New Arrivals
Almadies
*50 copies limited edition* Franz Kirmann returns to Bytes for his eighth solo album, available exclusively on Bandcamp from October 29 on cassette and download (released on all platforms on November 5). The “Almadies” are long wooden boats used by Senegalese fishermen. It is also the name of the neighborhood where Franz grew up, in the suburbs of Dakar near the Atlantic Ocean.
"These new compositions are the result of sound experiments conducted over the past few months and reflections on the c…
Krásno Mé Rozpolcené
Deep into inner struggle to find harmony… Abstract noise, spooky atmpspheres and sparse melodies from South Czechia by the restless M.B. ( Chevallier Skrog, Cosmic Cause Productions….).
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Instrumental Smoothie. What is Grid? is: sax, bass, drums. Recorded @ boto's Farm by Alberto "Boto" Dutto on August 2024.
Farewell to the Night
Farewell to the Night by Ethan Syann is an immersive album released through the IIKKI label, offering a contemplative journey through ambient and cinematic textures. Spanning six tracks, it gently blurs the boundary between experimental soundscape and evocative minimalism, creating a space for reflection and nocturnal introspection. Its subtle layers and atmospheric depth exemplify Syann’s refined and measured approach to sound design.
Poco Prima dell'Aurora
Poco Prima dell'Aurora represents a significant collaboration between Ivano Fossati and Oscar Prudente, released in 1973. This transitional album weaves together folk-pop textures and progressive echoes, reflecting the vibrant creativity of Italian songwriting in the early seventies. Marked by solid arrangements and lyrical depth, its enduring freshness lies in both its authenticity and the synergy between two distinct musical voices.
J’Accuse... Amore Mio
J’Accuse... Amore Mio marks a pivotal moment in the career of Faust’O, standing as a radical and ambitious album within the Italian new wave scene. The work delves into urban alienation and existential discomfort through avant-garde sounds, nihilistic lyrics, and an intense metropolitan atmosphere. Its experimental approach and emotive currents secure its place as a distinctive and influential release in Italian pop-rock history.
Encounters of a Loving Kind
Nadia Cassini’s album Encounters of a Loving Kind delivers a distinct blend of disco, funk, and pop, vividly reflecting the stylistic tides of the late 1970s. Despite a muted commercial reception at the time, its catchy rhythms and Cassini’s charisma earned it a cult following, securing its status as a notable crossroad for fans of sensuous, groove-oriented European pop.
Tender Revolutions
Expansive and ambitious, Tender Revolutions is the latest from Vietnam-born, Portland-based multimedia artist Dao Strom. A fluid album, existing between genres—part ambient folk, part sound collage, part spoken word, part post rock—it blurs the line between the work of an experimental composer and the work of an accomplished singer-songwriter. Instruments slip in and out (guitar, piano, synthesizer, strings, drums, percussion) amid field recordings and samples, all anchored by Strom’s singular v…
Jewels
Kitchen. Label is proud to present Jewels, the debut album from Tokyo-based composer Ryuuta Takaki, emerging from a new chapter in the city’s alternative wave. His music opens realms of mysticism, memory, and imagination, unfolding like radiant mosaics that echo symbolic traditions, Eastern esotericism, and a neo-Orientalist dreamworld. Takaki shapes music that moves between sacred stillness and ornate intensity. Though his creative path once passed through experimental hip hop and electronica, …
Hanu Hansa (Bangkok Blues)
Hanu Hansa is the nomme de guerre of TJ Blake, a visual artist and musician based in Atlanta, Georgia. Known for his work in various mediums, he is perhaps best associated as a member of Lotus Plaza (Kranky) and Lyonnais (Geographic North, Hoss). Sonically, his music explores the intersection of ambient and electronic modes, often drawing inspiration from the contemplative nature of his visual work. Sonically, his music explores the intersection of ambient and electronic modes, often drawing ins…
Emo Inhaler
Roman Hiele (1991) is a Brussels-based musician and composer whose work explores the boundaries between improvisation and electronic composition. His music unfolds as a living system of shifting harmonies, fractured rhythms, and unexpected turns. At the core of Hiele’s practice lies a deep fascination for contrast, where his soundscapes act as both anchor and disruption, sharpening the emotional depth of images and spaces, a sensibility that extends into his collaborations with filmmakers, visua…
The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby
This is the sixth album by Dorothy Ashby, a Detroit born jazz harpist who passed away in her early 50s in 1986 way before her time. She left us a rich legacy of music with this 1965 release being one of her milestones. The music is pure bright and swinging with a joyful mood. Dorothy Ashby performs her lines big time with her harp and captures your soul with the melodies she picks from its strings. She is always there upfront while the brass section mostly fills the background with colour if the…
Collectors' Items
When Ira Gitler, jazz journalist and producer at Prestige, curated this album, the term "collector" was already well-established among music enthusiasts. The pursuit of out-of-print recordings, old 78 rpm discs, and unreleased material had reached an intensity comparable to the fervor seen in the vinyl-collecting market decades later. Gitler aimed to offer jazz fans unreleased Prestige recordings while meeting expectations for the amount of music on an LP. Initially dismissed as a mere compilati…
The Travel Agency
During the legendary Summer of Love and throughout the Vietnam protest marches, a mysterious sound emerged from beyond the conventional boundaries. The Travel Agency, a Los Angeles psychedelic rock group, unleashed their only album in 1968, produced by James Griffin of Bread fame. This record is packed with incredible proto-garage tracks and mesmerizing lysergic crescendos. It kicks off with the haunting organ intro of "What’s A Man," which astonishingly echoes the vibe later found in "Smells Li…
Megaliths In Dub
A deep reworking of Llyn Y Cwn's "Megaliths" (2024). The original was a profound dark ambient exploration of the sacred resonance embedded within stone circles; "Megaliths In Dub" is the echo beneath the surface, the unheard rhythm that has always been there. The megaliths stand - timeless, unyielding. Their histories stretch beyond recorded memory, their presence imbued with silent narratives of the land. "Megaliths" sought to channel this ancient energy into pure sound. Yet no history exists w…
Le Cri Du Caire
Le Cri du Caire is a striking mosaic of Sufi poetry, jazz, and spoken word, led by the magnetic presence of Abdullah Miniawy alongside Peter Corser, Karsten Hochapfel, and Erik Truffaz. Fusing hypnotic loops with visceral strings and evocative brass, the album channels the hopes and struggles of Cairo’s youth into a transcendent musical ritual - challenging, inventive, and brimming with emotional intensity.
Ensomheden Vi Deler
*200 copies limited edition* "Ensomheden Vi Deler" ("The Loneliness We Share") is the result of a dialogue between the collages and the music of øjeRum, initiated by IIKKI, between December 2024 and July 2025. øjeRum is Copenhagen based musician and collage artist Paw Grabowski.
With his collages, the distinctive feature of øjeRum's works is their ability to combine different historical and artistic periods, such as ancient sculpture, medieval frescoes, classical painting and photography, and to…
Helmut Lachenmann Complete Piano Works
*The only edition ever released that has all his piano works collected* The piano has been with Lachenmann almost throughout his composing life of seven decades. Yet the instrument is by no means always the same. Lachenmann’s determination has been to go on finding new possibilities – almost a new voice for the piano in every piece, a voice with which it can speak that piece, as it has not spoken before. Perhaps the Schubert variations of 1956 could be understood as a farewell to traditional pia…
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the iconic name given to a collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated popular music in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to a specific location: West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan’s Flower District.
Drawing inspiration from this historic music landmark, renowned Japanese musicians Haruomi Hosono (Apryl Fool, Happy End, Yellow Magic Orchestra), Masataka Matsutoya (mus…
Mama Too Tight
Originally released in 1967, Mama Too Tight stands as one of the most daring and structurally innovative albums from Archie Shepp, a pivotal figure in the free jazz movement and African-American cultural protest of the 1960s. Distinct from his more explosive works, this album showcases a refined compositional complexity, featuring avant-garde marching-band-style arrangements, masterful horn orchestrations, and a unique blend of humor and improvisational tension.
The title track, Mama Too Tight, …