Rashanim
Jon Madof, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Mathias Kunzli. This dynamic NY guitar trio covers a range from Jim Hall ballads to Blood Ulmer funk harmolodics. Complex compositional originals alternate with gorgeous renditions of classic Jewish melodies making this an extraordinary program from start to finish. Beautifully recorded, with mix translations by Bill Laswell.
Dion McGregor Dreams Again
Dion McGregor dreams out loud, and his dreams are not very pretty. Tzadik invites you to eavesdrop on the horror in Dion McGregor's mind. In 1964 ten of Dion's tape-recorded dreams were released on album and quickly dropped out of print. This CD is it's sequel, drawn from the same source material -- the spoke-aloud dreams of Dion McGregor as taped by his room mate Michael Barr between 1961 and 1967. Documented with extensive photos and a long essay by Dion scholar Phil Milstein, this is the ulti…
Fundamentalis
Coproduction with Autofact (Usa). Art Direction & Design by Jon Wozencroft. Spire Live - Fundamentalis is a collection of live tracks recorded at various Spire events held throughout 2005 and 2006. Released in association with US label, Autofact, Touch presents a selection of tracks performed by the main performers of Spire: Fennesz - Philip Jeck - BJNilsen - Charles Matthews - Marcus Davidson. Improvised pieces from Fennesz, BJNilsen and Philip Jeck contrast with a performance by Charles Matthe…
Musica Electroacustica Española
Legendary rare album focused on spanish electronic scene issued by Circulo de Bellas Artes presenting in this LP five pieces of electroacoustic music. Only one copy available.
No Man\'s Land
Music from a film soundtrack. No Man's Land (1985), is much more closer to the conventional definition of minimalism. Riley likes the piano on this one, but the tablas and sitar can be heard on almost every track, along with some voice and what sounds like electronically altered instruments. Only one copy available.
Cadenza On The Night Plain and Other String Quartets
After years of composing for piano and electronic media and more jazz-based ensembles, David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet convinced Terry Riley to try his hand at a work for the recently formed ensemble (DH is the 1st violinist). This marked the beginning of an astonishing series of works for string quartet, that far exceed anything produced for the medium by either Steve Reich or Philip Glass (who've both composed works for Kronos). This LP shows the earliest of Riley's music for Kronos. "G…
Za
This is another one of Franco Battiato's amazing recordings from the 70's, and it features two extended pieces -- "ZA" and "Café Table Musik". "Za" is a long piece for solo piano, with lots of spare minimal moments, and haunting trancelike lines of chords that build very very slowly. It's a beautiful exercise in restraint, and the kind of haunting soundscape that Battiato is legendary for. "Café Table Musik" is a bit more complex, although it's still got minimal piano progressions as its core. T…
Computer Music
Works by three composers ("Quartets in Pairs / Quartersines / Mudget: Monologues By A Mass Murderer" by J.K. Randall, "Synthesism" by Barry Vercoe, "Changes" by Charles Dodge) realized in the computer centers of Columbia and Princeton Universities. Only one copy available.
Prochronisms
Morphogenesis, made up of: Clive Graham, Roger Sutherland, Ron Briefel, Micha, Fred Sansom, and Andy Courdry, was formed in 1985. They were interested in exploring the possibilities of live electronics and collective improvisation. The members have diverse musical backgrounds, including teaching electonic music at Morley College and playing in other groups ranging from Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra, Nurse with Wound and Organum. Only one copy available.
Was?? / Proteinimperialism
What?? was composed in 1967 in the electronic music studio of Swedish Radio, and was originally released on the German new music label Wergo with Bo Anders Persson 's Proteinimperialism , another static drone piece. What?? is based on Folke Rabe 's intense interest in monotony and harmonic overtones. The work is based on deep drones and their partials, where each partial is separately manipulated. Sometimes this coalesces into a beautiful chord, sometimes into more dissonant structures, but is c…
144 Sounds: Electronic Music
Zoltán Pongrácz (5 February 1912, Diószeg - 3 April 2007) was a Hungarian composer. Pongrácz studied composition from 1930 to 1935 with Zoltán Kodály at the Budapest Academy of Music. He became professor of composition at the Debrecen Conservatory in 1947 and continued in that position until 1958. For a time he ceased compositional activity, until attending the Darmstadt summer courses in 1964, 1965, and 1972, and the third Cologne Courses for New Music in 1965–66 with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Hen…
Songs From The Hill/Tablet
Recordings from '76/77. "Songs..." is a suite of solo voice pieces, showcasing her various extended techniques. Some excellent experimental vocals, some a bit too whimsical perhaps. "Tablet" is a 23 minute ensemble work for 4 female voices, piano & soprano recorder. Only one copy available.
Concert Percussion For Orchestra
Pieces By A. Roldan, L. Harrison, W. Russell, H.Cowell and J. cage, performed by the Mahattan Percussion Ensemble under Paul Price and John Cage. Only one copy available.
Operator Dead... Post Abandoned
Cincinnati native C. Spencer Yeh has been releasing records under the Burning Star Core moniker since 1993. A classically trained violinist, Yeh is the center of the amorphous free noise group whose past collaborators have included: Comets on Fire, Hototogisu, Chris Corsano and Thurston Moore. Operator Dead... finds BxC as an extremely loud four piece who waste no time and get right down to business creating massive, looping, head-splitting drones and titanic walls of sound. Calculated and contr…
Specimens
Melissa St. Pierre tosses classicism and post-classicism overboard, utilizing the prepared piano -- John Cage's notorious instrument of choice -- and electronic enhancement to sail resolutely in the direction of rock & roll. Peppering the strings, hammers, and dampers with a variety of objects, she transforms the piano's typical timbre: sparkling gamelans chatter; harrowing voodoo drums call out in the night. Specimens, St. Pierre's debut, features production and performances by Collections of C…
Metals
Percussionist Jon Mueller works with rhythms that come from gong frequencies, from vibrations of the bodies of bass drums, and the surprising sonorities that occur with the combination of these elements. Now he applies these techniques to his latest solo effort, to stunning effect: Metals is, as its name suggests, a bold, all-percussion foray into heavy metal. No theatrical silliness here; just sheer exhilaration; the fundamental power of loud, organized, precise rhythms; ringing, heavy anti-mel…
mmmr
As members of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo continue to pump the most radical tenets of American experimentalism into the heart of rock music; in recent years they have also extended their reputations as world- class improvisErs. French phenom Jean-Marc Montera records for the legendary FMP label, and has collaborated with an amazing host of free-music luminaries, including Evan Parker, Paul Lovens and Han Bennink. However it is the keening blues wail of Loren Mazzacane Connors tha…
Sound Works 1982-1987
Sound Works is the first collection of Jed Speare's long-form musique concrete compositions. Speare is a crossover artist who has been working in sound, video, and performance for over thirty years. The music here reflects his investigation and uniquely expressive practice of analogue sound-field recording, editing, combining and mixing during that era. He is the creator of the Smithsonian Folkways LP Cable Car Soundscapes (1982). In the early 80s he recorded with the San Francisco groups, Resea…
The Beast
"Smegma man, fucking Smegma. They started the whole damn thing. Sure there was Lee Rocky & some soundeffects 78s that set the crew in motion but screw it.. you wouldn't be blasting The Beast or any Weird Handdrawn LP with rotten ears if it wasn't for this truly motley crew. In high school my sweet momma would give me ten bones a week for lunch, come Monday by noon that shit was blown at the local rec shop. When I only had a couple of raggedy bux left from gripping Zorlac stickers, the only optio…