★Astral Spirits
Graceful Collision
*Limited edition of 600 copies.* The Bi Ba Doom trio, featuring saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Jason Nazary, will release their debut album Graceful Collision in the coming months. The trio Bi Ba Doom, in their recording debut with the album Graceful Collision, delivers five collective compositions (Skeletal Representation, Invisible Maze, Caught The Flicker, Graceful Collision and Limitless Fascination) in which free improvisation, ambient jazz, electronic music a…
In Search of Our Father's Gardens
*Limited edition of 500 copies.* Absolutely thrilled to present the debut release from the duo of RA Washington (from Mourning [A] BLKstar, Vernacular - our recent amazing Astral Spirits reissue of their only recorded album) and Jah Nada (from Bloody Show, Obnox, JZNZ and more).
In Search For Our Father's Gardens is a sprawling double LP that features a large 14 piece ensemble cast, including members of Mourning [A] BLKstar, Oneida, and more. The album runs the gamut of sounds from the reverent …
Models of Duration
*Limited edition of 400 copies.* The latest from the uncompromising John McCowen is a split release between Dinzu Artefacts and Astral Spirits. Models of Duration follows the same trajectory as McCowen's other amazing solo releases - Solo Contra (International Anthem, 2017), 4 Chairs in 3 Dimensons (Astral Spirits, 2018), Mundanas I - V (Editions Wandelweiser, 2018) but is also a whole world beyond those. McCowen continues to focus on extended possibilities of the clarinet family as well as acou…
Boiling Point
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 300 copies.* "Boiling Point" is the sophomore release from Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio featuring Matt Mitchell (piano) and Jim Black (drums) and also follows up on 2021's Astral Spirits Grdina / Black duo release "Martian Kitties." The self-titled 2020 debut of Grdina’s Nomad Trio (Skirl Records) was hailed by PopMatters for setting up “loose structures for wild improvising [while also including] a healthy menu of hot unison licks and fleet melodies.” S…
The End and The Beginning
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 500 copies.* The debut LP from RedGreenBlue posits a mesmeric, minimalist extension of Chicago's groove-based improvised music tradition. Over the course of two introverted, side-long pieces, the band patiently crafts hypnotic—yet still dynamic—sonic spaces using languid pulsations, careful shifts in colour, and occasional bursts of virtuosic urgency. It's music that hovers between worlds, unfurling a foundation of almost-ambient weightlessness that's …
These Things Happen
*Limited edition of 500 copies.* A group here that features some key members from the American avant scene, but whose standout member might well be pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland – who contributed two originals to the set, and whose work on the keys seems to really direct the energy of this session that features fresh interpretations of tunes by Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk! The setting is quite a different one for saxophonist Keefe Jackson, but he's superb throughout – blowing tenor and sopra…
Master Of Time
*Limited edition of 500 copies.* Coming on vinyl is a noteworthy release from guitarist Tashi Dorji and percussionist Susie Ibarra. Master of Time is a live performance commissioned for the exhibition of Bardo Now, The Second Buddha: Master of Time at the Tang Teaching Museum during a residency on April 16-18, 2019. Vinyl contains the tracks "Confluence" and "The Way of the Clouds".
...Of Late
Astral Spirits presents ...of Late by Jessica Pavone String Ensemble.
Jessica Pavone - composer / viola; voice on track 3Aimée Niemann - violin; voice on track 3Abby Swidler - violin on tracks 1,3,4; viola on tracks 2&5; voice on track 3
Unfamiliar Ceilings
*50 copies limited edition* Astral Spirits presents Unfamiliar Ceilings.
Lina Tullgren: violinAlec Toku Whiting: koto, bass kotoTed Reichman: synthesizer, pedals (track 3)
Engineered and mixed by Ted Reichman at Subtext Sound SystemMastered by Jack Callahan
Heisse Scheisse
'At its best moments – throughout most of the album in fact – Heisse Scheisse is joyous chaos. The quintet seems to relish playing two or three different overlapping pieces of music. Case in point, Lapsarian begins with a labyrinthine riff-like structure that rapidly deteriorates into Eisenberg and Neuburg heading in their own directions. After a relatively calm and short interlude, Pitsiokos and Eisenberg both solo at the same time, but in an orthogonal fashion, before the overall structure is …
Compulsions
*200 copies limited edition* 'The isolation of lockdown was challenging for guitarist J.R. Bohannon. In refreshingly vulnerable linear notes, he describes how his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were made worse by the pandemic. But he accommodated by creating Compulsions, a set of solo acoustic guitar improvisations in an American folk style, each recorded during a panic attack.
These slow and melancholy pieces have compelling melodies, which Bohannon used to calm himself. He …
Obstacle Illusion
'Obstacle Illusion is born out of my love for a wide array of musics that I've experienced and studied over the years. The album includes edited live concert recordings from my 3-month European tour at the end of 2021 (Centro d'Arte in Padova, AngelicA Festival in Bologna and the Rassegna di Nuova Musica in Macerata). The first and fourth tracks are solo acoustic piano. The second and third tracks are solely with the Korg Wavestate: all live, no overdubs. This music is the result of a collaborat…
Mind Cinema
"...I'm looking forward to playing live together with you Linda, Christian and Michael wherever on the globe, as soon as the Covid restrictions are abrogated. This would be a great pleasure for me. Stay healthy, yours" - Joachim
"It has been a privilege to have the opportunity of recording with you Joachim. Thank you for opening the doors to the sonic cinema and ushering in our minds. Lights, Camera, Action - or as you once told us - Do it!" - Dallas Acid
Hans-Joachim Roedelius: Piano, Organ, Ke…
Garland Of Heads
With virtually the same lineup as their Feeding Tube album Ourania, the Chicago-based duo of Mako Sica--Brent Fuscaldo (electric bass, voice, harmonica & percussion) and Przemyslaw Krys Drazek (electric trumpet, electric guitar & mandolin)--again join with Tatsu Aoki on bass & shamisen and Thymme Jones on keyboards, trumpet, balloon & voice, subbing drummer Jacob Fawcett.
Martian Kitties
This outstanding set of improvised pieces by the guitarist/oud player Gordon Grdina and the drummer Jim Black, bristles with multi-genre paradoxes and incredible articulations. Recording together for the second time (after Grdina's Nomad Trio's debut album), these lads bring lots to the table with their faultless synergy and love for the avant-jazz, prog-rock, indie electronic and world music.
Things get down to business immediately with "Martian Kitties", the track that gave the album its titl…
Swinging At Topsi's
An evening of free improvisation recorded in Berlin at au Topsi Pohl in 2020 from the Swedish trio of Euro Free Jazz legend Sven-Ake Johansson on drums, Niklas Fite on acoustic guitar and Joel Grip on double bass, performing two extended and dynamic improvisations, and then settling into jazz standard form for "Isn't It Romantic" and "Out of Nowhere" sung by by Johansson. The novelty and warmth of the songs aside, the serious work heard in Sets 1 & 2 of shows the trio in fine form, evolving thei…
Martian Kitties
This outstanding set of improvised pieces by the guitarist/oud player Gordon Grdina and the drummer Jim Black, bristles with multi-genre paradoxes and incredible articulations. Recording together for the second time (after Grdina's Nomad Trio's debut album), these lads bring lots to the table with their faultless synergy and love for the avant-jazz, prog-rock, indie electronic and world music.
Things get down to business immediately with "Martian Kitties", the track that gave the album its titl…
El Templo
A perfect matching for a free jazz collective piano trio, bringing frequent collaborators Argentinian pianist Paula Shocron and drummer Pablo Diaz, part of the SLD trio heard on Listen! Foundation and Hatology, together with NY bass legend William Parker, recording in NYC for four powerful improvisations of great technical prowess and attentive explorative interaction. The document you hold in your hands is a very special and beautiful document and for many reasons. There is a balance, an equili…
Everyone Is Rolling Down a Hill or...
Crazy Doberman are an Indiana free-improvisation and jazz collective created in 2016 as an offshoot of the group Doberman, started three years before. Core members, including Tim Gick and Doberman cofounder Drew Davis, appear on many recordings, but Crazy Doberman’s lineup is loose—it varies on each of the band’s 40-plus albums and has featured dozens of musicians, among them Wolf Eyes’ John Olson and percussionist Tyler Damon.
Thollem’s Astral Traveling Sessions Compilation
** Edition of 150 copies ** This is a compilation of segments from 6 different recordings throughout the U.S. and Greece including: a trio with Amy Denio and Samantha Boshnack at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Seattle, part of the Wayward Series; a duo with Seetha Shivaswamy in Austin for NMASS; a trio at the BopStop in Cleveland with Mat Weisman and Rick Kodramaz; a duo with Djallo Djakate in Djallo’s studio in Detroit; a hand percussion duo with Jason Finkelman in Allen Hall at the University of …