rock trio swelled into a small army, and the plunderphonic stiffness of the studio version simply burned off. Six organists, twin drummers, William Winant on maracas, Chri…

Eight years since his last solo electric guitar record. Bill Orcutt returns to what made his playing essential: slashing chords, frenzied double-picking, angular runs that climb and ricochet. Recorded live at Cafe OTO. No computer loops. No gentle melodic glow. Just Orcutt and his four-string Fender through a tattered Twin Reverb.

Born April 1966, in Marseille, Jérôme Noetinger discovered experimental music under the influence of the Déficit Des Années Antérieures in Caen. He is a composer/improviser/sound artist working with electroacoustic devices. Composing sometimes musique concrete in the studio, and performing improvised music using electroacoustic devices such as: the reel to reel tape recorder Revox B77 and magnetic tape, analogue synthesizers, mixing desks, speakers, microphones, various electronic household obje…

*28 copies limited edition* Lofi Experimental Cassette label focusing on reuse. Breathing new life into unwanted ephemera.    Jabe Ledoux: Percussionnd dentico: electric bass, magnetic tape, field recordings

Lucky restock, few copies available! The new transmission from Turin's My Cat Is An Alien, Maurizio and Roberto Opalio's long-running cosmic project, issued in a hand-numbered limited edition of 99 copies on their own Opax Records imprint. Two long-form pieces built around what the Opalios describe as a genuine creative breakthrough: applying their established practice of spontaneous composition in reverse, working by subtraction once the "apogee of real-time creation" had been reached, in servi…

** Edition of 500 copies with a numbered 4-page insert ** Previously released in 1980 on David Toop’s Quartz label at a time when improvised music in London was settling into a long spell of excellence. The players here are Steve Beresford, Peter Cusack, Terry Day and David Toop. Terry had been a member of The People Band in the 60s, one of the groups forming part of the first wave of British improvisation. The rest of the group could be regarded as pioneers of a second generation of improvisers…

In a sonic dialogue that balances delicacy and depth, Clinton Green and Barnaby Oliver explore the shifting textures of acoustics and resonance. Employing bowed aluminum bowls, strings, and a grand piano, their work unfolds in patient layers that probe the very essence of sound and its environment, evoking an atmosphere of quiet tension and subtle transformation.

With solid training as a classical musician, Sophie Agnel took a close interest in modern jazz before committing in the early Nineties to the shifting, deliciously uncertain ground of free improvisation, thanks to her fascination for the powers of expression displayed by a few great keyboard-heretics such as Keith Tippett, Fred Van Hove or Christine Wodrascka. She began reworking the prepared piano techniques imagined by John Cage and transformed her instrument into a sort of extended piano. Com…

Violeta García and Hora Lunga return with 4ever, their second album and the follow-up to I’ll Wait For You In The Car Park. Released in 2025 on -ous, their debut received airplay on BBC and NTS and was selected for Bandcamp’s Best Experimental Music year-end list. 4ever picks up where that record left off: in ordinary moments, small scenes and the strange emotional weight of being somewhere between places. But here, these moments are stretched across a much larger, darker screen. A night flight,…

The hardcore noise improvisation duo featuring Martin Escalante, a ferocious noise saxophonist from Mexico, and Tatsuya Yoshida will release a CD featuring the complete recordings of their live performances in Kobe and Okayama from their previous 2025 tour, to coincide with their second Japan tour this August!

*300 copies limited edition* Pressure is the medium of wind players. Wind instruments all sound thanks to pressure differentials, whether that’s the rush of wind over a lip plate or a steady, buzzing exhalation through pursed lips. Ka Baird and Chris Ryan Williams (HxH) are wind players well- schooled in the power of using pressure and movement to amplify the mystery of an invisible force animating a metal tube. They augment their instruments, flute and trumpet respectively, with electronics, so…

*100 copies limited edition* "Composer and percussionist Sarah Hennies and composer and bassist Tristan Kasten-Krause make music rooted in observation. Timbres across percussion and string instruments gradually meld into one; pitches gently float into consonance after bristling in dissonance. With The Quiet Sun, their debut duo album, the two musicians present two pieces that survey their nuanced approach to sound as it grows over time. The album, recorded at Issue Project Room, presents two wor…

Recorded on September 13-14, 2023 at Ting ShuoHear Say in Tainan, Taiwan. Recording, mixing, mastering and cover designby Jason Kahn. Much gratitude to Alice Hui-Sheng Chang and Nigel Brown for all their help and warm hospitality during my stay in Tainan as resident artist at Ting Shuo Hear Say. Also many thanks for the generous financial support from Stadt Zürich Kultur, Pro Helvetia, and Fondation SUISA which made my trip to Tainan possible.

In the ongoing battle between technical virtuosity and authentic expression, most guitar "shredders" have chosen the wrong side - trafficking in overwrought drama while remaining devoid of soul, viewing music as competitive sport rather than spiritual exploration. Enter Cyrus Pireh, whose latest Palilalia release Thank You, Guitar represents nothing less than a revolutionary approach to "transcendental shred electric guitar music" that upcycles the despised 32nd-note neck sprint into something g…

Biggest Tip! Quartz-Mirliton Cassettes has been among the most obscure of 1970s experimental music labels. This forthcoming VOD release, presented in two boxes, throws light on this mysterious cassette venture, its context and associated recordings. Closely associated with the London Musicians Collective, Quarz was launched by Paul Burwell and David Toop in 1977. Produced in tiny editions with handmade covers, the cassettes largely documented live sessions and field recordings made by a close ne…

A landmark in avant-garde jazz returns: the definitive, remastered edition of Alan Silva’s 1969 Paris session for BYG’s Actuel series. Leading his 11-piece Celestial Communication Orchestra — with titans like Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Grachan Moncur III — Silva channels the raw, boundary-pushing energy of the New York free jazz explosion. Deluxe packaging, restored artwork, and new liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre complete this long-sought treasure. Originally released in 1969, this explo…

*125 copies limited edition.* Tsss Tapes presents Passenger by Jeph Jerman and Ted Byrnes.

The debut album from Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl has evolved over several years from their initial practice of free improvisation on viola and cello into (for the moment), this: a neophonic orchestral expression. At once stimulating and soothing, For Translucence is a living, breathing meditation in which layers of acoustic strings, synthesizers, field recordings, radio and sine waves illuminate each other as they twine and grow.

A devastating cry for Palestine, nearly five decades later, this radical 1977 masterpiece returns to vinyl via Black Sweat Records. Demetrio Stratos, Gaetano Liguori, and Giulio Stocchi created a powerful sonic testament to the 1976 Tall el Zaatar massacre - a devastating blend of free jazz, experimental vocals, and Mediterranean traditions. More than music, it's unflinching historical testimony that remains painfully relevant today.

On Cooked, Oren Ambarchi folds his all‑star studio jam aesthetic into something gloriously unhinged. Two side‑long epics twist piano ripples, synthetic “voices,” mutant trumpet tones, electric Miles haze and digital pyrotechnics into a foot‑tapping, brain‑scrambling, joyously cuckoo ride that still feels meticulously shaped.

Corbett vs. Dempsey is delighted to announce the release of the self-titled debut CD by the international quartet The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. The highly democratic foursome works in the productive netherworld between genres, where genres go to die. Integrating noise, jazz, electronic music, and pure mania, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters does not sit passively waiting for something to happen; in highly focused free improvisations, they take the proverbial bull by the horns with …

The Duke of Wellington is a vivid portrait of Derek Bailey and John Stevens in spontaneous conversation, recorded live at a London pub in 1989. The set captures their dynamic synergy; jagged guitar and agile percussion interlock and diverge in an unrepeatable display of free improvisational skill.

*75 copies limited edition* DNZ122 Drew Wesely – Silence is a Sharpened Blade Silence is a Sharpened Blade speaks in the language of materiality — a stripped bare mantra of nylon and wood conjures unspoken and veiled interiors, channeling the intimacy of a single guitar alone in a room. Silence is a mirror, a shadow, an absence. It speaks when words fail in the poetry of negative numbers. Where do we go when the lights burn out? What is beauty in hell? What can pierce a heart of stone? Silence i…

*200 copies limited edition* “For the last 6 years, New York sampledelia and synthesis rhabdomants Nuke Watch, duo of Aaron Anderson and Chris Hontos, also known for alternative projects and spinoffs like Beat Detectives and Weird Shit U.S.A. 2, have consistently composed and released cerebral flows of psychedelic compositions bridging the gap between the post-hippy movement wastelands, the weirdest fringes of urban beatmaking subcultures, and the wild American DIY avant-garde and noise traditio…

*2026 stock* With Unit of Time, Hans Hulbækmo and Egil Kalman aim to show that we can experience the essence of time through rhythm. How can the perception of time—both for the listener and the performers—be turned completely on its head by rhythm? By zooming in on rhythms from traditional music from around the world, the hyper-focused interplay of free jazz, and the rhythmic structures of just-intoned drone music (which is essentially about resonant intervals built on polyrhythms), these gentle…

Double Amps emerged from a very specific situation. In early February 2025 a short tour through Belgium and the Netherlands took place with Dietrichs. For those concerts a dedicated stereo setup using two amplifiers was developed. Around that configuration a structured set with taishōgoto was built – a framework that allowed space for improvisation and for the sound to unfold freely on stage. A few weeks after the tour, circumstances created the opportunity for a concentrated week of recording. …

Mnemonists, on the first album called Mnemonist Orchestra, is U.S collective of avant-garde musicians from Colorado, led by Mark Derbyshire and William Sharp. Their music is a mixture of modern classical, experimental sounds, noise, industrial, avant-garde and free jazz. Their releases were published by their own self-produced label Dys between 1981 and 1986. By 1985 the group had split off into separate groups for visual and audio work. From that time, Mnemonists operated only as a visual arts …

A blazing chapter of Zu’s early history returns. Originally released in 2002, Igneo is back in print.

The great master, improvisational pianist, and musical polymath Steve Beresford; John Edwards, one of the most important double bassists on the global free improv scene; and Mandhira de Saram, an exquisite violinist and former member of the renowned Ligetti Quartet, come together. “Felix” is the recording debut of this trio, which, since its formation a few years ago, has become a regularly performing ensemble. Recorded at London’s Vortex club in January of last year, the album demonstrates how …

"Among all the paradoxes of communication, which improvisational musicians explore continuously as connoisseurs to create magic, there is the fact that they speak at the same time (something we are generally discouraged from doing). Not only that, but they have the quartering ability to listen and hear each other while speaking at the same time. Reversal of the situation for better sharing: to hear each other better, to hear everything better, it would really be better if we all got into the hab…

"There is a familiar species of experience. I believe it is nearly universal. Here’s the brief: we have not seen a person in a long time, someone with whom we were once close. For no good reason – no falling out, no unpleasantries at all – our paths have not crossed. Then, in an instant, we are together, thrown or brought or drawn. Circumstance has landed us proximate and here we are, face to face. Within seconds, we recognize the person. I mean really recognize them. Not just their external app…

"Autumn has always brought me bright thoughts and fruitful encounters. Barry and I, although we had known each other for many years — and although I had grown “into adulthood” musically through the influence of masters like him — had never had the chance to play and record together. Finally, October 2025 gave me this wonderful gift: an extraordinary meeting. Coming face to face with a champion of free improvisation placed me in a position where I had to draw upon all the creativity available — a…

Recorded by Karl Winand and Markus Massinger at artacts – Festival for Jazz and Improvised Music, Alte Gerberei, St. Johann in Tirol, Austria. Mixed and mastered by John Butcher  Sophie Agnel - pianoJohn Butcher - saxophonesPascal Niggenkemper - double bassStåle Liavik Solberg - drums

Chinese tradition tells the story of how one day, the Emperor decided to decorate the walls of his new palace. He summoned two of the most famous painters of the time and gave them two months to complete the paintings on the walls. One of the painters immediately got to work and spent two months diligently and meticulously sketching, applying colors, correcting, and perfecting his painting. The second painter arrived a day before the deadline and painted his painting in a single gesture, without…

The duo of Camila Nebbia and Chris Corsano brings together two fiercely creative voices from the international improvised music scene. Nebbia’s searching tenor saxophone lines meet Corsano’s explosive, highly textural percussion in a set of spontaneous exchanges of raw expression. Their music moves fluidly between delicate detail and surging intensity, driven by deep listening and fearless experimentation. The result is a striking dialogue where every gesture reshapes the sonic landscape in real…