Four
*In process of stoclking. 2023 stock* A new vision of John Cage, via his complete works for string quartet. Spanning forty years of the artist’s activities, these three masterworks illuminate the different stylistic periods in the output of this 20th century icon.
Tom Johnson : Combinations
Tom Johnson uses numbers as base material, turning formulas, combinations and other mathematic phenomena into music. And somehow, this music becomes poetry, sometimes like a haiku, sometimes like a sonnet, sometimes descriptive and clear, often enigmatic but always beautiful.
Baobab
*2023 stock* "Originally written for orchestra, Phill Niblock’s Disseminate (1998) and Baobab (2011) were arranged by the composer specifically for the Bozzini Quartet, or rather, for ‘multiples’ of the Quartet: twenty different tracks are mixed in each piece — twenty different instruments, the equivalent of five string quartets. The music is essentially a work on the shifting nature of overtone patterns that arise from acoustic instruments. As composer Robert Ashley convincingly argued, these p…
Cinque Movimenti per A.
*200 copies limited edition* A captivating electronic symphony in five movements recorded live, which begins almost like a Pastorale. Bucolic atmospheres that, albeit through completely different sonorities, seem to link Fabio Orsi back to the origins of his music at the beginning of the millennium, when the inspiration drawn from his home territory and popular tradition was strong. The instruments then paint a sort of medieval dance, veering further into quiet, purely ambient atmospheres, among…
Kaivajaiset
*300 copies limited edition* Students of Decay presents "Kaivajaiset" by Finnish composer Niko-Matti Ahti. Best known for his work alongside his partner Marja as Ahti & Ahti, Niko-Matti has been an active participant in the Finnish underground since the late 1990s. "Kaivajaiset" is his first solo recording and was originally conceived of as an installation. Part horspiel, part musique concrete, it is a piece of music that draws comparisons to the work of pioneering avant-garde composers such as …
Spiralis Aurea
Venturing into untapped realms of creative exploration, the Genoa born, Bologna based, guitarist and electroacoustic composer, Stefano Pilia, returns to Die Schachtel with “Spiralis Aurea”, a double LP of material that intertwines traces of sacred geometry, collective experience and elusive connections between nature and human kind.
Clear and Hazy Moons
Another young composer who you’ve probably not heard of, but whose music you really should get to know. Four stunning pieces, three played by Apartment House, and one by the Rothko Collective. Brilliant music that really shouldn’t be possible from someone so young.
Vesperi
Another Timbre is back with yet another incredible statement from the contemporary landscape of experimental sound, “Vesperi”, the debut album by the Italian composer Marco Baldini from the Florence-based ensemble, Blutwurst. A striking series of minimal works for acoustic instruments, drawing their inspiration from early music and North Indian (Hindustani) classical music, and executed by two remarkable ensembles - a quartet of two cellos and two double bass, and a trio of cello, double bass, a…
Revolver
*2023 stock* Inspired by the kinetic physicality and aesthetics of balance found in Ken Unsworth's work, the music embodies a feeling of suspension between movement and stasis. Evolving and revolving melodies, poised skilfully in polyrhythmic structures, the music creates an intoxicating and emotional impression. There is a feeling of constant motion and flow of sonic currents that typifies much of Kate Moore's music.
The music shifts from the material world, the gradually shifting stone-like cy…
Rocco e Rollo
*In process of stocking. 2023 stock* "Gottschalk’s works and if you are looking for new-to-you works, this album would be a welcome one to the audio library. The title work of the album starts an eerie flicker of sound from hollow trills that swell to the orchestra’s entrance with a similar character and trills echoed. As the first movement continues, Parisi’s aptitude for both conventional and contemporary techniques are apparent with technical passages sounding effortless as he spans the range…
For Saxophones
*In process of stocking. 2023 stock* "As a chamber music ensemble the saxophone quartet has a surprisingly long pedigree. The first work for it was written in 1857, less than twenty years after Adolphe Sax invented it, a Saxophone Quartette Club was founded in New York in 1879, and by 1896 a California Saxophone Quartet was on tour. While the modern saxophone quartet is now most likely to be associated with the jazz tradition, the standard ensemble of soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones…
CagExperience
*In process of stocking. 2023 stock* "No matter how weird, how outrageous, how experimental or how avant garde musicians and composers try to be, it’s a pretty good chance dear Great-Grandfather John Cage did it first. And it’s a pretty good guess that even the most willing listeners and seasoned DJ’s may get pushed to the edge listening to some of his compositions. This makes me smile. I’ve been pushed and came back and forced myself to go farther and farther. Growth is hard. Endurance and stam…
Brutto, Ignudo
Proudly co-produced with Teriyaki records, this volume is simply Unique!
When the Streets Were Quiet
Tip! *In process of stocking* "On "When the Streets Were Quiet", composer, bassist, and bandleader Max Johnson turns the focus to his finely wrought chamber music. Active in many contexts, Johnson is voraciously eclectic and impressively versatile. The works on this collection betray little overt reference to his wide range of stylistic activities, instead zeroing in on his craft centered approach to composition. With an emphasis on counterpoint, imitative textures, structural markers defined by…
Two Extended Pieces for Four Pianos
Building on the back of their stunning release of Ensemble 0’s rendering of "Femenine" issued earlier this year, Sub Rosa returns with "Two Extended Pieces for Four Pianos", featuring brand new recording of two seminal works composed by Julius Eastman between 1970 and 1980 - "Evil N*gger" (1979) and "Crazy N*gger" (1980) - realised by Nicolas Horvath, Melaine Dalibert, Stephane Ginsburgh, and Wilhem Latchoumia.
Swing Bridge; Sizzles
This release brings together two works by Alvin Lucier centered on the pipe organ, a perfect instrument for Lucier’s compositional practice. Both are first recordings.“Swing Bridge” was commissioned by this record’s ensemble, the Australian Art Orchestra, for the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ. The score requires that specific pipes be removed from the organ and run into three specially constructed offset chests, each accommodating two pipes (six pitches total). These pipes are manipulated by t…
Goodbyes
Gondwana Records announces 'Goodbyes' the debut album from Estonian pianist and composer, Hanakiv, a deeply beautiful, meditative piano album featuring special guest Alabaster dePlume.
1980
Starting at a very young age, Katrina Krimsky developed her musical self along a pathway of strong classical, pianistic training. Highlights of her playing on the classical side include her wonderful recording of Samuel Barber’s monumental Sonata for Piano, Op. 26, (Transonic Records 3008, 1975), a composition that is a virtual dictionary of early and mid-Twentieth Century composition techniques, first performed by Vladimir Horowitz in 1949 and 1950. Another example is her equally wonderful reco…
Amiandos
Yannis Kyriakides evokes memories of a site and of the workers of the mines of Amiandos, reflecting on a past not that far gone. In 7 pieces he tells profound stories of loss, and of the fascination for a magnificent and malignant stone. Amiandos is Kyriakides 8th album on Unsounds records.
Sibyl Of The Rhine
*In process of stocking* Lynn Cassiers and Jozef Dumoulin have been making music together since over 20 years. But it's a vast and fascinating list of unrelated events that brought them to make this recording, featuring the music of 12th century sage and mystic Hildegard von Bingen in a setup of voice with electronics accompanied by pipe organ.
Yet it feels like an unexpected and vibrant evidence - coming home somewhere else. The music of Hildegard von Bingen is essentially monodic, made to be …