Sound Art / Avant-Garde

A REAL music magazine on printed paper. As always: substantial content delivered! Maggot Brain returns with issue #21 for Summer 2025. Underground music journalism the way we need it. The way we want it! No corporate sanitization, no algorithm-friendly content, no compromise. Just deep investigation into the music that matters - free jazz, experimental sounds, punk archaeology, and the radical fringes where creativity actually lives. Issue #21 continues the Maggot Brain tradition of taking music…

The definitive vinyl edition of Henning Christiansen's 1985 sound installation at the Rome Zoo, made with Lorenzo Mammi from recordings of the animals, remastered by Rashad Becker, with a 20-page booklet.

Edition of 200 copies, incl. 16-page booklet. Recital presents a collection of new sound poetry works from Vittoria de Franchis (b. 1993, Bruxelles), an independent curator, language researcher and writer operating between London, Berlin and Rome. Solo Voce, Vittoria’s first album, carries a certain arousal and intimate elation, a kind of sensual communiqué absent from much contemporary music. As Vittoria divulges: The recordings were born out of fantasizing and desire. These bursts of fantasy …

At long last, after decades out of print, joining their growing Cramps Records Reissue Series, Dialogo brings us the long-awaited vinyl reissue of Alvin Lucier's "Bird and Person Dyning", the composer's first solo LP. As legendary as they come, and easily among the most important and groundbreaking efforts in experimental music ever recorded, this is Lucier at his most visionary. Issued in a limited edition of 300 copies of black vinyl, with fully remastered audio, housed in a sleeve that beauti…

Digging deep into the catalog of Cramps records, Dialogo returns with another stunning entry in their reissue series dedicated to the seminal imprint, the Croatian composer Martin Davorin Jagodić’s 1975 masterstroke, "Tempo Furioso (Tolles Wetter)". A bristling work of monumental scale at the vanguard of electroacoustic composition and musique concrète, its stunning two sides, created by his sinfully under-recognized associate of Groupe de Recherches Musicales, reshapes history at every turn. Is…

In the ensuing half century, Slovenian artist Milan Grygar, who trained as a painter, has dedicated himself to the relationship between sound and image. He has replaced paint wherever possible with sonic elements, interrogated the duration of a line, drawn with sticks, and integrated windup toys that leave noisy traces in his “mechanical drawings.” Grygar incorporates the acoustic frequencies that emerge during art making, but he also writes visual scores that musicians can interpret. His art is…

For the first time a full album with recordings based on Yoko Ono’s 1964 collection of texts, event scores and drawings “Grapefruit”, a foundational cornerstone of what became known as conceptual art, and enveloping the orbits of Fluxus and experimental music. Performed by The Great Learning Orchestra which has during the 25 years of its existence worked with Gavin Bryars, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, J.g. Thirlwell, Arnold Dreyblatt a.o. Originally self-published in 1964 in a limited edition …

On Every Color Moving (1988–2003), Steve Roden’s first 15 years unfold across six discs: from noisy, searching experiments to the hushed, “lowercase” worlds that would define his quietly radical, object‑based approach to sound and space.

Originally released in 1966. The first North American release of the "electric newspaper," an archetypal '60s counterculture "happening" from August 6, 1966, this is also the first edition anywhere since the original vinyl to include the lengthy closing track, "Interview with Hairy." A legendary all-star cast of performers got together to make an anti-war collage of words and sounds that defies mere track listings -- one of the elements is "Silence" by Andy Warhol, which, contrary to at least on…

On A Thousand Breathing Forms, Steve Roden’s 2003–2008 archive blooms across six discs of loop‑based miniatures, conceptual structures and quietly lyrical instrumentals, charting a mid‑period where lowercase intimacy, rigor and melody fuse into one breathing organism.

* Special Edition is added a CDr consists of two tracks, sound installations at Striped House Museum and his important work in late years Background Music. Special brown box, limited to 60 copies * In the early 1980s, several artists such as Satoshi Ashikawa and Hiroshi Yoshimura, who were pioneers during the early days of Japanese sound art, began to display their works at exhibitions. Ashikawa, who passed away at the young at the age of 30, worked at Art Vivant, a store affiliated with the Sei…

Tip! *20 copies limited release* Xing presents the LP Seize the Means of Complexity by Mattin, ninth release of XONG collection - artist records. The release is on white vinyl, in a limited numbered edition of 150 copies. The collector's edition consists of 20 copies, each accompanied by a different polaroid - credit card size - portraying fragments from the social media universe. Seize the Means of Complexity, the new record by Mattin is a call for all social media users of the world to unite: …

*2022 repress now in digipak, with new cover art* Robert Ashley's Perfect Lives has been called "the most influential music/theater/literary work of the 1980s." At its center is the hypnotic voice of Robert Ashley. His continuous song narrates the events of the story and describes a 1980s update of the mythology of small town America. Perfect Lives is populated with myriad characters revolving around two musicians - "R", the singer of myth and legend, and his friend, Buddy, "The World's Greatest…

At long last, after decades out of print, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of Costin Miereanu's "Luna Cinese", part of an ongoing initiative dedicated to bring the imprint’s seminal output back into the light. Easily one of the most singular and important experimental albums of the 1970s that remains as engrossing, creatively riveting, and as ahead of its time today as it was in 1975, this is as exciting as …

Xing presents the new LP Ehm by Canedicoda and Renato Grieco, seventh release of XONG collection - artist records.

Super tip! *150 copies limited edition* Xing presents the new LP A Circle of Grey by Valerio Tricoli, eleventh release of Xong collection - artist records. The release is on white vinyl, in a limited numbered edition of 150 copies. The collector's edition consists of 20 copies accompanied by a unique cassette tape loop, titled and signed by the artist: 20 short compositions, each developed from a different sonic fragment of the record. A Circle of Grey is an electroacoustic composition blending …

Brimming with equal parts humor and rigorous art, iDEAL Recordings delivers one of the most fascinating and historically important archival releases that's aver graced our hands, Charlie Morrow, Sten Hanson, and Carles Santos' “The Heavyweight Sound Fight”. Documenting a never before released performance staged in NY during 1981, three seminal artists join forces for a battle in sound, delivering raucous vocal utterances against the backdrop of dualing band and wild experimental interventions, m…

Fylkingen first CD re-issue of Yuji Takahashi's landmark performance of Cage's prepared piano masterwork recorded in 1965.

*Limited edition of 300 copies* Beautiful, haunting and sombre, this 2LP presents the entire recording from Henning Christiansen’s Heinrich von Kleist tribute at Rene Block’s Rosenfest festival, Berlin, 1984. The Reality is a Ghost in My Mind (LP1) is a work that unfolds patiently with a mix of field recordings; wind, bird song and the sound of snow being crushed underfoot all unite in a foreboding atmosphere. IN Penthesilea Höhle (LP2) features electronic treatments to the original field record…

2024 stock. Sound is ephemeral. It does not belong to anyone. It cannot be captured in words. Writing on sound art usually focuses on the same familiar figures, but this treatment will broaden the field to explore artistic practitioners like the godfather of movie sound, Walter Murch, the king of the jungle Chris Watson, naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, pioneer wildlife recordist Ludwig Karl Koch, American pioneer composer and master teacher James Fulkerson, uncompromising compose…

This LP features the results of "On Perpetual (Musical) Peace?" realized in Mexico City in 2019 with Liminar, a Mexican ensemble that works at the boundaries between composed and improvised music, performance and sound installation. Conceptually rigorous, politically engaged, sonically adventurous.

The cover feature is an epic, really long timeline of images and interview with the modern king of arts portrait photography, Michael Lavine; Amazing archival images by Gail Butensky and reflections on Pavement + what we think is the band's first new interview in a decade in anticipation of their reunion shows and events later this year. Tom Scharpling talks about prog rock with Matt Berry; A lengthy interview with the SF-based dreamy pop band Cindy by editor Mike McGonigal; Reuben Radding's kil…

On the cover: This is a really packed, special issue of Maggot Brain, with the feature cover story a comprehensive interview by celebrated writer Sasha Frere-Jones with essayist Lucy Sante (who's written for every issue of MB since the start), on the occasion of her awesome memoir about transitioning, I Heard Her Call My Name. Inside: Phill Niblock: A tribute to the genius musician, filmmaker, label head, and generous promoter of ecstatic sound, by Steve Silverstein. Tresa Leigh: An in-depth fea…

Maggot Brain is a full-color, quarterly magazine edited by noted Detroit scribe Mike McGonigal: 100+ pages packed with phenomenal content -- art, music, literature, unpublished archival material, and more -- with a simple promise to only exist on the printed page. On The Cover: Unpublished Joe Dilworth photo of My Bloody Valentine, from sessions for their Isn't Anything record. My Bloody Valentine: Revelatory, unpublished interview excerpts from hours of tapes with Kevin Shields by editor Mike M…

"On the cover: Grace Jones by Tamara Palmer: Palmer delves into the entire history of this remarkable artist, who will naturally deliver us a stunning cover image. Jones is even more of a one-of-a-kind musician and persona than most of us realize, so we're extra excited to feature her on the cover of this issue. Deep Archival Dives With Living Luminaries -- PULP: Peeling back the onion of time, we are graced with a fine selection of ephemera and rare images from the forthcoming Hat + Beard book …

"On the cover: Devo -- a comprehensive feature by Autin, TX-based music writer Joe Gross on why DEVO matters -- today more than ever, as cultural, political, and spiritual devolution seems to be the way of the world. The piece is perfectly illustrated with ephemera, buttons, t-shirts, and more. A conversation with Irvin Weathersby, Jr. by Sonya Lea on the occasion of the publication of his book In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art & Public Space. Sydney Salk talks to Horsegirl ab…

"On the Cover: The Velvet Underground -- Lost in Sound -- Multiple features on your favorite band, with rare images and cool ephemera throughout. Here Come The Tapes: A Guide To The Velvet Underground's Live Tape Stash by Tyler Wilcox.  Plus, full length reviews of new reissues of cassette tapes by ur-VU drummer Angus MacLise, and a lengthy appreciation by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Light in the Attic's excellent pre-VU Lou Reed set. Killer Content: "TV on the Radio and the Magic Negro Myth." M…

The composer Toshi Ichiyanagi is, needless to say, also a pianist. We have collected recordings of his performances demonstrating his superb skills and ability. "Music for Piano No. 8," on which he is accompanied by Sumihisa Arima, a frequent collaborator, on electronic devices, is particularly noteworthy. His cool-headed improvisation in the gallery reminds us of David Tudor, with whom he shares a deep resonance as a pianist. A rare recording of Sylvano Bussotti's "Five Piano Pieces for David T…

Temporary Super Offer! The legendary French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet exalted naivety and spontaneity in visual art, and his brazenly experimental recordings on Musical Experiences evince the same spirit through sound. He once reflected, "Certain unexpected windfalls ... come of improvising on an instrument one doesn't really know how to use."Dubuffet, who famously founded the art brut (or outsider art) movement, began making music in the early 1960s with avant-garde figure Asger Jorn. …

Music Overheard is an audio response to the  Super Vision exhibition, curated by Kenneth Goldsmith (Ubiweb) back in 2006. As visual artists respond to the enormous changes—scientific and cultural—caused by new vision technologies, music overheard poses an analogous question to musicians and sound artists: what are we hearing now that we didn’t hear before? With Henri Chopin, Taku Unami, Chris Corsano, Ellen Fullman, John Duncan, Christof Migone and many more

*Only in German language* Der in der South Side Chicagos aufgewachsene Anthony Braxton (*1945) gehört seit über einen halben Jahrhundert zu den innovativsten, produktivsten und prägendsten Protagonisten der creative music. Unangepasst und kompromisslos seinen Visionen und Überzeugungen folgend, hat er sich in die Annalen der neueren Musikgeschichte mit unverwechselbarer Handschrift eingeschrieben: als bahnbrechender Komponist, mitreißender Performer, aufsehenerregender Improvisationsmusiker, übe…

Maggot Brain N° 15: What’s inside! Bjork: Our cover feature is a career-spanning piece by Tamara Palmer on Iceland’s most noted export since the foundation of their parliament in 930, with a terrifically gorgeous cover image by our illustrator, Marly Beyer.

 Marcellus Hall delivers a 30-plus page excerpt from a graphic novel about life in indie-rock in the early 1990s that’s just stunning and lyrical and we are so stoked to be able to run it.

 Hot on the heels of their world tour, it’s an enga…

"The front cover: is a gorgeous 1981 backstage photo of Lou Reed, subject of a phenomenal feature by former NY Rocker contributor Lisa Jane Persky. Inside you will also find: Grateful Dead - Kurt Vile tries to explain them to none other than Tom Scharpling; A special new piece about the making of the Velvet Underground's Loaded; Myriam Gendron - Track by track guide to her highly anticipated second album; Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Reprint of the best feature we ever read about him, by Erik Davis. Ki…

Raymond Pettibon on the cover! And on the inside, in a wide-ranging and sweet interview by Adam Woodhead, Pettibon walks us through his entire career, and even makes economics sound interesting. Columns: Lucy Sante (their first autobiographical writing for us, touching and brilliant); Mimi Lipson with a tear-jerker of an advice column; The forgotten hip-hop column is on the enigmatic Son of Bazerk!; A look at forgotten early Hawaiian music in the reissue column; We go into detail about why the m…

Cover art by Detroit-based graphic artist Lucy Cahill depicts Wanda Jackson as an alien because why not; with additional recent works by her inside the issue. Glasgow's justly beloved Belle & Sebastian, hot on the heels of a US tour and their best record in ages, deliver unto us decades' worth of posters and ephemera, with an interview with Stuart Murdoch on the history of the group's aesthetics. Novelist and longtime friend David Gordon lets us run the full text of his archival talk with celebr…

Crazy Doberman ? Erick's Bradshaw delivers an epic, well-illustrated tour diary of a brief jaunt with these noise greats. Composer TAYONDAI BRAXTON by Katy Henricksen! A meaty, beautiful feature on DR. PETE LARSON by Fred Thomas, worlds collide! An amazing LUCY SANTE column! Cassette tapes! Reissue of the issue is the 'Southeast of Saturn 2' comp of obscure Midwestern '90s shoegaze! The Bay Area's deliriously good new band GALORE by Jessica Beard! A beloved celebrity writes in to Mimi Lipson's a…

Luigi Gaggero, a native of Genoa, has graced the stages of Europe’s most prestigious venues. He is currently Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra as well as musical director and co-founder of the Ukho Ensemble Kyiv, with which he has recorded acclaimed CDs of con- temporary music repertoire. Before launching his conducting career, Gaggero performed for 25 years as a cimbalom player and percussionist, collaborating with the finest European orchestras and ensembles …

Perfect copy of Cage & Tudor's landmark album for Folkways from 1959 released as 2xLP box set with booklet.

'Contraction' was released in 1974 and is considered a cult classic among fans of psychedelic rock and spiritual jazz. It is known for its experimental approach to music and its incorporation of spiritual and mystical themes. The album features a blend of blues, funk, and avant-garde music, creating a trippy and hypnotic soundscape. The music on 'Contraction' is characterized by its extended jams, improvisational solos, and spiritual lyrics, making it a truly unique listening experience.

A sound composition based on a workshop focusing on questions of sound, listening, collaboration, and community. Matters of Listening took place as a workshop and public event held at the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile, on June 30, 2019. Focusing on questions of sound, listening, collaboration, and community, the workshop developed as an explorative gathering for sharing, discussing, and making together: to pull from the closets and backrooms various materials and ob…