Experimental / Contemporary

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 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…

Recorded at Freedom of the City festival, London, England on 1st May 2006.

*300 copies limited edition* "Permanent Parts is the second album released by visual artist Katharina Grosse (synthesizer) and musician Stefan Schneider (synthesizer; So Sner, To Rococo Rot, Mapstation). Grosse and Schneider were joined at Galerie Max Hetzler on 29 April 2023, performing as part of the Spectrum without Traces exhibition, by three artists who all generally work within improvised music – Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Tintin Patrone (trombone and electronics), and Billy Roisz (noi…

Kiraly's experimental music stems from two sources, the first of which is his country's traditional folk music, while the second is Edgard Varese, whose '+'"'+'Poeme Electronique'+'"'+' had an incredible impact on Kiraly when he first heard it. Thus the high pitched gypsy violin, the energetically strummed guitar and the eerie rumble of electronic music come together to create a marriage of sounds that are both ancient and modern. Kiraly (like Partch) is also an inventor of musical instruments, …

The original member of Hijokaidan, Naoki Zushi, one of the most prominent underground guitarists in Japan and currently active in Nagisa Ni Te, will reissue a CD of a trio of live performances at the 2006 Gyuune Autumn Festival. It features performances demonstrating the quintessence of Japan's psychedelic underground, represented by “les rallizes denudes” and “Fushitsusha.” A heavy psychedelic version of “May a flower bloom” is remarkable; it makes you feel intense passion, completely different…

An anonymous collection of imagined Devotional Musics commissioned by Dramatic over the last two years. Listeners are briefed just as the original artists apparently were: 13 'Invisible Cities' and an accompanying 'belief statement' of appropriate enigma. "Their City Tessellates Infinitely""Their God Is Ugly""No Two Chants Can Repeat" (repeat until unimaginably portentous…) These 'songs' play out like the products of a delirious ethnography. Their palette, all deranged chorales and Globalisch in…

*100 copies limited edition* With a microscopic focus on the snare drum, Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy extracts and manipulates its sound in a variety of tunings whilst maintaining a precision and simplicity of method and form. This exercise is a common one for the artist, in which he limits both the instruments used and the techniques with which its sounds are processed — in this case using only reverb and hard EQ-ing to engineer the final outcome. Even with these self-imposed restrictions, there is a…

During a 2010 stay in Stockholm, Sweden, Stefan Tcherepnin cold-called the Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) and began making frequent visits to the facility’s Serge Modular, the synthesizer system developed by his uncle. Tcherepnin secured a makeshift residency at the studio, and soon met Anders Enge, a musician and producer associated with the acid techno label Börft. For over a decade, the pair have collaboratively explored the instrument’s outer-limits in the hallowed studio where figures like Knut…

*In process of stocking* ‘A grain of Earth’ is the first solo venture and expression of several years of working with instant compositions and the timbral possibilities of an acoustic piano. This has been wrapped in an idea of realities beyond our perception, and a thought that we are a part of a big organism where everything goes endlessly bigger and smaller in scale of size, time and speed. Everything moves in constantly interfering waves of energy; echoing and reflecting, in ceaseless dance o…

Resonance Gathering is a double LP and book that documents a large-scale performance project on the music of composer Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) that occurred in Canada between 2017-2019. The project gathered nineteen interdisciplinary performers (mostly non-musicians) to interpret Oliveros’s score To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation (1970)—a work for sound and light that was written in response to the anxiety and political unrest of 1968 in America. Organ…

James Tenney, for almost the entirety of his career, was one of the great, unsung giants of the American musical avant-garde - an artist’s artist, whose towering contribution and influence was everywhere - equal to Feldman and Cage, but who, like Nancarrow and Partch before him, was a maverick - radical to the core, refusing to play by the rules, and thus suffered at that fate’s all too predictable hand. Since his death in 2006, his legacy in devoted hands, recognition has slowly begun to grow, …

This recording documents the first ever meeting between Susan Alcorn and Catherine Sikora. When musicians improvise with each other, a space is created that is unique and specific to the musicians who are playing. With Susan and Catherine, the space that presented itself was enormous, with great freedom and tonal flexibility, opening up endless possibilities for expression.

Iinterdependenzen is a selection of 11 solo improvisations that evolved during Maria Reich’s solo impro research. All pieces are uncut and were recorded in different places over 6 months on an iPhone. The situation, the material becomes audible, the wood, the bow hair, the room, the recording device, the musician. "There is no part of me that is alone...."

*100 copies limited edition* Resourcefulness is sometimes presented as a humble quality born of necessity. But it’s a foundational tenet of the exceptionally unconstrained members of improvising trio Tamarisk, consisting of Christina Carter, David Menestres, and Andrew Weathers. Their latest is a continuation of the interplay they’ve developed for a few years now on a handful of releases and while touring. Like the most bizarre sort of jazz combo, Tamarisk grazes the orbits of outré free improv,…

*100 copies limited edition* This meet-up between two thoughtful practitioners of minimal and process-oriented music succeeds not because it is resourceful but because its gestures are clearheaded. Disciplined and exploratory, it is like observing someone fixing a watch: methodical and calm, periodically getting up and selecting a tool, working for stretches of full concentration, and hearing the footsteps and rustle of clothing. The titles of the pieces – “Distinct” and “Concealed” – suggest te…

*250 copies limited edition* Recital is honored to publish composer Allan Gilbert Balon’s first full-length LP. Born 1986 in Les Abymes on the island of Guadeloupe, Balon is an artist (exhibiting at MoMA PS1 in 2022) who publishes beautiful handmade books and audio on XYÄ Edition run with Uta Guan Hyë in Créteil, France where he now resides. The Magnesia Suite harbors an unhurried, coastal tranquility that flows lucidly as an album. Though prominently a pianist, a breadth of Balon’s musical sphe…

2024 stock This box has 10 CDs and also a book "Evacuation Of The Voice" by Miguel Prado and Mattin. The CD's featured contributions from Rayya Badran, Robin Mackay and Reza Negarestani. Mattin and Miguel Prado met in La Coruña in 2007 and have since shared their long-term interest in voice in the context of improvisation and noise. Since 2011, they have been developing the Evacuation of the Voice (EOTV) project which, in addition to this edition, also includes Mattin's solo LP "Object of Though…

From his early days with Henry Cow, Fred Frith was seen as a brilliant instrumentalist and improviser, but what has been overlooked is what a first-rate composer he is. This recording offers both aspects. His most complex orchestral composition and two selected improvisations with the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles. Fred Frith, as an infusion of energy and inspiration. 'Something about this Landscape was commissioned by Ars Musica in 2018. I composed the piece during a residency at Lou Harrison's s…

A double CD with location recordings - recorded by Christophe Albertijn - of organ and carillon music plus a 32 page booklet of/for the unveiling of Katharina AW, a relational artwork by Joris Martens.

A boxset compiling the series of inter-related releases that Late Music put out in 2020 - the double album Cantus, Descant, the two disc live set Figures In Open Air, and Laurus, an extended EP of early sketches for the music fully realised on Cantus, Descant.

*2024 stock* Jaap Blonk - voice, electronics Damon Smith - double bass Ra Kalam Bob Moses drums, percussion Recorded by Ryan Wasoba at Birdcloud Studios, Collinsvile, Il November 1st. 2022 Mixed & Mastered by Weasel Walter Design by Alan Anzalone Cover art by Damon Smith Untitled micro-collages 2003-2004 Oil, graphite, bass rosin, collage & objects on graph paper 3" x 3.5" Concrete Poem / liner notes Ra Kalam Bob Moses / Jaap Blonk All Titles from text messages from Ra Kalam

Relatum features two compositions revolving around the relationship and interplay between the human and the algorithmic, bringing together musicians and artificial performers.

Full Spectrum welcomes Weston Olencki with their label debut – pearls ground down to powder.

"A splendid collaboration between experimental vocalist Maggie Nicols and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Phil Hargreaves. Human is a work in eight movements through which runs Hargreaves’ title poem. A long and delicate collage of vocal interventions, acoustic improvisations, field recordings, and electronic textures. Sophisticated, captivating, poignant at times [“Fugue (We Are Not Certain)”] and – the greatest feat here – imbued with honesty and immediacy, rare qualities in this kind of collab…

CD digipack. Fire! have always been about finding the essence by getting to the core of the music. Their 8th album sees the trio - for the first time on record - stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras, recorded live in the studio to analogue tape - the Steve Albini way - with the master himself at the controls in Electrical Audio in Chicago. Thus, this album stands as a true testament to the group´s expressive power and glowing intimac…

"Wilderness Audiographics - Recordings 1977-1984" is an astounding 11LP wooden boxset and a hardcover book, issued in a numbered edition of 333 copies, that takes a deep, exploratory dive into Charlie Morrow’s historically significant and much coveted imprint, gathering mind-blowing, little heard works by Morrow, Philip Corner, Jackson Mac Low, Pauline Oliveros, Jerome Rothenberg, R.I.P. Hayman, Ocarina Orchestra, Alison Knowles, Dick Higgins, Bernard Heidsieck, and a great many more. While rema…

*2022 stock* "Madam Press is a quintet from Denmark created by five talented women whose main goal is to experiment within coherent musical structures. In fact, the first thing that struck me when comparing Madam Press´ music with other improvisational outfits was the emphasis that some of the musical pieces here have in achieving melodies and twisting them beyond recognition. That is, while other improvisational musicians try to extract sounds from their instruments this woment try to shape thi…

*150 copies limited edition* The scheme is simple and decisive: a similar electronic device for an instrument played at each soliloquy for direct, introspective music, according to my psychic states. In this case, a lap steel guitar, an electric sanza and a bass guitar. Three instruments for four soliloquies, because there's no numerical logic here. The bass guitar speaks alone twice on the S side, and that's that. Speech is banished. "Quatre soliloques" without voice or words: the title may see…

Recorded at Dreamland, a historic church converted into a studio just a few miles from Woodstock, NY, August Light captures the organic and spiritual essence of its unique setting. Owned by acclaimed drummer Jerry Marrota, Dreamland’s sensational acoustics and vibrant wood surfaces provided the perfect backdrop for Richard Carr’s collaborative explorations. Joining him on this musical outing are cellist Clarice Jensen and violist Caleb Burhans, both shining lights of the new music scene. Togethe…

NoBusiness presents Live at Willisau 1993, a new set of recordings by  Juozas Milašius / Tomas Kutavičius / Dalius Naujokaitis and Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra recorded live 26th August, 1993 at Willisau Festival, Switzerland. Mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Juozas Milašius - guitarTomas Kutavičius - pianoDalius Naujokaitis - drums Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra:Vytas Labutis - saxophones, cymbal, clapping, tramplingVilija Naujokaitienė - vocal,…

This bundle includes the following releases on Valentina Magaletti's Permanent Draft label:- Valentina Magaletti "A Queer Anthology of Drums" LP- Valentina Magaletti "Lucha Libre" 12"- Fanny Chiarello "Basta Now: Women, Trans & Non-binary in Experimental Music" Book

*2023 stock. 250 copies limited edition* Seijiro Murayama is a drummer/percussionist and improviser/composer who lives in Paris. His first CDs on Ftarri's three labels (Hitorri, Ftarri and Meenna) came out in 2009, and he has since released a total of 12 solo, duo, trio and quartet albums on Ftarri labels. Of the solo albums, the first was "Downdate" (2017), followed by "The Empire of Slip of the Tongue" (2018) and "mi-tai" (2020). While "Downdate" and "The Empire of Slip of the Tongue" are elec…

Other Minds is proud to present Tierceron, the first collaborative release between Senso di Voce (Esin Gunduz, voice, harmonium, composer, and Megan Kyle, oboe, English horn) and multi-instrumentalist Henry Birdsey.

*2024 stock* Øra Fonogram announces the worldwide release of Rökkur, the joint album of Norwegian composer and performer Maja S. K. Ratkje and Icelandic ensemble Nordic Affect (Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Marie Stockmarr Becker, Hanna Loftsdóttir, Guðrún Óskarsdóttir). What is ‘rökkur’? ‘Rökkur’ is the Icelandic word for twilight — the hour when shadows fall, a time of transition, ambiguity, and magic. When ‘rökkur’ fell in pre-electric times, a space appeared for storytelling, reading, yarn s…

Electric Cave, the sequel to Emil's debut, Electric Forest (2022). A dystopian world, inspired by science fiction. Rigid electronics combine and collide with spontaneous, human improvisation. This time the soundscape has moved from an open forest to a deep, dark cave.

*2024 stock* This music is improvised and inspired by Judith Schalansky’s book "Atlas of Remote Islands: 50 islands I never set foot in and never will." The music is an echo of her writing, of inspiration by islands, entities with different and changing characteristics.

Silver Dawn is an ethereal collection of improvised vignettes performed on solo Hardanger d’amore, a sympathetic-stringed relative of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. Resonant strings and wordless vocals are gently guided by the cyclical momentum of dance and the instrument’s lingering overtones, magnifying moments of transience in suspensions of time.

The ensemble is all powerhouse performers but, like a stream is one stream with one name below the confluence, though they may lend their distinctive voices, this is a singularly cohesive unit that subsumes individual style. Each musician recorded themselves separately, except Angharad Davies and Magda Mayas, who were recorded by Tony Buck.

*60 copies limited edition* Live in concert at A New Wave Of Jazz festival, Hundred Years Gallery (London, UK) on February 8th, 2020.Graham Dunning : turntable, dubplates & spring reverbs, Benedict Taylor : viola, Daniel Thompson : acoustic guitar. Black Tape, Clear Box With Pins, Sealed. Design By Rutger Zuydervelt