The Theory of Constraints
The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a framework of interdisciplinary knowledge, methods, and management tools for organizations. It starts from the premise that imbalance is inevitable but also desirable. The flow management method of the Theory of Constraints, called Drum – Buffer – Rope, involves pacing the release of manufacturing orders to the pace of the bottleneck to avoid excess work in progress and reduce cycle times, while ensuring that parts arrive sufficiently early to never stop the s…
Medea
Duo in the mirror that, in a continuous game of doubling and multiplication, ventures into another world, dense with unexpectedness and vital thrills. Sun Ra and post-rock, as well as Chicago experimentation and echoes of the world of Suzanne Ciani and minimal music, are the hints one can sense while listening to Medea, a journey to the edge and beyond. Star Splitter's new album comes five years after the debut album, a period in which the two artists experimented with the infinite possibilities…
Svart/Hvitt
*2024 stock* "Put on the circuit via Oslo / Norway-based imprint Conrad Sound on December 4th, 2k20 is "Svart / Hvitt", the sophomore album effort created by the multi-membered group named The Touchables which includes a plethora of artists from the countries Jazz and Contemporary Music scene with at least one of its members - Martin Taxt - being a household name to readers of these pages for his deep explorations of microtonal tuba performances. Split in four subsequently numbered, unnamed part…
Bee Reiki
Bee Reiki gestated within the regular lockdown zoom meetings Steve and Paul were holding in 2020 and 2021. Steve being based in London and Paul just outside Brighton, in these online meetings, like many musicians at that time, they mostly chatted and caught up with news and analysed the lack of live performance opportunities created by the pandemic.
In the odd fifteen minutes or so they weren’t doing that, they attempted to improvise together using the Zoom platform. Steve would balance his iPad…
Dead Slow
Michalis Siganidis seems to narrate through the strings in this absolutely physical, organic way his experiential, intellectual and emotional relationship with the instrument. The accompanying electronic commentaries by Jannis Anastasakis refers to a dialectic of question and answer. Through this pulsating sound environment, the listener receives a musical world deeply internal, a circuit - extremely subtle but also coarse with a fierce intensity in places - of rare in expressiveness psychic vib…
Bass Works: As I Venture Into
Zurich bass guitarist and composer Martina Berther is known for her delicious basslines in experimental rock outfits Ester Poly and AUL. On this solo debut, she conjures something utterly unique from her instrument. 'Bass Works' showcases Berther's talent and ingenuity across 12 startlingly varied one-take compositions. Taking root in improvisation, the collection unfolds like a playbook of strange and beautiful techniques. Voided melodies, harmonics and surfaces that prickle and collapse in sol…
Shadows
*2024 stock* This is not a split album. Shadows is the curious offspring of MoE and The Observatory, a radiant chase after light and darkness, casting amorphous, illusory paths of Indian carnatic loops and heavy narcotic gamelan dreams. Containing just three songs, the album explores a hauntology of sounds, a melange of evocative synths, disembodying voices, percussion, and a ton of guitars from the most rancorous to the more profound. Wandering along the length of spaces and in between, Shadows…
Drums & Octobass
*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…
Gowanus
*50 copies limited edition* Extremely limited edition purple transparent cassette made for 2023 California tour. Hand numbered edition in printed 0-card hand painted with glitter spray.
Recorded on April 1st, 2022 in Gowanus Brooklyn, Gowanus is the first release from Andrew Lafkas, Todd Capp, and Bryan Eubanks since 2019's eponymous LP on Sacred Realism. They are here augmented by the modular synthesis of Xavier Lopez, who often plays with the trio in Berlin. The music on these recordings sp…
Series (E/A)
*50 copies limited edition* An extremely limited numbered and stamped edition of 50 glass-mastered CDs with individual covers painted by artist and philosopher Tim Bradley. Packaged in a beautiful painting on paper and polyvinyl sleeve.
Three live recordings of an electro-acoustic work developed and performed in 2013. A mesmerizing fusion of sine tones, open-circuit electronics/feedback, samples, and tuned noise, these structuralist compositions navigate the intersection of compositional rigo…
Wall on the Floor
50 copies limited edition. Jef Mertens: Guitar & Objects. Jean D.L.: Guitar. Recorded at Taping Policies, Geel / 2022Artwork: Hannelore Van Dijck
Solo Music for Too Much Hum
50 copies limited edition. Guitar recorded and mixed by Jef Mertens - June 2022. A take on the guitar noise by Bill Nace, recorded with a similar guitar, a squier Jagmaster.Mastered by Jürgen de Blonde.Artwork by Wouter Vanhaelemeesch.
Rammel
*100 copies limited edition* Belgian musician Mertens came onto the scene as a documentary filmmaker (Sonic Youth, Borbetomagus, Loren Connors, etc) but he has been developing his own unique guitar style over the past few years. This 10” has three wads of it. The first is a wonderful sidelong chunk of motoric chiming string music not all that far from a pop version of Remko Scha. The two shorter tunes on the flip fiddle around with some of the same ideas in different ways, all pretty hep.
1401
*2024 stock. 300 copies limited edition* "It started in 2005 by colliding electrons against ferromagnetic material on a ribbon of rust to eventually excite phosphors behind cathode ray tube unless the thermal velocity of the yoke over modulates and restricts the flow of 60/40 rosin core anodized black under a waveform monitor. Plaid vectors, white fur, hex schmitt triggers, oxygen free copper and temperatures above 50° are equally as important mediums as 70% cocao in this cross disciplinary mult…
Ashwin & Above
Ashwin & Above is a collection of pieces composed and recorded between 2018 – 2022. For the most part it is a celebration of making music alone. Some of the pieces ended up celebrating friendship and took on new life in the context of group performances. I wouldn’t point to any unifying quality except to say I very much hope you enjoy the space, it is a lung full of turbulence and joy.’ - Adam Coney
‘I’ve been excited to get my hands on this LP and it hasn’t disappointed. I’ve played several tra…
If The Thought Evaporates
Slow fade into the New Year with the Full Spectrum Records debut of Denton, Texas’ Kory Reeder: ‘If the Thought Evaporates.’
Hummingbird and Four Flowers: Turntable and Harmonium Solo Live
The year 2022 was the 10th anniversary of the opening of Ftarri’s physical store in Suidobashi, Tokyo. To mark this milestone, several solo concerts by musicians with whom Ftarri has had close ties since the time of its predecessor, Improvised Music From Japan, were held in the Ftarri store performance space in autumn 2022. The musician who performed on October 3 was Otomo Yoshihide. That day Otomo planned to play turntable only, but when he spotted the store’s harmonium, he had the idea of usin…
Wind Wound
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.’
Live Album
Flute, harp, drums: a rare combination that this trio turns upside down. In the wake of John Zorn's experiences on the borders of jazz and noise, the collaboration between Delphine Joussein, Rafaëlle Rinaudo and Blanche Lafuente aims at pushing their instruments beyond their limits, with the enthusiasm of a mad scientist... It is no coincidence that the three musicians, considered the missing link between Nirvana and Sun Ra, have already aroused a big curiosity and are constantly touring accross…
Spacecraft
Temporary Super Offer! * Limited edition LP Translucent green vinyl* Musica Elettronica Viva, or MEV for short, was formed in 1966 in Rome by Allan Bryant, Alvin Curran, Jon Phetteplace, Carol Plantamura, Frederic Rzweski, Richard Teitelbaum and Ivan Vandor. From the very beginning the group was based on musical freedom and the shunning of convention. Using contact microphones to record and manipulate sound wherever it could be found – from box springs to vibrators – and improvisationally combin…