Experimental / Avant-Garde

Cosa Brava is an experimental rock and free improvisation group formed in March 2008 in Oakland, California, by multi-instrumentalist and composer Fred Frith. The band comprises Frith on guitar, Zeena Parkins on keyboards and accordion, Carla Kihlstedt on violin, Matthias Bossi on drums, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and The Norman Conquest on sound manipulation. All About Jazz described their music as somewhere between folk, Celtic, modern chamber, Latin, funk, Eastern, and prog-rock. Cosa Brava reco…

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 ten DVDs. Working as an anonymous collective, their identitites were kept secret until in 2017 Hardy Fox revealed himself as their primary composer. Hardy died in October 2018, but the group continue to record and perform. In 2021, the band wanted to depart on a European …

** 500 copies ** Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the first-ever release of 'Sunrise From West Sea', a mesmerising performance by Stomu Yamash'ta accompanied by Jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh (well known for his involvement in the New Herd Orchestra and his 'Belladonna of Sadness' soundtrack) and Taj Mahal Travellers founder Takehisa Kosugi on Electric Violin. The line up, also comprising Hideakira Sakurai on Electric Shamisen, is a spaced-out improvisational soundscape over the two LP sides. …

Tip! A hidden gem from the notorious Nurse With Wound list ! Limited to 500 copies, this double LP features Heratius' studio album Les Boniments (1979)- never before released on vinyl - and the first ever vinyl reissue of Gwendolyne (1978). Heratius could be described as like a mix of Etron Fou Leloublan and Faust (in acoustic mode that is), with hints of Albert Marcoeur, Red Noise, in a music that is full of invention with typically French eccentric touches.  The Heratius album Gwendolyne was a…

*2024 stock* This is the third Out of Standard!! compilation dedicated to the French oblique musics we like. The former two where edited in the 8o's in the cassette format. Artists featured were Armand Miralles (Heratius Music Corporation), Aversion Sonore, Costes, DDAA, Denier du Culte, Die Form, Dz lectric, Etant Donnés, Moly, La STPO, Les 3 Phallus, Nu Creative Methods, Orient-Express, Pascal Comelade, Stenka Bazin, Toupidek Limonade, Vivenza, Vox Populi. This time we have French underground …

Temporary Super Offer! 'Even a cursory revisiting of Houle and von Orelli’s previous recordings confirms that the stark forum afforded by a horn duo strips their music to its essentials, their shared ability to make unorthodox forms and materials sing and dance being the most salient. Fresh, distanced, and potentially transformative perspectives abound on this album, and not just about the music of any other artist; but, more importantly, the tug and pull between the continuity represented by tr…

Super Tip! The musical world of Sonorhc is oriented to collective improvisation and the research of tones; they create a sound full of invention, rich technically, made by many differents instruments which incorporated judiciously elements from the rock music, free-jazz, acid-psych, concrete, ethnic and experimental making them as one of the most atypical French Underground group, and seems somewhere more closer to the German “krautrock” bands like Between, Agitation Free, Deuter, Limbus 3, Dzya…

* Digipack CD edition * Tanuki, a master of electronic engineering, and Caroline Sury, a yolo ethologist with stacked verbs, meet in a deliciously chaotic fusion. Their collaboration, tinged with sonic seum, gives birth to a documentary where phylacteries dent themselves on a sonic wax, creating an effect both captivating and singular. It's a daring blend of Tanuki's musical skills and Caroline Sury's unbridled artistic expression, offering a unique and unpredictable sensory experience. In this …

Tip! * 25 copies, exclusive Soundohm blue shell cassette / white shell cassette * "Paradoxa Paradoxa": first ever live performance of Merzbow, recorded live at Kid Ailack Art Hall, Tokyo, 22 March 1981. First time ever re-issue on cassette since 1988. An incredible visceral performance, remastered by Masami Akita himself. An incredible chance of owning this very sought-after material. + "Material Action for 2 Microphones", originally released as a cassette on Lowest Music & Arts, Japan in 1981, …

Tip! *200 copies limited edition* From distant ocean song to the clang and howl of a murky forgotten memory, MASS is a dreamlike collage of shrill shrieks, gasps, corroded brass choirs, and melting modular synth soundscapes, all heard through a mist of hiss and noise. Fused together with equal parts frenetic improvisation, shrouded ritual, and meticulous arrangement, it presents a sonic topography at once tongue-in-cheek, sensitive, and nightmarish. With discordant chorales and angular trumpet i…

Hugely influential and appearing nearly everywhere within Washington D.C.'s contemporary music scene as bandleaders and contributing artistic voices, cellist and vocalist Janel Leppin and guitarist Anthony Pirog have long been creative partners as well as life partners. Their Cuneiform Records debut Where is Home (2012) is considered a crucial modern recording from the region. Following that release, the two have crafted a double-LP opus which crosses genres and mirrors their exploratory and dia…

**Limited editions of 300 copies. Ultra clear vinyls in gatefold sleeve. Includes download card.** Matière mémoire éditions presents Treatments by Giovanni Di Domenico, Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O'Rourke, Joe Talia and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. Recorded in studio W (Brussels), Atelier Eiko, Steamroom, Completamente TAZ (Tokyo), Good Mixture (Berlin). Mixed by Jim O’Rourke at Steamroom (side A & B), Joe Talia at Good Mixture (side C), Tatsuhisa Yamamoto at Completamente TAZ (side D). Mastering & cut by Frédé…

“Nobody Move!”, so says Philippe Doray and his Asociaux Associés (the Antisocial Associates)! Having dynamited the end of the 70s with two radical albums – Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires in 1976 & Nouveaux Modes Industriels in 1978, both reissued by Souffle Continu – Doray still hadn’t finished singing. Throughout the next decade he began his Composant compositeur which would document the “second period”, as he calls it, of his Asociaux Associés. The record includes new schizo-electro songs which ma…

** Edition of 50 with a 16 page booklet text by Angela Dimitrakaki ** Arachnesound is feminist sonic technology. It stands for the principles of women-weaving-futures, network building, sonic cyberfeminist attempts to retell historical narratives. arachnesound is an audio collection with 36 compositions around Greek language, sound and feminisms. It is centered around women writers, poetesses and mytholgies to interpret women’s lifes and realities with radical composition. Field recordings, elec…

*In process of stocking* Following their first album, Dave Tucker (Guitar, Electronics), Pat Thomas (Piano & Keys), Thurston Moore (Guitar), and Mark Sanders (Drums & Percussion) decided to “guess again.” In March 2020, Tucker organized this group of musicians for an improvised performance at London’s Cafe Oto on a successful “educated guess.” Organized around a shared appreciation for improvisation and experimentation, that show resulted in the release of a two volume set. The first volume is a…

“I hate all the words” by Luca Scarabelli and Michele Lombardelli’s Untitled Noise, the eight instalments in the celebrated Die Schachtel’s “Decay music” series, is a concept album composed of three tracks designed to explore the remote and hidden depths of psyche: Misery, the awareness; The Time, the suspension of disbelief; and Heaven, the existential atonement through detachment. The sounds and the voice proceed alternately, overlapping, where each, in its progression, asserts itself autonomo…

Tip! A series of ghostly ink drawings and scanographs by eRikm, accompanied by a mixed sound piece, with sound texts freely inspired by fragments of stories about the universe of the Yokai, these ghosts and supernatural creatures that inhabit Japanese mythology, between hypnotizing soundscapes and bewitching instrumental devices. "Or bringing out the invisible, summoning ghosts. Having, to my knowledge, never encountered any ghost or other ectoplasm, the idea of representing some of them in grap…

Temporary Super Offer!  "I ask how CALATO's use of graphic scores help them break down the divisions between  contemporary composition and improvisation? “We started as a noise improvisation band,” they respond. “We spent several years playing together without any kind of parts or scores, just working deeply on listening to each other, reacting and generating a kind of togetherness that made it possible to create live music in a very fast and intuitive way.” Then they started investigating diffe…

The second part of Matador’s reissues of the essential early records by Texas’s Butthole Surfers continues with three of their most insane slabs -- 1985’s ‘Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis,’ 1987’s ‘Locust Abortion Technician’ and 1988’s ‘Hairway to Steven.’ The period during which these records were first issued parallels the Buttholes’ transition from being weirdo Texas outcasts to becoming internationally recognized smut-kings of the American underground. In 1985 they were still the sole p…

The End is the fourth studio album by German musician Nico. It was recorded in summer 1974 at Sound Techniques studio in London and produced by John Cale. It was released in November 1974. The End is her fifth collaboration with John Cale and second with him as producer. It carries the same harmonium-based sound heard on The Marble Index (1968) and Desertshore (1970), with the addition of Brian Eno's synthesizers and electronic instruments. The song "You Forget to Answer" tells of the misery fel…

**300 copies** Plein Air the album presents recordings from a plant-driven synthesizer. A custom built instrument that uses scientific sensors and software programming to generate real-time tree leaf data. Light, photosynthesis and transpiration modifies sound: the rhythm, melody, texture, tempo and harmony shift with atmospheric conditions and tree response – electronically. The sounds of each leaf of regional deciduous trees by scientifically sensored data-sonification are much more musical th…

Full Spectrum Records hails the coming end of winter with a mighty new work from Darcy Spidle’s long-running chik white moniker: ‘Wind Wound.’

This new album (the tenth in their discography) was born from two ambitions: to pay tribute to Soft Machine's Third on form (4 sides / 4 titles) and to philosopher Gilles Deleuze (Difference and Repetition is the title of his thesis) on the contents. The 4 long pieces of this double concept album were developed over 2 years and each has a different style and climate. Bold and kaleidoscopic, Difference and Repetition perfectly synthesizes the musical and literary obsessions of Palo Alto. Formed i…

Imaginary landscapes, imaginary musicNaive melodies and beautifully fragile compositionsMire sends us into a world where eras disintegrate,paintings mingle and dimensions collide.

In an interview for The Wire magazine back in January 2012, Spencer Clark claimed that one the most important "lesson" learned while performing with The Skaters was "stay true to your imagination". Taking this life motto at heart, Clark's world today is still a place of wonder and myth, conveyed through a myriad of aliases and invocations like Vodka Soap, Fourth World Magazine or Typhonian Highlife. Always the wide-eyed mystic and searcher of the netherworld, Clark surfaces again on Discrepant s…

Jim Strong is a US based artist and musician who in recent years has left a trail of enigmatic releases on labels such as Vitrine, More Mars and Chocolate Monk. He will also be familiar to some for his past work with Melkings, Eyes of the Amaryllis, and Weyesblood. Now HoP is pleased to announce Jim’s first solo vinyl outing. My Enemies Are Mine To Keep is Jim’s most clearly defined statement to date. Its sides illustrate his self-sufficient, world-building methods through a mixture of orchestra…

*2024 stock* Inland Empire (Império Interior), or the last brushstroke in a triptych that gazed at the stars, sowed winds and, finally, sought the geographical limits of a country. Going over the obvious lynchian reference, the last of Wasser Bassin‘s compendiums dedicated to experimental music produced in Portugal brings to light the electronic abstractions of Caranguejos; the irreverent drones of Ehxispê, creative alter-ego of Rodrigo Vieira; and from the banks of the Côa, instead of rock engr…

Fourth volume of Library Music miniatures by Daniel O’Sullivan (Ulver, Æthenor, This is Not This Heat, etc) for VHF, this time commissioned by the legendary German Music Library, Sonoton. Another sampling of Dan’s versatility and brilliance as a composer, performer, and sound designer, the focus on The Pastoral Machine is more “electronic” compared to the three previous albums Dan recorded for KPM (also issued on LP by VHF), with simpler arrangements and a focus on gentle and emotive synthesised…

"Surrealistic games helped us to compose this album: the collective collage in the two longest pieces of the album, the exquisite corpse in the central short pieces, and in all, the automatic writing whose musical equivalent could well be free improvisation. In the scorching heat of a Valencian August, we raised two electric totem poles. Dr Truna's took the form of his cosmic bull, a great roaring and improvising sculpture; mine, equipped with blowers, was made for the occasion and then dismantl…

*300 copies limited edition* "Martina Verhoeven is a Flemish pianist who likes to seek musical adventure, in different line-ups. The album Martina Verhoeven Invites contains two sessions recorded at Cafe Oto in London on July 23, 2023. During the concert, Gina Southgate made the painting that appears on the cover of the sleeve, which manages to capture the action of the musicians perfectly, as far as I am concerned - lots of color, lots of movement, and a special way of playing together. Two lon…

In 1976 the Entourage Music and Theater Ensemble reached a creative zenith. The nomadic troupe had just released The Neptune Collection, its iconic second album for Moses Asch’s Folkways Records, and decided to present the music to audiences across the rust belt in its most miasmic, elemental form. Extended stretches of full-group improvisation mingled with folk-tune like melodies during these performances, which featured multiple dancers spontaneously interpreting the music, at times in elabora…

Melos Kalpa formed in 2019 around the vision of Tom Relleen; a quintet of musicians employing unconventional instruments and strategies to make music that exists somewhere at the intersection of improvisation, minimalism and sublimated reverie. Musicians Agathe Max (Abstract Concrete, Papivores, These Towns), Jem Doulton (Thurston Moore Group, Too Many Things), David John Morris (Red River Dialect) and Tom Relleen (Tomaga) perform via the conduit of producer Marta Salogni’s intricate tape prepar…

**Digipack CD edition. Deluxe Cardboard & printed innersleeve** The last year of so has proved to be an incredible period for Phill Niblock. We’ve witnessed the emergence of long awaited reissues of his two first seminal albums, Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock, and Nothin To Look At Just A Record, as well as the fantastic disc, Music For Cello, and Niblock / Lamb, the split of works by the composer and Catherine Lamb, masterfully executed by Ensemble neoN. Now we’re overjoyed to offer ye…

Crumbling tape loops, broken glass sounds, micro-cassette feedback and songs for piano, voice and guitar sit side by side on this uniquely tender release by Danish artist Franciska. Submitted to the label on a cassette sent via mail with typewritten credits, 'Modfase' is masterfully restrained, constructed with a care and gentleness that's hard to find in today's "ambient" and "experimental" music circles. Each side contains multiple pieces which quickly shift between musique concrete, tape musi…

* 6 Panel Digipak featuring original and new artwork from Steven Stapleton * Nurse With Wound began as a trio, but by Merzbild Schwet, its third album, Steve Stapleton's singular vision took over, with no compromises to other band members. As such it can be considered the first fully realized NWW. record and is a far more mature effort than its predecessors. Stapleton's editing techniques come to the fore, with abrupt transitions, quirky juxtapositions, and lots of strange sounds that would beco…

Following on the footsteps of Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table, To the Quiet Men From a Tiny Girl was Nurse With Wound's second album and shows the group refining itself from the debut and adding a lot more dynamics. The record starts off with the very short Umbrella Link, really just some guitar riffing from engineer Nicky Rodgers as a concession for NWW. to use his recording studio, before segueing into the side-long She Alone Hole and Open.Along with the clattering and clanking percussion…

Big Tip! For over sixty years Maj Sønstevold (1917-1996) and Gunnar Sønstevold (1912-1991) were a driving force in the Norwegian music scene. The couple became famous for their sonic adventures into genres such as jazz, contemporary and screen music, writing some of the most well-known soundtracks and theme songs of their times. This 2LP focuses on the electronic experiments conducted by the two composers – ranging from drone music, electroacoustics, minimalism and improvised electronics – firml…

The Croatian experimental virtuoso releases an album of reworks from a rusting usb stick residing at Rijeka's museum of modern art.

The Well is the second album by the duo So Sner, composed of Susanna Gartmayer (bass clarinet) and Stefan Schneider (electronics). Recorded over nearly two years in various studios and spaces, the album reflects So Sner's extensive touring across Europe. The final mixing took place in Vienna at the studio of Martin Siewert, who served as both co-producer and mastering engineer. Known for his meticulous attention to sonic detail, Siewert brings his unique techniques and distinctive sound enhancem…

Reknowned modern artist and Krayola kollaborator delivers a soundtrack for every man: love, sex, death, and sweet sweet pop music.