2024 repress! "Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy, x2 LPs of long-form, lyrical, groove-based free improv by acclaimed guitarist & composer Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet, is at last here. Recorded live at ETA (referencing David Foster Wallace), a bar in LA's Highland Park neighborhood with just enough space in the back for Parker, drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, & alto saxophonist Josh Johnson to convene in extraordinarily depthful & exploratory music making. Gleaned for the stoniest side-length cuts from 10+ hours of vivid two-track recordings made between 2019 & 2021 by Bryce Gonzales, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy is a darkly glowing séance of an album, brimming over with the hypnotic, the melodic, & patience & grace in its own beautiful strangeness. Room-tone, electric fields, environment, ceiling echo, live recording, Mondays, Los Angeles. Jeff Parker's first double album & first live album, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy belongs in the lineage of such canonical live double albums recorded on the West Coast as Lee Morgan's Live at the Lighthouse, Miles Davis' In Person Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco & Black Beauty, & John Coltrane's Live in Seattle. While the IVtet sometimes plays standards &, including on this recording, original compositions, it is as previously stated largely a free improv group -- just not in the genre meaning of the term. The music is more free composition than free improvisation, more blending than discordant. It's tensile, yet spacious & relaxed. Clearly all four musicians have spent significant time in the planetary system known as jazz, but relationships to other musics, across many scenes & eras -- dub & Dilla, primary source psychedelia, ambient & drone -- suffuse the proceedings. Listening to playbacks Parker remarked, humorously & not, 'we sound like the Byrds' (to certain ears, the Clarence White-era Byrds, who really stretched it). A fundamental of all great ensembles, whether basketball teams or bands, is the ability of each member to move fluidly & fluently in & out of lead & supportive roles. Building on the communicative pathways they've established in Parker's -- The New Breed -- project, Parker & Johnson maintain a constant dialogue of lead & support. Their sampled & looped phrases move continuously thru the music, layered & alive, adding depth & texture & pattern, evoking birds in formation, sea creatures drifting below the photic zone. Or, the two musicians simulate those processes by entwining their terse, clear-lined playing in real-time. The stop/start flow of Bellerose, too, simulates the sampler, recalling drum parts in Parker's beat-driven projects. Mostly Bellerose's animated phraseologies deliver the inimitable instantaneous feel of live creative drumming. The range of tonal colors he conjures from his extremely vintage battery of drums & shakers -- as distinctive a sonic signature as we have in contemporary acoustic drumming -- bring almost folkloric qualities to the aesthetic currency of the IVtet's language. A wonderful revelation in this band is the playing of Anna Butterss. The strength, judiciousness & humility with which she navigates the bass position both ground & lift upward the egalitarian group sound. As the IVtet's grooves flow & clip, loop & repeat, the ensemble elements reconfigure, a terrarium of musical cultivation growing under controlled variables, a tight experiment of harmony & intuition, deep focus & freedom. For all its varied sonic personality, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy scans immediately & unmistakably as music coming from Jeff Parker's unique sound world. Generous in spirit, trenchant & disciplined in execution, Parker's music has an earned respect for itself & for its place in history that transmutes through the musical event into the listener. Many moods & shapes of heart & mind will find utility & hope in a music that combines the autonomy & the community we collectively long to see take hold in our world, in substance & in staying power. On the personal tip, this was always my favorite gig to hit, a lifeline of the eremite records Santa Barbara years. Mondays southbound on the 101, driving away from tasks & screens & illness, an hour later ordering a double tequila neat at the bar with the band three feet away, knowing i was in good hands, knowing it would be back around on another Monday. To encounter life at scales beyond the human body is the collective dance of music & the beholding of its beauty, together." --Michael Ehlers & Zac Brenner Pressed on premium audiophile-quality 140 gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing from Kevin Gray/Cohearent Audio lacquers. Mastered by Joe Lizzi, Triple Point Records, Queens, NY.

2024 repress; LP version. "After a two-decade interlude, Jim O'Rourke's Moikai returns with Spectral Evolution, a major new work by Rafael Toral. Making his name in the mid-1990s with influential guitar drone platters like Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field, Toral has never been one to rest on his laurels repeating his past glories. Since 2017, Toral's work has been entering a new phase, often still centered around the arsenal of self-built instruments developed in the Space Program, but with a renewed interest in the long tones and almost static textures of his earlier work; he has also, after more than a decade, returned to the electric guitar. Spectral Evolution is undoubtedly Toral's most sophisticated work to date, bringing together seemingly incompatible threads from his entire career into a powerful new synthesis, both wildly experimental and emotionally affecting. Toral manages the almost miraculous feat of having his self-built electronic instruments (which in the past he had seen as 'inadequate to play any music based on the Western system') play in tune. In an unexpected sidestep away from any of his previous work, the chord changes that underpin many of the episodes on Spectral Evolution are derived from classic jazz harmony, including takes on the archetypal Gershwin 'Rhythm changes' and Ellington-Strayhorn's 'Take the ʻA' Train,' albeit slowed to such an extent that each chord becomes a kind of environment in its own right. Threading together twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole, Spectral Evolution alternates moments of airy instrumental interplay with dense sonic mass, breaking up the pieces based on chord changes with ambient 'Spaces.' At points reduced to almost a whisper, at other moments Toral's electronics wail, squelch, and squeak like David Tudor's live-electronic rainforest. Similarly, his use of the guitar encompasses an enormous dynamic and textural range, from chiming chords to expansive drones, from crystal clarity to fuzzy grit: on the beautiful 'Your Goodbye,' his filtered, distorted soloing recalls Loren Connors in its emotive depth and wandering melodic sensibility. The product of three years of experimentation and recording, and synthesizing the insights of more than thirty years of musical research, Spectral Evolution is the quintessential album of guitar music from Rafael Toral."

From Mike Cooper: "I made the first set of pieces for this collection during the intense heat of the 2023 Spanish summer; 32 degrees inside the house at night sometimes. I had just finished reading one of the most extraordinary volumes of fiction (something I rarely read) titled The Guyana Quartet by the Caribbean writer Wilson Harris. I came to this book via the works of Nathaniel Mackay, who recommended Wilson Harris as an important influence on his own creative writing. While researching further for my Tropical Gothic project I came across another writer from Guyana, Edgar Mittelholzer, and his book My Bones And My Flute. The two books couldn't be more different. Mittelholzer's book is described as 'a ghost story in the old-fashioned manner,' while The Guyana Quartet is one of the strangest books I have ever read. A lot of the time I had no idea what was going on but its strangeness kept drawing me into it and onwards. It is extremely psychedelic and tropical gothic with an added healthy dose of quantum time. Sometimes the characters are both alive and dead at the same time. The stories all takes place either in the Amazon basin rainforests of Guyana or the Rupununi Savannah, home to a vast array of exotic wildlife which includes jaguars, sloths, monkeys, giant otters, tapirs, emerald tree boa snakes and more. I wanted this musical edition to be an aural reflection of the landscapes conjured in my mind's eye as I was reading. Most of my samples and loops are created using a ukulele, my fingers, a metal hip-flask, (for rum), an empty St James Rum bottle, field recordings from Martinique, electric and acoustic lap steel guitar and a virtual pedal steel guitar. The flute player is unknown but maybe from Vietnam. The titles of my pieces are mostly taken from the two books as well as the title, Slow Motion Lightning, which resonated with me as a description of our current situation with regards climate change, and other man-made disasters that have occurred since beginning the pieces. Slow Motion Lightning; deadly and unpredictable never strikes twice in the same place except when it does."

"Arabian Waltz is the pinnacle of Rabih Abou-Khalil's achievement as a composer and arranger. It is a sublime fusion of jazz, Middle Eastern traditional music, and Western classical. In addition to Abou-Khalil on oud (the Arabic lute), Michel Godard on the tuba and the serpent (the tuba's antique kinsman), and Nabil Khaiat on frame drums, the album also features the Balanescu String Quartet instead of the usual trumpet or sax. The presence of the Balanescu might seem to pose a dilemma for the composer: traditional Middle Eastern music uses no harmony but a string quartet is all about harmony. Abou-Khalil achieves a compromise by generally writing the string parts in unison (or in octaves), in effect using the quartet as a single voice, but also letting the quartet split up to play parts in unison with the other instruments or to provide ornamentation. Without surrendering jazziness at all, the presence of the strings makes possible a wondrous atmosphere, almost as if one is listening to the soundtrack of a classy movie set in Beirut or Damascus during the '40s. This feeling is greatest on 'Dreams of a Dying City' with its brooding tuba and cello motifs and grave, repeated rhythms. 'The Pain After' starts with an impressive tuba solo that turns into a long interlude for tuba and string quartet; sad, slow music that sounds like one of Beethoven's late quartets. Then Abou-Khalil finally enters on oud, bringing a sustained note of wistfulness. Fortunately, beside the darker numbers lie the propulsive drama of 'Arabian Waltz' and the bobbing and weaving quirkiness of 'Ornette Never Sleeps.' Abou-Khalil is known for experimenting with the possibilities his guest musicians bring to his style. In this case, the guests have inspired the host to reach a new height and maybe even a new style. This recording suits every fan of world music, jazz, classical, or just good music." --Kurt Keefner

US psych holy grail from 1969. Killer Doorsy organ and fuzzed-out guitars, including all-time psychedelic classics like "Colors," "Workshop," and "Mind Machine." Transplanted from Portland to the Sunset Strip, Hunger played at all the hip places, rubbing shoulders with bands like Hour Glass (pre-Allman Brothers), the Doors, and Steppenwolf. In 1969 they released Strictly from Hunger for the small Public label. Highly sought after, Guerssen is proud to present a straight reissue of such collectable album. Featuring original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve plus OBI, with remastered sound and insert with liner notes and rare photos by Clark Faville.

Until now, the earliest recordings anyone has heard by Joe McPhee come from the period around his 1968 debut album, Underground Railroad. McPhee had just started playing tenor saxophone at that point. A couple of years earlier, the bassist featured on all of McPhee's early recordings, Tyrone Crabb, led a band of his own, the Jazzmen, in which McPhee was featured on his first instrument: trumpet. Indeed, McPhee was a trumpet legacy -- his father was a trumpeter. In the mid-'60s, Joe was a serious young player with deep knowledge and an expansive ear. Performing around Poughkeepsie and across the Hudson Valley, the Jazzmen were one of the very first ensembles recorded by Craig Johnson, who would go on to form the CjR label expressly to release McPhee's music. The fledgling audio engineer was clearly learning the ropes when he documented this incredible 1966 performance, but despite a few excusable acoustic blemishes, it's a beautiful window into McPhee's trumpet playing, suggesting that, had he stuck to that instrument alone, he might well have been considered a major figure on the horn (of course, he is such a figure on the pocket trumpet); the opening track, a version of "One Mint Julep" as arranged by Freddie Hubbard (on his Blue Note record Open Sesame) shows McPhee's lithe stylings to good effect. McPhee's musical cosmology was much bigger than a single axe, however, as is evident on the sprawling second track, which, over the course of half-an-hour proceeds from an excoriating yowl to a version of Miles Davis's "Milestones" taken at a sweltering tempo. A portent of the free jazz to follow and a marker of McPhee's foundations in hard bop and soul jazz, 1966 features the entire reel-to-reel tape long thought lost, simply labeled: "Joe McPhee, 1966, trumpet." Featuring Joe McPhee (trumpet, recorder), Harry Hall (tenor saxophone, recorder), Reggie Marks (tenor saxophone, recorder), Mike Kull (piano), Tyrone Crabb (bass, bandleader), and Charlie Benjamin (drums).

Vivid peyote-induced psychedelia from Texas sounding like an impossible meld between the Elevators and the Velvet Underground, but possessing a strongly unique disposition. Recorded in 1970 but never released at the time, featuring future members of Roky Erickson's backing band Bleib Alien/The Aliens. Formed in Austin in the late 1960s by visionary lyricist and autoharp player Billy Bill Miller and his friend Tom McGarrigle on guitar, Cold Sun evolved from a band called Cauldron (later Amethyst) which at one point featured drummer John Kearney from Roky Erickson's first band The Spades. Miller, a proto-Goth figure always dressed in black, highly influenced by Joe Meek and vintage sci-fi/horror movies, started to experiment with weird noises out of his electrified autoharp, favoring the audio-oriented drug mescaline over the LSD associated with hippies. Amethyst jammed with musicians such as Benny Thurman from the 13th Floor Elevators and Steve Webb from the Lost And Found. The definitive Amethyst line-up, with Hugh Patton on drums and Mike Waugh on bass, played at venues like the I.L. Club, a historical landmark of Austin blues and psychedelic music. It was through Mike Waugh's friendship with Elevators drummer John Ike Walton that Billy Miller and the band hooked up with the local label/studio Sonobeat, who expressed interest in recording an album with the intention to shop it to a major label: thus, the now-legendary Cold Sun album was born. The band, driven by Miller's strange electrified autoharp sounds plus the massive fuzz guitar of McGarrigle, dressed with feedback and futuristic lyrics, laid down several tracks in between rehearsals at Miller's house on Castle Hill. Never released at the time, the Cold Sun album languished in oblivion and the musicians moved on to other things. It wasn't until 1990 that the Cold Sun album was finally released on vinyl by the Rockadelic label, followed by a new edition on German label World In Sound in 2008, now out of print. For this new edition, Guerssen has tried to imagine how the Cold Sun album could have looked like if it had been actually released in 1970. It comes with vintage styled artwork by psychedelic illustrator Callum Rooney. Sourced from the same audio master as the original Rockadelic LP, the sound has been vastly improved thanks to the meticulous and careful restoration/remastering by audiophile engineer Ezra Lesser.

With their roots traced in two legendary '60s garage bands, The Outcasts and The Stoics, Homer were without doubt one the best psychedelic/hard-rock outfits coming out from Texas. Grown in U.S.A was their only album, released as a private pressing in 1970. Rural psychedelic rock with early prog hints fueled by stunning lead/dual guitar, melodic vocals and occasional mellotron. Featuring original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve plus OBI, with newly sourced and remastered sound. Includes insert with liner notes and photos.

Housed together in a stunning slipcase with a matte laminate soft touch finish and a UV spot varnish on the beloved logo, Be With proudly present the Be With 10 Years record and book package. Record contains ten exclusive never-before-on-vinyl tracks from ten Be With family members. 310mm square softcover book printed on a 350gsm woodfree uncoated board. Book block printed on 120gsm Dadong Lucky Bird woodfree uncoated paper. 140gram vinyl with a 380gsm jacket. 1000 copies only for the world, no repress! Be With Records reaching ten years feels like a landmark worth celebrating. The label presents Joyride (the record) and Labour Of Love (the book) in one beautiful slipcase. This book and record package was conceived as an opportunity to praise, shine a light on and above all else show gratitude to all the artists Be With has worked so closely with over the last ten years. But not just the artists -- all of the amazing people who form part of the wider Be With family. Without question, this package represents the most exciting, daunting and rewarding thing that the label has ever put together. The record: Joyride. Ten tracks for ten years of Be With from ten artists. As a happily "all over the place" label, the music, accordingly, had to be varied in vibe and style. Featuring Thomas Almqvist, Lewis Taylor, Mic Murphy, 52nd Street, Coastlines, Maston, Kenny Dickenson, The Autumn Defense, Stimulator Jones, and Andre Cymone. The book: Labour Of Love. Created in conjunction with the editor and design team behind Disco Pogo, Labour Of Love is Be With's first ever book and serves as a brilliantly rich and varied document of Be With's first 10 years. It surveys the entire catalogue with the artwork for every single release faithfully reproduced in full color accompanied by Rob's inimitable reviews. The book contains fresh, exclusive interviews with Ned Doheny, Leon Ware, Lewis Taylor, Tommy Guerrero, Wally Badarou, Steve Moore, Pete Fowler, Kimiko Kasai, Tony Henry (52nd Street), The Autumn Defense, Coastlines, and The Mighty Soulmates. There's also fantastic contributions from a whole host of well-regarded fans of the label, including Gilles Peterson, Trevor Jackson, Efficient Space on Steve Hiett, Bill Brewster, Balearic Mike, and Lou Hayter. It explores the development of the Be With logo and also take an insider's look at the journey of a typical Be With record.

2024 restock; reissue -- originally released in 1976. Color vinyl, 180 gram. "Water Babies is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It compiled music Davis recorded in studio sessions with his quintet in 1967 and 1968, including outtakes from his 1968 album Nefertiti and recordings that foreshadowed his direction on In a Silent Way (1969), while covering styles such as jazz fusion and post-bop. Water Babies was released by Columbia Records in 1976 after Davis had (temporarily) retired." Personnel: Miles Davis, Trumpet; Wayne Shorter, Soprano Saxophone; Herbie Hancock, Piano; Ron Carter, Bass; Tony Williams, Drums; Chick Corea, Electric Piano; Dave Holland, Bass; Teo Macero, Producer

From Lawrence English: "It's hard to imagine that this year [2024] William Gibson's Neuromancer celebrates its 40th anniversary. Having recently re-read the book for the first time in a great many years, the world building Gibson undertook in that text and the lingering cultural specters he conjured, feel ever so evocative of moments of our contemporary lived experience. The books continued cultural resonance has resolved in a way that captured a future reading of an, at that time of its release, unknown internet era. It was an era of promise, and imagination, of speculative hope and down-right uneasiness in equal parts. In 1994, as the books 10th anniversary was on hand, New York duo Black Rain were commissioned to make a soundtrack to the audio book version of Neuromancer. Read by the author himself, this document, originally publish on a series of cassettes, would go on to be recognized as a unique glimpse into Gibson's sensing of the characters and places that make up the Neuromancer zone. Following a period of work as an expanded collective, Stuart Argabright and Shinichi Shimokawa, the two core members of Black Rain, decided to strip back their unit largely to a duet format. Their focus became more engaged around studio practice, and it was this refocusing that was ultimately serendipitous. As they started work on Neuromancer a number of new approaches and techniques emerged and with them came a new sonic language the pair had only imagined previously. The audio book was a huge success and the soundtrack too was recognized for its brooding and post-industrial electronic grind. Since that time however, the recordings have largely remained in obscurity. While a couple of the pieces have surfaced in various editions including an excellent compilation by Blackest Ever Black, the entire suite of pieces has remained unpublished until this moment. Working off the original master tapes, this edition (like the book), folds and morphs over itself in an episodic stratification. Pieces emerge, like strange architecture, from one another forming a sonic environment that feels almost tangible. I spent many weeks working on these tapes and also on the connections between the pieces. In collaboration with Stuart, our joint aim was to create a version of the soundtrack that speaks to the very atmosphere of the text itself. It's a delight to share this collection of work for the first time."

Originally recorded and edited between 1983-1997. From Lawrence English: "I'll take a guess and say I first heard Alan Lamb's Night Passage in 1999. Released by Darrin Verhagen's seminal Dorobo label, the record birthed an approach that wove together themes of materialism, field recording and a reimagining of the abandoned utilities of human habitation. Night Passage is one of those recordings I feel has always been with me, it's that foundational. It completely re-shaped the way a generation of audio explorers thought about how sound and music might exist in the orbit of each other. On my first listen I'm confident I was unable to place exactly how these sounds were created, even knowing the source materials, but one thing I can say without reservation is their resonance has lingered with me these past couple of decades. The sound world Lamb captured, waves rippling along wires, was exquisitely simple, and effortlessly deep. Here, right before us, was a sound world locked within materials we pass by everyday. In tapping into these materials, Alan Lamb unlocked a parallel dimension of sense, one guided by interactions of objects and the environments surrounding them. An inorganic, living music the likes of which had not been readily available until the publication of his recordings. Alan Lamb's work with long wires, undertaken in situ across Western Australia, are quite frankly the stuff of legend. To revisit them in such a focused way almost four decades on from their initial recording I'm struck by how other worldly and evocative they continue to be. It's with great pleasure we share Night Passage, completely remastered under the guidance of Alan himself."

Limited 2024 repress; double LP version. WRWTFWW Records announce the first official worldwide reissue of Satsuki Shibano's Wave Notation 3: Erik Satie 1984, the final album from the sound-defining Wave Notation environmental music series curated by Satoshi Ashikawa. Originally released in 1984 on the Sound Process label, Wave Notation 3 followed Ashikawa's own Still Way (1982) and Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Postcards (1982). The highly sought-after album is sourced from the original master tape. Wave Notation 3 is a splendid tribute to seminal French composer and pianist Erik Satie, himself one of the main influences behind kankyō ongaku/environmental music (alongside Brian Eno, John Cage, to name a few). The alphabetically-sequenced album features 26 pieces showcasing Shibano's unique piano interpretation of Satie's works. The artist explains: "For this album, I sequenced the compositions in alphabetical order of each title, irrespective of the period of each composition or style. By doing this, I attempted to effectively create 'Music as an environment' and at the same time, allow the listener to genuinely experience Satie's music." Satsuko Shibano's minimalistic approach to ambient classical is simply perfect and offers a beautiful and tranquil listening experience, furniture music with extra comfort and soothing simplicity, relaxing to the mind and to the soul. This Wave Notation deserves a spot among the pillars of Japanese environmental music, next to Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass, Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, and Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way. For fans of furniture music, environmental music, music as an environment for furniture, ambient, Midori Takada, Satoshi Ashikawa, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Erik Satie, Brian Eno, minimalism. Includes English and Japanese liner notes by the artist, was supervised by Japanese ambient legend Yoshio Ojima.

2024 repress. "You've got to listen to this band, you'll really like them, I know." A Colourful Storm presents the first-time vinyl issue of Blueboy's The Bank Of England, originally released in 1998. The group of Paul Stewart, Keith Girdler, Cath Close, Ian Gardner, and James Neville are Sarah Records royalty alongside The Field Mice, Heavenly, The Wake, and The Orchids, and this is the final recording from arguably the most beautiful, afflicted band of '90s indie-pop and DIY. One of the true treasures of modern pop music. Mastered from the original recording tapes with assistance from Sarah Records and Shinkansen Records' own Matt Haynes. Full color reverse-card LP sleeve with printed insert.

Mirror Phase concludes a trilogy of minimal ambient albums in Jonas Munk's own name. These eight compositions, based on guitar and synthesizer loops, marks a return to the warmer sounds Munk is often associated with. Sonic structures that slowly and gradually evolves and changes, like cloud formations in the sky. The title track "Mirror Phase" is Munk's most expansive drone opus so far. It's a carefully arranged piece where sounds that oscillates with the same interval, but at different phases, are continuously added, hence creating shifting patterns throughout the track's nearly 18-minute duration. Elsewhere, in "Transition," multi-layered guitars create the sonic equivalent of waves gently splashing on the shore. "At a Distance" creates a haunting, and hypnotic, soundscape by using slightly out-of-tune analog synthesizers, summoning the transcendent krautrock of Popol Vuh. "Rise," as well as the closing track "Return to Nowhere," recall the glistening sounds of his Manual releases. Mirror Phase might just be Munk's ambient oeuvre reaching its zenith. RIYL: Fripp & Eno, William Basinski, Christopher Willits, Stars of the Lid. CD comes with Munk's previous album Altered Light, vinyl is limited to 300 copies on milky clear vinyl.

2024 repress. "Back in 1997, David Pajo was a little over a half decade removed from the future sensation known as Slint, who released two albums over the course of a three-year existence; the second album came out when they band were already defunct. During the next five years, Pajo played with Palace Brothers, King Kong, Tortoise, The For Carnation, and Stereolab. All during that period, the idea of his own music was slowly simmering, building flavor like a good rage. When it broke, it was a 1996 7" single on Palace records, attributed to 'M' with no further edification -- but upon hearing it, there could be no doubt that this fucker was of the Slint lineage. So David jumped up to Drag City with a full length album, this time to be released under the name Aerial M. Two years after that, he came back with an album called Live From a Shark Cage, this time to be credited to Papa M, and Aerial M was heard of no more, until the 2024 release of their late-'90s Peel sesh. And now the album that started to continue it all is pressed anew on vinyl. Dig Aerial M."

The Feedbackorchester (Feedback Orchestra/FBO) consists of eight electric guitarists who play exclusively feedback on their instruments. Situated at the intersection of rock music and sound art, the group was founded in Berlin in 1999 and has since been performing mainly in unusual locations with unique acoustic or architectural features, such as churches, stairwells, water reservoirs, ruins, barns, etc. After a number of self-released CD-Rs, this is their first vinyl album. The orchestra is always arranged in a circle to ensure the closest possible contact between the players, while the audience is free to move around and listen from different positions. The music has been described as meditative on the one hand, while at the same time showing an impressive physical presence, often drawing comparisons to forces of nature. It is a constantly flowing stream of vibrations, frictions, and of rising and falling walls of sound in which tones and harmonies constantly attract, break, and find each other again. In recent years, the FBO has settled on a permanent cast of members who have been making music in various bands and projects for decades. This LP was recorded in a Berlin church, the Zwingli-Kirche, on August 27, 2020, and features the players Herman Herrmann, Günter Schickert, Kerl Fieser, Zeppy Haus, Giles Schumm, Hendrik Kröz, Dirk Dresselhaus, and Ansgar Wilken. Edition of 300 in full-color sleeve with photos from the location and the performance.

After the orchestral piece KlangWerk 11 in 2022 (ET 933-04LP), Edition Telemark presents the second LP from Berlin-based composer Erhard Grosskopf (b. 1934), featuring his two string quartets nos. 3 and 4 in previously unreleased recordings by the renowned Pellegrini Quartet, and pressed on multi-colored quadratic mirage vinyl. Like all of his seminal pieces, these quartets -- written after one another in 1998 -- exhibit Grosskopf's principle of composing in a space instead of on a timescale, thereby eschewing the development of a dramaturgy and instead trying to make the listener forget a sense of time passing. He utilizes so-called sound processes: layers of differing lengths that are looped and stacked according to mathematical principles, resulting in circling harmonic constellations that come to an end only when their end points coincide. Despite being meticulously planned out, the actual musical phenomena that establish themselves with this method seem unpredictable to the listener. String quartet no. 3 (op. 50) uses seven such layers mapped to the four instruments, resulting in a length of about 30 minutes. String quartet no. 4 (op. 51) on the other hand consists of 12 short pieces (five quartets, three trios, and four duos) that use a simpler algorithm, allowing the listener to observe the process in close detail. Both quartets were performed by the Pellegrini Quartet (Antonio Pellegrini, Thomas Hofer, Fabio Marano, Helmut Menzler) at the UltraSchall Festival in Berlin in 2007 and 2003, respectively. This particular recording of quartet no. 3 is unreleased, while quartet no. 4 has never been released before at all. The LP is pressed on bespoke blue and crystal quadratic mirage vinyl, optically mirroring the sound process layers. Full-color sleeve with artwork by Julia Antonia and liner notes by Matthias R. Entreß. Includes a postcard with the sleeve artwork.

Restocked! Triple LP version. Kompakt presents, finally, a reissue of the first, self-titled GAS album. Originally released on electronica imprint Mille Plateaux back in 1996, it's been unavailable in its original form ever since -- the version of GAS included in 2008's Nah Und Fern box featured several different tracks. Here, however, GAS is restored in all its glory, the debut full-length from Wolfgang Voigt's most enigmatic, quixotic project. There had, of course, been signs of what was to come. Back in 1995, Voigt essayed the first Gas release, a slender, yet remarkable four-track EP, Modern. Its center label featured a reduced symbol -- an overhead or lamp light, switched on, its glow radiating outwards in four bold black lines -- a perfect representation of the tight, stylized ambient electronic pop contained on that 12". A few curious compilation tracks were floating around, too, for Mille Plateaux's Modulation & Transformation and Electric Ladyland series. If you were attentive enough, you could tell something was up. But nothing quite prepared listeners for the languorous, effervescing loops and regular-like-clockwork beats that Voigt folded together on GAS. Its six long tracks, all untitled, neither begin nor end but hazily fade into earshot, vibrate majestically in your cochlea for fifteen-or-so minutes -- some a bit shorter, some longer -- and then meander away, reading the mise-en-scène for the next example of Voigt's drift and dream logic to unfold. The material is referential in the most distant way, and you can sense only the most evanescent of ghostly presences, haunting these six compositions. GAS feels, also, like a more pliable hint at what's to come, as the GAS concept really solidified on its successor, 1997's Zauberberg, and reach its apotheosis on Königsforst and Pop. Those three albums share a very similar palette -- blurred, hazy samples, often of classical music, stacked and cross-thatched across a muted 4/4 thud. GAS, then, is an outlier of sorts: it's more expansive in its remit, lighter in its mood, perhaps more fleet of foot. This, of course, is part of its charm. In clearing space for Voigt, by preparing the terrain, GAS sits both at the edge of the forest, and at the verge of an expansive, wide-eyed future; one where GAS would become truly eternal. Text by Jonathan Dale.

"2CD in six-panel digipak. Reflections in Repose captures the pure essence of Steve Roach's ever-deepening intimate embrace of silence, breath, rich harmonic inventiveness, and shifting liminal states; it's a sound and style completely unique to his electronic/ambient vision. Created over two evenings at the close of 2023, the music was recorded in the same sequenced flow as presented on the two discs' 116 minutes. The five long-form tracks were performed on a single instrument -- the Oberheim OB-X8 -- the modern equivalent of the iconic Oberheim OB-8 which Steve used 40 years ago in the making of his classic piece 'Structures from Silence.' Steve reflects, 'As I conceived these pieces, the intention and flow was to merge into the space where 'Structures' was born. Not as a nostalgic tribute but rather embodying the place where this essence lives within me. It's the realm where I fully inhabit the emotional suspension and dynamic connection to the transportive power of sound. Expressing it in the moment with clarity and focus.'"

"Jackson C. Frank has become a folk legend. As an American folk musician and songwriter known for his brief but influential career in the 1960s. His debut album, Jackson C. Frank, is considered a folk classic. It featured songs like 'Blues Run the Game' and 'Milk and Honey,' which have been covered by numerous artists over the years including Simon and Garfunkel, Nick Drake and Bert Jansch."

Mega-rare UK private album by singer/songwriter Jeremy Harmer, featuring David Costa of psych-folk band Trees on guitar. Melancholic, introspective psych-folk with chamber/baroque feel. Guitar, flute, viola, bass, drums -- Jeremy Harmer started singing and playing at school and university, where his circle of friends included aspiring folk musicians like Nick Drake and pre-Trees David Costa. Jeremy has a long history as a singer/songwriter and performer, along with his work in the field of English language teaching. Idiosyncratics and Swallows' Wings was recorded one night in 1968 at the studios of Anglia Television, Norwich, while Jeremy was at the University of East Anglia. Along with Jeremy singing and playing guitar, the album features a mini-chamber ensemble of flute, viola, bass and drums with orchestral arrangements written by John Trevitt from the School of Fine Arts. Jeremy's friend David Costa played guitar on several tracks and co-wrote "Tuesday P.M." Only 99 copies were pressed at the time and all were sold to people at the University, making it impossible to find now. Includes booklet with liner notes and photos. RIYL: Nick Drake, John Cale, Bert Jansch, Incredible String Band, Will Malone.

LP version. Clear vinyl. "Known for the monolithic force of their music and their inventive production techniques, The Body's albums are benchmarks in the expansion and evolution of heavy music. Tightly packed with deceptively nuanced arrangements and exhilarating, challenging distortion, their compositions are possessed of an unmistakably singular sound. The Crying Out of Things is no exception; a culmination of all that The Body have done before, highlighting their mastery of dynamic and monumental music that pushes toward the unmistakable sound of oblivion. The Body have produced a wealth of groundbreaking collaborations with the likes of Full of Hell, Thou, Uniform, BIG|BRAVE, OAA, and Dis Fig. The duo's benchmark albums have, over the past two decades, changed the perceptions and directions of heavy music. The Crying Out of Things' embrace of noise is a comprehensive display of the multitude of expressions possible with abrasive sound, a skill that The Body have pioneered and refined. 'I think for us the key to the way we use noise is, it's not the only element,' says Buford. 'You've gotta really listen if you're into noise. But it also has to have dynamics. Where, say, BIG|BRAVE (who have a similar ethos) expresses it in this more intellectual, minimalist way, The Body comes from an instinctual, maximalist way. We're trying to cover it ALL.' The Body stand alone in their ability to connect disparate influences and collaborators into a wholly original, potent and singular work. Alongside producer/engineer Seth Manchester, the duo's voracious and omnivorous musical appetites have pushed the studio as an instrument into new avenues to conjure profound feelings from the music. The Crying Out of Things cements The Body's place as a leader of heavy new music, their boundless creativity, their defining ability to convey anguish, created with a visceral clarity to devastating impact."

"The results are harsh but exhilarating, loud enough to make you worry about your speakers and anguished enough to make you worry about your sanity." --Pitchfork

"Whether it's a sludge-metal lope or a near-techno pulse, this truly awesome album's sense of rhythm is perhaps its note of hope, suggesting a centre that just might hold even as things fall apart." --The Guardian

"The Body present the most uncomprimising result of their researches into the combination of harsh noise and extreme metal to date." --The Quietus

"Ten times more extreme." --The Wire, Cover feature

2024 repress, originally released 1998. Juan Atkins's Infiniti project combines raw tactility and puristic elegance on Skynet, where slinking grooves mask chaotic frequencies and roughly-hewn structure. Alongside fellow Detroit legend Terrence Dixon, who appears on several tracks, Atkins exposes the life and emotion in machines, outputting a biomorphic atmosphere of industrial soul. The ongoing importance of this album is indisputable, essential both to techno and to Tresor.

2024 limited restock. A marvelous double album as document of the historical collaboration between Don Cherry and Swiss pianist, composer George Gruntz, a central figure in European jazz who always showed a special interest in extending his solid post bop skills through other languages such as ethnic or even baroque music. This is North-African, deep-flavored jazz recorded live in Tunisia and Germany in May and September 1969, with Cherry (cornet, flute) and Gruntz (piano, celeste) leading a highly mixed line-up featuring multi reeds player Sahib Shihab, bassists Henry Texier and Eberhard Weber, and Swiss drummer extraordinaire Daniel Humair, plus four North African musicians on traditional instruments like bendir, ney, bagpipes, tabla and darbouka. A trance-inducing jazz ritual. Line-up: George Gruntz - piano, celeste; Don Cherry - cornet, flute; Sahib Shihab - flute, alto flute, soprano saxophone; Henri Texier - bass; Daniel Humair - drums; Salah El Mehdi - ney, flute; Moktar Slama - bendire, bagpipe, mezuette, soukra; Jelloud Osman - ney, bendire, mezzuette, bagpipe; Hattab Jouini - tabla, darbouka, bendire; Eberhard Weber - bass (tracks 7-9). Tracks 1-6 Recorded in Tunisia, May 1969; tracks 7-9 Recorded in Stuttgart, Germany at Beethovensaal der Linderhalle, September 5, 1969.

LP version. Black Truffle presents a tenth anniversary reissue of Oren Ambarchi's Quixotism, originally released on Editions Mego in 2014. Recorded with a multitude of collaborators in Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA, Quixotism presents the fruit of two years of work in the form of a single, LP-length piece in five parts. Quixotism takes the driving rhythmic aspect of works such as "Sagittarian Domain" to new levels, with the entirety of this long-form work built on a foundation of pulsing double-time electronic percussion provided by Thomas Brinkmann. Beginning as almost subliminal propulsion behind cavernous orchestral textures and John Tilbury's delicate piano interjections, the percussive elements (elaborated on by Ambarchi and Matt Chamberlain) slowly inch into the foreground of the piece before suddenly breaking out into a polyrhythmic shuffle around the halfway mark, and joined by master Japanese tabla player U-zhaan for the piece's final, beautiful passages. The pulse acts as thread leading the listener through a heterogeneous variety of acoustic spaces, from the concert hall in which the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra were recorded to the intimacy of Crys Cole's contact-mic textures. Ambarchi's guitar itself ranges over this wide variety of acoustic spaces, from airless, clipped tones to swirling, reverberated fog. Within the complex web Ambarchi spins over the piece's steadily pulsing foundation, elements approach and recede in a non-linear fashion, even as the piece plots an overall course from the grey, almost Nono-esque reverberated space of its opening section to the crisp foreground presence of Jim O'Rourke's synth and Evyind Kang's strings in its final moments. Formally indebted to the side-long workouts of classic Cologne techno, the long-form works of composers such as Éliane Radigue and the organic push and pull of improvised performance, Quixotism is constantly in motion, yet its transitions happen slowly and steadily, often nearly imperceptible, the diverse elements which make up the piece succeeding one another with the logic of a dream. At the time of its first release, Quixotism was clearly a summation of Ambarchi's work in the years leading up to it. Now, listening back a decade later, it also seems like an arrow pointing to the future, suggesting paths that would be explored further in works to come: the pulsating guitar layers of "Hubris," the album-length collaboration with Jim O'Rourke and U-zhaan on "Hence," "Shebang"'s joyous layering and percussive drive. Now sounding better than ever in a new remaster by Joe Talia, the time is ripe to rediscover its quixotic charms.

Double LP version. Michael Mayer albums don't come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. Mayer's name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that's both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that's as exploratory as it is functional. On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There's that iconic album title, for a start. For Mayer, it's partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing. With The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that's varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable. Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs. Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout. There's psychedelic techno on "Feuerstuhl", more minimal techno with "Ardor," slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through "Sycophant", a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy "The Solution." The album closes with the melancholy "Süßer Schlaf", where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in an abstract tribute to a lost friend. It's one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There's also an update on 2020's wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of "Brainwave 2.0," where Mayer's thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album's spirit: "Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music."

LP version. Wewantsounds presents the release of one of Japan's most coveted albums of the '70s, Mangekyou by singer-songwriter Yoshiko Sai. Produced in 1975 by Master musician Yuji Ohno, the album features Yoshiko Sai's superbly crafted songs and crystal-clear voice over Ohno's lush, funky sound and breezy arrangements. A strong buzz has been growing around the album over the years and original copies now change hands for large sums of money. This is the first time Mangekyou is available outside of Japan, featuring remastered audio, original artwork and a four-page insert including new liner notes by Paul Bowler. Yoshiko Sai holds a unique status in the Japanese music landscape. The Japanese singer songwriter made a strong impression with her blend of ethereal melodies, poetic lyrics and crystalline singing. A private, almost enigmatic artist, Sai only made four highly praised albums during the '70s and all but retired from the music industry in 1979, which adds to the mystic surrounding her persona. Only thanks to the persistence of Japanese guitarist Jojo Hiroshige from the noise group Hijokaidan did she come out of retirement to record new material in the 2000s. She was originally noticed by key record labels and swiftly signed to Black Records/Teichiku. This led to the recording of Mangekyou ("Kaleidoscope"), in the Spring of 1975. While she penned all the material for Mangekyou, the arrangements were assigned to Ace producer Yuji Ohno, one of the top arrangers in Tokyo at the time. Ohno helped craft the album's superb funk sound and also played keyboards. The album displays Sai's unique craftmanship when it comes to songwriting and alternates between mid and up-tempo songs such as "Yoru No Sei" (Night Spirit) and "Fuyu No Chikadou" (Winter Underpass) and more atmospheric ballads such as "Tsubaki Wa Ochita Kaya" (Did The Camellia Fall?) or "Yukionna" (Snow Woman). It's worth noting Ohno blended his rich arrangements with elements of Japanese traditional music, with the use of such instruments as the Shakuhachi (bamboo flute), Tsuzumi (hand drum), and Biwa (wooden lute), giving the music its unique twist. All in all, listening to Mangekyou is a unique experience and it's easy to see why the album and Yoshiko Sai garnered such a cult following over the years.

LP version. Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp's latest album, Ventre Unique, is a dynamic exploration that seamlessly blends folk, krautrock, post-punk, and African rhythms, delivering an emotionally charged yet exuberant listening experience. Helmed by Geneva-based Vincent Bertholet, the orchestra's ever-evolving lineup and distinctive sound pay homage to both African music traditions and avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp, while pushing the boundaries of contemporary music. Recorded over ten days in the outskirts of Paris at Studio Midilive, the album features an eclectic international cast of 12 musicians. The result is a beautifully organic sound that balances Bertholet's simple, loop-based compositions with intricate arrangements of marimba, horns, strings, and angular guitars. Ventre Unique is the group's sixth album and follows their acclaimed 2021 release, We're Ok But We're Lost Anyway (BJR 073LP). While their previous work captured the disarray of the world during the pandemic, Ventre Unique reflects on shared human experiences, inviting listeners to find common ground through music.

LP version. "Cybernetic disco maestro Patrick Cowley returns to Dark Entries with From Behind, a collection of grooving and ecstatic covers of '60s garage and soul cuts. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley's friends and family to uncover the singular artist's lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for films on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners. From Behind reveals yet another facet of Cowley's myriad influences; garage and soul. As a tripped-out teenage music freak who arrived in '60s San Francisco, it should come as no surprise that these psychedelic sounds, both heady and visceral, infuse Cowley's oeuvre. Recorded during Cowley's most productive period, '80-'82, these tracks show the master flexing his virtuosity while paying loving tribute to the songs that shaped him. A rough draft of Loverde's 'Iko Iko' contorts the jaunty Dixie Cups classic into a slithering, monstrous bathhouse groover, the song's signature claps draped in cavernous reverb. An unexpected hi-NRG cover of The Doors' '20th Century Fox' has Paul Parker on vocals, ironically twisting the original's overt heterosexuality. Via Cowley's vocoder, The Who's 'Shakin' All Over' is transformed into a haunting meditation on the loss of bodily autonomy that AIDS inflicts, while the Moody Blues' 'Ride My See Saw' appears in instrumental, amped up and synthesized for dancefloor impact. There are also instrumental demo versions of The Seeds' 'Pushin' Too Hard' and The Electric Prunes' 'Too Much To Dream (Last Night),' which later appeared on Paul Parker releases. Things close out with a swinging version of the Four Tops' Motown classic 'Baby I Need Your Loving,' Cowley later reimagined for R&B artist Carl Carlton. The record comes housed in a sleeve designed by Gwenaël Rattke and includes an insert with photos and liner notes written by Louis Niebur."

"Geri Allen (1957-2017) has been the most influential pianist of her generation. In 1984, her debut recording The Printmakers on Minor Music was internationally received with great praise, as a new and highly individual approach to the instrument. The NYT recently selected this album for the series: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Piano. Reviewing a performance by Ms. Allen's trio in 2011, Nate Chinen wrote in The New York Times: 'Her brand of pianism, assertive and soulful, has long suggested a golden mean of major postwar styles. She just as easily deploys the slipstream whimsy of Herbie Hancock, the earthy sweep of McCoy Tyner, and the swarming agitation of Cecil Taylor.'"

Anadol and Marie Klock have teamed up for a joint album, La Grande Accumulation. They met in 2022 at a festival in England crowded with violent seagulls and outsider musicians. Klock being prone to barking on stage and Anadol not laughing at jokes she doesn't find funny, they straight away had the intuition that they would meet again. And so they did, a few months later, at Anadol's studio in Istanbul. Today, the two Pingipung artists present the fruit of this musical friendship. La Grande Accumulation was born out of the peculiar atmosphere of the studio neighborhood in Büyükada, an island where thousands of cats run free and humans randomly destroy things during apocalyptic times when parts of Turkey had just been turned into dust by terrible earthquakes. The French lyrics are inspired by hours of conversations, the music is consequently drenched in absurdity, overflowing with a strong urge to live and enjoy. La Grande Accumulation brings together Marie Klock's mysterious metaphors and Anadol's intriguing radiophonic psych-pop. Stretching forms beyond common sense to see how long they can resist is probably their favorite game. The result are six highly imaginative tracks that challenge the sub-three-minutes standards of Spotify pop. Gözen Atila aka Anadol is well-known to the Pingipung audience, with three solo LPs on the label. Her music follows a kind of collage logic, she interweaves countless styles, combining field and studio recordings with obscure quotation marks here and there. Marie Klock is a French writer and musician who produces songs oscillating between synthpop and neo-folk, full of anarchic humor and existential dread. Marie Klock delivers her lyrics in song or spoken word, stream-of-consciousness musings on strange human adventures, and her rich keyboard melodies culminate in a nonchalant dialogue with the bass trombone ('La Reine des Bordels'). In the opulent opening piece ('La Grande Accumulation'), a woman is cursed to take home everything she kicks in the street; a bit later, listeners stumble upon a ghoul hiding in the gutter ('Sirop amer'), Mona Lisa loses her teeth ('Sonate au Jambon') and a warthog struggles to climb the stairs of a silver tower ('Sabots triviaux'). La Grande Accumulation was mixed and mastered by Jonas Romann at Chaos Compressor Club in Hamburg and cut to vinyl by Kassian Troyer at D&M in Berlin. It's an audiophile LP that invites to focus on every detail in this heap of musical ideas.

Berlin-based duo Training team up with bassist Ruth Goller for their new album Threads to Knot. Frenetic free-jazz is sitting next to post-rock riffs and looming microtonal atmospheres. The record was written in a truly collaborative effort, adapting the concept of "cadavre exquis," the popular drawing game: One person would start writing a few notes before passing it on to the next, revealing only the very last note, with which the composition continues. Training is comprised of drummer Max Andrzejewski and sax player Johannes Schleiermacher, whose last album Three Seconds saw them collaborate with Deerhoof guitarist John Dieterich. Ruth Goller, who has been hailed by the Guardian for her "thunderous bass-guitar hooks" has made waves with the release of her second album Skyllumina. She's also known as a live performer with Kit Downes, Alabaster de Plume, and Melt Yourself Down, among others.

Astral travel with Cybotron into the meta-narrative of the Parallel Shift, a new sonic fiction that raises many questions about military science of the near-future and the possibility of other worlds.

The very first reissue of the cult 11-track EP street album from year 2000 by DJ Mehdi, collecting his Espionnage adventures. DJ Mehdi was the one building bridges between French hip hop and electro, and became a key composer, producer and DJ. He was a game changer in himself, helping both French rap and electro scenes to rise in the late '90s and early 2000s. Presented in crystal-clear color vinyl. Printed clear PVC outer sleeve, printed spineless sleeve, printed inner sleeve, with marketing frontsticker. Featuring collaborations with Feadz, The Cambridge Circus, Rocé, Dany Dan, Zdar, Karlito, and Rohff.