Reissues
Visions Of Audio
*In process of stocking* The final installment of the electronic fusion projects that Walter Bachauer concocted for Klaus Schulze’s Innovative Communication label, Visions of Audio delves further into minimalist musique concrete, extending themes developed on Memorymetropolis in drawing on non-European vocal chants, here applied in dissociative layers. The diverse, complex arrangements include the symphonic synths of ‘Promised Land’ and the war-mode Sensurround of ‘1922 In Baku,’ as well as the …
Oasis
*In process of stocking* “Another psych holy grail, finally seeing the light of day. Oasis was an American rock band from Marin County, California active in the 1970s. They eventually morphed from the prog-folk ensemble R J Fox. Their self-titled debut album was released as a private press in 1973 by the Cranbus label in a small run of 150 copies, imagine that…The record was in fact never released in the States but only in Canada, such a mystery today. Coming from the west coast the band - led …
"O Bidu" Silencio No Brooklyn
*2022 repress* O Bidú: Silêncio no Brooklin is the fifth studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben. It was recorded with Brazilian rock band The Fevers as Ben's backing musicians and released in 1967 by Artistas Unidos, a small-market record label based in São Paulo.
The album was recorded while Ben was living in Brooklin, a neighborhood of São Paulo with Erasmo Carlos. Its title is a reference to a car that Ben owned at the time and the subtitle is a joke on a neighbor…
Kazuki Tomokawa 1975–1977
Tip! A poet, soothsayer, bicycle race tipster, actor, prolific drinker, self-taught guitarist, and living legend of Japanese sound, Kazuki Tomokawa catapulted into Tokyo’s avant-folk scene in the mid-1970s, forging a sound and sensibility marked by throat-wrenching vocals and searing ennui. Among his musical peers in postwar Japan, Tomokawa distinguished himself as a pioneer of radical individualism. He had “the personality of a hydrogen bomb”—as the notorious ultraleft band the Brain Police on…
Finally, His First Album
Tip! At the tender age of twenty-five, while he was working part-time at an Italian restaurant in Tokyo’s Kamata district, Kazuki Tomokawa released his debut record, fittingly titled Finally, His First Album. While he had already penned hundreds of songs, including his first single “Try Saying You’re Alive!,” written on a long train ride past fields and rice paddies, it was this recording that introduced Japan to one of its most unique musicians of the postwar era. Each track, as record label …
Straight from the Throat
Tip! In the 1970s, Kazuki Tomokawa catapulted into Tokyo’s avant-garde scene with his cathartic and utterly electrifying performances. Straight from the Throat, Tomokawa’s second album, released in July 1976 by Harvest Records, finds the musician in his truest form: as the “screaming philosopher” he would come to be called—cynical but fair, cheeky and melancholic, and looking at the world with truth-seeking eyes.
In Straight from the Throat, Tomokawa shrieks and shouts and wallows with ritualis…
A String of Paper Cranes Clenched between My Teeth
Tip! In a generation of musicians that came of age in postwar Japan, Kazuki Tomokawa stands as a pioneer of radical individualism, with a sound marked by shocking intimacy and blistering honesty. In his third album, A String of Paper Cranes Clenched between My Teeth, released by Harvest Records in 1977, Tomokawa creeps “ever more inward,” as Kiichi Takahara writes in the record’s original introductory text—embracing an attitude pervasive amongst musicians of the time who interrogated the prosaic…
Emak Bakia
Emak Bakia – a long out of print masterpieces from 1994. Even in the huge Bryn Jones' discography Emak Bakia really stands out of albums from the period due to its rather unique (house-music related) sound and short, by the standards of Bryn Jones, tracks. Like a crossmix between Psychic TV (circa Towards Thee Infinite Beat) and Muslimgauze's trademark percussion and eastern vibes. Re-mastered and with new stunning artwork.
Natural Sources
"Some albums show you right away what kind of spirit backs them. Ronald Snijders solo debut from 1977, Natural Sources, is one of these. It begins with a free improvised, sometimes scatting flute and while the flute goes more and more crazy some scat vocals join in to make this first track a kinda strange affair. Jazz, free and spirited, seems the way but Ronald Snijders, son of Surinamese composer Eddy Snijders, outwits us in all our tiny minded expectations with the next song already. An everg…
Equator
*300 copies limited edition* British post-industrial / ambient group O Yuki Conjugate arrives on Aguire with a vinyl run of their previously CD only 1995 release Equator. Coming four years after their lauded Peyote release, the group split and reformed into their Mk II phase with the two original members Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme, along with Malcolm McGeorge, Dan Mudford & Pete Woodhead (who later went on to form Sons Of Silence on Leaf Label).
Making use of the emergent technology of …
We Now Create - Music For Strings, Winds And Percussion
A historical masterpiece recorded on 23 May 1969 at the Tokyo Studio Centre by the "Togashi Masahiko Quartet", consisting of Masahiko Togashi (drums), Motoki Takagi (saxophone), Masayuki Takayanagi (guitar) and Motoharu Yoshizawa (bass). Recorded at the Tokyo Studio Centre on 23 May 1969, this historical masterpiece has been reissued on CD from Germany.
Raks Raks Raks (27 Golden Garage Psych Nuggets From The Iranian 60s Scène)
This is one of the most anticipated as well as unexpected compilations from the global depths of 60s and 70s rock'n'roll: The Persian scene. Let alone coming across with a representative compilation, even solid evidences of such a scene has not been seen until now and has been largely suspected, maybe save for a select few of eager garage and psychedelic record collectors and enthusiasts of worldwide rock, who have been trying to hunt such sounds on the internet and private collectors' circles, …
Atenshion! Refleshion! (Spanish Psychedelic Grooves, 1967 - 1976)
Get ready for the ultimate psychotronic party!! Underground soul, psychedelic funk, Hammond and library grooves, dirty fuzz guitars, wah-wah, horns, drum breaks, crazy bongos...14 tracks taken from rare and unknown until now Spanish records from the late 60s and early 70s, many of them released on small and private labels, including the Türkish style hard-psych-groove of Pedro Gonz lez with "El Samurai" and the ultra-rare private pressing EP by Alcy Agüero y Su Orquesta Pop featuring the killer …
Reflections
After a long break, we're happy to present another masterpiece in The Fact Of Being collection. A long-awaited reissue of the legendary ambient/new-age album "Reflections" by Laura Allan with Paul Horn. The album was recorded in 1980 and marked by the participation of twice Grammy Awarded jazz legend flutist Paul Horn. The meeting of Laura and Paul was a true miracle that brought amazing fruit. Since 80th "Reflections" captivate the minds of spiritual ambient music fans all over the world. Magic…
Vom Klang Des Lebens / Of The Sound Of Life, Stundenbuch / Book Of Hours, Buch Der Sterne / Book Of Stars (Edition Of Contemporary German Piano Music)
Vom Klang Des Lebens/ Of The Sound Of Life features pianist Roger Woodward on a Steinway model D, playing Peter Michael Hamel's cycle of works composed for and dedicated to his wife and new son. The producer/engineer for the recording sessions in January 2006 was Ulrich Kraus.
Long before he discerns the light of the world, still in the womb, nascent man begins to sense the sounds of life. Long before his spirit attempts to differentiate experiences, develop ideas or make his mark on the path of…
The Complete Piano Music Of Georges I. Gurdjieff And Thomas De Hartmann
The music produced from the remarkable collaboration of Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann typifies the creative explorations undertaken by many artists just after the turn of the 20th century. In visual art, Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) explored abstraction in both sight and sound, while composer Alexandre Skryabin (1872-1915) proposed an æsthetic format through his compositions that entailed the collaboration of colors, sounds, scents and movement. Each of these artists and th…
Musique Méchanique
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* With decades of history releasing music on the cutting edge, Celestial Harmonies founder, Eckart Rahn, had to sort through hours of historically significant material for Musique Mécanique, a double CD retrospective of influential electronic compositions. His latest music selection and sequence does not begin to cover the wealth of consequential material his labels have presented over the years. However, this collection does offer a worthy overview of the genr…
The Music Of Islām
Ten years in the making, The Music of Islam series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar represents the most comprehensive sound documentation available to Westerners today, of a world religion dating back to 1/622. Although governed by strict rules for fourteen centuries, contact with other cultures has radically affected Islamic music throughout history. As the world enters the XV/21st century the timing of this collection serves an even larger…
Mayeh-ye Dashti / Mayeh-ye Isfahan
*2022 stock.* The award-winning 2-CD album features contemporary classical compositions and arrangements with traditional Irani instruments. The spiritual intensity and traditional musicianship was deemed worthy for Celestial Harmonies records. The musicians are the Dastan Ensemble, which is a collective who change membership over the decades. For this 2008 live concert recording, the Ensemble consists of Hossein Behroozinia (barbat, the Irani oud), Hamid Motebassem (the long-neck tar), Said Far…
Deep Peace / New Atlantis
*2022 stock.* For the first time, Deep Peace and New Atlantis, two classics from Celestial Harmonies, are available on CD. Originally recorded in 1980 and 1983, these meditative masterpieces have long been recognized as remarkable and meaningful works.
Frank Perry employs a fascinating array of acoustic instruments, including 400 year old Zen Buddhist Densho bells and a Ming Dynasty Chinese temple bell. He adds various kyeezees (Burmese meditation gongs), Burmese chime bowls, other glass bowls, …