Terrain Vague
Arbitrary presents Terrain Vague – the debut of Danish group Mesmer. The album is a series of (deconstructed) live-recordings taken from three live concerts. The sounds on this record are taken from two years’ worth of sound research and creative outbursts with inspiration from field trips to the outskirts of Copenhagen. Intrigued by the auditive landscapes of places where nature and culture meet and challenge each other. Listening to the field-recordings led Mesmer to interpret the moods, music…
Continuous Miracles, Vol.2
Avant garde supergroup Better Corners hit sublime stride with atmospheric post-everything second album.
Archaisms I
Sorey and Rudolph began performing as a percussion duet in 2018. Sorey states “we seemed so in sync with each other, in part, perhaps, because we are both composers as well as percussionists.” Archaisms 1 is the recorded document of that concert. Sorey & Rudolph brought their unique and evolved rhythm and sonic languages to the fore, through inspired and spirited dialogue. The music flows as one complete piece with several movements or sections. This music exists on its own terms reflecting the …
Black Bamboo II
*200 copies limited edition* A series of electroacoustic/acousmatic perfomances by TeZ (known for his collaboration with Clock DVA and the works on 13/Silentes with Fabio Orsi), based on live processing of acoustic sounds and field recordings. The improvisation with hybrid DIY and traditional folk/ethnic instruments, environmental recordings and archive audio clips is expanded through a series of generative filters, delays, pitch shifters and harmonisers, orchestrated in ever changing feedback l…
Roads
Ted Byrnes is a drummer/percussionist living in Los Angeles. An alumnus of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, he comes from a jazz background and has since made his home in the worlds of free improvisation, new music, electro-acoustic music, and noise. Ted primarily works in ad hoc improvisational settings, but has long standing improvisational groups including duos with Jeff Parker, Chris Cooper, Charlie Mumma, Sam McKinlay, William Hutson, and a trio with Jacob Wick and Michael Foster…
Danza Del Piri-Piri
On his third album Comité Hypnotisé let you belly flop into his eleven chambers of the ‘Danza Del Piri-Piri: expanding the feral and contagious universe he started to build a lifetime ago. Levitating and shimmering a glistering way through deep old skool 70’s sitar vibes and jitterbug grooves. This boogieman aka the Millionaire-mind and and part of the Evil Superstars has carved some hot smoked out bass and organ flared cuts on wax, ready to never leave you again. Whether it is with woodchopped …
La Tempesta Colorata
Percussionist extraordinaire Valentina Magaletti recorded live at Colourful Storm's showcase at Cafe Oto in 2021. Intricate, textural longform percussion pieces comprised of traditional drums, found objects, voice and electroacoustics conjured to hypnotic effect. A rare solo recording, following collaborations with Laila Sakini, Yves Chaudouët, Marlene Ribeiro and outings for Blume and Takuroku.
Extremely curious listening for fans of African Head Charge, The Necks, and followers of Magaletti's …
Photons (2005) (Sympathy For The Laser)
Together with Photons (2005), released as KOO002, Lightwaves completes the investigation of the electro archetype, documenting the Neosurrationalist* bridge between art and science, that began with a dialogue in a Kreuzberg bar involving Giovanni De Donà, Paololuca Barbieri of Alterazioni Video, and physics researcher Markus Gühr, now professor and lead of the Experimental Quantum Physics group at Potsdam University in Berlin. The dissemination given by the current interpretations made by variou…
Mesmerizer
Going past musical genres and instead straight towards something more elemental - Selvhenter’s music creates a strikingly direct, physical experience of sound composed of polyrhythms, acoustic and electric melodies, heavy music and improvised beauty. Since forming in Copenhagen in 2010, drummers Jaleh Negari and Anja Jacobsen, saxophonist Sonja LaBianca and trombonist Maria Bertel have forged a unique approach to making music that starts with their instrumental setup: two drummers that interlock…
22 / 23
Gerald Cleaver’s newest album, 22/23, journeys through genre, exploring the future and recalling history, in his most place-based album yet. Born and raised in Detroit, Cleaver is a product of the Motor City’s rich musical history. Long the manufacturing capital of America, Detroit citizens have never been afraid of imagination: technological innovation, a strong labor movement, techno-utopianism or afrofuturism. This spirit of innovation is felt on Cleaver’s newest album, particularly on songs …
Rotta
It's hard to believe that it's been roughly two years since Blume Edition's last LP, but thankfully the waiting game has come to an end with the delivery of Valentina Magaletti’s “Rotta”, the first in a coming series of stunning releases from the label. Widely celebrated for her work in Tomaga, Holy Tongue, and Vanishing Twin, the album encounters the Italian born, London based percussionist and composer embarking into the territory of the solo performer, sculpting a remarkable sense of emotive …
With Drums
*2023 stock* "Hello, hope you’re doing well.
I just started a little project, and I’d like to invite you to participate. Not to worry, it won’t take up too much of your time. I’m asking drummers/percussionists to record a few short fills or phrases. It can be recorded by simple means; a hand-held recorder or even a phone will do just fine.
These gathered recordings will be used as the ‘Lego bricks’ to build a series of short rhythmical collages with. It would be fantastic if you’d like to join t…
Learning To Be
*In process of stocking. This second-hand record is available through our collaboration with Parisian shop Dizonord, all items are in NM condition.* It was already a reference among the diggers’ community, and one day, our friend from Chouf made us listen to the record before Dizonord. We found Uli, one of the musicians, who still had a fair number of copies of this 1990 LP, a tricky year for vinyl. This record is a mix between jazz, funk and ambient but with a very special pop touch to it.
Autonomie Minérale
Tip! Autonomie Minérale is the apex of a triptych that sprang up in less than three years, with a feeling of urgency. There is nothing fortuitous about this name, “Tachycardie.” Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy, is a musician and a composer (Pneu, I N S T I T U T R I C E, La Colonie de vacances) as well as a plastic artist (InfraOrdinaire), and in this project he continues his very singular exploration of the depths of sonic matter. After Probables (2019) and Sommé-e (2020), his previous intuitions have d…
The Great Wall / Chanta Khat
* Original 1991 edition on Ranta's own Asian Sound Records imprint * Michael Ranta has collaborated with Takehisa Kosugi, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Jean-Claude Eloy, Conny Plank, Mike Lewis, and Hartmut Geerken, just to name a few. He was also assistant to Harry Partch and performer in the Gate 5 Ensemble in the 1960s. Additionally, Ranta performed in Stockhausen's ensemble during the 1970 World Expo in Osaka. Ranta's resume also includes recordings by Helmut Lachenmann, Herbert Brün, Toru Takemitsu, Jo…
Music for Counterflows
For the 2021 online edition of the Counterflows festival, Glasgow-based Kay Logan (aka Helena Celle) created the hour-long electronic Music for Counterflows, accompanied by an interview with Stewart Smith. For the CD and digital release, the music has been mastered by Stephan Mathieu, and the interview along with visual artwork by Kay are included in a 20 page booklet. The first Helena Celle album, If I Can’t Handle Me At My Best, You Don’t Deserve You At Your Worst, was released on the Night Sc…
Azabu
Edition of 500. CD and 8 page booklet in gatefold cardboard sleeve * Even though only being fully terminated 50 years after its conception, 'Azabu' can be regarded as the starting point of Michael Ranta’s creative self-discovery. The recordings that form the base of 'Azabu' were mostly made in the Tokyo district with the same name (Azabu-Juban). Next to abstracted field recordings 'Azabu' is also pervaded by a rich variety of percussion, string and wind instruments, all played by Ranta himself.
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La Mort Aura Tes Yeux
Tip! *In process of stocking. Limited edition of 500 copies, offset printed covers with risoprinted interview.* "Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee". We're very proud to present the most exciting all-acoustic percussion based releases in years. Alexis Degrenier handles time and space as the master drummer that he is, with the finest of touches. Each breath, friction, percussion, whether manual or progammed (metronomes, clocks) is skillfully executed and high-spirited. Degrenier's poetic appr…
Heavy Invertebrates
Tip! *99 copies limited edition* “This particular brand of home brew lysergia falls in and out of underground fashion, but it's to Todd's credit that he doesn't seem to give a shit, carrying on as he would regardless. That's what legends are made of, kid… if the hall of fame doesn't give my dude a lifetime achievement award soon, the whole of Greatest Imaginary Hits might be reason enough to start storming the gates and demanding action.” – The Quietus
“AN remain a puzzlingly underrated but in…