New Arrivals
New York City 1980-1984
Stunning debut release from Confuso Editions, a new label operating out of NYC/Rio de Janeiro here venturing into the furthest realms of outsider pop with the first ever public airing of recordings by John Zieman, a student of electronic synthesis at Hampshire College and collaborator with Nam June Paik, John Sanborn, and Dara Birnbaum. Distilling 80s midtown sleaze (digi-saxophones, drum machines, listless ballads), we’re once again reminded of the sheer volume and wealth of outsider brilliance…
Holy Palm
**Deluxe green vinyl edition of 500 copies housed in a gatefold sleeve** Holy Palm is the debut album by Flora Yin-Wong, an artist, writer, DJ and journalist, summoning the ghosts of her life in a masterful meditation on metaphysics, superstition and memory. It’s part collage, part audio diary, part reflection; a sort of private ritual purification that comes highly recommended if you’re into works by Mark Gergis, Philip Corner, Mark Leckey and Hildegard Westerkamp. Following her mesmerising tu…
Umwelt
Bocian Records presents Umwelt by Lucio Capece (Gema): on bass clarinet, slide saxophone, cardboard tubes, analog synthesiser and filter, and Ben Vida (Bird Show/ASCAP): on Synthesis, sampling and digital arranging. Recorded in Brussels, Berlin, New York, 2016-2020. Mastering: Joe Talia. Graphic design: Ania Witkowska / Fontanna.
Unknowns
LP version. Some bands struggle to transcend their initial mythos, those stories that introduce them to the public eye. But The Dead C is a notable exception. They appeared in 1986 under a cloud of mystery, their unconventional location (South Island, New Zealand) helping to fuel their erratic sound. Name-dropped through the nineties by groups like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, they gained influence and acclaim but never strayed from their original mainlined performing technique, which can sound …
The Harry Smith B-Sides
**81 newly-remastered recordings on four CDs with a full-color, 144-page, cork-cover book in a cigar-style box. ** The Harry Smith B-Sides box set contains the flip side of every 78-rpm record that Harry Smith included on the Anthology of American Folk Music. In 1952, Folkways Records published the legendary six-LP series entitled the Anthology of American Folk Music, compiled by eccentric record collector, filmmaker, artist, and anthropologist Harry Smith. Many historians cite Smith's reissue, …
MysticMorpho
**Edition of 250. Sold out at source** Prana Crafter is William Sol, a musical mystic who blends the raw energies of nature with guitars, synthesizers, singing bowls, and a dose of flow-consciousness. The resulting sonic nectar flows out from the amplifier, cascading in the mind of the listener, splashing mantras against the listener's third ear. Some music is meant to entertain, to be consumed like flashing patterns on a TV screen. Not so with the music of Prana Crafter. This music is a sonic-t…
Atem: Piezas para acciones e instalaciones 1999-2019
Sergio Zevallos, a Peruvian artist based in Berlin, has been active since the 1980s, when he was a member of the Chaclacayo Group, one of the most radical artist collectives in Peru, dedicated to performance art. Since then, Zevallos has been interested in composing his own soundtracks, writing scores with invented notation, working with recitation of texts and recordings of people talking, elements that he later used as raw material for his compositions.
Zevallos' work has been developed in a m…
Recursos Inhumanos
Varsovia’s Recursos Inhumanos (Inhuman Resources), a classic album of Peruvian synth punk, is finally available in vinyl format. Since it’s appearance in 2014, Varsovia surprised many listeners with its combination of punk and synthesizer electronics, in the best tradition of groups such as Kraftwerk, Suicide, Chris & Cosey or Aviador Dro. Using sequencers and drum machines, loud guitars and a voice that oscillates between whispers and shouts, the band builds songs that offer a freewheeling and …
Cathedral
Christian Kobi is one of the leading names on the improv scene in Bern, Switzerland. His work includes collaborations with Phill Niblock, Jürg Frey, Taku Sugimoto, and Keith Rowe. His new album, “Cathedral”, closes a trilogy for saxophone solo that started with “Canto” (2010) and “r a w l i n e s” (2013), and which was recorded in the former Swisscom high-bay warehouse - probably the largest underground space in Bern.
That space serves Christian as a place of exploration of sound, silence and ac…
Lucifer Rising Ost
* 2020 Stock * Remastered edition of the legendary/notorious Lucifer Rising soundtrack that was originally composed for Kenneth Anger’s film of the same name. “When I composed and recorded the soundtrack for a reconceptualized Lucifer Rising a decade after the first abandoned attempt I drew on my own life experiences to tell the story in music evocative of the mythical Lucifer awakening in his pit of despair, rekindling his torch, and rising like a phoenix from the ashes of his own unmaking to b…
Music for Commercials
**2020 small repress** Originally issued by Crammed in 1987, this is one of the most sought-after releases in the legendary Made to Measure series. Known for his numerous albums, soundtracks, and collaborations with an impossibly broad array of artists (from Ryuichi Sakamoto and DJ Towa Tei to Van Dyke Parks, Björk, Manu Dibango and Elvin Jones), composer, saxophonist and producer Yasuaki Shimizu also released several electronic music productions during the '80s, which are currently generating a…
Horizon
In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra’s first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971.…
Nidhamu
In the years leading up to 1971, Sun Ra wrote many compositions and poems specifically inspired by the ancient African Kingdoms and many others with associated mythological and heliocentric connotations. As such, a visit to Egypt and the opportunity for the Arkestra to play there was a matter of necessity. Ra’s first ever concerts outside of the US had occurred in late summer and autumn of 1970 with performances in France, Germany and the UK and a second European tour was arranged for late 1971.…
Swirling
The planets align this October as the mighty Sun Ra Arkestra, under the direction of the maestro Marshall Allen, release their first studio album in over twenty years, ‘Swirling’. Recorded at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia, the new recording represents the continuation of a heartfelt rebirth of the Arkestra under Allen’s guidance since Sun Ra left the planet in 1993, gaining new generations of followers from their regular touring across the globe. With a big band line-up featuring long-s…
Station '70
**This version also includes a bonus Action Direct CDr** Jinya Disc presents a live concert by New Direction. The album includes 2 tracks performed by Masayuki Takayanagi - Guitar, and Kaoru Abe - Alto Saxophone. The first album track: Thursday / Gradually Projection, was recorded on June 18, 1970 at Tokyo. The second one: Jha / Mass Projection was recorded on May or June, 1970 at Tokyo.
Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese…
Black Jazz Signature
**Finally repressed by popular demand.** Black Jazz Signature is a compilation album by American artist Theo Parrish. It was originally released through Snow Dog Records in 2013. The album features tracks from the 1970s record label Black Jazz Records, including "My Favorite Things" by Gene Russell, "Those Who Chant" and "Blue Bossa" by Walter Bishop Jr., "Jupiter" and "Convulsions" by The Awakening, "Trance Dance" by Doug Carn, "Time & Space" by Rudolph Johnson, "Criss Cross" and "BE" by Calvin…
Green
**Small repress available** Green vinyl. First ever reissue of this groundbreaking ambient work ! Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. The 2017 reissue of his lauded debut, Music For Nine Post Cards, along with a slow building cult internet following has helped ignite a renaissance in his acclaimed body of work, much of which has never been released…
Then Now
Since their 1988 duo album Sonic Explorations and through a number of group collaborations, the duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and pianist Matthew Shipp have extended and evolved their uniquely astute and confident dialog, as heard in this magnificent 8-part studio album, a reflection on their compatibility and perceptive artistry.
"What they have lost are the rough edges or, more precisely, they have been able to incorporate them into what they have learned over the past 30 years. The depth …
The Clawed Stone
Matthew Shipp (piano), John Butcher (saxophones) and Thomas Lehn (electronics) in a studio album recorded in France in 2017, a uniquely voiced collective trio of transformative improvisation, Lehn's additions and modifications blending perfectly with Shipp's solid foundations and Butcher's advanced technical expression, for an engrossing and expressive set of recordings.
"They manage to perfectly combine the many elements of the music while always keeping their individual identities intact."- Ro…
What If?
* 2020 Stock * An authoritative meeting between two of New York City's strongest players - Matthew Shipp on piano and Nate Wooley on trumpet - distilled to their essence after work with saxophonist Ivo Pereleman, here performing a set of 12 Shipp compositions brilliantly captured in the studio, illuminating Shipp's solid mastery of the keys and Wooley's remarkable technique and creative drive.