Music from Netherlands

Original 1981 double LP edition with gatefold sleeve on BVHaast of the Kollektief's finest album full of superb orchestrations.

1992 release **

In true ‘Ex fashion’, If Your Mirror Breaks picks up where 27 Passports left off, and erupts like a musical short story collection, a ten-part series of surrealist daydreams, calls to action, ominous warnings and bursts of vitality tapped into the pulse of time. What time could be more appropriate to release this album in, as the current one? Arnold de Boer, Katherina Bornefeld, Andy Moor and Terrie Hessels once again impress with their trademark urgency and creativity.   Starting from a stacca…

1989 release ** "The Nichols program, recorded in 1984, was by a band with Sean Bergin (alto sax), Michael Moore (alto sax), Maurice Horsthuis (viola), Toon de Gouw (trumpet), Han Bennink (drums), Ernst Reijseger (cello), Paul Thermos (alto sax), Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Larry Fishkind (tuba), Misha Mengelberg (piano), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), and Garret List (trombone). The Monk program, from 1986, consisted of Ab Baars (soprano and tenor sax, clarinet), Michael Moore (alto sax and clarinet)…

Pierre Bastien and Michel Banabila return with Nuits Sans Nuit, their second collaboration following their Baba Soirée debut from 2023.

Rare original! Half a century of fearless experimentation, boundary-smashing improvisation, and irreverent creativity is immortalized in !ICP! 50, the landmark LP from the legendary ICP Orchestra (Instant Composers Pool). Originally released as a celebration of their 50th anniversary, this album remains a vital testament to one of Europe’s most influential avant-garde jazz collectives. A golden jubilee of sonic rebellion, !ICP! 50 (ICP 050) captures the anarchic spirit and razor-sharp musiciansh…

1985 super rare tape, original copies ** The legendary ICP Orchestra (Instant Composers Pool) pushes sonic boundaries with their super rare tape-only release, Extension Red, White & Blue. A vibrant fusion of free jazz, avant-garde experimentation, and razor-sharp improvisation, this album captures the ensemble’s signature irreverence and mastery in a format as raw and immediate as their live performances. Extension Red, White & Blue is a riot of color and sound—a testament to ICP’s half-century …

2008 release ** Limited edition of 100 copies. "Expanded in 1993 with members Peter Duimelinks and in 1995 Roel Meelkop, this trio explores the world of micro electro-acoustic music, playing on waste found on the streets and with a fine addition of field recordings."

2025 stock ** “‘Crumble’ is full of dramatic turns, immersive drones, glitchy electronics and intimate gestures. The long form piece was made by having violin player Anne Bakker and vocalist Edita Karkoschka improvise on an electronic track, and using these recordings (and added electronics and field recordings) to sculpt a 34 minute piece..”

*30 copies limited edition* The album is minimalist and with atmospheric depth. Electronic ambient and drone sounds create a world of their own. The artwork focuses on recycling. The sleeve is made of cardboard mesh, there is recycled paper and remnants from an interior design studio.

Kim David Bots and Lyckle de Jong met in the water-basin of one of the earliest concrete structures in the Netherlands, a bunker that was part of Amsterdam’s defensive line, built around the 1890’s. Something that used to house water was now empty. For three days they recorded improvised music that is still on a hard drive somewhere. Since then they have performed and recorded together, with a bunch of releases still to come. The third of May was written and recorded in 2020 over the course of s…

Flag Day Recordings presents Omval by Machinefabriek.

An absolute gem from the vaults of '80s Ambient music and the Dutch underground, Dead Minds’ reissue of Enno Velthuys’ astounding 1984 album, "Glimpse of Light", is a crucial missing link, one of the greatest unheard albums of its era, and one of the most beautiful records any of us is likely to encounter all year.

“While much of Wanderwelle’s music feels adrift, when they choose to make movements, they’re deliberate and poignant. In fact, they best capture the feeling of cataclysmic weather events with “Drowned Lands”, a track which feels as if it’s trapped underwater, plodding through melodies. Here, they convey a lot with very little, tapping into the feelings hiding within every tiny gesture.” - The Wire

Emerging out of Amsterdam's vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – have for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration. On 1985's Pokkeherrie (Dutch for "terrible noise"), The Ex return to the more stripped-down instrumentation on their early LPs. A key lineup change would also see the arrival o…

Emerging out of Amsterdam's vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – have for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration. Blueprints For A Blackout, The Ex's fifth album and first double LP, combines caustic studio experimentations and loose songs from their gripping live-set at the time. The band…

Since its formation in 1984, there have been several distinct phases of Kapotte Muziek in which the group changed. The group commenced as a duo of Frans de Waard and Christian Nijs, and operated as such until 1987 when Nijs left and started to learn to play the guitar. Then followed a phase in which De Waard actively searched for other musicians to contribute sounds to be used as source material. In 1993 a new phase commenced when the group were invited to play a series of concerts in the USA. I…

*2023 stock* 15/15 was commissioned for the 32-speaker system Soundpiece, which is installed under the floor of the square. With the sound source being invisible for the listener, playing music on this system has something quite magical, as if the sounds are just floating in the air. Instead of ignoring or (to the contrary) overpowering the existing sounds, I decided to make it more like a dialogue. I wanted to keep space in the music, and to have the environment play a part in it. The sounds I’…

Michel Banabila returns with a second LP release on Knekelhuis. The renowned Dutch producer is up there among the stars when it comes to ambient music and the so-called ‘fourth world’ legacy. On this eleven-track album, we witness soul-wrenching, kraut-tinted, and early-yet-modernist electronics. Coming from his heart, these imaginative recordings center around otherworldly voices – fictional characters chanting in a made-up language, imbued with a captivating spirit, transcending linguistic bar…

Between 2009 and 2013 Kim recorded a bunch of music; in the old tramtransfer at the Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam (now de Foodhallen), in Berlin living in a biodynamic living community in Lichtenberg & in an apartment on the Hoofdweg in Amsterdam, that doubled as a grow-house. The title ‘Oostwestkruisbest’ is a combination of the sayings ‘oost west thuis best’ and ‘ieder huisje heeft zijn kruistje’. The first translates as ‘home sweet home’, where the second means every home has its own troubles. ‘I…