New Arrivals
Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter
WRWTFWW & MEG Museum (Geneva) are very happy to announce a new album by famed Japanese percussionist Midori Takada, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter, her very own rendition of "Nhemamusasa", a traditional work emblematic of the musical repertoire for mbira of the Shona of Zimbabwe. Recorded in a live setting and played with instruments conserved in the collections of the MEG Museum.
Liner notes include: An interview by Midori Takada A point of view by Zimbabwean scholar, musician and act…
Spring Collection
Brooklyn based drummer/producer Jason Nazary (of Anteloper) makes his We Jazz Records debut with "Spring Collection", released on 25 June. The album sees Nazary crafting some deliciously sparkly solo cuts plus working long distance with choice collaborators Jaimie Branch, David Leon, Ramon Landolt, Matt Mitchell, Grey McMurray and Michael Coleman. This is essentially a collection of home recordings and the whole operation has an infectious feeling of immediacy to it. The result is improv adjacen…
Pu:
We Jazz Records presents "Pu:", the boundary-breaking solo debut of bass player Ville Herrala. Herrala utilises only the double bass but approaches the instrument from various different perspectives. The end result is an inspired set of 14 miniatures, each pushing the concept forward in a highly personal way. The first single "Pu: 12" presents a rhythmic approach with echoes of from the world of minimal classical music and electronic music. Bowed tracks such as "Pu: 2" offer another perspective,…
Dual
*In process of stocking* VAxBY is Albert van Abbe & Byetone. Dutch sound artist Albert van Abbe now joins the Raster family, with an unexpected collaboration with founder Olaf Bender aka Byetone title »Dual«. The result of their collaboration is both smooth and haptic, rounding out as an expressive camaraderie between the two veteran producers. Jovial and innocent, »Dual« alludes to the experimental research process of finding common ground. Fully embracing the haphazard richness of live recordi…
Listen
Gothenburg trio Dark Horse present their new album "Listen", released by We Jazz Records. The band, comprising of John Holmström (piano), Alfred Lorinius (bass) and Mårten Magnefors (drums) recorded their second album in a remote cabin by the ocean in Norway, owned by Holmström's family. The natural sound of the album owes a lot to the relaxed surroundings and the result is some high degree of improvised music turning into collective composition as the music unfolds. The album recording took pl…
Shirley Mastic
**100 copies** "I wrote and recorded these songs over a decade ago. Listening back, I chuckle at the fact that I may actually say the word ‘die’ or ‘death’ in every single song. Considering how metaphorically I attempted to write these lyrics, those two words very literally represent what I was dealing with. Within a four year span I lost one of my best friends to cancer and my dad to a heart attack. As a person in my 20’s that span of time felt like an eternity but in hindsight I can see now th…
almenrauschen
These five albums by Klaus Janek appear to have been originally released in 2018, but were bundled together under the title almenrauschen in 2019 in nice colour-coded sleeves designed by Stephanie Roderer – I’ll refer to this aspect at the head of each review section – in an edition of 300 units. The name “almenrauschen” derives from the aural sensation perceiving a non intentional sound world and transforming it to musical sense-making.
This bundle includes the following albums on vinyl:
- Casp…
Caspar
This habit some experimental musicians have of applying forced context or stories to what is essentially pure improvised music does sometimes perplex me. Here Janek references Kaspar Hauser with the title and in the sleeve notes. He also states the intention “…to de- and reformulate the idea of beauty”. When referencing the case of Kaspar Hauser, I assume Janek sees himself as “…set free…” from traditional technique, and aims, on this disc at least, to “…redefine by discover[y] and recover the p…
Three Seasons
'This disc commences with “Prolog / Autumn / Winter Part 1” which are relatively unadorned solo contrabass improvisations from 2003, inspired by the poem Lettera Amorosa by René Char. Although the work apparently “…follows an emotional path a man lives through a loss…” which is intriguing, the main emotions this music is conveying to me are morbid self-analysis, ennui and fatigue. So far so good. Nonetheless, Janek insists upon the piece “…awakening from impotence, sensing awareness and rediscov…
Infinite Bang
'Janek’s “source of inspiration” was apparently Stanislaw Lem’s novel Solaris and Janek’s own social observations in Prospect Park in New York City “…where I was living during the main research period for this work”. I’m not familiar with Lem’s novel, but if you’re expecting echoes or resonances from the soundtracks of either the Tarkovsky film or the George Clooney remake, I’m afraid you may be disappointed.
On side A we find “Infinite Bang Part 1”, which is more solo contrabass and electronics…
Prospecting
'The first track on side A is “Violeros Revisitados”, which is a fight between the sounds made by Brazilian traditional musicians and the UHER Report 400 tape machine the sounds were recorded on. This source material was recorded by Gunther Kipfmüller in Northeast Brazil in the 1970s. Kipfmüller’s daughter, Milena , processes the raw material while Janek adds his contrabass and electronics to the mixture. Brazil born, Milena is also Berlin-based and works as”… a freelance soundartist, dramaturgu…
Reciprocum
Magenta. Road at night. Its probably worth quoting from the sleeve-notes so you get an idea of what the intention is on this disc: “The album consists of music chosen from a pool of recordings made over a time span of 10 years and according to its expression composed ‘together’. All of the music was created through a practice of combining the compositional and performative act. The album making process consists of two levels: the music created in the past functions as material and is put into fo…
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.
5 Streams
*200 copies limited edition* Norscq is a French composer and music producer. He founded the iconoclastic cult group The Grief in 1984. Since 1998, he worked as The Atlas Project for two albums and then under his name and working from time to time with Black Sifichi in the duet Super Stoned. He’s known for being musically unpredictable with a particularly fine work on the sound. This brought many other musicians and performers to him for recording, mixing, mastering, remixing, sound engineering ……
The Echoing Shell
With their collaborative duo debut, Dean Spunt and John Wiese invite you to experience the frenzy of percussive space and discreet sound found inside The Echoing Shell.
Qul Na Qar / Alysum
*50 copies limited edition* "Packed with psycho-lounge atmospheres, enticing sounds between liquid and scratching, and well thought out quasi-narrative developments, the album immerses the listener in enveloping volutes of sound, amid melodic suggestions and robust quasi-punk waves." - A G Bertinetto, Kathodik As vinyl lovers from our younger days, Discus Music always hoped to revisit the format when economically viable and here is a "toe in the water" release. If it's a success, more may follow…
Varandra
*Limited to 250 copies in handmande cover. Only few copies available, strictly one per customer.* New project by Astrid Mortensen and Dan Johansson, recorded during a few days by the end of 2021. Lingering free folk/Jandek-esque escapism, deep into the Swedish cowberry forests. Paste-on artwork + insert. Förlag För Fri Musik 025, 2022.
Dark Star (Expanded & Remastered) LP + 7"
* 2022 Repress Edtion, Original Art, LP Vinyl +7" * An underground classic! Limited edition of 500. The original motion picture soundtrack for John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974), with added bonuses that are sure to satisfy all cult sci-fi soundtrack completists of the galaxy (and beyond). This limited-edition release includes an LP and a 7". The former is a remastered version of the original motion picture soundtrack consisting of incidental music, sound effects, John Carpenter's synth experiment…
Vrioon (re- master) (2LP)
Pioneers in their own musical approaches, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, began their exploration of sound in the evocatively titled V.I.R.U.S series in 2002. After more than a decade from the release of the collection's final installment with "Summvs" in 2011, NOTON reissues all the five albums between June and October 2022.With its impressionistic atmosphere, in this collaborative project two generations met and shared the idea of electronic music as an inspiration source for new musical struc…
Telas
Nicolas Jaar's Telas was made between December 2016 and January 2020. Special thanks to Somnath Bhatt (art) , Susanna Gonzo (voice) , Milena Punzi (cello) , Heba Kadry (mastering) , Abeera Kamran (website), Mario Zorio & Anna Ippolito (custom instruments), Andrea Zarza & Matthew Kent (Mana) and Mark Byrne (Other People)