Upcoming releases
Oasis
Several important jazz groups and projects emerged in the early 70s, among them were Platina, featuring Arale Kaminsky and Roman Kunsman, and Jazz Workshop. Jazz Workshop are best known for their landmark fusion of jazz, Hebrew and Arabic musical forms on the album 'Mizare Israel Yekabtzenu', released in 1972. Another key group that emerged during this crucial febrile period was Oasis, fronted by jazz guitar maestro Avery Sharon. He was joined by bass player Yossie Menachem, drummer Ickie Levy &…
Le Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe
Tip! By the 1960s, the popularity of big bands had waned considerably. The heyday of the 30s and 40s big bands had been superseded in the 1950s by smaller modern and traditional jazz units, skif e and, ultimately, rock and roll, and the prominence they once enjoyed were a fading memory. Although there were still several very ne big bands playing and recording during this time, the economics of the big band in the age of the pop group always put it at a disadvantage. There was, of course, the lea…
Age
Quickly on the heels of their debut, Cuneiform Tabs return with Age, an LP that takes a massive leap forward in both melodic sensibilities and inventiveness. Bathed in late night psychedelia and the looping repetition of a drone sample, the group's experimental penchants remain, yet this time wrapped around tunes too sweet to be denied. In pulling back a little of the crackle and haze that made their first album so inviting, the Tabs have revealed more of their pop instincts. The overall effect …
Sweet England
Huge Tip! Recorded 67 years ago, reissued in Shirley Collins's 90th year in this universe. 'Sweet England' along with its sister album 'False True Lovers', was recorded in the spring of 1958 when I was twenty-two years old. I had been living for the previous two years in London with Alan Lomax, the American folklorist, working for him as editorial assistant on his book The Folk Songs of North America and on his field recordings from America, Great Britain, Italy and Spain. The tracks that make u…
Flux
Tip! “In May 2024, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where I was born and have lived all my life, faced the worst climate catastrophe in its history. After weeks of relentless, torrential rain, its rivers overflowed, flooding much of the region. Entire cities were submerged. More than 170 people lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands of animals perished. Amid this dystopian and desperate situation, flux was composed and recorded in about a week. Initially, the album was created sole…
The Sound of Raspberry
Tip! “This is what we need! In these confused, populistic and fascist times — this is the jazz we need! Urgent! Dedicated! Radical! Unique-face-peeling-cutting- edge- and- totally-in-your-face-MF! This is all we need for a better living! Think… Borbetomagus, John Zorn, TG, Masami Akita, Hanatarash… this is it and yet, not at all alike!” - Mats Gustafsson "Absolutely blistering duo album. The sax sounds like it's laser-cutting its way through the atmosphere while the drums expand and contract the…
This Molten Salt
A relentless pedal-free noise blitz that will surely offend most music lovers is certainly going to delight a wide range of noise fans. This album fits somewhere between extreme free jazz and the works of Iannis Xenakis. Charlie Mumma has played drums on over 150 albums with legendary noise-grind-music concrete band Sissy Spacek, led by John Wiese, an outfit that changes members almost as often as they get in the studio. Martín Escalante has appeared on a few of those Spacek albums in fact that …
Playing Harsh Noise on the Saxophone since 2012
Tip! “Desperate death throes roaring from a man playing the saxophone with more agony than anyone has ever seen before.” - Toshiji Mikawa “A gem, a badass. One of the most talented saxophone players I have ever met.” - Otomo Yoshihide This is Martín Escalante’s solo CD debut (not counting a few homemade CDrs and tapes or a 12” produced by Lasse Marhaug). The title of the album and the liner notes tell us that its content is harsh noise played on a saxophone acoustically without any electronic ef…
Breath in Definition
Ingrid Schmoliner and Alex Kranabetter are pillars of the improvised and experimental music scenes inAustria stretching back more than a decade. Although the former is known primarily as a pianist and vocalist and the latter as a trumpeter, they both possess seriously expansive sonic palettes. Schmolinger works rigorously with sound direction to generate vibrant psychoacoustic and spatialized effects, while Kranabetter routinely deploys electronics to radically transform and expand his sound wor…
Fulguromatic
"Veteran Spanish label, Margen/áMARXE, returns after its outstanding releases of recent years with the first album by an incredible French duo called Fulguromatic. Deeply fascinating, creating unique spaces between the sounds of Canterbury, jazz-rock and incorporating a light, playful and somewhat mischievous touch from the planet Zeuhl that is tremendously addictive. Absolutely captivating, both musically and timbrally, thanks to the use of invented instruments that give it a French flavor "naï…
Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind the Iron Curtain (Part 2)
"Whether it's by improvisation in the African-American jazz tradition, or by a village kobza player standing on top of a damn hill - he feels connected to the stars."
I Keep My Diamond Necklace in a Pond of Sparkling Water
Weaving. One is seated in a zone of marvelous intricacy, sounds criss-cross in unforeseen ways. Listening to this colorful fabric, one occupies the delicious chromatic center of the Parcheesi board (John Ashbery).
Phardah - Humans and Beings
Huge Tip! Free Jazz band with a psychedelic touch, Phardah, is set to release their debut album Humans and Beings on the 2nd of May, 2025. The band features veterans of the Finnish experimental music and Free Jazz scene: saxophonist Sami Pekkola, double bassist Eero Tikkanen, and electric guitarist Topias Tiheäsalo, along with the younger generation drummer Veeti Hietala. The album was recorded and mixed by Teemu Markkula, known from the band Death Hawks. The album consists of two long pieces. V…
Lågliv
Neutral is the no wave / anti-rock duo of Dan Johansson (Sewer Election, Ättestupa, Amateur Hour, etc.) and Sofie Herner (Leda, Enhet För Fri Musik), both with deep connections to the Swedish noise scene. As Neutral, the two smear voice, guitar, organ, and smoldering noise into narcoleptic songs that rewire the strategies of Dome by way of Gate and Mars. Lågliv translates to ‘lowlife,’ an apt metaphor for neutral’s subterranean murk and shambolic discontent that they languidly manifest as a punk…
Hawalat
Taking inspiration from hawala, a system of informal money transfers made to certain countries impacted by a lack of currency or unstable contexts. Megarbane spins this concept on its head, reimagining it as an artistic exchange spanning cultures, generations, and geographies. This spirit of creative movement is embodied in the album's amalgamative nature, featuring contributions from an international lineup of artists, including London-based jazz vocalist Sahra Gure, Italian-Tunisian singer LND…
Mike's Box (8xDVD Set)
Releasing May 30 via Jim O'Rourke's Drag City imprint Moikai, Mike’s Box is an immersive 8-disc DVD set collecting the works of American performance artist Michael Smith. For five decades, Smith has plumbed the depths of American culture — through his two performance personae, Mike and Baby Ikki — to perform the discrepancies between what is promulgated by the powers that be and what actually exists in reality or the day-to-day world. Through art installations, theatre, video, television and liv…
Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind the Iron Curtain PART 1
One of the most politically charged terms of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain was a metaphor for political and cultural division. In a post-war telegram Winston Churchill referred to the fault line that ran through Europe between East and West as "an Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind". In this two-part album, as far as jazz is concerned, we will showcase, describe and celebrate exactly what was 'going on behind'. We see that music is the power …
Straight Outta Tenggara: Southeast Asian Hip-Hop, 1990s-2000s
Another Dinte tape curated by cult WFMU show and blogger Bodega Pop; Gary Sullivan's long-running project rooted in a passion for digging for music in bodegas and cell-phone stores across NYC's boroughs. This edition focuses in on late 1990s and early 00s hip-hop & rnb from across Southeastern Asia.
"While on a work trip to Chicago in the mid-2000s, I was craving a bowl of pho. A bit of sleuthing led me to hop on the red line "L" up to Argyle Street, ground zero of Chicago's Little Saigon. In th…
Yadokari / Shura No Hana
Wewantsounds' major reissue program of Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood) continues with the first-ever reissue of her 1973 album "Yadokari" with a bonus 7" single Shura No Hana (featured in Kill Bill). with original artwork, newly remastered audio and new liner notes.
Buzzsaw - 500V
150 copies limited edition "This one is destined to become a collectors item! When Das Rad toured across the north of England in September 2024, our take on the old psych garage classic Buzzsaw by The Turtles proved to be a popular live number - so much so that we decided that while it might not fit on an album, it would make a great vinyl single. So here it is!" - Discus Music