New Arrivals
Sublunar
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…
Spiritual Jazz 2: Europe
As the '60s progressed, cultural and political revolutions occurred both in the U.S. and in Europe. Jazz was both a victim and a savior, with radical developments in the music occurring on both continents. In the U.S., artists took control of their own musical destiny as small labels broke away from the mainstream, expressing new and creative visions of freedom and peace against a backdrop of civil unrest, repression and war. In '60s Europe, the jazz community forged ahead with a different…
Homemade Gloomy Pop
Finally available as a double CD, this collection is dedicated to Endless Nostalgia, one of the cult-band par excellence of the Italian electronic New Wave of the Eighties. Better known for the single "Me & My Alter Ego" released in 1984, this electro-pop duo from Verona, Northern Italy, produced a large number of cassette releases that have become very sought-after items nowadays. This generous and well-structured collection is a testament to the quality of the formation that was centered on Lu…
I Wish I Didn't Dream
Wish I Didn’t Dream, the new album of duets by guitarist Loren Connors and vocalist Suzanne Langille, was cut in just a few hours of studio time. But the pieces started falling into place 15 years earlier on the 10th floor of a nondescript building in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. It was there, at the old location of the Brecht Forum, that Connors got to know writer and WFMU DJ Kurt Gottschalk, who was curating a concert series there. On occasion Tom Abbs (now President of Northern Sp…
Freedom, Rhythm & Sound
This collection of rare album artwork reflects the independent energy of the African American jazz movement. Located in the heart of Soho in London, Soul Jazz Records is a musical oasis. While many of the quality record shops that once graced this area have closed their doors Soul Jazz seems to go from strength to strength. Stuart Baker and his partner Karen Tate oversee a thriving business which is driven by their own tastes and beliefs. A pragmatic duo, they recognize that the survival of Soul…
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…
Abraum
a new subway tunnel is being built in the harbor area of hamburg's inner city. the tunneling produces waste and the waste needs to be disposed of. in this case sand and shredded rubble are mixed with groundwater in order to be pumped out through steel tubes with a diameter of approximately 80cm. the sounds that are produced in the tubes are object of field recordings that i made at different times and places on site. it was immediately apparent that the continuum of the basic sounds that i used …
Sol Sketches
Film director Chris Teerink asked me to make the soundtrack for a documentary he would be making about American artist Sol LeWitt. This was in 2009. Chris and I agreed that the music and the images should both be equally important in his film. We didn't want the score to overpower the images, but neither did we want it to become solely background 'muzak'. I searched for a certain openness in the sound, while at the same time keeping a directness to it. Musical references for me were the piano pi…
Kuopio
With “Kuopio”, Raster-Noton releases the second full length album by Vladislav Delay aka Sasu Ripatti. The record features eight new songs which allow the listener to dive into Delay’s cosmos of deep and likewise organic sounds. Subtle yet complex electronic manipulations are used, resulting in a high degree of variation within every single track and a nearly imperceptible intensification of their density. Progressive and energetic rhythms play an important role as already indicated in hi…
Stridulum EP
Since her Sacred Bones debut last summer, ZOLA JESUS' profile has risen exponentially. Her next full length isn't due 'til 2011, but we feel pretty certain this will tide you over until then. Recording her vocals for the first time with professional instruments, Nika's voice is brought to the powerful forefront of the mix, unleashing emotions that previous work only hinted at. It's a siren song for the apocalypse! Industrial progress is a good analogy for the changes that occur through each cons…
Middle Eastern Rock
An inspired fusion of Middle Eastern rhythms and psychedelia resulted in this the gorgeous album by accomplished oud player John Berberian and his troop of skilled musicians. First released on Verve/Forecast in 1969 this exotic album features music based on traditional themes from Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Arabia and North Africa blended with the terrific improvised energy of psychedelia. So what you end up with here is bustling bazaars and scorched sands passed through the prism of the lysergic …
Somethingtobesaid
Specially written for the John Butcher Group, this is the first full performance of somethingtobesaid - recorded live at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival in November 2008. Chris Burn (piano), John Butcher (saxophones & pre-recordings), Gino Robair (percussion), John Edwards (bass), Thomas Lehn (synth), Dieb 13 (turntables), Clare Cooper (harp-guzheng), Adam Linson (bass & electronic processing).
Reflectors
The Preservation label presents the second album from New York's Nickolas Mohanna. Also working as a visual artist, Nickolas draws unique forms from the wealth of sounds found in New York's complex sprawl and imbues them with feeling and subtlety. The sounds on Reflectors buzz with rich detail and rhythmic interplay for a work alive with beauty and mystery in its atmospheric reach. Previously living in San Francisco for a number of years, Nickolas studied with noted electronic composer Bob…
Parallel World
Originally released in 1976 by Nippon Columbia, this is the final album by legendary Japanese space/psych-rockers Far East Family Band. Droney and far-out electronica influenced by German producer/electronic music composer Klaus Schulze is more pronounced, merging prog rock with electronic music to create something rather weird and wonderful. Although Schulze oversaw the production of the album rather than playing on it (which he definitely didn't!), the synth star here is Masanori Takahas…
Helbzeit
We enter an open landscape, rich in impressions, and then leave the beaten track. Here and there we notice something that merits closer inspection. After a shorter or longer pause, we venture a little in another direction. We might simply take the day as it comes and without concern let everything that has been and that we have experienced go to the winds. Or perhaps perceive the singular aspects shown by this landscape with an acute awareness. Use them to recall past events and experiences, thu…
Ombrophilia
Tomoko Sauvage: water, porcelain bowls, hydrophones, condenser mics, metal wire and wood spoons. Sauvage, a Paris-based Japanese musician, uses water-filled porcelain bowls for her electro-acoustic performances and compositions. The use of hydrophones (underwater microphones) allows her to capture the subtle sound of water waves and drops resonating in porcelain bowls. The serene, contemplative aquatic soundscape is woven from these fragile materials. Her first solo album, Ombrophilia will be r…
Limaro
Xavier Charles (clarinet), Nicolas Desmarchellier (guitar), Ulrich Phillipp (doublebass), Eiko Yamada (flute) and Burkhard Schlothauer (violin). Recorded live in concert direct to digital stereo by Uli Böttcher 18-06-07, Bergkirche-Wiesbaden.
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…
The Ducks Palace
Duck Baker (guitar), Derek Bailey (guitar), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Roswell Rudd (trombone) and John Zorn (alto saxophone) Tracks Improv 1 & 5 recorded at The Knitting Factory New York 1993. Tracks Improv 2,4 & 6 recorded London 2002. Track 3. The Blues recorded at the Outpost Alberquerque 2004. Track 7 Pavement Blues recorded at Tonic New York 2002.
Early Summer
10 improvised sound collages by Wade Matthews. What this music is about and how it was made. These are 10 virtual soundscapes selected from among 14 made in Madrid in late June and early July 2009, hence the name, Early Summer. They are improvised sound collages, real-time assemblages of field recordings (manipulated to greater or lesser degrees), noises, electroquotes and digital synthesis. The field recordings were made over the last two years in the San Francisco Bay area, La Mancha, a…