Jazz /
Are You Ready?
*the LP and 2CD contain different material.* First physical solo release from legendary vocal improvisor, dancer, and performer Maggie Nicols, and the follow up to Creative Contradiction (Takuroku 2020).
While she might be best known as an improviser (most notably in Spontaneous Music Ensemble, the Feminist Improvising Group and more recently with the likes of Les Diaboliques, Maggie Nicols’ talents stretch into song, dance, poetry, performance and composition. When Cafe OTO was shut over lockdo…
Are You Ready?
First physical solo release from legendary vocal improvisor, dancer, and performer Maggie Nicols, and the follow up to Creative Contradiction (Takuroku 2020).
While she might be best known as an improviser (most notably in Spontaneous Music Ensemble, the Feminist Improvising Group and more recently with the likes of Les Diaboliques, Maggie Nicols’ talents stretch into song, dance, poetry, performance and composition. When Cafe OTO was shut over lockdown we invited her to follow up the wonderful …
Wesen
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 200 copies.* Imagined (?) dreams of being chased, false awakenings, etc. analyzed through a lens of the gestaltpsychologic understanding. Perceptions containing qualities that do not result from the arrangement of simple sensory qualities. An example of Gestalt-qualität, as Christian von Ehrenfels writes, is a melody that may consist of individual tones, but is much more than just the sum of these tones. Individual tones could combine to form completel…
2061
*In process of stocking.* If one was to interpret the whole output of EABS in general, an inquisitive listener would notice that each subsequent album stems from the previous one. The overtones are similar and they can be treated as variations on the same theme. The only thing that changes is the background of the story. It is all about life and death, the beginning and the end of the world, and the role of human beings entangled in all this existentially. Following the futurism lessons from Sun…
Magrebh Blues
When internally the plan came up to release a bunch of vinyl singles for Unrock's 30th anniversary as an entity, Richard just like his brother Alan, the other keyholder of Sun City Girls legacy was among the first to take a deep look into his archives. Out came two shining pearls from different periods of his long career. "Taqasim For Omar (acoustic)" was recorded in Seattle in 2008. It was recorded before the Sir changed his mind and recorded the track with an all-electric band again for his Th…
Karaoke (7")
If you ever witnessed an Alvarius B. show you are probably aware that there are a few things only in underground music matching this level. If you haven't, don't miss him when he's coming close next. Karaoke shows one of the many characters you could explore during his shows. As his brother Richard, the other keyholder of Sun City Girls legacy, Alan Bishop played a lot of shows not only under the Alvarius B. moniker on various Unrock stages through the years. "Solo Nostalgia" (E. Morricone) and …
I'm Here
*Limited edition of 500 copies* Drummer and composer Edward Vesala, the most internationally renowned jazz musician from Finland, was very keen on percussion instruments. Oddly enough, this broad and enduring interest is hardly evident on his albums.Whether playing on his own albums or contributing to other musicians’ work, Vesala played a standard drum kit most of the time. He hardly used external percussionists on his own albums either. And most of all: his music was almost never percussive, a…
Wayward Mystic
About a year ago I handed Tony a CD of Saint Hildegard von Bingen's spiritual songs to listen to, and the next thing I know he has played an entire hour long drum track alongside the recording, in one sitting- and that it was so right. The sounds of his rolling-thunder-in-the-distance drumming and the ethereal monophonic vocal lines perfectly complimented, and my inspiration to try singing some, then add violin/viola layers with pedals and improvise, was ignited. In learning some of these beauti…
Dugnad
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* “This album has everything. Which is why it’s not for everyone.” The statement belongs to Øyvind Skarbø; bandleader, drummer and composer. His ensemble Skarbø Skulekorps released their highly praised debut album on Hubro in 2019, universally hailed for being both catchy and unpredictable at the same time. Dugnad does the same thing, but amplified to the extreme. It marks a deeper and even more radical exploration completely outside normal paths of genre and …
We Jazz Reworks, Vol. 2
We Jazz Records presents the second volume of their reworks albums dealing with source material from the Helsinki-based label's catalog. This time around, it's Carl Stone's turn to tackle the source albums at hand and filter the label's output through his musical lens.
We Jazz Reworks is an idea that repurposes some of the label's output 10 albums at a time. That is, the label invites producers whose music they love on board, and one by one, they tackle 10 albums worth of source material, of whi…
Live at Cafe Oto
CD version. Japanese bluesman Kan Mikami is nothing less than an unalloyed force of nature; a skin-shredding blast of frozen wind from the poor, rural north of Japan that he calls home. In the late 1960s, like thousands of other Japanese young people Mikami made his way to Tokyo in search of a life different from that of his parents. Since then he has forcefully carved out a space for himself in the culture as a modernist poet, a raging folk singer, an author, an actor, an engaging TV personalit…
Meltdown
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* A blistering live performance by one of the greatest instrumental rock trios ever. Fred Frith, Bill Laswell and Charles Hayward have each been responsible for some of the greatest concerts in new music in the last twenty years, and collectively they take rock improvisation to ecstatic new heights. Beautifully recorded by longtime Laswell associate Oz Fritz at Robert Wyatt’s Meltdown Festival in London, 2001, Meltdown is one of the most exciting recordings by…
Stochastic Regions
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 60 copies.* A New Wave Of Jazz is entering the realm of cassette albums again. Consider it a side series for the more abstract, electric and noisy in free improvisation and avant-garde. That label curator and guitarst Dirk Serries has a knack for the abstract and wilful isn't a secret and it was only a matter of time when he would hook up with French soundartist Anton Mobin (France) either. So here he's teaming up with Anton, using his impressive prep…
Good To Be Back In Reality
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 60 copies.* A New Wave Of Jazz is entering the realm of cassette albums again. Consider it a side series for the more abstract, electric and noisy in free improvisation and avant-garde. Saxophonist Colin Webster (London) and electric guitarist Matthew Grigg (Bristol) hooked up for a relentless session that is equally abstract, full-on in your face and interactive. Their duo is the other side of the coin, both artists with their four feet in free impro …
Hyperituals Vol. 1 - Soul Note
Drawing to light rhythms, grooves and Afrocentric traditions, Hyperjazz Records takes an unprecedented dive into the incredible back catalog of the seminal Italian imprint, Soul Note, with “Hyperituals Vol. 1”. Gathering an astounding group of recordings by Billy Bang, Hamiet Bluiett, Beaver Harris, Paul Motian, Tony Scott, George Russell, Andrew Cyrill, Max Roach, Nanà Vasconcelos, and others - many of which have never before appeared on vinyl - across a beautifully produced double LP, the albu…
Prosperity
*In process of stocking.* Next Festival Records is thrilled to announce that the new album 'Prosperity' from Mats Gustafsson & Christof Kurzmann, has been added to the catalogue.
Mats Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophone player, composer, and improviser. Gustafsson works on the boundaries of noise, electronica, contemporary rock, and free jazz, as well as contemporary dance and theatre production. He performs solo and in various all-star impro projects. He has gone on international tours with artis…
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Tip! *In process of stocking. 2022 stock. Limited edition of 300 copies.* ‘The demands from users have often contradicted engineering possibilities. However, once the targets became clear, we, Shibuya, have made every effort to knuckle down to achieve them. The keyword is “No Compromise” believing that we can overcome the difficulties without sacrificing anything.’
Unce upon a time… somewhere between free jazz mountains, sea of death metal and islands of live electronics… there were Shibuya Moto…
Ort
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Next Festival Records presents free improvisation band Stavros Papadopulos, recorded live at Next Festival in Bratislava. Next Festival is an annual celebration of exploratory music and sound art: from electronic experimentation and freeform improvisation to audiovisual projects, it brings together artists who push the boundaries of music. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Next Festival in Bratislava has started a new edition of releases recorde…
Als Ik Niets Meer Van De Kano Zie
*Limited Edition of 100 hand-numbered copies.* Improvisation is a universal non-verbal language. For many of us it is a practice, not a music genre, one that knows no boundaries. Personally I’m really interested in the locality of an improvisational recording. I find it much more intriguing to listen to someone who improvises and lives outside of the big hubs for free jazz and free improv of the western world. It might seem trivial to many of you, but the fact that the titles and bandcamp notes …
Sluimer
**Limited to 240 hand-numbered copies** "Fantoom is a quartet that feature Dirk Serries, his wife, autodidact double bass player Martina Verhoeven (who is also a gifted photographer), drummer René Aquarius, and sax player Otto Kokke, both from the Dutch group Dead Neanderthals, with whom Serries played in their Endless Voids project on the 2014 edition of the Incubate festival in Tilburg, Netherlands. The quartet debut album, is a free-improvisation affair that was recorded in studio in Decembe…