Reissues
The parable of arable land
This albums, recorded in 1967, are the cornerstone of The Red Krayola legend and one of the most famous record in avant-garde '60s rock. The Red Krayola's debut remains their most celebrated and notorious effort. Although this was categorized as psychedelia when first released, it's more like futuristic avant-noise-rock. Mayo Thompson's flighty songs about hurricane fighter planes and transparent radiation are almost submerged by a cacophony of "free-form freak-out" noise created on kazoos, flut…
Sonabular
Beautiful free form vibraphone music with articulated drumming, underrated and very little know, highly recommended! In 1971-72, English vibraphonist Robert Wood was a member of French band Lard Free, the band Gilbert Artman led before Urban Sax. Wood later asked Artman to play drums on his own second LP, ‘Sonanbular’, while Artman included vibraphone on the first Lard Free official LP (1973), as well as the Clear Light Symphony LP (1975) and Urban Sax. The ‘Sonanbular’ front cover (the industri…
Tarot
This English vibes-player, living in France, recorded in 1971 and 1973 this record with guests like Steve Potts on saxophone, Ken Carter on double-bass and Gilbert Artman on drums. Robert plays an improvised music, close to free-jazz, with a succession of crystalline notes, without melody, or rhythms. Saxophone, drum and bass participate in this maelstrom of sounds. Magnificent album
Un tranquillo posto di campagna
RESTOCKED! This is a long out of print CD with a mindblowing soundtrack to Elio Petri's disturbing 1969 horror movie Un Tranquillo Posto di Campagna (AKA A Quiet Place in the Country). Credited to Ennio Morricone as composer and Il Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza as perfomers, with their best line up (Mario Bertoncini, Walter Branchi, Franco Evangelisti, John Heinemann, Egisto Macchi, and Ennio Morricone as well) - very few copies available
Cholagogues
Here is an extraordinary excavation from the buried history of improvised music, “Cholagogues” is a re-issue of the LP released by the musicians’ collective label Bead in 1977 and, since then, out of stock. The re-mastered album is composed of a single long rack based on a performance at Action Space in London, 1st of April 1977. The performance, reported to be the first and possibly the last of this trio, was recorded by David Toop on a Sony TC164A cassette tape machine and was created with a v…
Euphonia
They play here a variety of unnamed instruments, analogue and electronic, which they recorded in the studio and some of it re-recorded using spatial qualities of other places and together makes a very warm release of ambient music. Brian Eno is mentioned (think the ambiance, think the locations in the vein of ÔOn Land') of course, but the world of ambient glitch should not be forgotten as well. Beautiful slow transforming sounds, spacious and spatial, sometimes with a touch of darkness, but very…
On tour
Taj Mahal Travellers formed by many sorce of member that group act was always and truthfully improvised. Staged many concerts and festivals in european countries from 1971, after this tour, some of main member went a big travel to taj mahal with a station wagon. This DVD is focused on their nearly a year travel with many valuable images. taj mahal Travellers : Michihiro Kimura, Ryo Koike, Takehisa Kosugi, Yukio Tsuchiya, Seiji Nagai, Tokio Hasegawa. This film is legendary documentary of the road…
Catch-Wave 97
First release of this 1997 performance featuring Takehisa Kosugi performing an updated version of his seminal “catch-wave” for solo violin & electronics (the original recording of which has become something of a perennial around here) ...comes as a double-wide jewel case (love these - haven’t seen one in eons !!!) containing a fat 32-page booklet of ocean-photos (not dis-similar to the closing frames of the Taj Mahal Traveller’s “on tour” film actually) & a booklet with new liners (in japanese &…
Catch-Wave
Limited Edition LP Reissue of 300 copies only by ISKRA label, and now long deleted. *** Recorded Sept 1974, CBS/SONY Studio 1 Tokyo. *** TAKEHISA KOSUGI creates mixed-media sound performances and installations, making use of daily materials and electronic technology, realizing the multiplicity of sounds in space. *** Born in Tokyo in 1938, he studied musicology at the Tokyo University of Arts, graduating in 1962. During this period he began multi-instrumental improvisation. In 1960 he co-founded…
Lion's Eye / Lion's Tale
An astonishing album, Lion's Eye for Gamelan was commissioned in 1985 by Barbara Benary for Gamelan Son of Lion. Lion's Eye for Synthesizer was commissioned concurrently by Neil Rolnick for iEAR Presents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Both versions were performed in 1985. The intention to combine both pieces in order to expand the tempo range of the Gamelan was first realized in May of 1989 in performances by the Berkeley Gamelan in Oakland and San Francisco, California under the direction…
Primordial Lift
Originally released on the Table of the Elements label and long out of print, this Pauline Oliveros's version of the recording contains an additional 30 minutes of material not included on the original release. Recorded live on March 20, 1998 at Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY. Primordial/Lift is based on information concerning the shift in the resonant frequency of the earth from 7.8hz to 13hz given in Awakening to the Zero Point by Gregg Braden, Radio Bookstore Press (1997). According to Braden, the re…
Tara's room
Both pieces are intended to aid the listener in times of spiritual change, but are just fine for 'everyday' use as well. Highly recommended." Charles S. Russell, Ear Magazine The two works on this cd - Tara's Room and The Beauty of Sorrow were composed and performed by Pauline Oliveros and recorded in May 1987. Previously only available as a cassette and long out of print." (Deep Listening) "The beauty of sorrow" was played by the composer on a small accordion tuned in just intonation and using …
Janus
This compilation of rare material from the Sun Ra Arkestra draws from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, and the space-age jazz shaman conjures up a variety of styles and moods along the way. A balmy tropical vibe greets the ears with the opener ("Island in the Sun"), but it doesn't take long for Ra to set his controls for the stratosphere, and soon, distorted gongs, haunted house organ, and homemade instruments are exploring African mysticism on the title track. "Velvet" is a more traditiona…
Etudes Australes
With a score derived from star maps - the "Atlas Australis", a book of maps of stars as they can be seen from Australia - and the "I Ching" (64-choice Old-Chinese chance manual) "Etudes Australes" is a quintessentially Cageian work. Grete Sultan is an active recitalist who has performed music both classic and contemporary around the world. "When I wrote the 'Sonatas and Interludes', it was with Maro Amian in mind", Cage said. "David Tudor was in my mind when I wrote the 'Music of Changes'. Witho…
Sowiesoso
Moebius and Roedelius, aka Cluster, released this album in 1976. While some tracks have early electronic percussion and others are beatless, the album is overall melodic and atmospheric. The blend of electronic rhythms and quirky bubbly sounds combined with piano and a few bits of guitar here and there is pure bliss. Original artwork and new detailed liner notes.
Roots Of The Moment
For more than 50 years, Pauline Oliveros has been on a continuing mission: “... to explore new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” If those words bring to mind the voyages of the Starship Enterprise from the television series Star Trek, the parallels are more than coincidental. In fact Pauline would be as able a captain of any Starship in the fleet of the United Federation of Planets. A bit of a difference here though, for Pauline Olive…
Impressionen \'71
The world of Krautrock was forever changed in late 1987 when the master tapes for the mythical never-released album by the early 70's trio Damenbart were discovered in Spain by a former associate of the band. The incredible find was whispered about in elite collector circles for months and when the tapes were finally played back publicly for the first time, it quickly became apparent that all of the legend and hype that surrounded these mysterious 1971 recordings had been completely justified. T…
Blends
Two extended works by Richard Teitelbaum for shakuhachi and synthesizer with percussion and bass accompaniment. Teitelbaum was one of the founders of the revolutionary MEV group in Rome, which explored live electroacoustic and collective improvisation in the 60's and 70's. Subsequent to that era he began work with the renowned shakuhachi master, teacher and composer, Yokoyama and began on a course of intercultural music. These works express his unique language and nuances of sound color which ha…
Aum
The second Deuter album from 1972; this was his last record before moving to India and falling under the guru-ship of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The rock-related moves of D are eradicated, but beautiful atmosphere, echo guitar & experimental form are laid out with ease. Late night pleasure abounds. His first attempt at merging sitars, tablas and flutes to the sounds of birds, wind and water (reflecting Deuter's deep relationship with nature), resulted in an addictive, aesthetic music.
7 2 Berlz
A MEV "theater piece", performed by Alan Bryant (or "Al B" as shown on the cover in "fnetc speling"). Alan Byrant was a founding member of MEV, but this is newly recorded & full of mystery. Not sure of the content, it's supposed to be some kind of conceptual work dedicated to (or inspired by) Samuel Beckett's classic 1957 play "Endgame". The sound is based around solo string ambiance, in a style akin to Alan's classic solo work Space Guitars. Abstract and thrilling.