Reissues
Veils Of Transformation 1972-1980
Veils Of Transformation 1972 - 1980 is a collection of the earliest works of Gregory Kramer, one of the 20th century masters of textural electronic music. This collection is available on CD and cassette with liner notes from Gregory Kramer and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who first brought this fascinating work to the attention of Important Records. “Greg is one of the pioneers of electronic music and these pieces are unique opportunities to discover how intricate and dynamic early synthesizers are.” …
Sonic Meditations (Book)
First published in 1971 and long out of print, 'Sonic Meditations' is now reprinted by Pauline Oliveros Publications & Ministry of Maåt Publications. 25 meditations for musicians of all ages and skill levels, to help them learn how to focus on, listen to, and produce sound naturally. An important work in the development of Oliveros' Deep Listening. A "must" for any music library!
"One of the most seminal works in late 20th century avant-garde musical thought, Sonic Meditations not only departs …
The Well And The Gentle
Tip! The Well & The Gentle, two of the major works of Pauline Oliveros, are presented here in a first time reissue on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes. If Oliveros had followed a more conventional path she may have, all social obstacles aside, been considered among the major composers of her time. However, Oliveros approached composition in a more egalitarian manner. She wrote music for musicians to interact with or, in the composers words, she wished to create "an in…
Nile Night: Remembered Texts from the Deep
Nile Night is a lovely new book of poems that also includes a cd of readings by Ione and music by Pauline Oliveros. 'Nile Night: Remembered Texts from the Deep' will move your mind with sounds, sensations and feelings; arousing your dreams and taking you far into that fabled land of Egypt. How fortunate for me that I shared one of these journeys with Ione and can find my own memories amplified as I dive into the depths of these writings. What an enrichment to have these poetic texts and to keep …
Stikling
Small repress available, don't miss it **200 copies** "This record began in summer 2020, when I was staying at Andersabo, Sweden, where I run an artists' residency. I had access to a nearby church, and would set drones going on the organ while playing clarinet and piano. I started working with the combination of these long, sustained tones, combined with acoustic instruments, where the sound's duration was only as long as a breath or the pluck of a string. A lot of the last Blue Lake LP was made…
Strange Songs (For Voice And Bird Calls)
‘Multiphonic trills and yodels, loops of ululations, sudden percussive outbursts, warbling glissandi… sculptural, oscillating, swirling tone-colours… the human voice dissolving into the sounds of birds, machines, electronics, scraps of otherworldly language.’Ute was a student of Henning Christiansen and Allan Kaprow; she is a collaborator of Rhodri Davies and Phil Minton, amongst many others.
Wonderful stuff; original, naked, visceral, transfixing, fun. Check it out.
John Tchicai With Strings
2023 Repress Knockout! Real spiritual jazz — frank, deep, reaching; no fakery. John Tchicai appears on Ascension and Albert Ayler’s New York Eye And Ear Control; he’s on Witchdoctor’s Son, with Johnny Dyani and Dudu Pukwana, besides landmark recordings with Archie Shepp, including Four For Trane; and his Mohawk LP on Fontana is a five-star affair. Yet still Richard Williams in The Guardian reckoned this ‘wise and lyrical’ album ‘one of his best recordings’. Here his playing is somewhere new, osc…
Ragnarok
*300 exclusive copies, including a poster of the full cover, an insert and inner sleeve with pictures. Blue Vinyl* Silence present a vinyl reissue of Ragnarök's self-titled debut album, originally released on the same label in 1976. Some music never becomes dated and this debut record by Ragnarök from Kalmar in Sweden is just filled with that kind of music. Many listeners have tried to describe the music they have carried in their hearts throughout a whole life or just discovered. They all say i…
Alas The Madonna Does Not Function
Tip! 1988 saw the release of several timeless and remarkable EPs from Nurse With Wound, one of those classics is Alas the Madonna Does Not Function. Madonna in some respect was a turning point for NWW. It’s a record that whilst unmistakably retaining that ineffable NWW character brought rhythmic and almost ‘musical’ elements into play. Madonna could be seen along with the Soresucker and Cooloorta Moon EPs as the bridge between the old and the new, the natural precursors to Thunder Perfect Mind a…
Time Capsule
The impact of Weldon Irvine’s music across a wealth of genres cannot be overstated with his jazzy piano playing and compositions regularly passed down to newer generations. Artists like Q-Tip and Mos Def are noted admirers of the jazz-funk artist, and the distinct sounds of Irvine echo across the ages in samples etched into hip-hop history. The album version of Time Capsule was originally released in 1973, and this is a brand new 10 inch EP edit aimed at DJs looking to incorporate its album trac…
Il Ricordo Improvviso Dell'Assoluto Stupore
*200 copies limited edition. In process of stocking* Reissue of the one-sided vinyl Picture Disc originally available with the Fabio Orsi's same-title box set with book. The vinyl has an exclusive long track that is a sort of "summa" of Fabio Orsi musical world: like his early releases, "Il Ricordo Improvviso Dell'Assoluto Stupore" is a deep drone ambient track, with distant guitars and a nostalgic touch. Hypnotic and melodic at the same time...
Anticlockwise
"The edges of Schlippenbach’s trio/quartet music have gradually feathered over the past dozen years, a process benchmarked by “Anticlockwise”. Evan Parker’s careening tenor prompts a dramatic sweep from the group that echoes Coltrane’s last period, as on Ore; his multiphonic-oriented soprano style elicits a more spiky rapport. The exceptional American bassist Alan Silva makes an intriguing debut with the quartet, his incisive phrasing and nuance-filled arco technique serving as a lynchpin betwee…
Norimono Zukan
50 years ago, Hokkaido-born singer-songwriter Morio Agata released his debut single, Sekishoku Ereji (Red Elegy), an emotive, shuffling piano ballad that (shockingly) sold half a million copies in Japan. While he would never have another Top-40 hit, Agata would spend the next half century issuing a series of idiosyncratic, experimental pop albums. Today, he’s a beloved cult figure, still actively touring and recording in his seventies. In his first decade as a recording artist, Agata released a …
Carvings
The William Penn Jazz Ensemble was formed by American composer and flutist Leslie Burrs. Throughout the 1970s, Leslie performed with several major jazz and funk artists, including Grover Washington Jr., Kool & The Gang, and most notably, with Del Jones for the now cult album Positive Vibes.
Carvings, recorded in 1982, holds a special place in Leslie's career. This album showcases Leslie's musical versatility and features clear influences of both jazz and classical music. The Ensemble's uncommon …
Filth
2023 stock* “This is all slabs of sound, rhythm and screaming/testifying. What more do you need? In a way, it was a reaction against Punk (and just about any other music you can think of), and the conservative notion that 3 chords were somehow necessary. I used to deny it vehemently at the time, but No Wave (I “hated” that scene too, for some reason I can’t remember now) played a big role as the germ from which this music grew, along with The Stooges and Throbbing Gristle, of course. I wanted Sw…
The Seer
*2023 stock* “The Seer took 30 years to make. It’s the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I’ve ever made, been involved in or imagined. But it’s unfinished, like the songs themselves. It’s one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade. The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in rehearsals, live and in the studio, and now they await further c…
The Divine Punishment
*2023 Stock* On June 30, 1986, the same day that Diamanda Galás's The Divine Punishment was released, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Georgia's so-called sodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick, criminalizing consensual sex between men. At the time, about 15,000 people were known to have died of AIDS in the U.S. alone, with little government acknowledgement besides suggestions to quarantine homosexuals on island colonies. By the end of 2021, the number of AIDS deaths globally would ex…
Meditations
2023 small repress. The year 1965 was a turning point in the life of John Coltrane. It was at this point that he crossed the line into the free jazz arena that he had been approaching since the early '60s. Besides his landmark Ascension, no album better illustrates this than the awe-inspiring Meditations. Coltrane's regular quartet -- McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums) -- is expanded here with second drummer Rashied Ali (who assumed Jones' spot after this album) …
Transa
Transa is the fourth album by Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, released on 1972 by PolyGram. Like its predecessor, it was recorded while the artist was exiled in London, though he returned to Brazil shortly after completing it. Evocative, eclectic, intimate, and rhythmically complex, Transa contains everything that has made Caetano Veloso the most distinctive and, arguably, most important voice in modern Brazilian music. The record was cut in 1972, shortly after Veloso's return from political …
Strange Bedfellow
White Heaven’s second album, Strange Bedfellow, is one of the great unsung albums of the 90’s Japanese underground. Released two years after their striking debut, Out, the album reveals the group shifting to a more dynamic and finely honed sound. You Ishihara’s songwriting & arrangements take center stage, leading the group to transmute classic west coast psychedelia and garage into a thrillingly direct collection of songs that span from fuzz drenched, driving rockers to smoldering numbers that …