New Arrivals
Karma
Karma is Pharoah Sanders' third recording as a leader, and is among a number of spiritually themed albums the Impulse! Record label released in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Although it is followed by the brief "Colors", the album's main piece is the 32-minute-long "The Creator Has a Master Plan", co-composed by Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas. Some see this piece as a kind of sequel to Sanders' mentor John Coltrane's legendary 1964 recording A Love Supreme (whose opening it echoes in a muscular…
Thembi
Pharoah Sanders recorded the songs that comprise Thembi in the winter of ’70/’71, in between sessions with Alice Coltrane that would eventually become her masterpiece Journey In Satchidananda LP. The same compelling spirituality that embued Coltrane’s masterpiece with a mood of stately calm and grace pervades Thembi. ‘On Thembi, that was the first time that I ever touched a Fender Rhodes electric piano. We got to the studio in California — Cecil McBee had to unpack his bass, the drummer had to …
Io
"Io” is the result of a process that started in 2022 during the composition of the music for Bertolt Brecht's play ”Life of Galileo”, directed by Carolina Frände, at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. In Galileo's search for the unseen, he points his telescope to the sky, expanding human perception and our understanding of the world. Here, the electromagnetic fields of the theatre stage are recorded using a sort of anti-radio, an artisanal pocket electromagnetic detector, in line with the …
Femenine
2024 Restock. Last copies. Double-LP version, black vinyl in gatefold sleeve -- on vinyl for the first time, in a revelatory new remaster by Jim O'Rourke. In 2016, Finnish label frozen reeds published the première release of Julius Eastman's Femenine, for chamber ensemble. Laying unheard for decades prior, the release documented a 1974 performance by the S.E.M. Ensemble with the composer himself on piano. Lauded in Pitchfork (awarded "Best New Music"), The New Yorker, and The New York Times, the…
Trollpietra
For some time now, a strange music has been resonating in HDK's headquarters; a music where dungeon-synth, house and techno rave meet in a blasphemous yet juicy cocktail... The caves of the Trollpietra are a sordid and unhealthy place, inhabited by creatures of the night and strange homeless spirits. Trollpietra caves were once the laboratory of a mad herbalist who distilled magical potions which he sold in the county black market. Before dying, the mad herbalist hid his most incredible and dang…
Live at I.U.C.C. 4/27/80 (2CD)
**333 copies, one-time pressing** Volume 11. 2 disc set documenting the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in concert at the Immanuel United Church of Christ - April 27, 1980. This is the eleventh and final concert that Tom Albach recorded at Immanuel United Church of Christ. Easily ranking as one of our favorite performances of the series, its also destined to be considered one of the greatest Arkestra live recordings, brimming with intense energy and culminating in the 1-2 punch of a blazing “Lelan…
Live at IUCC 11/25/79 (2CD)
** 333 copies, one-time pressing ** 2CD SET in gatefold slipcase 2 disc set documenting the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in concert at the Immanuel United Church of Christ - November 25, 1979. This is the eighth in a series of eleven concerts recorded at the church. This month sees the Arkestra stretching out and reaching blissful heights… the 30+ minute long version of “Carnival” is worth the price of admission alone, but the same could be said for the monumental “Nation Rising” or the deep ta…
Moonbuilding - Back to School 2023
Cor. Issue Four. There’s some parenting wisdom that says after you’ve had three children you might as well have a few more as it makes no odds. Four to six is the sweet spot, apparently. Less stress they say. So here’s to our fourth. Check back in on those stress levels when we get to six. Mags, not kids. Do we need to remind you that Moonbuilding is brought to you by former Electronic Sound commissioning editor Neil Mason and published by Colin Morrison’s Castles In Space label? Or is that the…
Insula Dulcamara
Paul Klee’s Naturstudium (1923) recalibrated the dialogue between art-making and the natural world. By peering closely at nature, Klee’s project was one of a magical de-mystification, seemingly a contradiction in terms until you realize that by looking clearly and dispassionately (the studium part of Naturstudium), he brought us full circle to wonder and awe. Spanish percussionist Luis Tabuenca also peers inward at his world—here the universe of percussion sounds—inviting us to a microscopic lis…
Mental EU
New output from Primorje, the collaborative project between Giovanni Donadini (Ottaven, Canedicoda) and Matteo Castro (Mercury Hall, Lettera 22, also founder of Second Sleep label).
Aún Es Tiempo De Soñar
*200 copies limited release* Aún es tiempo de sonar marks the beginning of the end for the Argentinean Banana: the end of their mass popularity, having been recognized until 1978 (and still going) as one of the most trending outfits in Argentina thanks to their ballad-driven compositions, and the beginning of a wholly new orientation in a symphonic prog vein. César Pueyrredón’s, the mastermind and Banana’s main composer, passion for melody and his unique romantic style were the main drivers behi…
Alpha Centaury
*300 copies limited release* We brought you Rialzu, Skryvania, Cheval Fou, and now it’s time for the first vinyl reissue of Alpha Centauri’s diamond: Alpha Centaury. Originally privately released in a limited pressing of 300 copies in 1976, and equally hard-to-find as the aforementioned titles this gem is shrouded in mystery, for the simple reason that Alpha Centauri didn’t even pursue publicity during their short-lived existence. Yet, being equipped with extremely scarce resources, including ha…
Jazz-Funk from Luxembourg 1981-1986
*300 copies limited edition* Tucked away in a corner of northwestern Europe and so small you could drive through it in minutes without noticing you were ever there, Luxembourg is often overlooked. This is also true for Luxembourg’s music scene, and even more so in the early 1980s. Aside from a string of victories at the annual Eurovision song contest or the mighty Radio Luxembourg that had for decades been blasting jazz, rock and other modern music into stolid Western European ears, very little …
If I Had A Pair Of Wings: Jamaican Doo Wop, Vol. 2
Repressed by popular demand! Lauren Laverne's comp of the week on BBC Radio 6 Music w/c 11th Jan.
Revenge Of The Selfish Shellfish
Tip! *First time on vinyl!* Originally released by Tursa (UK) in 1992, Revenge of the Selfish Shellfish was the first, full-length collaboration between Steven Stapleton and Tony Wakeford. Consisting of an eerie, yet beautiful, combination of songs and surreal locales, Shellfish remains a unique landmark with qualities not easily found in either Nurse With Wound or Sol Invictus discography. Evoking a strong sense of narrative, such as Wakeford's vocals on Lucifer Before Sunrise and the perpetual…
Psychoacoustic Electronics
Tip! *300 copies limited edition* Andy Ortmann owns Nihilist Records, of whom we also reviewed The New Blockaders and Diana Rogerson's works last week. And before I say anything about the music on this album, I would love to show you a bit of the inside of my head. Because when I read the title of this impressive triple vinyl totalling over two hours of music, I was thinking about something completely different. So: What is psychoacoustic music, and how do psychoacoustic electronics fit into the…
FasFari
Tip! *Collector’s edition: 20 copies, each accompanied with a graphic and text table, designed and hand drawn by Alessandro Bosetti with phonetic alphabet, 30 cm x 30 cm, signed by the artist*
Xing presents the new LP FasFari by Alessandro Bosetti, thirteenth release of the XONG collection - artist records. The release is on white vinyl, in a limited and numbered edition of 150 copies, together with a print run of 20 collector's editions. Each of these are accompanied with a graphic and text ta…
Penny OST
*100 copies limited edition* Penny is a feature documentary directed by Maya Hardinge. It follows the life of Penny from a teenager living in Uckfield (UK) to Germany and overland by truck in the 1970’s through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and full circle years later back to her home town. The soundtrack, like the film, is a collage, composed of sounds and events depicting Penny’s journey. While the recently released cassette on woodfordhalse foregrounds Penny’s voice by incorporating generou…
Terremoto
Tip! To abandon animals for music – and avant-garde jazz at that –, could seeming shocking to some people. However, it is exactly what Manuel Villarroel did, as he was a vet for three years before leaving his native Chili for Europe and a career in music. And though the animals may have suffered, the world of music can be grateful. Born in 1944, Manuel Villarroel lent an ear to the best pianists from North America: Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner then Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylo…
Quetzalcoatl
Tip! Before coming to Europe, in 1970, pianist Manuel Villarroel was a vet in his native Chili. A few years later, as leader of the Machi Oul Big Band, he returned to the animal kingdom. A very specific kind of animal, for sure, the Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent. What is behind this title (also the name of one of the three original compositions on this album released on the Palm label in 1976), is first and foremost a sort of homecoming…
After discovering the jazz of Herbie H…