New Arrivals
Defiant Life
Anchored in the idea that, despite all obstacles, the human experience casts a net of possibilities, Defiant Life – Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith second duo recording for ECM – proves a profound meditation on the human condition and both the suffering and resilience it entails. An ethereal iridescence glistens between Leo Smith’s unmistakable trumpet wail and Vijay’s textural key strokes on piano and Fender Rhodes, conjuring multi-dimensional spaces of thoughtful musical conversation. “We work…
Learning
A double CD with location recordings - recorded by Christophe Albertijn - of organ and carillon music plus a 32 page booklet of/for the unveiling of Katharina AW, a relational artwork by Joris Martens.
The Pels Organ and Hemony Carillon
Recorded by Christophe Albertijn - of organ and carillon music plus a 32 page booklet of/for the unveiling of Katharina AW, a relational artwork by Joris Martens.
Shell I
*120 copies limited edition* Shell I is the second edition on Edições CN by Brussels sound artist Florence Cats. It is a magical collection of 23 edits for voice, field recordings, theremin and piano. Cats’ recorded piano rehearsals and singing sketches reminds us of Cornelius Cardew works. They are at the heart of Edições CN, where a sketch or rehearsal holds as much, if not more, truth than a definitive composition.
A melody line from Debussy passes by. Waves crash in the distance. Sails and f…
Sometimes Things Change
*120 copies limited edition* Sometimes Things Change is an album after a year of profound change. A year with a new job, moving houses, and many visits to the IVF clinic. Sometimes Things Change brings closure, and is an artistic starting point. In the course of seven compositions memories, thoughts and fantasia meet. “The sounds (…) they’re from whatever I happen to be doing wherever I happen to be. But these sounds hold memories because I was there, living those moments.” These recorded sound…
Cordial
On ‘Cordial’, Ursula Sereghy traces the sensation of home; not as a place, but as something fleeting and deeply felt. Comfort appears in glimpses, nestled between moments of dissonance and unraveling structure. There is joy, but it carries the weight of absence, the quiet grief of realizing what was missing all along. A laughter that is both liberating and bittersweet.
Sereghy’s music moves with no fixed center, shedding hierarchies and opening itself to the unknown. Sounds unravel and reform: f…
Radiesthésie
*300 copies limited edition* Bertrand Gauguet, alto and baritone saxophones.Jean-Luc Petit, contrabass clarinet and sopranino saxophone.Recorded and mastered by Pierre-Henry Thiebaut22 and 23 June 2024 - Chapelle Saint Martin, Bignac (Fr)Photography - cover: B.G.Photography - inside page: Claude MesnardWarm thanks to Philippe Levreaud and Anne MaillouJean-Luc Petit and Bertrand Gauguet are members of the UN.
Midnight in Tokyo Vol.4
Tsunaki Kadowaki curates the fourth installment of Midnight in Tokyo, themed around Ambient Kayō. The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights -- whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. The fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music. The fo…
Midnight In Tokyo Vol. 1
Mule Musiq announce their new label, Studio Mule. Midnight In Tokyo Vol. 1 is a compilation of Japanese disco, boogie, and soul music. The compilation starts off with the Afro disco classic "Mi Mi Africa" by harmonica player Nobuo Yagi. "Silver Spot" is a jazzy fusion disco track taken from composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Nobuyuki Shimizu's first album (1980), released when he was 19. The track features singer Epo. "Samba Night" is by vocalist Keisuke Yamamoto and his band Piper, f…
Midnight in Tokyo Vol.2
Midnight In Tokyo Vol. 2, the second installment to the compilation series that rounds up hidden gems by Japanese artists that's perfect for listening at night in Tokyo, is here. This time the collection brings together some tasty electric jazz fusion from the '80s, compiled by Dubby, the man behind the online record store Ondas. The compilation begins with "Hikobae", a dark and slow cosmic jazz by saxophonist Genji Sawai, followed by "Danza Lucumi", an odd Caribbean-style jam by Today's Latin P…
Inside: Missing Link
A 20th Century Renaissance man, cartoonist, film director, author, radio personality, record company owner, German guitarist Volker Kriegel played an important role in the European jazz-rock and fusion movements. Co-founder of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, Kriegel’s own groups and collaborations with American vibraphonist Dave Pike gained him a world-wide audience, as his 14 albums for MPS as leader and 15 as sideman can attest.
Volker Kriegel assembled a band of some of the leading musical…
Black Rhythm Revolution!
Black Rhythm Revolution! Is the first solo album from the jazz-funk legend Idris Muhammad, a New Orleans-bred rhythm king who successfully made the leap from the finest soulful jazz records of the ’60s to the nastiest fusion funk of the ’70s. Here we catch him literally on the cusp of the two in 1970, with one good foot in the get-down of “Express Yourself” and “Super Bad,” and the other in his own heady excursions into modal rhythm and melody, accompanied by virtuosos Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, …
Infra-Red
American Vibraphonist Dave Pike may not be as well-known as contemporaries Gary Burton and Bobby Hutcherson, but recordings with Bill Evans, Herbie Mann, and Paul Bley evince Pike’s pedigree. His MPS albums from 1969 through the early 70s have become minor classics.
Underpinned by funk and fusion, Infra-Red ventures into country rock on Suspicious Child and trips through fractured iridescent landscapes on Attack of the Green Misers. Raga Jeeva Swara is a rock meditation and Send Me the Yellow Gu…
Anima Latina
‘Anima Latina', Lucio Battisti's ninth studio album. It is considered one of the most beautiful and important records in the history of Italian music.
The album was conceived after a trip to Latin America and marks a clear break from previous production.
Haihara
Prolific Norwegian trumpeter and ECM veteran Arve Henriksen returns with Estonian guitarist/composer Robert Jürjendal in tow, matching his idiosyncratic shakuhachi-style melodic condensations with Jürjendal’s glassy electro-acoustic soundscapes and sonorous percussion. Fans of Jon Hassell & Brian Eno, Daniel Schmidt and Badalamenti, this one’s for you
Lucid Dreams
First Terrace are thrilled to present the new album Lucid Dreams from the prolific Japanese artist Chihei Hatakeyama on January 24th 2025. Renowned ambient composer Chihei Hatakeyama is set to release his latest album, Lucid Dreams, an evocative sonic exploration that invites listeners to drift between the waking world and the dreamscape, to experience “dreams you are aware that you are dreaming”. Known for his deep atmospheric textures and minimalist approach to sound, Hatakeyama’s new project …
The Prosperity Of Vice, The Misfortune Of Virtue
Matte laminate and embossed sleeve, with insert card and fold out poster + vinyl sticker (20cm long). Recorded in 1996, Merzbow's The Prosperity Of Vice, The Misfortune Of Virtue is one of a series of unique editions from his vast catalogue that reveals a side of his practice often under represented. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Masami Akita was sometimes working on film and theatre music. In this space he created a series of recordings that capture the full scope of his sound world…
Salero (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2025 stock Adam Wiltzie, the creative force behind A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Stars Of The Lid, is to officially release his score for the motion picture ‘Salero’ on November 11th. Having channelled some of the most iconic drift music of our time through A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Stars of the Lid, 2016 has already seen Erased Tapes luminary Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie provide original scores for a number of feature films including Jalil Lespert’s ‘Iris’ and ‘The Yellow Birds’ by Al…
Lullaby
For Lullaby, Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick draws on the quartet formation in a programme that includes some of his most exploratory and improvisatory qualities, with a cast of ECM familiars Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass, and new arrival Hans Hulbækmo on drums. There’s a sense of abandon within these melodic songs, as the musicians flow smoothly between harmonies, collectively building momentum from within the forms. Eick’s immediately recognizable and soothing tone i…
After the Last Sky
Eight years after Blue Maqams, Anouar Brahem returns with a poignant project, titled after a line of verse by poet Mahmoud Darwish, which asks “Where should the birds fly, after the last sky?” Graceful chamber pieces for oud, cello, piano and bass subtly address the metaphysical question and its broad resonances in a troubled time. While drawing upon the traditional modes of Arab music, Brahem has consistently sought to engage with the wider world, too, and found inspiration in many sources from…