New Arrivals
Fotheringay
Fledg'ling's 2004 reissue of one of the highest-regarded British folk-rock albums, featuring Sandy Denny. Originally issued by Island in 1970 (previous Hannibal CD long o/p). With additional artwork and bonus tracks. Fotheringay's beautiful debut album was recorded in 1970, and has long been regarded as one of the greatest achievements of British folk-rock. Sandy Denny, Trevor Lucas, Jerry Donahue, Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway created a magical ensemble sound and one of the finest albums of…
Foundations
With an explorative approach Orquere organizes concrete sounds into experimental structures of cold and dry sonic landscapes where sounds appear as objects. Stripped down to their bare essence. No effects. No electronic noise. Just raw analogue manipulations with magnetic tape which carves out a sound that has its roots in both industrial, field recording and sound art. Orquere is Viktor Ottosson, a sound artist active in Gothenburg, Sweden. V O was one of the key figures of the now defun…
Crookt, Crackt Or Fly
Crookt Crackt Or Fly is a 1994 album by Gastr del Sol released on Drag City. The album was written and performed by David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke, with John McEntire (percussion), Steve Butters (percussion) and Gene Coleman (Bass Clarinet) also contributing. All tracks were recorded by Brian Paulson in October 1993 at King Size studios.
Rip
Recorded up and down the West Coast by JESSE JACKSON, CORYDON RONNAU, and JOHN WIESE and featuring appearances by YELLOW SWANS, PETER KOLOVOS (OPEN CITY) and PAUL COSTUROS (DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA!). Studio and live recordings with concrète witcery.
A Young Person\'s Guide
I can't listen to Kyle's music without thinking about Stars of the Lid. And for the same reasons I am reminded of Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno, and even Richard D. James. As such, Mr. Dunn's vocabulary is probably familiar to anyone who has heard any of those musicians. He combines violins, guitars, and other strings to paint long, gossamer tones, utilizes low frequency vibrations to generate weight, and creates forward movement with concise and appealing melodies and harmonies. On the other hand, Kyle'…
Play robot dream
Trumpet virtuoso Marco Blaauw, known for his pioneering performances of contemporary classical music has been working with composer and sound improviser Yannis Kyriakides in numerous projects including a multi-media perfomance 'co-inc', and several projects for the ensemble musikFabrik in Cologne. 'Play Robot Dream' is a set of improvisations for trumpet(s) and computer. At times playful, at times meditative, they fuse a haunting melodic tendency with a provocative mix of drum machines an…
In The Mouth - A Hand
Rune Grammofon presents the third album from Swedish trio Fire! -- something of a supergroup with members from already well-known projects. And again, it's a collaboration, this time with the extraordinary and prolific guitarist Oren Ambarchi. With their heavy, hypnotic, psychedelic rock'n'jazz explorations, they have carved out a different sound than any of the groups they are normally associated with. Sax player, improviser, composer and fervent record collector Mats Gustafsson is proba…
News from the \'70s
This rare collection of recordings from the 1970s features Anthony Braxton at the height of his power and makes an indispensable contribution to his discography. Personally selected by esteemed Italian musicologist Francesco Martinelli from long forgotten cassettes stored in the saxophonist's home, these six tracks were not released commercially until 1999. While the sound quality is mixed, the music is some of Braxton's best. There are two solo performances ("Composition 8G" and "Composition 8C…
Emotional Planet
Chris Rose's Robust Worlds has impressed us since first glimpse. He was actually barefoot, if you can believe that, and his set had the feel of a way more lysergic Kevin Ayers. It was freezing fucking cold and I'm pretty sure he wore a Hawaiian shirt. His debut LP is called Emotional Planet, and it's deceptively simple. Voice, guitar, some noisy shit, whatever. His playing is sick: fluid, unforced, warm, soothed and soothing. It's a bath you don't want to exit. Seriously, if yr going to play gui…
Costellazione Seconda
Constellazione Seconda is the follower of the Lombardi 1978 "Costellazione" a piano sound exploration based upon a map of sky constellation, planned as the first step of a large work focused on the exposition and 'performance' of constellations maps, planetaria and maps of the heavens. This new work breaks up into 21 short piano movements, concentrating on incredibly short staccato notes that sting violently between fractured harmonics leaving plenty of momentum-puncturing silences to really he…
Wege
Wege translates as 'path' and it's a fitting title for the latest rendering from master percussionist and experimental composer Andrea Belfi. The albums' four pieces act as orientation points through some imaginary sonic landscape. Wege is Belfi's forth LP (the first with Room40), and stems entirely from compositions completed at two artist-in-residence projects in Austria (Hotel Pupik) and in Brussels (Q-O2 Werkplatz). The album is built around a cyclic electro-acoustic system, through which Be…
Never Bought Never Sold: Singles + Demos 1979-83
"Animals + Men -- named after a song by Adam and the Ants -- started life around the winter of 1978-1979 when Susan Wells took over vocal duties in what was a three piece called Psychotic Reaction. Based in Frome Somerset, their first release Don't Misbehave in the New Age (1980) was an indie hit. When the band split in '81, Susan and Ralph formed the Terraplanes. A & M/Terraplanes released three vinyl 45s. A few years ago, demos by the band surfaced on the Messthetics/Hyped 2 Death label. Recen…
Off-Road
"Cheerful Mats was dragged into the studio last year by David Grubbs for the ostensible purpose of contributing to a Thicket-in-the-works. The pair instead became terminally sidetracked with recording the two lengthy duets for harmonium and tenor saxophone and harmonium and fluteophone (Mat's invention -- a flute with a reed mouthpiece) that make up Apertura. Listening to Apertura, the first question is 'who is doing what?' It's not certain that even the artists themselves know." Two long …
Planet Dream
In this present age of the history of humanity, there are few places left for a true utopia. The world has already experienced some of those ideal systems, but the results were tragic. Even in literature utopian thinking seems to have vanished. Only In music is there still a place to wonder, especially when it deals with spontaneous and non-hierarchical procedures. Musical improvisation is becoming the only possibility left to forge micro-societies of freedom and egalitarianism, without having t…
Untitled 2011
*Limited edition of 350 copies in a vacuum packed metallic foil packaged with embossed lettering* Giuseppe Ielasi - sound artist, mastering engineer, label owner, half of Bellows - presents his most substantial solo release since 2009s 'Aix' for 12k with this untitled collection for London's Entr'acte. The eight unmarked tracks were produced in Spring/Summer 2011 and, much like his other work, would appear to be concerned with the minutiae and textured infidelities of the recording proces…
The Sleeping Bag Sessions
You already know about Arthur Russell from disco classics like "Is It All Over My Face" and "Go Bang" (maybe you even watched the recent documentary), but do you know about all the early/mid-80's work he did on his own Sleeping Bag label? This awesome compilation collects the gems you might've slept-on or never came across. Whether its early hip-hop boogie (Sounds Of JHS 126 Brooklyn's "Chill Pill(1)"), left field electro beats (Bonzo Goes To Washington's "5 Minutes(2)"), or underground disco ba…
Bloom
First in the 'Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent' series of three CD EPs by this new project founded by Irish singer Clodagh Simonds. Contributors incl. Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Laura Sheeran, Lydia Sasse, Cora Venus Lunny, Toby Arnott, Carter Burwell and Andrew McKenzie of The Hafler Trio. The CD comes in a beautiful embossed cover in an edition of 2000 copies.
Pharmelodies
A colossal and epic post-ambient symphony in three movements, where echoes of string instruments, deep drones of indecipherable origin, layered synthetic waves, slowed-down and distorted dark sonic masses challenge time with a para-immobility in constant turmoil, in an unpredictable, progressive and sometimes cyclic combination of statuesque sonic forms whose physiognomy is often known and familiar, while at the same time elusive, disturbing, arcane and mysterious... Another highest and …
Blood shadow rampage
Back in stock. 'Volcanic Tongue is proud to present the first ever release by the DREAM AKTION UNIT, a free-thinking avant garage Ur-kestra based around the central kernel of guitarist Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Chris Corsano (Six Organs Of Admittance, Sunburned Hand Of The Man et al) and featuring Heather Leigh Murray (Taurpis Tula-Jandek-Charalambides) on pedal steel and vocals and Matt Heyner (No-Neck Blues Band-Test-Angelblood) on upright bass. The DR…
Wolpertinger
Excellent first recordings by Mani and Luigi Archetti.Far away from Mani's space rock releases these are great improvisational postpunkish ethnic jazzy rock masterpieces "Integrating themselves into the sound of nature, or stretching out their feelers, reaching the chaotic realms of unheard soundwaves surrounding us, they may also become devouring monsters, eating up your guts, brain and ears like roaring chainsaws through inventions and delicate discoverings make it a pleasant journey in wonder…