Swimming in it
Another absolutely essential vinyl only album this time from New Zealander Greg Malcolm. Working as a perfect companion piece to the wonderful Es album, 'Swimming In It' sounds like an on-form John Fahey jamming with Morton Subotnick - it's really that good. As unusual synthesized bleeps and drones cut through Malcolm's lovingly finger picked guitar playing it is easy to realise how so many people have been touting this as a potential album of 2005. I was actually quite taken aback when I first …
One
Comes with 8 page booklet. Originally released in 1973 as a private press LP, 'One' is the first document of GAEB, a mysterious sextet of Californian improvisors. Formed in the late 60's by artist Richard Waters and jazz drummer Lee Charlton, the group made music using Waters's kinetic sculptures. His most important creation was the waterphone, a sort of acoustic synthesizer which used water in its resonators to produce warbling, tone bending vibrations similar to th edeep sea harmonies of humpb…
Beo bio
GoodiePal is the Danish Kristian Vester, computerprogrammer for the world famous Lego-imperium, founded a long time ago by his grandfather. Relevant because this urge to program can be heard on 'beo bio'. 'beo bio' consists of 4 pieces, all coming from the same original, a track made years ago with the same name. Through different algo-rythms the work has been processed and arranged, without losing it's recognisability and character. Therefor it requires patience to discover the mostly minimal d…
Symphony N°5
Subtitled "Describing Planes Of an Expanding Hypersphere". Recorded in 1984 but held up in a post-production stasis until now, this is music for 5 guitars, mallet guitar, violin, drums, bass, keyboards, that is being touted as the "most dense, cacophonous Branca symphony yet." Glenn's music gets quite often inaccurately described as wall-of-sound/noise/guitars/whatever. A wall exists for the purpose of containment. 'Symphony No. 5' is expansive beyond limits, smashing the wall (at least sonicall…
Right after
Right After is a remarkably subtle album of duo electronics by two relatively young Italians with roots in avant-garde improvisation. While Giuseppe Ielasi began his career as a guitarist and Domenico Sciajno was an improvising bassist of note, both gradually moved into the area of pure electronics and sound manipulation. A fine balance of pristine, crystalline sounds and earthy scrabbling noises is shown from the first track, ²at a greater distance² which offsets pinging, high pitched tones tha…
Ora
A meditation on silence, ecstatic and radical hearing of a soul who catch the real essence of sound and frees his creativity without a doubt. The result of a deep inner search, involved and involving. The journey of a non-compromised artist that choose the hardest way to reach a definition of his research.For Gianfranco Pernaiachi it’s the overcoming of the “classic” position of the author. Here the author call the nature, he settle any compromise with the instrument, with the musical writing…
Les danseurs de la pluie
Either available separately as a 3" CD, or as a bonus disk within the new Tazartes boxset. "Les Danseurs de la Pluie", which gives title to the complete anthology, is a 12-minute mini-CD, presented on creative disc, including four previously unavailable tracks. Two 1977 killer recordings from the 'Eclipse Totale' sessions of a very wild and residential nature; and two colossal new pieces recorded in 2005.
5 Rimbaud 1 Verlaine
At last! This is the first new Ghédalia Tazartès record in 10 years! Not that this gentleman was done with his Impromuzic, but he prefers to watch his widowed canary flying & singing in his flatelier than to release records. Anyway, he's back with these memorable & noisy performances of Rimbaud & Verlaine, giving to their poetry the best of tributes.
Jeanne
Recreating the idioms of some ethnic musics, Ghédalia Tazartès invents himself an imaginary world which seems to be inspired by differents forgotten traditions. Musician, genious handyman, singer to the improbable accents, Ghédalia Tazartès pours a flood of sounds and atmospheres, voices and strange melodies, weaving the screen of an hallucinatory soundtrack which accounts for the universe of the show 'Jeanne' (Co Pardès rimonim) for which it carried out the majority of those compositions…
Up from the archives
New York pop-art archival cd document from the 60's to the 90's featuring Andy Warhol, WS Burroughs, Iggy Pop, Thurston Moore [Sonic Youth], Jack Kerouac, dj Olive, Allen Ginsberg, Angus maclise. Gerard Malanga [the bronx, 1943- .... ] writer, filmmaker, performer [with The Velvet Underground] and Andy Warhol's main assistant, superstar & and closest friend at the Factory from 1963 to 1970. also know as a seminal photo archivist of the pop culture, Gerard Malanga edited for Sub Rosa a selection …
Black Angels and Makrokosmos III
This CD combines two classic Georg Crumb compositions of the 1970s expertly performed by members of The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic under the direction of conductor Juan Pablo Izquierdo. 'Black Angels' for string quartet was written as a response to the Vietnam War. The work draws from an arsenal of sounds including shouting, chanting, whistling, whispering, gongs, maracas, and crystal glasses. 'Music for a Summer Evening' is scored for the classic Bartok combination of two pianos and two percu…
Pondfloorsample
These two discs represent some of Gen Ken Montgomery's sound art and compositional work from 1981-2001. Pondfloorsample is a collection of sonic explorations utilizing common devices meant to hold something other than sound. As with much of his sound work, the sonic material contains many sounds of everyday life. Having composed extensively for multi-channels, Pondfloorsample was specifically designed as a stereo audio piece enabling Montgomery to reach a larger audience."His work always begins …
Ballgames & crazy
Improvisations by the transatlantic duo of London based trombonist Gail Brand and the San Francisco based vocalist Morgan Guberman (best known as a double bassist in other contexts). Guberman's use of somewhat meaningless words and Brand's very vocal approach to her horn make for a very distinctive music. 63 minutes.
Pathetic
The fourth overall release by Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha group (following the Double Live LP (PSF 3/4), Double Live CD (PSF 15/16) and Allegorical Misunderstanding (Avant 008). This has 4 long tracks, 74 minutes of music; stylistically it's in the heavy over the top guitar trio mode a la PSF 15/16 and absolutely the dream Fushitsusha release that everybody was waiting for. Packed again in a gorgeous black fold out, with a first: English lyric translations
Homeward
Second album from Frans De Waard (Goem, Shifts, Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen) under the Freiband name after the Microbes album on Ritornell. This one is more poppy and less dark, 15 songs full of melody, experiment and inspiration.
s/t
Back in stock. Highlights of the groups presented by Emanem: GAIL BRAND trombone - PHIL DURRANT electronics - MARK SANDERS percussion - PAT THOMAS electronics (LUNGE). JOHN BUTCHER saxes - JOHN EDWARDS double bass. VIV CORRINGHAM voice - ANGHARAD DAVIES violin. RHODRI DAVIES harp - MARK WASTELL cello - SIMON FELL double bass (IST). MILO FINE percussion - HUGH DAVIES electronics - PAUL SHEARSMITH trumpet - TONY WREN double bass. STEFAN KEUNE sax - JOHN RUSSELL guitar. ALAN TOMLINSON trombone - ST…
Dialogs
For his second solo CD, the Chicago-based musician adds small speakers, test amps, piezos and motors to his cello to make some remarkable improvised music. As Michael Zerang says in his notes: 'This is a solo recording, yet I hear an entire ensemble.' 55 minutes.
That House We Lived In
It was a long wait, but, 12 years after the fact, Fred Frith put together a live album of his group Keep the Dog, which had previously gone undocumented. Comprised of sax/flute player Jean Derome, guitarist René Lussier, keyboardist/harpist Zeena Parkins, sampling artist Bob Ostertag, and drummer Charles Hayward, Keep the Dog was formed by Frith in 1989 to perform a best-of repertoire of his career and remained his last rock group. By the time of this 1991 European tour, the unit had grown beyon…
Speechless
This is one of the most important experimental guitar-based titles from avant guitarist and founding Henry Cow member Fred Frith. Frith's second solo album, Speechless, includes appearances by Etron Fou Leloublan, Massacre, and Bill Laswell.
This is a studio Frankenstein of live clips and found sounds. While Frith attests to the occurrence of many "happy accidents," the album comes across confidently and more often more coherent than merely challenging. This is often cited as Frith's best sol…
Middle of the Moment
Continuing the definitive Fred Frith edition, this is the CD based on Fred’s music for the second film he made with Humbert and Penzel – following nomads – that features, along with Fred’s compositions and re-workings, a restless and gripping unfolding of atmospheric locations, tuareg and other musics, ethongraphic material and times captured. A collage or a soundwork rather than a straightforwardly musical composition, this is a serious and unfairly marginalised piece (because it falls between …