Experimental / Avant-Garde

2006 release ** Reproduction of the 1981 LP featuring two wasted / buzzing / side-long / go-nowhere early Computer-controlled Analogue Synthesizer pieces - rendered via Ed Kobrin's "Hybrid IV" setup - captured on March 28th, 1975 & sounding not unlike an airplane anding / taking off as realized by the programmers of an Atari 2600 console video game. Sigubjörnsson is an interesting character; his "Kisum / Intrada" LP of trio clarinet, viola, & piano pieces was issued by the same pre-Caprice Expo …

A singular record, measured with a mastery of self and patience that’s utterly arresting in its stoic elegance and sound sensitivity. Keiji Haino plays Gamelan...

The Residents are an American art collective best known for their over 60 studio albums that were recorded over a period of over forty years. They also created some outstanding multimedia works, mainly three CD ROM projects and more than ten DVDs. Charles Bock was a pseudonym that Hardy Fox, co-founder and primary composer for the group, used from 2012 to 2017. About a dozen albums were released using that name until Fox started using his real name for his solo recordings. "GOD O" was the openin…

JEM3 is an improvising trio that brings together the wide-ranging talents of three unique musicians: drummer JT Lewis, guitarist/reed player Elliott Sharp, and guitarist Marco Cappelli. The JEM3 found its genesis in an improvised set at the behest of Cappelli. The results felt great to all and so more shows followed. They decided to book a session at GSI Studios and this debut album Apices is the result. In addition to their mastery of their instruments and innovative approaches, JEM3 operates f…

*In process of stocking* Erstwhile presents sisbiosis, collaboration album by Clara de Asís and Ryoko Akama, mastered by Taku Unami. Photography by Clara de Asis (black and white) and Ryoko Akama (color). Six-panel digipak. Clara de Asís - electronics, percussion, field recordingsRyoko Akama - amplified objects, field recordings Track 1, 2: recorded and mixed by Clara de Asís in Leymen, France in May 2022 Track 3, 4, 5: materials recorded by Ryoko Akama and Clara de Asís in Leymen, France and Ho…

New upcoming collaboration album for Vanessa Rossetto and Moniek Darge on Erstwhile Records.

*2024 stock* "Recorded back in 2019, in Newcastle upon Tyne, “Skinwalker” is a collaboration between noisy British punk band Bruxa Maria and Norwegian trio MoE. Between these two acts, fireworks might be expected to fly constantly but “Skinwalker” turns out more restrained and controlled than you’d expect. Four tracks, of which three exceed ten minutes, are on offer here, all of them brimming with caged fury and aggression which, if unleashed, could turn this recording into a tapestry of burning…

*2024 stock* "A lone voice rises over the booming rumble of the octobass, a large acoustic instrument resembling a double-bass, yet twice the height. The octobass’ unusually large stature lends itself to these haunting sounds, looming over this cacophonous reverberation like a specter of monstrosity. Another voice lightly ascends, and the two vocalizations coalesce as this musical foundation crumbles along, carried by the tapping of harmonium keys, swimming and dissonant.  This patient singing b…

Gryphon Rue returns to Soap Library with Playing the Beetles, a sonic adaptation of a performance of the same name with Ka Baird and Qasim Naqvi at Roulette Intermedium in November 2023. Through a color-mapping system that matches non-toxic paint on the beetle shells to clothing worn by the performers, the highly experimental piece musically interprets the behavior of live beetles (the bugs, not the band.) Under the watchful eye of a live camera feed connected to software, beetles explore their…

2006 release ** “Un Pranzo Favoloso" has been recorded live on 26th May 2005 at Auditorium Concordia in Pordenone (Italy) during the "Schermo Sonoro - Cinemazero" festival. In this incredible concert Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, Tim Barnes and Ulrich Krieger played on Stan Brakhage experimental movies; the band explores the concept of soundtrack and creates something new out of it, a "sonic continuum" between music and the movies, in which Stan Brackage's images become sounds. The result is amazing.…

*300 copies limited edition* Since their forming in 1999, Theme have released six albums and performed live sporadically in a variety of incarnations, even including Faust's Jean-herve Peron on bass at a number of shows many years ago. 'Meditations on Space, Volume One' is the seventh album and represents the first volume in a two-part set. Consisting of one piece of music (spanning around 40 minutes in total) that's broken into seven parts, it sees the core duo of Stuart Carter and Richard John…

"During 2019 Keith, Julie and myself had discussed the idea of a new Couple In Spirit album for Discus Music.  Rather than choosing one of the many possible live recordings of the duo, Keith and Julie were keen to make a new multi tracked studio recording, something they had not done for 30 years since their EG release.  The studio was booked for spring 2020, and the project was opened for advance subscriptions.  The New Year arrived, lockdown kicked in, Keith’s already fragile health deteriorat…

Deluxe edition, gatefold cover – The State51 Conspiracy is proud to announce the highly anticipated vinyl release of Nurse With Wound's extraordinary new album Healsgebedda Budgerigar (meaning "beloved budgie" in mangled old English). Originally released as an exclusive offering to subscribers of acclaimed music publication The Quietus, this mesmerizing sonic journey is now available as a limited edition 1LP pressing. Writing for The Quietus, critics John Doran and Russell Cuzner describe the al…

Living in the present is an album built around the work of American minimalist poet, Robert Lax (1915-2000) who is widely praised for his artistic concept of reduction, in which a pause becomes as important as the things said. The album brings together the sound of Robert Lax reading his poetry, narrative field recordings by Nicolas Humbert and subtle yet imaginative timbres by Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet) and Miki Yui (electronics) who is also behind the final mixing of the album. Living in th…

*2023 stock* Asian Meeting Featival" rose to the highest recent years. This is the studio recordings CD, finally put out via doubtmusic. Amazing musicians / artists from each country in Asia gathered in Tokyo, they played powerful improvisations under directions by dj sniff and Yuen Cheewai. We recorded, selected and edited them for completed the CD. We would like you to fell splender Asian improvisation and experimental music. This CD will be expected all over the world !!! The Asian Meeting Fe…

** 2021 Stock ** The drum duo "Dada Rhythm" was formed in 2008 by Uzamashi Okamoto and Kasei Yamada, and since 2018 they have changed their name to "Dinarzum", and also work as "Nichientai", playing only seven cymbals. The duo creates a tapestry of syncopated movements where inorganic and tribal organic qualities, which are similar to minimal electroacoustics, intertwine in a dense way. Rhythmelogic was recorded on April 16, 2016 at their base of activity, Shin-Imamiya Nchichi Building, and was …

"In the late 1980s The Residents embarked on what many fans still consider their greatest live project. Cube-E: The History Of American Music In 3 E-Z Pieces spanned almost four years and proposed to do nothing less than its title suggested, telling the story of American popular music, from its birth around the campfires of a non-existent Old West to its death at the hands of Elvis and the British Invasion, all in three easy pieces. Performed on TV and on stage around the world between 1987 and …

Tip! “I Racconti di Aretusa” is the result of the encounter between Lino Capra Vaccina, a legend of Italian minimalism, and Mai Mai Mai, the alias of Toni Cutrone, a key international figure in the avant-garde/drone scene. A work that weaves together experimentation and Mediterranean echoes, creating a sonic journey of rare intensity. The collaboration was born during an artistic residency for the Ortigia Sound System (Syracuse, Sicily), a festival dedicated to the dialogue between traditional s…

Reproduction of the print pattern of the flyer for the "Ikebukuro Cyber Café" event held in 1991 on the cover, a center hole on the back side, a reproduction of the original cassette index of "Computer Café Music" and an IC board for electronic devices (the real one) are pasted on the front cover. The disc was mastered by D&M and cut at 45 rpm. An insert is included. Standard black vinyl pressing. In 1991, Yuji Takahashi and Mamoru Fujieda collaborated in staging a sound installation at the Sezo…

"Long-time collaborators and iconoclastic improvisers, drummer Eddie Prévost and saxophonist John Butcher, met at All Hallows Church, in High Laver, Essex in 2023, using the natural ambience of the space to capture these three improvisations, Prévost playing primarily on a drum kit and both in a more jazz-oriented sax and drum duo, extended by both players' exceptional technique." - squidco.com

"In 2022, Eddie Prévost celebrated his 80 th birthday with the series Towards a Bright Nowhere, a series of July concerts at Café Oto that appeared as both a series of four CDs and a documentary. These two CDs document later duo performances from October 2022 to June 2023 with French pianist Marjolaine Charbin, apparently a recent association, and saxophonist John Butcher, a longtime creative partner. Each emphasizes a different dimension of Prévost’s creativity. He’s credited with percussion on…

2009 release ** Featuring: Amy Denio, Cristina Zavalloni, Joan La Barbara, Demetrio Stratos, Sainkho Namchylak, Meredith Monk, Luigi Nono, Cathy Berberian, David Moss, Fátima Miranda, Greetje Bijma, Sabina Meyer, Marcello Abbado, Sidsel Endresen.

2009 release ** Featuring: Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Steve Jansen, Demetrio Stratos, Emanuele Casale, Robert Ashley, Stefano Scodanibbio, Edoardo Sanguineti, Nine Horses, Walter Prati, Robert Wyatt, Fred Frith, Massimiliano Viel, Picchio Dal Pozzo.

Mamer first became known as a dombra virtuoso and a modern master of Kazakh folk music. Over the years, he has evolved into a prolific and versatile artist, working across the boundaries of both tranditional and contemporary music. Mamer leads seven band projects: IZ, Bande, Mekrop, TAT, Mask, 51-Rayon, and Kunakar. He has released over 30 records, presenting a diversity of distinct styles including folk, ambient, industrial, noise, improvisation, and drone music.  “Every Mamer is brand new”. On…

2005 release ** "Great to see this particular title of purely electronic pieces by Lejaren Hiller in the series; we last heard from him via the piece "Vocalise" on Creel Pone #039, "Electronic Music, Experimental Studios In Prague, Bratislava, Munich ..." but this particular collection, specifically including the otherwise unavailable early tape-music piece "Nightmare Music" (1961), gets into an area of his work that veers straight into the same text-and-electronic-sound miasma as such C.P. clas…

Back in full force, Northern Spy returns with what might just be the best record we’ve heard all year: The Necks’ “Bleed”. A creatively visionary and astounding immersion into the band’s singular realm of sonority, unfolding at a glacial pace over the 42-minute composition’s duration, these two vinyl sides comprise some of the most tense and ambitious moments we’ve ever heard from one of the most important bands working today.

Fear is the first of Cale's three studio albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year. During this time Cale was also producing records for other artists, working on albums such as Horses (1975) by Patti Smith, one of the most influential of all proto-punk records. In addition to his lead vocals on Fear, Cale also played keyboards, guitars, viola, violin and bass, and was joined by Fairport Convention's Richard Thompson, Roxy Music's Brian Eno and Phil Ma…

A budget-priced collection of tracks by artists who've had releases out on Fourth Dimension Records or whose music has entered the label's orbit and made a good impression. In an ideal world there'd be at least several albums by all concerned on Fourth Dimension Records, but the label operates from more or less the same dingy old basement it always has and subsequently has to limp along in usual fashion. It is precisely because of this that 'An Oblique Reference to Zeros' has been assembled. The…

*Limited edition of 300 copies.* Similar to 2021's 'Iker' album on Fourth Dimension, this CD album idea sprang into life following our hearing some of Richard Youngs' experiments with loops and tones online and, subsequently, a few discussions via email about such music, its shortcomings, its appeal and, indeed, how it can be pushed into new spaces. Which is exactly what the pieces on 'New Emptiness' do. Each one of the five compositions here may use tones or oscillating loops as something of a …

*Limited edition of 300 copies. 2022 stock.* For a number of years now, Sion Orgon has been crafting music that fuses abstract electronic mulch with the kind of bright melodies one would expect from a shiny pop group. Using avant-garde sensibilities and a vision partly shaped by his affiliation with both Thighpaulsandra and Coil, the Welsh producer/musician has never been afraid to push these into areas most artists of a similar disposition would never be bold enough to touch. At once catchy, ps…

Big Hands is the alias of Andrea Ottomani, an Italian-born, London-based artist, whose productions have maintained an impeccable level of homogeneity over the last decade. His debut album, titled Thauma, was conceived in dreams over two consecutive nights as he traversed the storm-ridden Mediterranean Sea in late June 2024 and was later brought to life with the intent of preserving the sounds and structures as they were originally dreamt. Composed of ten tracks that seamlessly morph into one ano…

2005 release ** Arte Quartett: Beat Hofstetter, soprano saxophone; Sascha Armbruster, alto saxophone; Andrea Formenti, tenor saxophone; Beat Kappeler, baritone saxophone Terry Riley, vocals, piano and harpsichord (Uncle Jard) A free spirit, maverick par excellence, creator of a personal compositional style that has spawned entire generations of epigones, Terry Riley (b 1935) embodies the best aspects of the American pioneer spirit, the positive and uncorrupted image of America (and California in…

2025 stock Colin Stetson established himself as an intensely original solo composer and performer in 2011 with the release of the widely acclaimed New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges, which ended up on countless year-end lists. Anyone who has seen Stetson in solo performance can attest to the stunning physicality of his circular-breathing technique and capacity to produce a seemingly impossible palate of multiple voicings simultaneously in real time. New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light …

Tipuuraa is a 7-inch, single-sided flexi-disc released by Lorsson in 2015. Pressed on a flexible vinyl sheet, this unique format is known for its lightweight, collectible nature and is often used for limited or special releases. The record was issued by the Gafoni label, catalog number Galaxi-4, and is categorized as an EP.

2025 stock "Live at The Library Theatre '83" captures the legendary Nico, former member of The Velvet Underground, in a raw and intimate live performance at Manchester’s Library Theatre in 1983. This release, issued by Culture Factory and Cherry Red Records, marks the first time this concert has been available on vinyl, presented as a limited edition for Record Store Day.

2025 stock Limited to 2000 copies. Having appeared in La Dolca Vita before joining The Velvet Underground in New York in the mid-‘60s, Nico seemed to be at the epicentre of all that was cool in the ‘60s. And she continued that trend by relocating to Manchester in the ‘80s for a career renaissance before her death in 1988. This record immortalises her performance at The Hacienda, Manchester, in 1983. This deluxe package includes an OBI strip, single album jacket, printed inner sleeve, record labe…

*2025 stock. 50 sopies limited edition* The source material was created by Angus Carlyle for two films with Chiara Caterina, ‘Il Vertice’ (2013) and ‘Into The Outside’ (2015), part of his larger project ‘In The Shadows of Silent Mountains’. The soundtracks have been reworked and responded to for this collaborative project ‘Non Mountain’.

*2023 stock. 300 copies limited edition* Guitarist John Russell, a leading figure on Britain's improvised music scene, passed away on January 19, 2021. Born in December 1954, Russell started performing improvised music in London in his late teens, and for many years he toured and gave concerts not only in the UK and Europe but throughout the world. Known as a Japanophile, Russell traveled to Japan for the first time in 2001, and subsequently visited the country many times, including as recently …

Recorded from late 1996 through early 1997, Hold Onto I.D., The Shadow Ring’s fourth album, marks the apogee of the trio’s experimental rock epoch—their last record clinging to their factitious bandness before they let all song and structure go awash in sonic malaise for their final run of releases on Swill Radio. The surrealist dreams of City Lights and Put the Music in Its Coffin give way to pseudo-expressionistic lyrics mired in the banality and bleakness of the everyday, set against the back…

Wax-Work Echoes, The Shadow Ring’s 1996 album, marks a shift to original material and features Tim Goss in the main lineup. Fusing atmospheric soundscapes and wry lyricism, it captures the band’s restless energy. Out of print for decades, it now returns on vinyl.