★Cuneiform
Return The Tides: Ascension Suite And Holy Ghost
"I have always thought of the idea of passing as a beautiful thing, in which the soul or life force of the individual is somehow transferred to the immensity and brilliance of the entirety. The idea of Heaven and Hell (and everything inbetween) has always been a hallmark within the limited spectrum of what we humans can come up with and the idea of God or Gods has, for some, been an interesting way of putting a life and circumstances into some kind of mysterious belief system that can at times b…
Virtually
The previously unreleased show captured on Virtually, recorded 3/23/71, presents the classic quartet Softs [Elton Dean/Mike Ratledge/Hugh Hopper/Robert Wyatt] during their final European tour & just 4 months before their dissolution. The recording [licensed from German radio & taken from the master tapes] is superb for the time period, & the performance really sparkles, with everyone shinning, although special note must be made of Robert's drumming, as he plays with more gusto on this show than …
Noisette
Noisette is the third in Soft Machine series, recorded January 4th, 1970 at the same concert as "Facelift" on Third, by the short-lived quintet formation of the group: Elton Dean & Lyn Dobson-reeds, Hugh Hopper-bass, Mike Ratledge-keyboards & Robert Wyatt-drums & vocals. Noisette features the rest of the concert, & showcases a band in transition from their earlier psychedelic/ progressive sound towards the jazz rock sound of Third & Fourth. It features the quintet performing versions of material…
Way Back When
This is a truly stupendous archival find, with broad appeal to both jazz and early fusion fans. This never before released album was recorded on October 7th, 1969 by John Surman and British jazz superstars. It is a mix between the vibrancy of late 60's uk jazz and spacey early electric jazz/rock ala "In A Silent Way"; listening to this album, you can hear that the fusion explosion is on the cusp of happening. Soprano/baritone saxophonist John Surman is one of the UK's best known jazzmen, having …
Switzerland 1974
Soft Machine were one of the greatest UK avant/jazz-rock bands of all time and their work, whether their earliest performances as a psychedelic band, who were contemporaries of, and shared stages with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, all the way to being one of Europe's best known 'fusion' bands, their work continues to be name-checked by today's hip experimentalists. By mid 1973, Soft Machine had gone through a tremendous amount of personnel turnover and a shifting in t…
Metatron
"We take it for granted today, but not too long ago, integrating electronics into a rock setting was something exotic and strange..... Heldon and Richard Pinhas are considered building blocks for whole schools of experimental rock music, and one of the few who rarely fail to deliver on the hype." –Pitchfork Media"Richard Pinhas demonstrates that he is capable of contstructing some of the most formidable but exhilharating sonic edifices ever heard by mortal ears." – Bill Tilland, All Music GuideM…
Tabligh
Recorded live, the sound on Tabligh veers from a sound akin to early electric jazz ala "In A Silent Way" and especially 'the lost quintet' of Miles in late 1969/early 1970, to both more sparse and modern jazz fare, all of it informed by the distinctive personalities of these four players and their leader's musical concepts."Smith is working at his highest level since the mid '70s. This quartet - with its combination of maturity, craftsmanship, and sense of adventure - is the perfect band to real…
Spiritual Dimensions
Spiritual Dimensions is a double album that features two very special groups, both filled with truly great and legendary musicians! Both discs were recorded live to capture the energy and spirit that Smith's shows have. The first disc is by his Golden Quintet. This disc is a modern/avant jazz release that has some distinctive electric touches and features many of the hallmarks of Wadada's work; space, depth, melody and abstraction. The second disc is the first-ever release of Wadada's Organic gr…
NDR Jazz Workshop - Hamburg, Germany 1973
Released for the very first time here is the Soft Machine's television broadcast, recorded for Germany's famous "NDR Jazz Workshop" on May 17, 1973. This performance was one of the earliest shows by the quartet of Roy Babbington (electric bass), Karl Jenkins (oboe, baritone sax, soprano sax, electric piano), John Marshall (drums) and Mike Ratledge (electric piano, organ). This was a very high profile appearance by the group and for this performance Soft Machine made it a special show. They perfo…
Metal / Crystal
In Metal/Crystal, French experimental guitarist and electronic musician Richard Pinhas summons the assistance of noise artists Merzbow (Masami Akita) from Japan and Wolf Eyes from USA to weave a spellbinding aural web that spans 2 CDs.Over the years, many artists in the 'noise arena' have expressed interest in his pioneering use of synthesizers and electronics in rock and contemporary music. Pinhas has likewise been intrigued by various areas of the ‘noise’ scene and Metal/Crystal, recorded "dur…
Flashpoint_ NDR Jazz Workshop - April '69
The NDR Jazz Workshop was a weekly show featuring all manner of jazzmen of the day. The taping of this NDR show was around the same time as Surman was recording his second album as a leader, How Many Clouds Can You See, so this is a unique chance to get an expanded view of his formative work as a leader and also at the early work of his musical compatriots who appear with him here. For this occasion, Surman led a ten-piece ensemble featuring the cream of modern British jazz players: John Surman …
Ten Freedom Summers
Trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith’s Ten Freedom Summers is the work of a lifetime by one of jazz’s true visionaries, a kaleidoscopic, spiritually charged opus inspired by the struggle for African-American freedom and equality before the law. Triumphant and mournful, visceral and philosophical, searching, scathing and relentlessly humane, Smith’s music embraces the turbulent era’s milestones while celebrating the civil rights movement’s heroes and martyrs. This four-disc set documents a stunnin…
Smoke Signals
Smoke Signals compiles all previously unreleased performances - selected & sequenced by Robert Wyatt biographer Mike King - from the band's most intense gigging period. The set list is mostly drawn from Little Red Record, but the way the band performed the pieces live is quite different from the heavily overdubbed versions found on the studio disc. Despite their very short lifetime, Mole developed an individual sound based on the players idiosyncratic musical styles, that was a unique take on fu…
The Nuclear Observatory Of Mr. Nanof
Working in a melodic vein, The Nuclear Observatory Of Mr. Nanof veers from ethereal solo keyboard electronics to scores for lyricon and small chamber ensemble. Lovely, yet also rich musically.
Piero Milesi (Milan, 1953; Levanto, 2011) was an Italian musician, composer, andmusic arrangerer. Milesi began his career by studying cello, composition, and experimental electronic music. He joined the International Folk Group of Moni Ovadia in 1977 as a performer and composer. The composition Modi was cr…
The Continuing Story Of Counterpoint Parts 9-12
David Borden is one of the foremost exponents of live electronic and minimalist music. He has been active on the new music and contemporary classical scenes for two decades. He first came to attention as the driving force behind Mother Mallard, the world's first all synthesizer ensemble.
The Continuing Story Of Counterpoint is a remarkable 12 part musical cycle that Borden composed between 1976-87. Lasting 3 hours, Cuneiform has released this seminal work on 3 CDs, each containing 4 parts. The m…
The Continuing Story Of Counterpoint Parts 1-4+8 (Complete)
The Continuing Story Of Counterpoint is a remarkable 12 part musical cycle that Borden composed between 1976-87. Lasting 3 hours, Cuneiform has released this seminal work on 3 CDs, each containing 4 parts. The music is a pleasing and highly listenable mixture of classical forms, dense textures, strict counterpoint, and high energy electronics. AUDIO Magazine had this to say about the series: "When released in its entirety, this series may stand as the 'Goldberg Variations' of minimalism, a canon…
L\'Ethique
During a fairly incredible 7 year run that began in the mid 1970s, Richard Pinhas released a large string of influencial albums; 7 by Heldon and 5 under his own name, all of which attempted in one way or another to meld (avant-garde) rock music with electronics. L'Ethique was his final release of that 12, recorded in 1981 and originally released in 1982. It was his final solo album before his musical retirement throughout the 1980s and it's one of his great 'classic period' works. It also featur…
Tranzition
"Among collectors of electronic music, some names have become legendary and are present in every search list. These names include Richard Pinhas, the leader of the French cult group Heldon." – AudionComposer, guitarist and electronics innovator Richard Pinhas is recognized as one of France's major experimental musicians. A pivotal figure in the international development of electronic rock music, Pinhas' stature in France is analogous to Tangerine Dream's in Germany: the father figure of an entir…
Event and Repetitions
"...a sporadic but constant thread in Pinhas’ music has been his experimentation with guitar feedback, loops and effects boxes, even in the early days of Heldon, as he tried to perfect his own version of Frippertronics. Well, it has been a long time coming, but Event and Repetitions may well signal the full realization of Pinhas’ long-time vision. The drifting, hypnotic patterns of the five pieces on this CD? have a shimmering beauty and depth that seems to suggest a destination at the end of a …
Looking For The Next One
The group toured widely and had a large body of work to draw from, but only released one, self-titled album on the Ogun label during their lifetime. Looking For The Next One, a compilation of rare and unissued studio sessions and live recordings, will not only rekindle discussions about S.O.S.’s innovative music among connoisseurs, but introduce their exciting, virtuosic music to a new generation of listeners. While the entire set is filled with striking music, the inclusion of the entirety of t…