Reissues
J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984
In the years following World War Two, Japan developed one of the most insatiable, dynamic and diverse markets for jazz. For a crucial period of little over a decade – from the late 1960s to the early 1980s – Japanese jazz culture progressed at an astonishing rate, producing an extraordinary array of artists, recordings and record labels that created some of the most forward thinking and impressive jazz to be committed to tape. This amazing journey is explored on J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz from Jap…
Baroque Jazz Trio
Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of Baroque Jazz Trio's self-titled album, original released on Saravah in 1970. Mixing Baroque, free-jazz, and world music, the unique album of the Baroque Jazz Trio (which is in fact 3/5 of the Bach Modern Quintet) is a difficult-to-label sound object which is far from being typical of the psychedelic sounds associated with the early 1970s. Because, although fusion with Indian music (amongst others) and jazz (but also pop) was popular at the time, rarel…
Orientasie / Largo
Along with the due reissue of the Baroque Jazz Trio homonymous album, Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of the group's one and only single which has reached a cult status among the Jazz connoisseurs and collectors. Alongside Alfred Panou & the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Je Suis Un Sauvage (FFL 055EP), Baroque Jazz Trio's Orientasie / Largo is probably one of the hardest-to-find EPs on Saravah. Hitting #2 on Jazzman Records European Jazz 45s top 10 list, this is the finest fusion between f…
Humlebier
"This cassette contains different versions of a kind of static music consisting of humming sound formations. Various parts are combined in constantly different ways and activated or paused at a slowly changing pace. The three versions have different tempos with different characters ensuing. Simple looped motifs repeating themselves form the basis. Some of these are capable of modifying the pitch of each other. I have acted as a musician playing the computer sequencer by changing tempo, allowing …
In the Woods
On Rimarimba’s 1985 album In The Woods, Robert Cox has made his music kit, an odd assortment of new and old technologies, lately fixated on the digital delay, and programming technologies, sing his own song at its most articulate clip. The songs seem more developed, fluent, like mini-suites in some sense. By his third album, it’s clear Cox has recognised just how liberating technology can be – “All these intricate layers of things that I was trying to play, and didn’t have the musical ability to…
Les Archives
Les Archives is composed, arranged, and produced by the elusive Japanese artist June Chikuma. While Freedom To Spend’s reinvented edition bares little visual evidence of its origins in the composer’s name, title, or sleeve design, the album, a whooping gonzo of synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, and a mysterious string quartet, remains as vibrant now as it did when released on Toru Hatano’s Picture Label as Divertimento in 1986. In fact, the music of Les Archives now glows with a different p…
On Dry Land
For Rimarimba’s 1984 album On Dry Land, Robert Cox advances along the terrain explored on Below The Horizon. It’s an enchanting album, one which, at times, seems to comment on its own practice; a picture of everyday life in the hobbyist’s, or part-time musician’s, recording studio. Some moments point towards the tourist-explorer aesthetic that would eventually coalesce under the banner of Fourth World music. Other moments where Cox seems to be channelling an otherness, a kind of hauntological re…
Achwghâ Ney Wodei
**300 copies** Achwghâ Ney Wodei was a quartet of François Boitière (drums, keyboards, vocals), Didier ‘Higgins’ Copp (bass, percussion, vocals), Eric ‘Riton’ Sterenfield (guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals) and Phillippe ‘Wodi’ Royer (percussion, trumpet, bass, vocals). They released a cassette for the French label V.I.S.A. and later, in 1987, a triple 12″ for New International Recordings, a short-lived label by Simon Crab, of Bourbonese Qualk (maybe that should serve as an explanation?). Th…
Womens Work
**in process of restock** Originally published in the mid-1970s, Womens Work was a magazine that sought to highlight the overlooked work of female artists working at the cusp of the visual arts, music, and performance. The magazine was edited by Alison Knowles and Annea Lockwood and featured text-based and instructional performance scores by the following 25 artists, composers, and choreographers:Beth Anderon, Ruth Anderson, Jacki Apple, Barbara Benary, Sari Dienes, Nye Ffarrabas (participating …
New American Songbooks Volume 2
After the stunning success of last year's New American Songbooks, Volume 1,
Sound American is proud to present another chapter in their attempt to
find new points of view on the concept of the American Songbook. Last year's release found three distinctive voices--Mary Halvorson, Ron
Miles, and Greg Saunier--working together to arrange works from mass
media. Their collaboration, only a few days in total, culminated in a
recording that felt equal parts wild and warm; intimate and
revolutiona…
Sound American no. 21
The 127-page book was designed by Remake Design (who also created the now iconic Donald Judd: Writings book) and features words by or about Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, Ornette Coleman, Nicole Kaack, Bradford Bailey, G. Lucas Crane, Jennie Gottschalk, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mats Gustafsson, Peter Margasak, Terry Riley, Kim Brandt, John Cage, Josh Sinton, Edgard Varése, Marc Hannaford, John Zorn, Matthew Mehlan, Million Tongues Festival, Alex Mincek, Lester St. Louis, and Steve Lehman. Each book is th…
Sounding / Way
Pauline Oliveros and Guy Klucevsek's Sounding / Way was originally released on cassette in 1986 and has been out of print ever since. This LP was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing. The Sounding / Way concept was simple: each artist would write a piece for two accordions and then they would perform them together. Thus, side A contains Guy Klucevsek's Tremolo No. 6 performed by Guy Klucevsek and Pauline Oliveros. Side B contains Pauline's compositi…
... Is Eternal Life
Drummer, composer and poet William Hooker has been a tireless force in free improvised music for over 40 years. He emerged from New York's loft jazz scene in the mid-'70s, part of a generation of artists fueled by the social, political and cultural frustrations of their era. This second wave of American free jazz would push relentlessly into new territories – collaborating in a variety of non-traditional settings, establishing their own labels, venues, etc. – all in an effort at creative self-de…
The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen
In process of stocking. After two singles for Fast Product, Leeds art-punk collective The Mekons signed with Virgin Records in 1979. The band would have to borrow gear from their mates Gang Of Four to record their major label debut. In classic Mekons style, the album’s back cover featured a photo of Gang Of Four instead of themselves. As Simon Reynolds writes, “The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen got a mixed reception at the time. Listening to it now, though, the first LP sounds more of a piece w…
Neu Konservatiw
**100 copies 2018 repress** Originally released to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien back in 2015, Neu Konservatiw comes in a beautifully designed slevve with insert and postcards. The album features two unreleased Asmus Tietchens tracks plus other exclusive contributions by Werkbund, Column One, Evapori, Hyph, Pierce Warnecke, Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg and Margitt Holzt.
Tanz und Andacht
**500 copies** This is a total find - Tanz und Andacht (Dance and Devotion) is a mouth-wateringly rare and otherworldly missive from Hamburg’s cult, highly enigmatic label / band Werkbund, a bizarre, crazily ahead-of-its time project that finds the sweet spot between Coil and Torsten Pröfrock's work as Dynamo / Various Artists, now reissued on vinyl with two bonus tracks to the pleasure of weirdos across the world, more than twenty years after the long sold-out original 2x7” release. Since 1987,…
Human Egg
A super-obscure freaky fuzzy club music from the legendary Jean-Pierre Massiera – a weird and wild blend of funky rhythms, spacey electronics, and some of the most mindblowing production you'll ever hear! The grooves are plenty tight, but also stretch out nicely to the sky, too – almost taking on a proggish tinge at points, but without any jamming – just a bit of majesty on some of the vocals, and a strong, powerful lead on some of the fuzzy guitars! This earth-friendly version tells the story o…
Climatery
Miguel A. Ruiz is a veteran experimental/electronic musician from Madrid, Spainthat has worked under numerous monikers since early eighties as TécnicaMaterial, Orfeón Gargarín, Codachrom, Dekatron II, Michel Des Airlines, Funeral Souvenir, etc. Some of these projects still active today. Entering the world of Ruiz is a wonder to the mind and ears, each project yields authentic masterpieces of experimental electronic music. "Climatery" was originally recorded in the summer of 1986 and was publish…
ExpoZoom 1969
The history of music is never concrete. It’s forever changing and rewriting itself. The past becomes the present and the present reforms the past. What was lost is found, and what was known is lost. Our era, defined by the reissue and archival release, will likely be regarded as a definitive period of historical reparisal and reevaluation. Monumental figures have fallen. The obscure and unheralded have finally received their rightful due. Dark Companion’s latest LP - Ron Geesin’s ExpoZoom 1969, …
Ikiru Or The Wanderer
Samll repress finally available. We welcome Louise Landes Levi to the Oaken Palace Records family and invite you to join her on a musical journey through the life and fate of the Monarch butterfly. Ikiru, which is Japanese for "to grow", starts with "Butterfly Graveyard", a musical assessment of the current state of the Monarch butterfly, whose population has declined by over 80% over the past 20 years. On "Butterfly Brain", this worrying development is contrasted with the bravery and wonder of …