New Arrivals

Likeness is the newest release from the duo of Tom and Christina Carter. Recorded over a period of several weeks during the Spring of 2006, the album is a return to the spontaneous composition of previous Charalambides records such as Houston and Union. With the exception of "The Good Life", which appeared in a primitive version on the Wholly Other CDR Home, all of the tracks on this release sprung forth after 'record' was pressed, and were fleshed out via overdubs, editing, and a malfu…

Sublunar is the first full-length release from Kane Ikin who is also known as one half of the duo Solo Andata. Sublunar follows Kane’s solo debut Contrail (7”, 12k2022) picking up where that EP left off and pushing the boundaries outward in every direction into denser, deeper, wetter and more decayed terrain. The word “sublunar” can be read to contain many conceptual layers important to the album. It is music about moonlight, darkness, the faintest hint of light and shadow.... Moons locke…

Michel Bertier : prepared mellotron, doublebass. Sylvain Bélot : visuals and projections. Rodolphe Blois : tape recorders, editing and mixing of tapes. Guillaume Loizillon : synthesizers, vocoder, tapes. Claude Micheli : synthesizers, sequencer, G.S.S.A (semi-random sound generator, electronic device built by Claude Micheli). A French group who existed from 1979 to 1983 in the field of electroacoustic, audiovisual and improvised musics. the group worked with a multichannel system of 10 loud spe…

Please allow us the pleasure of introducing Axel Willner's Loops Of Your Heart. Hailing from Sweden, the man behind this record alone needs no introduction, as he is already well-known in the electronic music scene for his project The Field. Loops Of Your Heart reflects Axel's experience in Germany, where during his lengthy stays, his mantra-like arpeggiators contributed to the first manifestation of the sound of Cologne Tape, a group that formed while he was staying there. You can also he…

Live concert recording May 2005. Derek Bailey, electric guitar. Agusti Fernandez, piano. Derek's final public performance was a duo with Agusti Fernandez as part of a series of concerts 'De Prop' which took place in one of Gaudi's magnificent edifices 'La Pedrera' on Passeig de Gracia.

Arrington de Dionyso is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, synths and bass clarinet, does Tuvan throat singing and generally sings with the intensity of a madman. And despite being an America, on Malaikat dan singa he sings in Indonesian, which, thanks to his idiosynchratic singing style, makes him sound particularly demented. As it happens, the lyrics are adapted and translated lines from poems by William Blake. Not that you would understand a single one of them unless you know Indonesia…

Markus Hinterhäuser shows us a terrific interpretation of the piano sonatas from the russian composer. Massive music!They say that Galina Ustvolskaya led a very secluded life, that she was a loner. It is amazing, though, how distinct an image of her emerges from the almost meditative way in which she immersed herself in structures, dynamics and combinations of pitches. And not only that. You can hear the concentration on her work and the contrasts within the scope of an existence, some even say…

Crazy about the sound: the composer as a medium fHis bizarre way of composing earned Giacinto Scelsi not only fame and respect; he was also mockingly accused of dilettantism. Scelsi regarded himself not as a composer in the traditional sense, i.e. one to combine form, rhythm, pitch and sound in an intelligent way and note the result down on paper, but as a tool. His music was created during periods of meditative contemplation recorded by him on tape, to be noted down only afterwards. Eastern rel…

On the very heart of the  world, Burning Star Core (BXC) has created an incredibly heavy record, built on dense, layered drones, pulses, splintered vocals, and deep rhythms that euphorically build to total overload. With a line-up including the Hair Police front line and other luminaries from across the exploding Midwestern psych-noise-folk underground, BXC's C. Spencer Yeh has assembled a group that seamlessly shifts through epic movements and pushes pure electronic-concrete-physical-ock energy…

Recorded live in concert at the Abrons Arts Center, NYC on October 15, 2009, Saturnian documents master saxophonist David S. Ware's triumphant return to performance following his kidney transplant in May 2009. This performance prompted features in The New York Times and on NBC Nightly News.Ware, in full peak of form, performed three extended pieces, each one on a different horn. "Methone" is on the saxello and "Pallene" features the stritch.  David has played these lesser-known members of the sa…

In the 'Harmony Series 11-16', very small events are happening in every nook and cranny of the music, and these subtle changes give magical effects to the music. This is in fact not magic at all - all the events are due to the theoretical structure of the music, but the way Pisaro incorporates them into his compositions is so subtle and natural, that the whole impression on his music becomes poetic. When I listen to each piece while carefully paying attention to the details, I feel that the nuan…

Number 4 of the Salzburg Festival “Kontinent” series was dedicated to Wolfgang Rihm. We have compiled a selection of the works for your conven- ience – including a first recording! Wolfgang Rihm once claimed that the most appropriate statements about his oeuvre are his own compositions. In 2010 the Salzburg Festival adopted this approach. The result was a “Kontinent Rihm” which placed the manifold tone colors and modes of expression created by the former Stockhausen student into a broader contex…

For a number of years as West Head Project, we've been making site specific sound events and recordings at outdoor locations - initially these were held at West Head in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. We've gone on to play in special sites around Australia and this disc documents our work on Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania where we were resident for 10 days, guests of 10 Days on the Island Festival and Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania. Auditory transmogrification of Tasmani…

Recorded at the Roundhouse 1972, during the ICES Festival."For this show we rehearsed a week in a small village in the south of Holland. The repertoire of the first part was a kind of "frozen improvisation". We made some written plans about the form and structures and then rehearsed it for the whole week. So during these rehearsals things moved from improvisation into fixed form, just by remembering what we have played, and polishing it. This is a working concept that …

The second 12k sampler CD features 12 songs chronologically looking forward to early 2012 and back to the recent releases and clocks in at over 60 minutes. It offers a sneak-peak at upcoming music plus a re-cap of the past year. The CD is being sold for only $4/$6 (USA/INT'L respectively) and that includes shipping. It's an inexpensive way to familiarize yourself with the latest on 12k. 12k welcomes two new artists to the roster: The Boats (UK) bring their electro-acoustics into song-stru…

'MERZBOW's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Cover art by Jenny Akita.'

Eri Yamamoto released two recording in 2008, each of which—in different ways—demanded attention. In a series of duos with friends such as William Parker and Hamid Drake (Duologue), Yamamoto was expansive and free, readily finding ways to play beyond conventional harmony without sacrificing “beautiful” pianism. With her trio (Redwoods), she was more in the pocket, mining vamps and grooves for what they could say about the blues, but always keeping things intelligently sweet. If you’d barely heard…

Sub Rosa presents a release by composer/violinist Baudouin de Jaer. Gayageum Sanjo: compositions for 12-string gayagrum, Prelude, 5 sanjo and 10 studies. According to legend and to recent archeological digs, the gayageum is a millennial zither-like instrument featured in all Korean traditional repertoires. "Sanjo" is usually translated as "scattered melodies." This style of music was informed by southwestern shamanic music (Sinawi) and the great epic songs (Pansori) from the same regi…

The Preservation label presents Grandfather Harmonic, the new full-length album from Sparkling Wide Pressure. The alter ego of Murfreesboro, Tennessee's Frank Baugh, Sparkling Wide Pressure has drawn from a seemingly infinite well of sonic inspiration to record at an incredible rate since 2008, having his work appear on labels such as Digitalis, Stunned, Housecraft and Students Of Decay. This transfixing entry into his weighty catalog pinpoints Baugh's increasing fascination with song-forms…

Second full-lenght album from rashomon (aka Guapo founding member Matt Thompson). Inspired by public information broadcast The Finishing Line (1977), the record is a sonic re-imagining of the film as haunted meditation on the power of memory, drawing the listener into a claustrophobic sense of unease and mounting horror. An amalgam of library music, 1970s prog soundtrack, musique concrète and spectral jazz

Doomgaze. Is that a thing? In ancient times "Songs Of Flowers & Skin" might have done time on 4AD, Creation, or even Sarah. Except of course, for the slender demonic tail woven into the melodies, which would have left a smoldering pile of pointy shoes in its wake. Though the tracks here are not metal, there is no lacking of heavy. The songs (yes, songs) simmer to a point just below explosion. Aidan chooses to excavate with atmosphere in lieu of caterwauling electricity, filling the spaces…

Alto saxophonist Masayoshi Urabe and percussionist Toshi Ishizuka recorded this extended improvisation at Tokyo's Apia Club, quietly ferocious music with a unique physicality.  "Thrilling, blood-shaking, soul-scraping and defiantly non-sexless improv set from two Japanese titans. Recorded live at the Apia club in Tokyo in December last year, this set showcases Urabe's uniquely physical approach to improvisation -- ferociously concentrated, contorted, sweating and eruptive with physical power. Hi…

Revered reeds and drumming duo Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love return to Smalltown Superjazzz with another magisterial set of live improvisations. Released alongside their Chicago Volume, this disc was recorded live in concert at Milwaukee's Alchemist Theater on 10th June 2007 (the Chicago Volume was laid down the following day) and finds these two free-jazz maestros on blistering form. It's a joy to hear how the improvisations evolve - on 'Clean Sweep' the pair …

Improvised music with exception of Irinia-Kalina' solo. Mark Dresser (bass), Irina-Kalina Goudeva (bass), JC Jones (bass), Barre Phillips (bass) and Bert Turetzky (bass). Recorded by Ori Winokur, edited, mixed and mastered by JC at the Kadima Studio, Jerusalem, October to December 2010.

Recorded at Incus HQ, London, in October 2010, this duo is a delight that should refresh even the most jaded ears. Lol Coxhill and Alex Ward are both veteran improvisers and regular participants on the London scene, so it was inevitable that they would eventually play together as a duo. As evidenced below by YouTube, that happened in August 2010 at John Russell's annual Fete Qua Qua; the pairing was repeated the following month at Sybil Madrigal's monthly Boat Ting gig on the Thames (on the…

voice + electronics. Making music out of words, making words out of music.

   In its two hundred year history, the glass armonica has played many roles. It was a serious attempt by Benjamin Franklin to create a new instrument for the classical repertoire; believed to cause insanity in its players, it gained traction as an object of superstition; a century or more in historical obscurity ensued, followed by its revival as a compositional curiosity for a handful of composers and as an exotic timbre in soundtracks and on pop records. More recently, Christina Kubisc…

Blowjob’ is an album stripped of glamour, fancy artistry and advanced studio techniques. This is one man, one saxophone and the musical intentions of a modern musician. The second album in +3DBs series Music for ONE opens up a different view on improv than that of Michael Duch (Edges - +3DB009.) With Møster, an experimental attitude is mixed with an underlying sense for the history of jazz. This is not jazz anymore though, but a contemporary art form with a solid memory. Upholding a music…

Comes in digipak with 12-page booklet. Volume 3 of this forum and magazine for sound-art in the form of an audio CD. It compiles contributions from artists who have chosen for the acoustics as working field, starting from the visual aspect and going to the musical one, then trying to promote the teachings of their sound art. The final purpose is to present it as a 'listenable exhibition'. So, a magazine to listen to. Featuring Carl Michael Von Hausswolff, Gal, Maria De Alvear, Miki Yui, Alvin Lu…

Adriano Zanni aka Punck is a field recordist, sound designer and photografer. He released records on great labels like Afe Records, Setola di Maiale and Creative Sources. This is his first release for Boring Machines and it's his most personal record to date. In 1964 director Michelangelo Antonioni set in Piallassa (a pollutedarea near Ravenna, Italy) his famous movie Red Desert. Punck was born in Piallassa in 1964. A single long track of different threated sources, samples and acoustic guitar …

Seaworthy, a three piece collective based in Sydney, Australia that revolves around core member Cameron Webb as well as Sam Shinazzi and Greg Bird, was formed in early 2000 to explore melodic and experimental approaches to the construction of minimalist sound scapes from looped guitar, warm drones, piano, electronics and field recordings.Map In Hand often blurs the lines of conventional categorisation with elements traditionally considered part of “indie” or “post” rock blended with processed mu…

Pimmon is the alias for electronic composer Paul Gough. In the last decade, Pimmon has forged an international reputation for creating dense, challenging and engaging electronic music. Smudge Another Yesterday is Pimmon’s first full length release in five years. This release picks up and goes further from the point where the acclaimed Secret Sleeping Birds left off. Smudge Another Yesterday is an exploration of the song behind the noise; the secret whispers hidden in the static. Within these vas…

Large ensemble Sissy Spacek recordings featuring the cream of LA. The line-up: John Wiese, Mitchell Brown, Joey Karam (The Locust), Peter Kolovos, Rick Potts (LAFMS), Damion Romero, Corydon Ronnau and Shannon Walter (16 Bitch Pile-Up). All the source recordings used for Sepsis were taken from a group improv session recorded for the Dublab radio in 2008. The recordings from each individual channel were later chopped and rearranged into audio collages byWiese without any regard to preserving group…

In May 2007 the sextet of Lucio Capece, Julia Eckhardt, Christian Kesten, Radu Malfatti, Toshimaru Nakamura and Taku Sugimoto convened in Belgium to work together and play two concerts, one in Gent and one in Brussels. During their time together the group played a mixture of improvisation and their own compositions. A number of exciting tensions were present. The contrast between loud and quiet, activity and inactivity and indeed improvisation and composition. Wedding Ceremony ties together many…

A striking collaboration took place between Andrea Belfi on drums and assorted small percussion and Rutger Zuydervelt on guitar and organ. Together they produce the 'pulses' and 'places' mentioned in the title. Organic yet partially improvised, it resembles a kind of sonic geography. The listener is taken away for a journey of mild drones, soft yet outspoken percussion. A strong release.

Phantom Limb & Earth’s Hypnagogia is the project of Jaime Fennelly (of Peeesseye, Evolving Ear Records) and Shawn Hansen (who also has releases on Evolving Ear). The two join their forces here for an epic ride through the volatile moments of twilight. A synaesthetic kind of excursion, inspired by the deepening shades of light and dramatically rendered through the warm, swelling tones of Farfisa organ and analog synthesizer. In Celebration... in all its moody and cinematic drive could be the quin…

Otomo Yoshihide (turntable), Ozeki Mikito (kirie), Mats Gustafsson (baritone saxophone from Mats Gustafsson's solo LP 'It Is All About' on Tyyfus label). Mastered by Jun Numata. Released to commemorate the exhibition Ensembles '09: With Records at Gallery 45-8, Tokyo, October 11-November 8, 2009. No cover, limited 800 copies, serial numbers. Otomo Yoshihide (turntables), Ozeki Mikito (cutout art) and Mats Gustafsson (baritone sax).

"Ben Reynolds is an English solo steel string guitarist and songwriter. In his solo instrumental works he draws upon the vast well of musical inspiration native to the British Isles as well as that found across the Atlantic and beyond. Ben's 2008 recording Two Wings was released on Portland, Oregon label Strange Attractors Audio House and focuses upon sprawling, meditative improvisations and concludes with the track 'Here Toucheth Blues' which appeared on Tompkins Square's Imaginational An…

In December 2009 Zebra (Roel Meelkop & Frans de Waard) were invited to play a hommage to Martin Hannett, the legendary producer of Joy Division, A Certain Ratio and Section 25 (to mention Zebra's favorites). This was the start of a long Factory Records weekend in Brussels. Zebra picked their favorite Martin Hannett productions and sprinkled them some further with their extraordinary electronic means to create a groovy, dense slab of music. This album is called 'Live In Leugen'. Leugen is the dut…

Brooklyn, NY’s Liturgy deal in a style of black metal steeped in the genre’s most basic foundations of buzzing, dissonant guitars and whirlwind percussion, and yet they demonstrate an acute ability to make the sound firmly their own, both modern and ancient. Liturgy’s unique take on the genre only slightly recalls their NYC friends Krallice and the earlier works of the Norwegian wolves Ulver (particularly their 3rd LP masterwork Nattens Madrigal). In some sense Liturgy represents the seeping of …