Perpetual Guest
For a few days at the end of July 2023, I curated a series of concerts and recordings in a few spaces in the historic, now-defunct Kreenholm Textile Factory in Narva, Estonia, a stone's throw from the Russian border. In Kreenholm's reverberant rooms, these sessions reflected on the layers of history, labor, conflict, and lives past and present that have shaped the factory and the constantly re-evolv- ing border city. A large and unexpected part of this project involved the restoration of an anti…
Kokai
Kishun is a duo: Ishikawa Ko, player of the shō (mouth-organ), and Nakamura Kahoru, player of the gaku-biwa (Japanese court lute). Since 2015 they have used only shō and biwa. Their idea is to bring out the hidden sound in what they call “gagaku without melody.”. Gagaku is the ancient court music of Japan. It is more than a thousand years old. In the Heian period, nobles gathered old songs and dances from Japan and pieces that had come from Korea and China between the 5th and 9th centuries, and …
Close Position
The concept is therefore to propose an immersive type of listening, in which the rather extended durations of sustained and seemingly static sounds create a certain tension generated by the anticipation of variation.
The live performance involves the use of samples, as the composed balances require multiple timbral layers to be active simultaneously. The closeness in pitch and the mimicry between instruments highlight the psychoacoustic phenomenon of beating: in fact, our auditory sy…
Off the wall
The long-awaited and reissue of Wada's 1985 LP "Off The Wall", recorded in Berlin and originally released on the esteemed FMP label. A minimalist yet majestic monsterpiece ("massive", as Tom Johnson declares in his perceptive liner notes), "Off The Wall" features Wada and Wayne Hankin on bagpipes, Marilyn Bogerd on adapted organ, and percussionist Andreas Schmidt-Neri.
The original album consisted of two side-long pieces recorded on successive days by Jost Geber, who captured the power and dynam…
Earth Horns With Electronic Drone
Yoshi Wada and EM Records presents the first-ever, world-premiere release of Earth Horns With Electronic Drone, recorded live in 1974. Combining four of Wada's self-made "pipehorns" (made from plumbing materials, over three meters in length), with an electronic drone tuned to the electrical current of the performance space, this is a lost masterpiece of early minimalism, placing Wada rightfully in the pantheon with La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher and Alvin Lucier. Recorded live i…
Richiamare
"Richiamare" is an attempt to create a bridge to the past, a connection between absence and precariousness as a vivid action of the present. The French Suite No. 3 by J.S. Bach is a piece that accompanied me for many years during my growth and studies as a musician. It made me confront the difficulties of the instrument, the need for dedication and the tendency to reach a higher stage of awareness. Many years later, that same piece resonates in my memory in a different way. It has created its ow…
Gleann Ciùin
Organ, cello and electronics performed by Claire M Singer. The captivating second instalment in a triptych of albums that delves into two intertwining narratives. Gleann Ciùin -which means "quiet glen" in Scottish Gaelic (pronounced gly-ow-n kyoon) -is released on CD / digitally by Touch on7th November 2025.
The follow up to 2023's Saor, the heart of this album lies a profound exploration of the artist's personal journeys across the rugged, awe-inspiring landscapes of the Cairngorms in Aberdeens…
Nidarosdomen
At the heart of Trondheim rises Nidarosdomen: Scandinavia’s great cathedral, the northernmost Gothic monument of the Middle Ages, built upon the resting place of Saint Olav. Within its stone walls breathes the colossal Steinmeyer organ, 9,600 pipes of air and thunder. A space made not only for prayer, but for ritual. When Yodok III was invited to perform in this sacred colossus, the idea of summoning Petra Bjørkhaug to the Steinmeyer organ arrived like an inevitability. To let the cathedral itse…
Disquiet
On Disquiet, The Necks stretch their immersive, shape-shifting sound across three discs and more than three hours of labyrinthine, patient intensity. This twentieth studio recording marks the 39th year of the band's existence, representing both a culmination of their extraordinary journey and a bold leap into uncharted sonic territory. Meticulously recorded and sculpted, the four extended pieces on Disquiet see Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton pushing at the outer edges of their coll…
Melopea
Super tip! Black Truffle is pleased to announce Melopea, presenting two new pieces highlighting the incredible voice of Amelia Cuni (1958-2024), the great Italian singer, based in Berlin in later life, whose mastery of the classical Indian dhrupad developed in parallel with a commitment to contemporary experimental approaches. After two stunning archival releases documenting traditional dhrupad performances in India in the 1990s (BT079 and BT092), the two side-long pieces here embody the freedom…
Monochrome Electronic Music (Two pieces for Coupigny Synthesizer)
*100 copies limited edition* A « monochrome » approach to composition implies working within a restricted aural palette and, in this particular case, using fixed pitches. It focuses on developing interactions between these parallel elements in a time dominion. Establishing a dialogue devoid of structural repetitions and, most importantly, free from any hierarchy of notes. Such coexistence gives way to a particular environment of musical democracy where unevolving sounds lose their individual imp…
Decay Music 9: Liminale / Decay Music 10: And I Entered Into Sleep (2LP bundle)
*200 copies limited edition* This bundle includes the latest and final releases in Die Schachtel's Decay Series: Luigi Turra & Elio Martusciello "Liminale", and Sergio Armaroli & David Toop "And I Entered Into Sleep".
Returning with its ninth and tenth instalments, Die Schachtel's Decay Music series extends its explorations of inspired contemporary experimental efforts of the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract with Luigi Turra and Elio Martusciello’s “Liminale” and Sergio Armaroli and D…
Decay Music 9: Liminale
*200 copies limited edition* Since its founding in Milan during the early years of the new millennium, Die Schachtel has occupied a singular place in the landscape of experimental music, issuing a carefully curated body of reissues and archival releases by historically significant figures and projects like Christina Kubisch, Luciano Cilio, Marino Zuccheri, Prima Materia, Claudio Rocchi, Lino 'Capra' Vaccina, Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Roland Kayn, and numerous others, balanced a…
Stephen Flinn / Bryan Eubanks
"Water ripples in outward patterns with the slightest disturbance. Peaceful space is found within the live performance of Stephen Flinn & Bryan Eubanks, and like glassy surfaced bodies of water, their sonic energy sends waves through the conscious. The balance rests on patience and understanding. Their instruments easily have the ability to crash the tranquil spirit, but their wisdom of how these sounds are unleashed is true testament to their alluring symphony. Stephen Flinn is the force behind…
Bleed
Back in full force, Northern Spy returns with what might just be the best record we’ve heard all year: The Necks’ “Bleed”. A creatively visionary and astounding immersion into the band’s singular realm of sonority, unfolding at a glacial pace over the 42-minute composition’s duration, these two vinyl sides comprise some of the most tense and ambitious moments we’ve ever heard from one of the most important bands working today.
Travesía / The Matrix
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.
Miasms
Full Spectrum Records returns with a new exploratory edition from players Al Jones, Lori Goldston, Greg Kelley, and Austin Larkin: ‘Miasms.’
Wind Wound
Full Spectrum Records hails the coming end of winter with a mighty new work from Darcy Spidle’s long-running chik white moniker: ‘Wind Wound.’
Convexity
Tip! *2024 stock* Full Spectrum rides again with a very special long player from our “house band,” Tender Crust, with the release of their latest set of recordings – ’Convexity.’ Now a quartet – with the inclusion of bass clarinetist Rebecca Hubsher, alongside returning band members Gretchen Korsmo, Carl Ritger, and Andrew Weathers – the group traveled to the far reaches of northern Colorado to record in the otherworldly acoustics of Rangely’s Tank Center for Sonic Arts. Located on the outskirts…
Four Experiments
Huge Tip! *2024 stock* Four Experiments stemmed from a pandemic fascination with an early book of poetry by Stephen Spender and a desire to explore new ways of viewing my relationship to instrumental, compositional, and improvisatory technique. Each piece here was written to be played by any number of players with any level of background, and they are presented here in solo versions and in small ensembles. Beyond the musical challenges posed through manic repetition, instrumental discomfort, the…