Music from United States

Beautiful modern composition from LA's prolific Sean McCann and En/Root Strata's San Fran-based Maxwell August Croy. Their first collaboration, 'I' feels timlessly enigmatic, drawing on a wealth of aesthetic and compositional tropes from their respective oeuvres to synthesise something wholly new and uniquely engaging, weaving the exotic timbres of Croy's koto and McCann's keening string arrangements in a sound that defies easy categorization. Beaming forth with the flurry of strings and breezin…

Recorder at Variety Studios, NYC, 1973 - ltd/numbered 1/75 with paste-on cover (notes on back) and regular white inner sleeve "it was originally to be released on Impulse but that never happened, so this is the 1st time on vinyl. crystal wax and paste-on cover with Ra holding a kind of crystal spearse!"

Following up on the success of 2013’s “Dreamachines”, the third release by the brilliant quartet Nova Express is inspired by and dedicated to American poetic genius and father of free verse Walt Whitman. Combining the hypnotic swirls of minimalism, the free intensity of improvisation and a soaring lyricism, “On Leaves of Grass” is an exhilarating addition to Zorn’s growing collection of mystical transcendental works. An emotional and virtuosic outing from this Downtown supergroup performing musi…

Solo saxophone performances of three of Lacy's rarest cycles. The eight-part SHOTS (Moms / Pops / The Kiss / Tots / The Ladder / Fruits / Coots / The Wire) comes mostly from a 1977 Roman concert, with a couple of missing pieces taken from other contemporaneous performances. The only other complete (duo) release of this material was on a long deleted (Musica) LP. The rest of this 2-CD set comes from a 1980 solo recording session and concert in the lively acoustics of an old church in Porrentruy i…

The 1972 Avignon concerts were Steve Lacy’s very first solo concerts, although he did make an excellent overdubbed solo record for Saravah the year before. (For ‘solo’ read ‘alone’ or ‘unaccompanied’ rather than the usual music business meaning of ‘very accompanied’.) Thanks to an introduction by John Stevens, I first met Lacy when he visited London in 1973. He brought with him some of the Avignon tapes in order to try and interest a record producer to issue this music. However, record producers…

It is a disturbing fact that most of the major disputes throughout history have been settled by physical fighting involving killing. Have we really risen much above the rest of the animal world? On the contrary, many animals do not kill members of their own species even though they may fight. It used to be that battles were fought in a remote location between two armies that comprised a small percentage of the population. But let us not forget that military fighters, whether voluntary, conscript…

“In 1962 I went to New York for the first time. My father had worked for Boac for so long that the flights were free - I had only to pay 7/6 (=37½p) airport tax. I stayed in NY for two weeks, only leaving Manhattan to take the standard tourist boat trip around the island. A lady on the plane had taken an interest in my plans, and when I told her that I didn't think there would be time to experience more than what Manhattan had to offer, she implored me, 'Please don't judge America by what you se…

An exciting new world of instrumental rock featuring three generations of Downtown superstars—Marc Ribot (Ceramic Dog, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Fantômas) and Tyshawn Sorey (Steve Coleman, Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer). Written in 2010, these 12 instrumental miniatures combine atonal lyricism with rock intensity—Schoenberg meets Beefheart’s Magic Band. Originally released as duos in 2011 on the now legendary Enigmata CD (one of the most vexing CDs in Zorn’s cat…

For their fourth release, Zorn’s most intimate and spiritual 21st century ensemble returns with a melodic and open book of tunes reminiscent of the Book of Angels. Drawing inspiration from the Biblical Song of Solomon and originally intended as a companion piece to Zorn’s vocal masterpiece Shir Hashirim, the music is regal, sensual and romantic—a magical blend of classical, jazz and folk music. There has never been a group like the Gnostic Trio, and The Testament of Solomon is a unique CD in the…

Brooklyn's Sarah "Noveller" Lipstate and Montreal's Eric "Thisquietarmy" Quach join forces here for a long-player containing four meditative duets. The two guitarists' style seems almost tailor-made for a collaboration such as this, since both of them specialise in slow-oozing drone'n'tone compositions which mix a shimmering angelic lightness with subtle drawn-out sadness. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out what'll happen when these two come together. Drones, that's what. Achingly beautif…

Soaring 6th solo album by American electric guitarist Sarah Lipstate. Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl in an edition of 400. Housed in a heavy custom weight black paper jacket letterpress printed with silver ink, diecut and hand-assembled at Studio on Fire in Minneapolis. “Sarah Lipstate is Noveller. No Dreams, her 6th full-length release, welcomes in an era of expanded instrumentation for the Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer. The com…

“Violist Jessica Pavone’s Knuckle Under is the result of an exercise in mono focus, the result of a medically enforced hiatus from playing her primary instrument. She returned to the viola after a 21 month lay-off determined to play only the sounds she most wanted to hear. That turned out to be long tones, often played with such force that one imagines a puff of rosin rising from her strings as she bowed them. “But Not Here” gets through just three rustic sounding notes before a delay unit spray…

One of the most intriguing artists on the Hospital Productions roster, Lussuria came to prominence with the release of three tapes as part of the American Babylon series in 2012 which were eventually compiled into a double vinyl edition in 2013. His opiated atmospheres brought together the ritualistic appeal of late '70s and early '80s Italian industrial music crossed with the claustrophobia of early material from The Cure and the decadent, voyeuristic compulsion of Pasolini flicks so enamour…

Circle Three: Full Moon At 35hz is the third Circle piece from Eleh and the firstÊto be released since 2010's Repose. Literal synthesis. Packaged in a heavy duty screen printed cover.ÊEdition fo 500. Much like the previous LP only Circle piece the B side of this LP is screen printed. Audiophile quality LP cut at Dubplates + Mastering in Berlin

For Moussavi Atrium is a brand new 38 minute piece from Eleh written for performance at the Cleveland Museum Of Contemporary Art (Cleveland MOCA) on September 28, 2013. " walks into a bar and asks for a pint of beer, the barman scowls at him and refuses. When pressed as to why, he says "I don't like your tone." Meanwhile a drunk in the corner tries to start a chant of "Eleh, give us a wave"...probably a sine it's time to leave.Yup, here's another tonal meditation from extreme minimal chappie…

Music From Tomorrow's World is a fascinating document and a boon to Sun Ra collectors. It gathers previously unheard tapes from two sources: one from the Wonder Inn club and one from Majestic Hall, probably a rehearsal. Both were recorded in 1960, toward the end of the Arkestra's Chicago period. The Wonder Inn tape is especially revealing, as it presents the Arkestra in front of a crowd. And although Saturn album releases from the period feature Ra compositions almost exclusively, this set shows…

A fascinating live document that captures Sun Ra & his Arkestra performing an eclectic set for a Cleveland audience in 1975. Though the recording quality leaves something to be desired, this remains an inspired performance and includes a chaotic take on Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” as well as “Astro Nation,” a clamorous foray into disco rhythms that anticipates Ra’s pioneering 1978 effort Lanquidity. (AMG)

The Paris concert was supposed to be the last of this ill-fated tour -- but at the last minute, Sun Ra decided to go to Egypt. Someone had tipped him off to cheap airfare from Copenhagen to Cairo and a handful of gigs in Denmark were cobbled together to pay for a trip to the Land of the Pharaohs (see Campbell & Trent p.178). Egypt was a place of obvious spiritual importance to Sun Ra, but half of the rapidly shrinking Arkestra bailed out and returned home. Nevertheless, the core musicians dutifu…

A very "jazzy" performance of uninterrupted Sun Ra's standards diluted with "Prelude to a kiss" by Duke Ellington and "Blue Lou". An excursion into the history of jazz encouraged by an ecstatic crowd.

Tzadik introduces its new Spectrum series with a very special and exciting new group featuring three of the most creative wind players in new music. Friends and colleagues since the ’70s, these three musicians share a vision of improvisation and composition that is unique, virtuosic and cooperative. Performing compositions and collective improvisations, they sculpt sound and silence with masterly assurance. Surprising yet completely inevitable, this is an essential document of improvisational mu…