★Frederiksberg Records
Sons of Ethiopia
A sonic time capsule from Washington D.C.’s Ethiopian expat community, Admas’ 1984 album Sons of Ethiopia is being reissued for the first time, via Frederiksberg Records
Compass Rises
Tip! When artsts self-releases their own recordings, they do so in the hopes that a hit might develop, or even better, a sphere of influence might form. In a lot of cases these records provide a stamp of existence and intent – a sonic business card showing what musicians were made of. Compass Rises (1973), the privately pressed sole LP by Oneonta, New York’s Compass, is both a sampling of versatility and a declaration of straight-ahead purpose.
Regularly active in upstate New York between 1969 …
Milt Ward And Virgo Spectrum
Tip! It seemed trumpeter/composer Milton Ward had all he needed for a breakthrough in the world of contemporary jazz in the late 1970s. Blessed with a beautiful trumpet tone and an impressive work ethic, Ward found a home in Boston’s exploding soul and jazz scenes of the early 1970s. His star never joined the constellation of jazz luminaries, but Ward did leave one fantastic album of spiritual jazz that has become a collectors’ favorite: Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum. Frederiksberg Records is pro…
Lydglimt
An otherworldly blend of ethereal ambient, new age with inherent discofied undertones - reissued! Pressed at Pallas in a 500 copy run only & comes with a beautiful booklet ! Frederiksberg Records is proud to announce 40th anniversary LP reissue of Lydglimt, done in close collaboration with Klaus Schønning. At odds with the loud musical landscape of jazz, rock and punk which dominated the Denmark at this time in the late 70's, Schønning saw before him a different path. A path leading to the…
Cirrus
The first vinyl reissue of Bertil Strandberg Kvintett’s Cirrus album is now available on Frederiksberg Records, following on earlier Scandinavian Jazz reissues by Christian Schwindt Quintet and Carsten Meinert Kvartet. In 1973, a snowstorm almost prevented the band from making it to the studio to record this album. Cirrus, released in 1974 in tiny numbers, has since become a heralded object among jazz aficionados. Now 45 years later, Cirrus is finally available on vinyl again and comes with an i…
Goodbyes and Beginnings
Official Frederiksberg Records is proud to announce the first reissue of Suzanne Menzel’s 1981 album “Goodbyes and Beginnings”. This sought-after rarity presents a blend of ambient, new-age, 60’s inspired folk music. The melancholic lyrics of singer-songwriter Suzanne Menzel are transformed by Danish New-Age pioneer, Klaus Schønning’s, futuristic soundscape. Schønning, not only produced “Goodbyes and Beginnings,” Menzel also credits him as giving her the artistic courage to self-release her firs…
Stoned - An Electronic Symphony
Official re-issue of Danish electronic music from 1974! Vinyl LP comes with booklet and limited to 500 copies - no repress. Frederiksberg Records announces the first re-issue of ‘Stoned’ which is exclusively licensed from Gunner Møller Pedersen in person and has been carefully restored from the original master tapes. It comes with a booklet of liner notes by Thomas Knak. ‘Stoned’ by Gunner Møller Pedersen is a pioneering partly-electronic composition from Denmark. Gunner believes that it’s m…
Field Days (The Amanda Loops)
14 pieces originally written for dance and other practical situations, here reassigned and reconstructed for choreographer Amanda Miller and the Nederland Dans Theater. These are loop-based, textural, mood pieces, and invocations of spaces and landscapes, with some fine steel guitar playing. Mostly this is Fred multi-instrumenting, with pianist Daan Vanderwalle, percussionist Willie Wynant, the Arte Sax quartet and Lotte Anker, the Arditti Quartet, Kiku Day, occasional shakuhachi, and vio…
Propaganda
Written for theatre in 1987 using a host of avian and mammalian voices, snippets of unidentified musical material and electroacoustic noise- sculpting, as well as invented and real instruments played by Fred Frith. This was a hard time and the mood is intense, lean and not cheerful, though there are some gruesomely cheery inserts. There's no fat but a lot of meat here.
For Friends And Relatives: The Complete Scandia and Discophon Re
Landmark work from the Finnish scene of the 60s – one of those ultra-rare European jazz records that collectors have dug for decades! The set's got a stark, modern sort of feel – but also a nice soulful swing, too – a balance that few of the other Scandinavians hit so well at the time – as they were either hanging between farther-out progressions, or more inside, tightly arranged jazz! Drummer Christian Schwindt's vision here is exceptional – full of rich feeling, deep tone, and careful…
To You
Fiercely beautiful Danish jazz from 1968, sworn body-and-soul to the legacy of John Coltrane, and the raw sense of music as a healing force, tearing through the cosmos — but with its own intensely compelling voice, on the line from Copenhagen, to you. So a searching, hurting version of Naima gives way to Meinert’s terrific, succinct, Lateef-flavoured tribute to Alice Coltrane and a thrilling set of modal originals, including a tender ballad for Martin Luther King. Remastered from the ta…
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…
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 …
Accidental
Fred Frith has been heard in all possible contexts, from solo improviser to composer of orchestral music, but he remains at his best when trapped in a studio, alone or with a few musicians, building layered pieces. This process previously yielded stunning albums such as the delicate Middle of the Moment or the avant rocking Speechless. Accidental features Frith performing all instruments and voices, mostly guitars, violin, junk percussion, and random radio tuning. This music was commissioned by …