Experimental / All styles

Brooklyn-based Grubbs and Athens-based cellist Veliotis took a break amidst their US tour for A Guess at the Riddle to go into John McEntire's Soma Studios and record The Harmless Dust, two duos for piano and cello and for e-bowed piano and Hammond organ. The piece was first performed live in Tokyo in August, and we knew that headz - which put on the show - would be the perfect home for The Harmless Dust. The title comes from a line in the Wingdale Community Singers' song 'Family Plot, Mayfield …

Duets for harmonium and whateveraphone. These pieces are starkly out of character for both individuals, but no less excellent.

David Grubbs (Bastro, Gastr Del Sol) has a longstanding history of collaboration and interest in contemporary visual arts. Many of his solo albums, for instance, feature covers by artists such as Doug Aitken, Marcel Broodthaers, Cosima von Bonin, Stephen Prina or Albert Oehlen. This new mini-album features two compositions commissioned by Angela Bulloch for two of her installation pieces. British artist Angela Bulloch has been making installations since the early 90s, while starting to use the i…

in the memory of René Quinon thanks to Fred Galiay & "Samedi 14" We all are in a house: "Villa Adriana", (René Quinon's house - little village - low mountain - high valley - Ardèche). A bunch of all kind of microphones are deviced in the house and amojng the landscape around the place. Each of them is plugged into a mixing desk that Eric La Casa is using during the recordings. The duration of the mix is more or less pre-decided by the 4 of us. During this amount of time, the 3 instrumentalists a…

This is a co-release with Tochnit aleph. Recorded by Dave Phillips, january-march 2001 and january-february 2004. These recordings have been equalized, other than they have been left es arecorded. No mixing, no layering, non normalization or compression, no effetcs nor any other additions or manipulations. All cuts are indexed. Play loud. Alternate playback through earphones is highly recommended. Seriously.

It's very difficult to explain or interpret what my music conveys – so that's why I work hard so that the music can speak for itself - no matter how vague the message or imagery - the energy of what it's communicating is what remains most evident."Daniel menche

Timestretched whirrs, large insect buzzes, boats bumping into each other in a stormy harbour, muffled mechanical loops, a distressed organ like tone that mutates into a buzz saw before changing again in to a thousand factory horns. These are some of the sounds and associations delivered up in this intense, 20 minute work by Oregon based sound artist, Daniel menche. 'Drunk Gods' is a piece of savage, physical beauty that Lapilli is pleased to present as it's second release

A much welcomed new release from this American artist who has produced some of the best recordings in the experimental music scene. Although this is a Series II recording, do not assume any of the power that Daniel menche can marshal has been lost. Quiet at times, strong and full in others, this release constructs its moods with powerful bass pulses, full spectrum harmonic drones and vibrating tones along with the scratching, raspy organic textures that Daniel menche is famous for. Each piece st…

The final Daniel Menche's solo drum excursion is one hour futuristic shaman's flight. The Native American drum, both recorded clean and processed beyond recognition, pulses with the primal beat of the earth. Packaged in black, hand assembled, emd.pl-records boxes, with screenprinted graphics in white and gold by our friend Wojtek Bednarski.' Daniel Menche "Native American drums are superb for rich resonating sounds due to the animal skin used. For Animality I used a large drum with moose skin fo…

Brand new studio compositions from Portland's corporal sound purveyor Daniel Menche. Comprised of deconstructed organ and trumpets. Recorded from 2006 to 2007 at House of Menche.

Beautiful densely layered frantic percussions & rhythmic soundscapes, pushing Daniel Menche's work even further into new territories of sound and performance.

Sounds compiled and scathed fall and winter of 2003 at House of menche and mixed and mastered at Private Studio Recordings,Portland

Sounds compiled and mutated winter and spring of 2003 at "House of menche" and mixed and mastered at Private Studio Recordings,Portland. "...All hell is breaking loose... (Graeme Rowland)" Brainwshed (USA)

Recorded live 2000 at Berlin (1) and 2001 at Graz, Wien (Vienna) and Berlin.

Debut of the Norwegian psychedelic drone trio Lumen Drones: Nils Økland (Hardanger fiddle), Per Steinar Lie (guitars) and Ørjan Haaland (drums). Recorded November 2011 at ABC Studio, Etne, Norway, with engineer Kjetil Ulland.

Eleven pieces composed and performed alone by Stephan Micus on nine instruments, including the Moroccan genbri and the San ndingo, both new to his work, plus voice. Recorded 2012-2014 at MCM Studios; his 21st album for ECM.

Including the films 'Hashima, Japan 2002' (installation and documentary versions) and 'Al Qasr, Bahriyah Oasis, Egypt 2005'. Plus 'filmmakers in conversation'. 'Straddling the line between documentary and audio-visual meditations on landscape, the Hausswolff-Nordanstad filmic partnership taps both the detritus of human civilization and its uncanny ability to withstand the forces of nature. In 'Hashima, Japan 2002' we are given a portrait of the Battleship Island off the coast of Nagasaki, a form…

Second ECM album by the improvising quartet Dans les arbres: Xavier Charles (clarinet, harmonica), Ivar Grydeland (electric guitar, banjo, sruti box), Christian Wallumrød (prepared piano, harmonium) and Ingar Zach (gran cassa, percussion). Recorded in Oslo, June 2010 and April 2011.

Solo album by Iva Bittová (voice, violin, kalimba): twelve pieces titled Fragments I-XII, mostly her own. Recorded February 2012 at Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Waves of polytonal freedom and poetic beauty... lines of noise clusters and complex patterns... She is sculpting her sounds around a microtonal hub, transforming slow melodies into free improvised structures and drama (...) a new language - with a totally new concept on how to produce sounds and noises from an acoustic instrument (...) making electronic music on acoustic instrument..." Mats Gustaffson

Solo album by Stephan Micus in ten parts, layering raj nplaim (Laotian free-reed pipe), nohkan, sho, zithers, kalimba, shakuhachi, sinding and up to nineteen of his own voices. Recorded 2007-2010 at MCM Studios; released 2010.

Recorded in June 2003 at Radiostudio Zürich. Mixed and mastered 2004/05.

This is seen by many as the "turning point" between early Fennesz electronic abstract works such as the Instrument 12" and Hotel Paral.lel CD, and the more guitar-based works such as Endless Summer and Venice. The two tracks, "Paint It Black" and "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)," were initially released as cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, respectively. Since then, via the relevant mechanical and publishing rights, the world has ruled that these tracks …

From Montreal across the Prairies to the North-Western Arctic, down to the Pacific and back through the Badlands. The Mercury minivan took to the road, loaded with recording equipment, tools, DAT cassettes, tent, Coleman burner, sleeping bags and cooking apparatus, spare tires, beer and camera, boots, books and maps.In 'The little man in the ear', materials are presented with little transformation. Only to better the listening clarity did we apply some processing. On the other hand, we took at …

The purr of a leopard close up against a baobab tree, waiting. Whales surfacing, breathing in cold air. Coll starling imitate the noise of farm machinery from the hollow ring of a ruined bothy. The rattle of wood over a black stream... Chris Watson's second CD is a dramatic contrast to the spacious atmospheres of "Stepping into the Dark" (touch TO:27, 1996). Featuring 22 close-up recordings of animals, birds and insect life, "Outside the Circle of Fire" enlarges our awareness of the sound univer…

For her second solo album, Hug (pronounced 'hoog') concentrates on solo viola without any electronics in a series of pieces inspired by her recent visits to London. Her strong musical personality and original extended techniques ensure that this is a solo recital unlike any other.

Eight-part suite by Stephan Micus, who plays every instrument and sings every voice: duduk, bass duduk, Bavarian zither, sinding and doussn' gouni harps, charangos, hammered dulcimers, nay, gongs. Recorded 2005-2007 at MCM Studios; his 18th ECM album.

Debut album of the Norwegian-French improvising quartet Dans les arbres: Xavier Charles (clarinet, harmonica), Ivar Grydeland (guitar, banjo, sruti box), Christian Wallumrød (piano), Ingar Zach (percussion). Recorded July 2006, Festiviteten, Eidsvoll.

2nd album from 1987 by this French trio made up Gilbert Artman (post-Lard Free, Urban Sax), Jac Berrocol and Jean-Francois Pauvros. Chaotic, experimental rock & wave.

Ten-part instrumental suite by Stephan Micus, who plays every part through multitracking: sattar, mudbesh, hné, nay, suling, sho, shakuhachi, mandobahar, sitar, guitars, hang and gongs. Recorded 2003-2006 at MCM Studios. ECM 1987, 2006.

North Six is a mind-bogglingly great trio recording from two adepts and an up-and-coming interventionist. Definitively old-school noise in inclination, the performers repeatedly set bombs and deviant devices of their own making against each other, stoking a great astral spat. A wild plume of electric-fire smoke invades the performance space as Ranaldo's guitar is repeatedly speared by silver darts of electronics. This tactic only serves to illuminate those moments where the six-string suddenly s…

Five chapters of sound inspired by one of the most powerful and complex emotions of humankind. arrogance is a departure from the digital machine insanity of his previous full length release, Welcome Home (Important Records), for a world of total analog electronics, primal energy, walls of monumental sound and precise attention to layers - creating massive slowly evolving structures that are both beautiful and terrifying. arrogance is the first CD release on the No Fun Productions label. Recorded…

There has been a connection between carl michael and raster-noton since the early days of the label. First meeting was at documenta x in kassel in 1997 where carsten nicolai, olaf bender, frank bretschneider, mika vainio and c.m.v. hausswolff came together to do a spontaneous session at kassel autospindel. their common interest in focusing on underrated qualities of sound or music has brought them together. Above all carl michael von hausswolffs work is about presentation of static quality of hi…

Stephan Micus's first album with the Armenian duduk, an eight-part suite for duduk, kalimba, shakuhachi, dondon, sattar, guitars and voice, all played by Micus. Recorded 1999-2001 at MCM Studios, released by ECM in 2002.

Fifteenth solo album by Stephan Micus, who plays every instrument and sings every voice, among them doussn' gouni, kalimba, dondon, sarangi, dilruba, sattar, nay and shakuhachi. Recorded 1997-2000 at MCM Studios, Mallorca; released by ECM in 2001. CD edition.

1: Recorded live at Adam Art Gallery, Wellington. Overdubbed at C/Psi/P, Lower Hutt. 2, 3: Postal exchange recorded in Lyttleton and Lower Hutt. 4: Live collaboration recorded at Adam Art Gallery, Wellington. 5: Postal exchange recorded live in Christchurch and overdubbed in Lower Hutt. 6: Postal exchange recorded in Lyttleton and Lower Hutt, additional tracks recorded live in High Street, Christchurch.

The first DVD of the new collection “Evidence Video” : Four experimental films realised by bruce licher (guitarist for the legendary bands Savage Republic and Scenic) and a panorama about his letterpress graphic work. An exceptional collector item ! DVD-R zone 0 - NTSC (can be read also in Europe on most PAL systems). Limited edition of 200 hand-numbered copies. Released to coincide with an exhibit of the artist's graphic design and letterpress printing work in Paris. Also includes a 6-color com…

Brast Burn was a legendarily obscure Japanese ensemble that existed in the first half (I presume) of the 1970s. For many years, they were known only as an entry in the notorious Nurse With Wound list, with no way for anyone to check them out. Thus this CD. First off, I'll say that it sounds really good. One would never guess that it was a transfer from vinyl. Brast Burn has been cited/promoted at various times as the "Japanese Faust". I feel that this is incorrect. A better analogy would be to t…

Stephan Micus's fourteenth album, built on two West African harps, the bolombatto and the sinding, with voices, steel drums, suling, shakuhachi, nay and tin whistle, all played by Micus. Recorded 1995-1996 at MCM Studios, released by ECM in 1997.

Stephan Micus's cycle of three days and three nights inspired by a stay on Mount Athos, with zither, sattar, shakuhachi, suling, ney, flowerpots and his own multi-tracked voice, recorded at MCM Studios between November 1993 and February 1994.