Great Music! thrives with..

Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans! Scott Robinson's Doc Savage-tet! David Rosenboom! Mick Barr/Kevin Shea! Garrison Hawk + Sly & Robbie! Marsh/Dunmall/Gibbs! Adam Caine/Federico Ughi! Jack O' The Clock! Brian Eno!

Joe McPhee's Lonely Woman! John Butcher! Yule Respect Sextet! Rabih Abou-Khalil! Loren Connors/Suzanne Langille! Neneh Cherry/The Thing: remixes by Merzbow/Jim O'Rourke et al! Wolfram Trio! Philip Samartzis/Sachiko M!

Popofoni '73: Garbarek/Rypdal/Kolberg/Krog/Stenson/Anderson/Christensen! Elephant9! William Basinski: 15 Disc + Book Box Set! Panzerpappa! Oren Ambarchi/James Rushford! White Out! Stockhausen! Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler!

Coltrane Newport '63-65 Complete! Mad Music Inc! Michael Svoboda! European Jazz 10 CD Box - Cheep! Velvet Underground!




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The DMG Free Weekly In-Store Performance Series Continues With:


THIS SUNDAY, November 11th Double-Header:
6pm: MOFODISHU: MIKE NOORDZY / CHRIS WELCOME / MAX ROSS! Contra-Alto Clarinet/Guitar/Laptop trio!
7pm: KYOKO KITAMURA & ANN RHODES - Perform ANTHONY BRAXTON Vocal Music!

Sunday, November 18th Double-Header:
6pm: BILL COLE / SHAYNA DULBERGER DUO! Double Reeds & Upright Bass!
7pm: ERIKA DAGNINO / RAS MOSHE / MATT LAVELLE + STEVE DALACHINSKY! Poetry/Sax/Trumpet & Reeds!

Sunday, November 25th Double-Header:
6pm: DEE POP and DANIEL CARTER! Outstanding Drums & Multi-Horn Duo!
7pm: FLIPCITY: DAVID AARON - Saxes / WILL McEVOY - Bass / KATE PITTMAN - Drums!

Sunday, December 2nd - MannyLunch Birthday Double-Header:
6pm: ISAAC DARCHE/HAIM PESKOFF/NICK JOST! New BJU CD - Guitar/Bass/Drums!
7pm: JESSE DULMAN & JASON CANDLER - Tubs & Electric Sax Duo!

Sunday, December 9th Double-Header:
6pm: MATT LAVELLE - Solo Reading from his Book & Music for Trumpet & Reeds!
7pm: JAMES BRANDON LEWIS/MAX JOHNSON/WES REID - Tenor Sax, Bass & Drums

Sunday, December 16th Double-Header:
6pm: GEORGE SCHULLER / PETER APFELBAUM / BRAD SHEPIK! Drums / Tenor Sax / Guitar Trio!
7pm: LISA MEZZACAPPA / MATT NELSON / JONATHAN GOLDBERGER! - Bass, Tenor Sax, El Guitar!

Sunday, December 23rd:
6pm: DMG's First Annual Happy Holiday Party - Food, Drink, and surprise MUSICal Guests!

Sunday, December 30th:
No In-Store! We Need a Break! Happy New Year to All..and get Smashed!


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SCOTT ROBINSON DOCTETTE With RANDY SANDKE/TED ROSENTHAL/DENNIS IRWIN/PAT O'LEARY/DENNIS MACKEREL - Bronze Nemesis: 12 Fantastic Musical Adventures Inspired By The Amazing Works Of Doc Savage! (ScienSonic DOC-TONE 01; USA) From the NY Times review of the CD release concert: "Mr. Robinson's vividly realized new album, 'Bronze Nemesis, pays homage to Doc Savage, the fictional pulp hero of the 1930s and '40s, also known as the Man of Bronze. Each of its 12 tracks is titled after a Doc Savage novel (there were 181 of them from 1933-1949!), in a show of dedicated fandom that doubles as an outreach beyond the usual jazz circles. Besides himself, the other members of the Scott Robinson Doctette are the trumpeter Randy Sandke, the pianist Ted Rosenthal, the bassist Pat O'Leary and the drummer Dennis Mackrel - musicians not generally associated with the jazz avant-garde, despite a few meaningful forays. And of course, a James Bama depiction of Clark 'Doc' Savage Jr graces the cover!
A deep, satisfying rumble anchored the home stretch of Scott Robinson's first set at the Jazz Standard on Wednesday night. It came from a few different sources, including a theme terra, the sub-woofing bass drum rarely heard outside of Brazilian samba troupes, and an upright bass, expertly bowed to produce a drone. But its primary engine was the hulking contrabass saxophone to which Mr. Robinson was attached, an exotic totem for a multireedist whose enthusiasms run toward the unfashionable and unwieldy. No surprise, then, that he gave it an impressive workout, puffing some staccato blurts, then some elephantine bleats, and finally a corkscrew line negotiated with staggering agility. He was working his way through a composition called The Man Who Shook the Earth, and the context behind the music gave it an expressionistic purpose: that rumble was meant to be taken literally.
Switching often among the saxophone family - not just alto and tenor but also bass and mezzo-soprano, along with that gargantuan contrabass - Mr. Robinson managed to locate a different voice and sonority for each. (His mellow alto clarinet tone on The Secret in the Sky struck yet another identity; likewise his theremin swoon.) Versatility has long been his trademark as a section player, notably in the Maria Schneider Orchestra, but here he made it feel compulsory. He doesn't often get his own platform. "Bronze Nemesis," he said onstage, had been 10 years in the making. Trotting it out seemed both a relief and a privilege, one that he good-naturedly took to heart.
The performance was a worthwhile reminder that in jazz, experimentalism flows across delineations of style. The Metal Master, a funk groove bracketed by clanking abstraction, indirectly evoked the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Mad Eyes, which had Mr. Robinson playing a toylike slide saxophone within the signal area of a Moog theremin, suggested both the spooky theatricality of a Halloween special and the vintage futurism of the Sun Ra Arkestra. (Outer space is another of Mr. Robinson's preoccupations; one of his other recent albums features the Arkestra's longtime steward, Marshall Allen.) And on The Mental Wizard, a complexly plotted finale, Mr. Robinson deftly weighed open-ended intrigue against effervescent swing!" - Nate Chinen, NYT
"Mr. Robinson has obviously worked hard and smart at creating these musical 'adventure' stories. Each piece stands on its own - no small feat - drawing in and blending diverse themes, whilst switching off between a half dozen different reeds, all kinds of exotic percussion, and theremin which he uses selectively to add anomalous suspense-filled sounds. Like the pulp fiction character, whatever instrument Robinson plays is most often at the center of the ongoing action. Under-appreciated trumpeter Randy Sandke gets a number of chances to stretch with inspired solos. The gargantuan contra-bass sax is very rarely utilized by most wind players, except for Anthony Braxton. Robinson plays this unwieldy sax on some of the pieces, taking superb solos and creating lush harmonies with Sandke's trumpet. Composed and recorded over a 10 year period, this disc also features a stunning double-bass solo by the late Dennis Irwin as The Golden Man track. This is a truly genre-busting concept jazz album that works successfully on so many levels simultaneously. Bravo! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


WEASEL WALTER/MARY HALVORSON/PETER EVANS - Mechanical Malfunction (Thirsty Ear 57204; USA) Following their critically acclaimed album 'Electric Fruit' (released on the heels of their ltd ed Mystery Meat CD) the trio of Weasel Walter on drums, Mary Halvorson on guitar and Peter Evans on trumpet have masterfully crafted their second Thirsty Ear release 'Mechanical Malfunction'. The trio's blistering performances will, in equal parts, enrage, excite and bewilder. Anchored with compositions that sparkle and twist, the tunes morph into magical journeys.
"The trio have decided to do something different this time so each member contributed 2 or 3 pieces, as well as two trio improves which kick off and close this disc. Over the past few years, Weasel, Mary and Peter have been leading several bands as well as collaborating with a wide variety of Downtown's most creative players and composers. The opening group improv is a tight, completely focused, exciting and shows off their daredevil expansive reach. The trio shifts gears, dynamics and genres furiously. You can't really make expectations of what this trio will do since each piece involves a variety of stylistic directions. Weasel's Vektor is an impressive, super-tight, super-quick Minutemen-like stop & start punk/jazz gem while Mary's Broken Toy is slower yet the trio have magical way of moving around one other in harmonious orbits creating numerous inter-connected tapestries. All of these pieces are phenomenal, almost too good to be true. There is a joyous glee at the center of this as if they are laughing at the ridiculous amount of twists, turns and surprises that erupt throughout this dynamite disc. Great googly moogly! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUS [COLIN MARSTON/MIKE LERNER/WEASEL WALTER] - Horrorscension (Black Market 452; USA) After 5 years, Behold The Arctopus have returned!!! Since the 2007 release of their last album, Skullgrid, the presence of BTA has grown and soared with the popularity of 12-string, Warr guitar-wielding, composer/producer, Colin Marston. In the interim, Marston has bolstered his presence and fan base, releasing albums with his other bands, Gorguts, Krallice and Dysrhythmia, as well as engineering records in various capacities for Genghis Tron, Jarboe and Orthrelm. Besides Marston's stature as an innovator of everything avant-garde and aggressive, Horrorscension is drummer, Weasel Walter s debut with the group. Weasel is the mastermind behind The Flying Luttenbachers for past 16 years, creator of the cult ugEXPLODE Records, a multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser extraordinaire. Weasel's extreme progressive music was a major influence on the band from the beginning and his style brings a more exciting and aggressive nature to the songs. Weasel also composed two songs for the new album, which provides a nice contrast to Marston's writing and guitarist, Mike Lerner's unholy soloing. The band has spent the last 2 years constructing this album entirely in notated form away from instruments, before finally playing through it in a fierce, darker and more violent, yet distinctly Behold the Arctopus style. Prepare to get Disintegored!
CD $12


WEASEL WALTER/CHRIS PITSIOKOS - Unplanned Obsolescence: 7/28/12 [Ltd #d Ed of 100] (ugExplode 58; USA) This extremely limited edition LP features a hair-raising, chaotic first musical meeting by a new duo featuring infamous Flying Luttenbachers/Behold The Arctopus drum destroyer Weasel Walter and saxophone/synth player Chris Pitsiokos of the new NYC based skronk outfit Bob Crusoe. Each of these LPs are adorned with a unique handmade woodcut print on high quality acid free paper. The sounds are fast, disruptive nd varied, vacillating rapidly between stripped-down Free Jazz violence, massive blocks of harsh noise and randomized New Music pointillism.
#d LP for $24

BURMESE With WEASEL WALTER - Colony Collapse Disorder (ugExplode 60; USA) A quintet of tight-knit disasters spiraling completely in control with intent on destruction. We raise our fists in glee that they have made their ways into the doors of DMG and they call themselves Burmese. Perhaps crusty in their approach, they serve a batch of hard hitting, no-holds barred, mathematical attacks. At times reminiscent of one of my favorite bands Stretchheads if they were influenced by Grindcore. Clocking in at only eighteen minutes, but after this dense onslaught, you will want to take breather before returning to this fun again and again. Oh, did i mention Weasel Walter is on this record? Recommended!!! -Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $15

MICK BARR/KEVIN SHEA/TIM DAHL - Barr Shea Dahl (ugExplode 59; USA) Mix the distinguishable Mick Barr with the usually comedic jazz drumming of Kevin Shea and blend with the noisey proggy bass of Tim Dahl and what do you get? Harsh complexities which at times sound as though they are loops produced in the studio, but this is all live! Here is a disc that meets at the crossroads of metal and free jazz and it sounds just rightly disorienting and confusing (this is intended as a compliment since avant music should actually challenge you and this disc will!). There is no room to take a breath, you must keep up or bow out. This is high octane improv! Recorded back in 2010 in the studio but the roughness of the recording, adding a punky like quality, would have you under the illusion that this document was taken from a live gig. A very fitting group for the UgExplode expanding roster. Recommended! -Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $15


GARRISON HAWK With SLY & ROBBIE - Survive (MODT 08; USA) Produced and arranged by Bill Laswell. Garrison Hawk: vocals; Sly Dunbar: drums; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Bill Laswell: efx; Uziah "Sticky" Thompson: percussion; Dominic James: guitar; Rob Burger: organ; Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw: vocals (5); Teddy Afro: vocals (5); Shellean Denton: vocals (8). Jamaican-born and Bronx-raised Garrison Hawk had a well-established career as a reggae-R&B-trip-hop fusionist long before the release of this, his debut full-length. That fact goes some way toward explaining how he was able to secure the services of the Riddim Twins, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, to provide their trademarked elephantine grooves in support of the project. It's also likely that Sly & Robbie immediately recognized a kindred spirit: Hawk's crooning baritone singing voice and his dark, brooding toasting style are a perfect fit with the Sly & Robbie sound. On "Murderer (Down in the Ghetto)," he alternates rootsy sufferer's anthem lyrics with gruff rockstone-style DJ passages, all of it buoyed in fine style by Sly & Robbie's spare funk-reggae instrumentation. "Wild" is brooding and heavy, powered by a slow and deliberate three-against-two dancehall lurch, while "Gangster for Life" alternates elements of hip-hop, R&B, and brilliant reggae-style speed-rap. There are a couple of missteps: "What She Wants" misses the rhythmic mark, plodding heavily where other tracks at similar tempo sway and dance effortlessly, and not even Gigi's lovely vocal contributions are enough to give the tune any lift. It's also sadly true that on "Reggae Music," a brilliant melody and booming groove are wasted on lame meta-reggae lyrics. (Note to reggae singers: those who will listen to songs like this are already converted, and those who need to be convinced aren't going to be swayed by more throwaway lines about "sweet reggae music.") But the high points greatly outnumber the lows on this album, and at its best -- such as the pitch-perfect reggae-funk fusion of "Apocalypse" -- its quality is nearly transcendent. ~ Rick Anderson
CD $15


New on FMR!

TONY MARSH/PAUL DUNMALL/PHILIP GIBBS - For The Last Time (FMR 342; UK) Tony Marsh on drums, Paul Dunmall on tenor & soprano saxes & flute and Phill Gibbs on drums. Earlier this year, April of 2012, British drummer Tony Marsh passed away at the age of 72. Mr. Marsh was a favorite of UK sax great Paul Dunmall who said Marsh was one of the most musical of all drummers. Marsh also worked with the cream of the British & Euro jazz scene like Mike Osborne, George Haslam, Veryan Weston, Nick Stephens and Frode Gjerstad. Guitarist Phil Gibbs is another of Dunmall's favorite collaborators, both working together on some fifty plus discs. Mr. Gibbs was recently in NY for the first time and played with an all-star ensemble here at DMG last Sunday (11/4/12), a set no one in attendance will soon forget.
Although Mr Marsh and Mr Dunmall have played together for more than thirty years, this was the first time that this particular trio played in a decade. This is an especially magical trio, perfectly balanced on different levels. On the opening piece Dunmall plays slow and assured with that golden Trane-like tone while Gibbs plays like a jazzier version of Jimi Hendrix with layers of spinning lines and selective use of that a wah-wah pedal. Dunmall is an extraordinary multi-reeds player who most often plays sax or even bagpipes at times. It is a rarity to hear him play flute but here he plays he does so superbly working extremely well with Gibbs' tasty guitar and Marsh's excellent mallet work. What makes this date even better is that it was recorded by the consistently splendid Jonathan Scott, one of England's finest engineers. Am outstanding disc on all counts.- Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16

NEIL METCALFE/GUILLAUME VILTARD/DANIEL THOMPSON - Garden Of Water And Light (FMR 341; UK) Featuring Neil Metcalfe on flute, Guillaume Viltard on double bass and Daniel Thompson on guitar. We know flutist Neil Matcalfe from several previous discs with Paul Dunmall, Philip Gibbs, Tony Oxley and Roger Smith. Although bassist Guillaume Viltard was recently part of a trio with John Butcher and Eddie Prevost on Matchless, I can't say that I had heard his name before that. Drummer Daniel Thompson is yet another unfamiliar name for me. According to the liner notes this disc was recorded on autumnal evening in the winter just about a year ago (December of 2011), a night that was calm and beautiful. Not like tonight (11/7/12) with a heavy snow storm blowing outside. This is a marvelous trio, spinning a cosmic web lines in and around one another. Mr. Thompson appears to be playing an acoustic guitar or a hollow body jazz guitar with the pick-ups turned way down. I love the way these three musicians blend their sounds, weaving their lines intricately. The bowed bass, scraped strings and ghost-like flute sounds are a marvelous combination. Mr. Thompson's scraped guitar strings sounds like Joe Morris at times, making sounds which are both eerie and difficult to tell who is playing which instrument. This disc is superbly recorded and perfectly balanced. FMR is known for high quality recordings and this disc is improv at its best! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


RABIH ABOU-KHALIL With MICHEL GODARD/JARROD CAGWIN/GAVINO MURGIA/LUCIANO BIONDINI - Hungry People (World Village 479078; Germany) "Born and raised in the cosmopolitan climate of Beirut in the sixties and seventies, Rabih Abou-Khalil has asserted himself in the jazz avant-garde as a composer as well as an instrumentalist. With his unconstrained, yet daring approach to classical Arabic music, Abou-Khalil has found a musical language entirely his own, spanning jazz, classical, and world traditions. The music of Hungry People is unique and yet strangely familiar, delivered with a touch of humor despite the recent economic, social, and political upheavals that inspired it."
CD $20


NENEH CHERRY & THE THING [MATS GUSTAFSSON/INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE] - The Cherry Thing: Remixes (Smalltown ST 235; EEC) "Neneh Cherry & The Thing's album, The Cherry Thing, was released to amazing critical acclaim in June, 2012. Now Smalltown Supersound has put together an album of remixes, from Jim O'Rourke, Lindstrom, Prins Thomas, Merzbow, Four Tet, Kim Hiorthoy, Hortlax Cobra, Carmen Villain, Poole Blount Legacy, Nymph, and Kurzmann."
CD $16


A New Norwegian label, Va Fongool!
[Fongool? hmmm..]

ICH BIN N!NTENDO [CHRISTIAN WINTHER/MAGNUS NEGAARD/JOAKIM HEIBO JOHANSEN] & MATS GUSTAFSSON - Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson (Va Fongool 02; EEC) Ich Bin N!ntendo, a young, fresh, "in-your-face" trio playing improvised noise-punk, are now out with their debut album on the Oslo-based label Va Fongool. On board they have two of the world's most critically-acclaimed noise-improvisers Mats Gustafsson and Lasse Marhaug. Ich Bin N!ntendo is a hard-hitting Oslo-based trio consisting of Christian Winther (electric guitar), Magnus Negaard (electric bass) and Joakim Heibo Johansen (drums). During the spring of 2012, they teamed up with Mats Gustafsson (winner of the Nordic Council Music Prize 2011) at a concert organized by the Concert Series "Lillesalen Konsertserie" at the Norwegian Students' Society in Oslo. The meeting was particularly fruitful and has resulted in a release that musically finds itself in the intersection between free jazz and grindcore and a focus on the free improvisation as well as a powerful rhythmic drive. The trio really pushes the boundaries of what the expression "sound" can handle, which is only heightened by the extreme lung capacity of the experienced Mats Gustafsson. Mixing and mastering was done by Norway's "noise-king," Lasse Marhaug, who was delivered the music with no strings attached, so he could do exactly what he wanted with the raw material. The result has been that all the already-powerful sound has been pushed to (and beyond) the absolute maximum, which makes the whole thing even more massive.
CD $15
also available as LP for $24

WOLFRAM TRIO [HALVOR MELING/FREDRIK LUHR DIETRICHSON/JAN MARTIN GISMERVIK] - Wolfram Trio (Va Fongool 01; EEC) This is the debut album from Wolfram Trio, who seek inspiration in acoustic free jazz, citing heroes such as Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Peter Brotzmann and Evan Parker. Wolfram have played together in different constellations for several years, and have existed as they are now since 2008. They have evolved along the environment around the new young Norwegian jazz scene, based around the great schools in Oslo and Trondheim, and they're getting more and more acknowledgement for their new ways of thinking and creative methods of playing music. The album was recorded in Stavanger, Norway in September 2011 and was produced, mixed, and mastered by the great Frode Gjerstad. Wolfram has since the beginning aimed towards new and innovative sounds, finding their proper place within the Norwegian free jazz scene. Wolfram is Halvor Meling (saxophone), Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (acoustic bass) and Jan Martin Gismervik (drums).
CD $15
also available as LP for $24



New Ltd Ed from Corbett Vs Dempsey!

JOE McPHEE PO MUSIC With RADU MALFATTI/RAYMOND BONI/IRENE SCHWEIZER/FRANCOIS MECHALI et al//ORNETTE COLEMAN - The Loneliest Woman [CD ep; Ltd Ed] (CVD 21; USA) In 1981, Joe McPhee culled together one of his greatest bands to record Topology, his classic outing for Hat Hut. Feturing an expanded version of Po Music, his ensemble with saxophonist Andre Jaume, guitarist Raymond Boni, and bassist Francois Mechali, the group included pianist Irene Schweizer, percussionist Pierre Favre, baritone saxophonist Daniel Bourquin, cellist Michael Overhage, and trombonist Radu Malfatti. One of the tracks left on the cutting room floor was a spectacular take on Ornette Coleman's composition "Lonely Woman," with McPhee on pocket cornet and haunting vocals by Tamia. Thirty one years later, Corbett vs. Dempsey is proud to present The Loneliest Woman, the full, UNCUT13 glorious minutes of music, available on this CD single for the first time ever. As McPhee says: "The Loneliest Woman is lonely no more!"
CD ep for $9

and, last copies of..

JOE McPHEE QUINTET//ERNIE BOSTIC QUARTET - Live At Vassar 1970 [2 CD set] (CVD 20; USA) Joe McPhee's quintet [disc 2] features a killer free-soul-jazz fivesome, very much in the NATION TIME tradition, together with a full disc by a super-cool soul jazz band with vibes and B-3, the Ernie Bostic Quartet [Ernie being the drummer in McPhee's quintet for Nation Time]. They each played a set, same place as NATION TIME was recorded, and we've put it out with a great, heavy soul vintage photo.
2 CD set for $18

JOE McPHEE - Variations on a Blue Line (CVD 07; USA) Never before on CD! Originally released on LP as Hat Hut Records "O", 1979. Recorded live by Claude Robert October 11, 1977 at Salle Ste Croix des Pelletiers in Rouen France. Joe McPhee solo on tenor, and soprano, saxophone.
"Blue Line comes from a concert in Rouen, France, when McPhee played on a double bill with the Peter Brotzmann/Han Bennink duo. It features the side-length tenor excursion Beanstalk (dedicated to Coleman Hawkins), an alternate version of Knox (known from his beloved LP Tenor), and two soprano pieces, Motian Studies and Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight."
CD $14

JOE McPHEE With RETO WEBER - Glasses (CVD 06; USA) Never before on CD! Originally released on LP as Hat Hut "P" in 1979. Recorded October 13, 1977 at Cafe Calvado, Switzerland. Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone, flugelhorn, and percussion with Reto Weber also on percussion.
"Recorded in Tavannes, Switzerland, two nights after the mateial found on the Variations On A Blue Line album, Glasses, like Blue Line, also contains sensational tenor work, including the title piece, which finds McPhee ringing out a rhythm on a half-full wine glass, from which he extrapolates a melody on the saxophone, as well as a stunning version of John Coltrane's "Naima." The final 15 minutes are spent in duet with the Swiss percussionist Reto Weber, who was so inspired by McPhee he asked to sit in with his quite extensive battery of drums. These two records, Blue Line and Glasses, come from a year-long run during which McPhee recorded and released four very different, extremely wonderful solo records, of which only Tenor has ever been previously reissued on CD."
CD $14

JOE McPHEE - Sound On Sound [2 CD set] (CVD 05; USA) Featuring Joe McPhee on tenor & soprano sax, flute, Space Organ, kalimba, toy piano & percussion, feedback & echoplex. These two discs feature Joe McPhee's earliest experiments and recordings from different sessions in 1968, 1969, 1970 & 1973. For Joe McPhee fans worldwide, this is a good introduction to see and hear where it all began for our favorite native son. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
2 CD set for $18



RESPECT SEXTET [JAMES HIRSCHFELD/ELI ASHER/JOSH RUTNER/RED WIERENGA/MALCOLM KIRBY/TED POOR] + JACK QUARTET/MARCO CAPPELLI et al - Respect In Yule (Mode AVANT14; USA) Eli Asher: trumpet, slide trumpet, melodica, percussion; James Hirschfeld: trombone, tambourine; Josh Rutner: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, melodica, radio, percussion, trombone; Red Wierenga: piano, keyboards, redspectronics, percussion; Malcolm Kirby: bass; Ted Poor: drums, percussion. The Respect Sextet is a decade-old jazz group based in New York. For this 'holiday' album they are joined by guests from the new music and improv world: the JACK String Quartet, Ensemble Signal with conductor Brad Lubman also hitting the tymps, and guitarist Marco Cappelli.
Respect In Yule promises to be among the most fun and eclectic holiday albums ever. The music here ranges from introspective to ecstatic, from the popular to the obscure, the sacred to the secular. In choosing the repertoire, Respect wanted to pull together some of their favorite holiday music from all genres and view them through Respect-colored glasses. Featuring compositions by Misha Mengelberg, Loudon Wainwright III, Frank Loesser, Robbie Robertson (of The Band), Thelonious Monk, Jule Styne, Sun Ra, and many more, Respect In Yule represents the best of all possible worlds. A truly unique holiday release that is bound to appeal to new music, jazz, improvisation, and.. holiday music audiences alike!
CD $15

also available

RESPECT SEXTET [JAMES HIRSCHFELD/ELI ASHER/JOSH RUTNER/RED WIERENGA/MALCOLM KIRBY or MATT CLOHESY/TED POOR]//SUN RA/KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN - Sirius Respect: The Respect Sextet Play The Music Of Sun Ra & Stockhausen (Mode AVANT06; USA)
CD $15



New from '577'!

ADAM CAINE/FEDERICO UGHI - 11 01 11 ('577' Records SPEC; USA) Featuring Adam Caine on electric guitar and Federico Ughi on drums. This disc was recorded live on tour in Denver, CO and in Brooklyn in 2011. Adam Caine has two fine trio discs out on the No Business & TrueFalse labels, as well as working with Eric Eigner's seven piece unit. Since moving to Brooklyn from London and Italy, Mr. Ughi has worked with dozens of Downtown's finest players like Daniel Carter, William Parker and Darius Jones. When Hurricane Sandy hit (10/29/12) New Jersey lst week, I was home alone in my apartment on the top floor of a 100 year old building. I lost power at 7pm and was scared since for the first in the thirty plus years that I lived there, the building was swaying back and forth. The wind howled loudly and I saw tree branches sailing by at a furious pace. When I first played this disc earlier this week, this is what it reminded me of: a dark, powerful, massive force, erupting intensely. Mr. Ughi is a most creative drummer, who plays differently in each context, from quiet to swinging to explosive, depending on the siuation. For this disc, Mr. Caine blasts free tortured lines, bent notes and sometimes shredding like a metal guitarist with jazz chops. What is interesting is that Caine and Ughi just got back from another tour last week on the same day that Hurricane Sandy hit. Luckily both of them arrived safely and just in time and are still with us. This disc is a testament to their formidable skills. Watch out! The force is with them. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

'577 is run by Downtown composer/drummer/bandleader Federico Ughi. Recently Federico let David Schnug curate a new series on 577, designated 578_. The first three discs have just been released. All three are strong and recommended.
They are..

AELLA [PATRICK BREINER//MAX GOLDMAN/METTE HENRIETTE MERTEDATTER ROLVAG] - Aella ('577' Records 5782; USA) Featuring Patrick Breiner on tenor sax & clarinet, Mette Henriette Martedatter Rolvag on tenor sax and Max Goldman on drums. Wow! This is really something else! Twice in the past week, folks have asked what I was playing, they were completely knocked out by this unknown gem! Saxist Patrick Breiner has appeared on some half dozen discs that I've reviewed over the past year or two with Will McEvoy and Brad Henkel. Drummer Max Goldman is also found on another recent 577 CD with Dave Schnugg. I hadn't heard of Ms. Rolvag before this disc but it turns out that she is Norwegian and probably part of a scene I know little about. Although this music is fully free or improvised, it doesn't sound like that much of the time. Midway through this disc, there is a piece called Caged that is amazing! The drummer plays a throbbing, repeating pattern while one sax repeats a riff and the other sax solos around the repeating riff. Both saxes seem to shadow each other, dancing tightly around the central flame or rhythm, spinning tightly in separate yet related orbits. All three members of this trio are integral to the solid group sound. On AE both saxes center in on microscopic bent notes and twisted breath-like sounds while the drummer plays slow textural sounds. It sounds as if this trio has been playing together for a while (they had just done a tour around this time) as they work extremely well together. Another treasure from the school of outstanding unknowns. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

AMYGDALA [ALAN BJORKLUND/PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER/CODY BROWN et al] - History Lesson ('577' Records 5785; USA) Amygdala features Alan Bjorklund on trumpets, Andrew Carrico on bari sax, Trevor Lagrange on piano & accordion, Ryan Clackner on guitar, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Cody Brown on drums. Although the rhythm team members, Pascal Niggenkemper and Cody Brown are the only names I recognize here, I have also seen the trumpet man play live as well. This is an immensely diverse sextet with 19, mostly shorter, tracks. Besides a half dozen group improvs, many of the pieces were written by three of the members Clackner, Bjorklund and Lagrange. These young men are not bound by any stylistic boundaries, as each piece draws from a variety of sources. If I were to call this chamber jazz, that would be misleading since this is only a part of what is going on. "Multiple Personalities" has the guitar, trumpet and piano playing around one another and then switching roles or lines. There are also a handful of short interludes between the longer written works, truly special in that the composers have found a way of making these segues count. Often filled with layers of complex harmonies or arrangements. Considering that none of these musicians are well known as of yet, this is an impressive debut that never stays in one place for very long and is filled a great deal of unexpected twists and turns. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

DAVID SCHNUG TRIO With CHRIS TORDINI/MAX GOLDMAN - David Schnug Trio ('577' Records 5781; USA) David Schnug on alto & soprano sax & compositions, Chris Tordini on bass and Max Goldman on drums. While both Mr. Schnug and Mr. Goldman are new names for me, I do know Mr. Tordini from several projects and gigs with Tyshawn Sorey, Michael Dessen and Ari Hoenig. Starting with "Force of Habit", I am reminded of Ian Underwood's superb sly soprano playing on Frank Zappa's classic 'Hot Rats' album: playful yet effective. The effervescent rhythm team sounds very like Ornette's original quartet: buoyant and tight. Schnug's writing keeps everyone on their toes with the bass and drums speeding up and slowing down as one solid stream. Each piece involves a variety of changes in direction, tight navigation and sections which are connected in weird yet winning ways. No one really solos here very much although the music is consistently compelling. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15


New on Northern Spy!

JOHN BUTCHER - Bell Trove Spools (Northern Spy 032; USA) To say that John Butcher has made a science of the saxophone is no idle chatter. By the time he earned a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College in 1977, Butcher had already turned his attention to the saxophone. Over the ensuing decades, he has developed a thoroughly unique language based on an intense understanding of the properties of air moving through a tube. Few have done as much to advance the language of the saxophone since John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and the fiery explosion of the 1960s than Butcher has.
In more recent years he has extended his sound chamber to include the whole of the space he's playing in - sometimes as large as an empty water cistern in Scotland, a 400-foot tall gas pipe in Germany or a lava-carved cavern in Japan. He has played in windstorms, allowing the elements to blow through the mouthpiece as he positioned and fingered the horn. And he has reduced the playing field to the horn's interior, using a microphone positioned inside the bell to create what is essentially a device for controlling and modifying feedback.
Northern Spy is proud to present two of Butcher's most recent experiments in moving soundwaves through space. On Bell Trove Spools we hear Butcher in two distinct situations: Richmond Hall, a Houston art gallery housing a permanent Dan Flavin collection that has been compared to a bowling alley; and the high-ceilinged marble room in Brooklyn which is the new home to Issue Project Room. Butcher is heard on his two saxes of choice, the soprano and the tenor, and suspended in space, fluid, challenging, at times melodic and always exciting.
In short, John Butcher knows how to work a room X and thatXs not about relating to the audience. In fact, there was no audience present for the Brooklyn session. Bell Trove Spools is just Butcher and a saxophone and spaces ready to receive. The results speak for themselves.
CD $13

LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS & SUZANNE LANGILLE - I Wish I Didn't Dream [CD + Booklet] (Northern Spy 031; USA) I Wish I Didn't Dream, the new album of duets by guitarist Loren Connors and vocalist Suzanne Langille, was cut in just a few hours of studio time. But the pieces started falling into place 15 years earlier on the 10th floor of a nondescript building in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.
It was there, at the old location of the Brecht Forum, that Connors got to know writer and WFMU DJ Kurt Gottschalk, who was curating a concert series there. On occasion Tom Abbs (now President of Northern Spy Records) would co-program weekend festivals there, sometimes bringing in MP Landis to do live painting during the performances. Flash forward to the present. Gottschalk was selecting paintings and writing text for a book of Landis' paintings and the two begin imagining a soundtrack for the book. The obvious choice would be Connors, a painter himself, and Langille, an admirer of Landis' work. The more they talked about it, the more plausible it seemed. Gottschalk had already produced a Northern Spy release with Connors and Langille (Haunted House, Blue Ghost Blues, NS012, with Andrew Burnes and Neel Murgai) which featured one of Landis' paintings on the cover.
Within a few months a session had been booked in the same studio where Blue Ghost Blues was recorded. The process was simple. Slides from Landis' WD series of paintings were shown on a screen and Connors and Langille responded. There was no advance preparation other than a folder of verses (her own as well as Keats, Denis McCarthy and some nearly lost to history) Langille brought to the session.
The resulting album, their first duo record in 14 years, is as vulnerable as it is beautiful. Langille sings as if she's speaking cautiously, Connors' guitar barely whispers, but at any turn either might erupt in screams. Do they not want to yearn for more, or do they fear their nightmares? Their dreams are a haunting mystery.
"Scary, intense, solitary, eerie, mesmerizing, serene in places, the calm before the storm or hurricane. No one plays guitar like Loren Connors: fractured, dreary, nightmarish, swirling, scary, blistering, shimmering, twisted, images from the haunted house, ghosts slowly drifting byÉ Suzanne also sounds unique reading the words of John Keats, Robert Horton, Denis McCarthy, an ancient (1,600's) English folk tune and other world weary words. There is a deep, sad, bluesy, despairing vibe that runs through this disc. A perfect conclusion for a month with a hurricane, a snow storm and a dreaded election." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD + Art Booklet for $14

COLIN L ORCHESTRA [COLIN LANGENUS et al] - COL (Northern Spy 030; USA) Col is what people call me when they know me really well. COL is a 65 minute psychedelic concept record. COL is the 3rd and last part of a trilogy I started some 5 years ago. Along with Infinite Ease and Good God [available as one double-CD package], these records were designed to showcase my mellower pop, jam band, yacht rock side. Now, COL takes it one step further. I made this record for me. It resembles some of my favorite records growing up like Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, The Beatles White Album, Beastie Boys' Check Your Head, Ween's Chocolate and Cheese, or Living Colour's Times Up - records with multiple genres, real epic journeys, schizophrenic rides. From pop to country to noise to psych to oldies and even a little rapping, we do everything that makes up Col the man on COL the album.
CD $13
THE USA IS A MONSTER [USAISAMONSTER: COLIN LANGENUS/TOM HOHMANN et al] - Lost and Found: Rarities (Northern Spy 033; USA)
CD $13



JACK O' THE CLOCK [DAMON WAITKUS et al] - How Are We Doing And Who Will Tell Us? (JOTC 02; USA) "Jack o' the Clock are an unbelievably great band, Damon Waitkus is an extraordinarily courageous composer, and this is some of the freshest and most surprising music I've heard since, well, since their first record. Hallelujah!"-Fred Frith That's really some praise and should make even the most jaded of you give this a glance. The band was sent my way by Scott Brazieal, ex Cartoon, and I was interested in what I heard even before I saw that quote! The band call themselves 'majestic junk folk' and that's a pretty funny but not inaccurate description for a band who blend folk music and experimental music together in a way that sometimes is a bit reminscent of some aspects of Alec K. Redfearn and the Eyesores, but folkier and even more song-oriented, while just as exploratory - albeit in a 'gentler' way. The line up / instruments used get the general feeling across:
Jordan Glenn - drums, percussion, accordion / Jason Hoopes - basses, voice, piano / Kate McLoughlin - bassoon, voice, flute, recorder, percussion / Emily Packard - 5 string and baritone violins, viola, banjo, psaltery, melodica, musical saw / Damon Waitkus - voice, guitar, hammer dulcimer, banjo, piano, pianet, flute, ukelin, percussion, production. "Jack O' The Clock brings a quietly giddy sort of energy to the intersection of American folk songwriting and experimental music. The group's sound, a jangly mix of concert-hall agility, acoustic rock drive, and junk shop scouring, is characterized by tight vocal harmonies and intricate arrangements for unusual combinations of instruments made possible by the varied musical experience and multi-instrumentalism of its five members, who have played everything from new music to art metal to fingerstyle folk to free improvisation, sometimes in the same concert. Jack O' The Clock's recordings go beyond the group's live sound to incorporate bits of on-location percussion, found sounds, clandestinely recorded monologues, city noise, and various birds and insects, as well as a number of guest musicians and singers. This is a band entranced by and dedicated to songs, which it crafts with resolute attention to voice, melody, and storytelling. These songs are embodiments of the small, magisterial, inane, inspired, and pedestrian voices of everyday people and staticky news reports filtered through a string of sleepless nights. Your weird neighbors and relatives squawking back at you at 5AM."
CD $11

JACK O' THE CLOCK [DAMON WAITKUS et al] - Rare Weather (JOTC 01; USA) Jack O' The Clock brings a quietly giddy sort of energy to the possibilities that spring up where American folk songwriting meets experimental music. The group's sound, a jangly mix of concert-hall agility, acoustic rock drive, and junk shop scouring, is characterized by innovative arrangements for combinations of instruments you are not likely to have heard elsewhere - psaltery, banjo, and bassoon, over a bed of electric bass and bundt pans, for example - made possible by the varied musical experience and multi-instrumentalism of its five members, who have played everything from new music to art metal to fingerstyle folk to free improvisation, sometimes in the same concert. This is primarily, however, a band entranced by and dedicated to songs, which it crafts with resolute attention to voice, melody, and storytelling. You cannot be in a hurry if you want to digest this music: each song demands a certain amount of time and attention to burn its particular place and mood into the listener's mind, though it is not particularly unsmiling or difficult music to listen to. These songs are embodiments of the small, magisterial, inane, inspired, and pedestrian voices of everyday people and headlines bubbling up from a deep sleep. Bits of unwritten myth. Your weird neighbors and internalized relatives talking back at you. Jack O' The Clock's recordings go beyond the group's live sound to incorporate on-location percussion, found sounds, clandestinely taped monologues, citynoise, and all manner of insects and birds, as well as a handful of guest musicians and singers. The production of "Rare Weather" predates the group's current lineup, featuring founding members Damon Waitkus, Emily Packard, Nicci Reisnour and Jordan Glenn, with guest vocals by Marty McGinn, Shauna Jones, and Kris Drickey, trombone by Andy Strain, clarinets by Jon Russell, and Arp Odyssey by Dave McNally.
"So, TWO discs from an unknown Bay Area band came in the mail recently with a tasty liner note blurb from Fred Frith extolling their virtues. I was quite intrigued - I take a Fred recommendation very seriously! I haven't heard a disc quite like this in a long while. Quirky, odd, enchanting, Canterbury-esque, fun and consistently filled with surprises. It doesn't quite sound like another band that I can pin down yet it most enticing. A long time ago (like the 1960's), certain bands would seem to come out of nowhere and leave us with a treasure, take us on a journey, alter our reality with their own dreamscape. Each song goes through a series of changes or scenes. Each instrument is used carefully to accentuate a certain mood or turn in direction. If you listen to any vocal music, rock, prog or even ethnic sounds, you should check this gem out. It is not like anything currently around and winner of Bruce's undiscovered jewel on the month." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $11


BRIAN ENO - Lux (Warp 231; UK) "Lux is Brian Eno's first solo album on Warp Records and his first solo release since 2005's Another Day On Earth. It finds him expanding upon the types of themes and sonic textures that were present on such classic albums as Music for Films, Music for Airports, and Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Eno sees it as a continuation of his 'Music for Thinking' project that includes Discreet Music (1975) and Neroli (1993). Lux is one of Eno's most ambitious works to date; it is a 76 minute composition in twelve sections that evolved from a work currently housed in the Great Gallery of the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Italy. The album is Eno's third for Warp, following Small Craft on a Milk Sea (with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams) and Drums Between the Bells (with Rick Holland)."
CD $16


WILLIAM BASINSKI - The Disintegration Loops I - II - III - IV + Live at 54th Venice Biennale + Live at Metropolitan Museum of Art + [9 LP + 5 CD + DVD + BOOK Box Set] (Temp Residence 194; USA) 9 LPs, 5 CDs, a DVD and a 144-page full-color coffee table book. "For a collection of music built around the poignant inevitability of decay, there has been a great many hopeful and inspired words devoted to William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops: stunning, ethereal, majestic, transfixing, life-affirming... and for good reason. From its 20-year gestation period to its infamously fateful completion, The Disintegration Loops is one of the most powerful manifestations of the inevitable cycle of life ever committed to tape, even as it documents the inevitable decay of all that is committed to tape. The very passage of time is its most effective instrument. To mark the 10-year anniversary of its original release -- and its forthcoming induction into the 9/11 Memorial Museum this year -- Temporary Residence Ltd. is honored to collaborate with William Basinski in presenting The Disintegration Loops in a fashion truly befitting a library of music with such a lasting legacy.
This massive limited-edition box set contains all four historic volumes, plus a pair of stunning live orchestral performances from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 54th Venice Biennale, both previously unreleased. Remastered from the original recordings and pressed onto 100% virgin vinyl for the first and only time, this exquisite box set also includes all of the remastered recordings on 5 CDs, the extremely rare 63-minute The Disintegration Loops film on DVD, and a 144-page full-color coffee table book featuring rare photos taken during the making of The Disintegration Loops, and liner notes by Basinski, Antony, David Tibet of Current 93, Ronen Givony of the Wordless Music Series, and Michael Shulan, Creative Director of the National September 11 Memorial Museum."
9 LP + 5 CD + DVD + BOOK Box Set for $325


PANZERPAPPA [TROND GJELLUM/STEINAR BORVE/JARLE STORLOKKEN/ANDERS KRABBEROD] + MICHEL BERCKMANS et al - Astromalist (Rune Grammofon 3135; EEC) LP version. Steinar Borve (saxophone, keyboards, percussion), Trond Gjellum (drums, percussion), Anders K. Krabberod (bass guitar, percussion) and Jarle Storlokken (electric and acoustic guitars, percussion); With guests Ketil Einarsen (Jaga Jazzist), Michel Berckmans (Univers Zero, Art Zoyd) and Hans-Petter Alfredsen. Panzerpappa is maybe new to many Rune Grammofon followers, but they released their debut album Passer Gullfisk back in 2000. Since then, they have released the albums Hulemysteriet (2002), Farlig Vandring (2004) and Koralrevens Klagesang (2006) by themselves. Already on their fine debut we hear a fully-formed and very accomplished band, but this line-up delivers stronger tunes, more focused ideas and better production. The history of Panzerpappa goes back to 1996 when founder Trond Gjellum recorded some demos in the vein of groups like Samla Mammas Manna and Univers Zero. Through various projects, he connected with Steinar Borve before getting the band up and running in early 1998 with Knut Tore Abrahamsen and Jorgen Skjulstad complementing the line-up that would release the two first Panzerpappa albums. After this, both Abrahamsen and Skjulstad left the band, but top replacements were soon found in Jarle Storlokken and Anders Krabberod, both of whom Gjellum met through playing in Richard Sinclair's (Caravan, Camel) backing-band in 2002. Jarle is the cousin of Stale Storlokken (Elephant9, Humcrush) and his musical background includes Dead Dino Storage, a band known for doing quite excellent cover versions of artists such as Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and Gentle Giant. Anders is a Van der Graaf Generator fan but also mentions modernist composers such as Iannis Xenakis and Brian Ferneyhough as sources of inspiration.
Musically, the band belongs to a tradition that includes elements from the so-called Canterbury and RiO scenes and bands like Samla Mammas Manna, Univers Zero, National Health and Frank Zappa. Chris Cutler from Henry Cow, another band they regard highly, has more precisely described them as "melodic, with a light but solid ensemble sound, rich, detailed, nuanced and with a style that is still their own." Among the guests on Astromalist is
LP $24

ELEPHANT9 [STALE STORLOKKEN/NIKOLAI EILERTSEN/TORSTEIN LOFTHUS] + REINE FISKE - Atlantis (Rune Grammofon 2134; EEC) On their fourth album, counting the limited vinyl-only Live At The BBC (RLP 2118LP), Elephant9 join forces with Reine Fiske, the quite excellent Swedish guitarist from Dungen, The Amazing and Trad, Gras och Stenar, for yet another heavy slice of mindblowing modern rock'n'jazz psychedelia. Writers have called upon names like Tony Williams' Lifetime, Deep Purple, Brian Auger and early '70s Miles Davis to describe Elephant9's music, pointing to the fact that they are comfortable in both rock and jazz. Elephant9 consists of keyboardist Stale Storlokken (Supersilent, Humcrush, Motorpsycho), guitarist Nikolai Eilertsen (The National Bank) and drummer Torstein Lofthus (Shining). Reine Fiske makes his entrance on the title track, the long intro section almost sounding like it could have come off an early Terje Rypdal album. No coincidence considering Fiske is a big Rypdal fan and Stale Storlokken has been Rypdal's keyboard player for well over a decade. His guest spot ends with the final thirteen minute tour de force and its heavy funk intro reminiscent of another guitar great and his Band of Gypsys. Atlantis is all originals, four from Storlokken and three from Eilertsen, recorded at Stockholm's legendary Atlantis studio under the masterful supervision of Janne Hansson and the band's regular engineer Christian Engfelt.
CD $17
also available as 2 LP set for $28


BOBO STENSON TRIO With ANDERS JORMIN/JON FAIT - Indicum (ECM 2233; USA) Free playing, Danish composer Carl Nielsen's 'Oft Am I Glad', tunes by Bill Evans and George Russell, a Norwegian hymn, contemporary composition by Ola Gjeilo, a Wolf Biermann protest song, Ariel Ramirez's folkloric 'La Peregrinacion',.. Wide-ranging repertoire has become a hallmark of Bobo Stenson albums. But it's not just the eclecticism that is striking: Stenson, Jormin and Falt take these far-flung sources and make an organic, breathing music out of them ... Stenson, of course, has long been one of the greats of Scandinavian jazz, and an ECM artist since the first years of the label. But there is a balance of energies in this particular trio - clear-edged lyrical piano playing, rootedness and keen choice of notes from the bass, and detailed, textural drumming - that is especially satisfying. Recorded in Lugano in November and December 2011.
CD $17


OMIGOSH! it's finally been reissued - Popofoni!

POPOFONI [KARIN KROG/JAN GARBAREK/TERJE RYPDAL/KARE KOLBERG/BOBO STENSON/ARILD ANDERSEN/JON CHRISTENSEN] - Popofoni [2 LP set] (Prisma 001; EEC) This 2LP is a reissue of the Holy Grail of Norwegian free-jazz and electronic music, Popofoni, released by Sonet in 1973. It features compositions by Arne Nordheim, Terje Rypdal, Kare Kolberg, Gunnar Sonstevold and Alfred Janson, played by an extended Jan Garbarek Quintet: Karin Krog(vcl) Jan Garbarek(ts) Bobo Stenson(org) Kare Kolberg(synt) Terje Rypdal(g) Arild Andersen(el-b) Jon Christensen(d). The Popofoni project was initiated after a heated debate on Haagen Ringnes' TV-show Apen Post in autumn 1969, which dealt with the subject of pop music. Standing on one side, you found the defenders of pop, actress and singer Elisabeth Grannemann, comedian and record producer Rolv Wesenlund, and artist and record label owner Arne Bendiksen, who defended his 1969 Eurovision winner "Oj oj oj sa glad jeg skal bli." In the other corner were the "cultural elite," represented by literature researcher Erling Nielsen and pianist and Beethoven expert Amalie Christie. Both sides expressed grave concerns that their opponent's music impaired their listeners' abilities. During the broadcast, Grannemann performed a parody of an avant garde composition which included throwing dishes and yelling, with direct reference to composer Arne Nordheim's music. Some weeks, later Nordheim responded by composing a pop song with avant garde qualities, "Solar Plexus," performed by an expanded Jan Garbarek Quartet. Because of the great media attention this quarrel attracted, the organization Ny Musikk (IRCM) and Henie Onstad Kunstsenter decided to ask the experimental composers Kare Kolberg, Alfred Janson, Gunnar Sonstevold, Terje Rypdal, and Arne Nordheim to write new compositions in the meeting point between pop and avant garde. Hence, the name "Popofoni." The result was performed at a concert at the art center in April 1970 and later documented on a double LP release on Sonet in 1973. It was pressed in 500 copies, and is now one of Norway's rarest records. This reissue is produced by Lars Morch Finborud and Lasse Marhaug for Prisma Records, 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies.
LP $24

KARE KOLBERG - Electronic Works 1970-1973 (Prisma 002; EEC) Kare Kolberg (b. 1936) is one of Norway's foremost contemporary composers and is regarded as one of the pioneers of early electronic music and cross-disciplinary art in Scandinavia. He has composed music for film, theater, and chamber orchestras and for jazz acts such as Svein Finnerud Trio and Jan Garbarek. This LP contains three early electronic pieces by Kolberg and comes in a limited edition of 300 copies.
LP $24


OREN AMBARCHI & JAMES RUSHFORD - Wreckage (Prisma 003; EEC) Wreckage presents a collaborative work jointly composed by Oren Ambarchi and James Rushford (originally commissioned for the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and premiered by Ensemble Neon) for their own instruments (piano and electric guitar) and a small chamber ensemble, performed here by an ensemble of leading lights in Melbourne's experimental and new music communities. Rushford's piano gently ushers the listener though a series of tonally ambiguous environments, building up unified textures through irregular iterations of small melodic and harmonic elements.
LP $24



DAVID ROSENBOOM - In the Beginning (1978-1981) [2 CD set] (New World 80735; USA) David Rosenboom (b. 1947) is a composer/performer known as a pioneer in American experimental music. This series of eight works, created between 1978 and 1981 and presented on these discs in chronological order of their composition, demonstrate a remarkable extension of Rosenboom's techniques from his 'Plymouth Rock' series of 1969-71 using the harmonic and sub-harmonic series. The In the Beginning series exemplifies the idea of model-building as a compositional process. A simple process is defined, and is carried out rigorously at as many different levels of the music as possible, producing a complexity from simple elements that can be felt, somehow, while moving one's attention freely from its micro to macro levels, and everywhere else between. The composer plays inside it, using it freely, stretching it into different forms. The play one experiences in hearing the work is a reflection of the purposeful play that went into its creation.
In the Beginning I: (Electronic) (1978) David Rosenboom, Buchla & Associates 300 Series Electric Music Box
In the Beginning II: (Song of Endless Light + Sextet) (1979) Mike Svoboda, trombone; William Winant, percussion; Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, Aniela Perry, Derek Stein, and April Guthrie, cellos
In the Beginning III: (Quintet) (1979) Midnight Winds: Amy Tatum, flute; Jennifer Johnson, oboe; Andrew Leonard, clarinet; Maciej Flis, bassoon; Allen Fogle, horn
In the Beginning: Etude I (Trombones) (1979) Mike Svoboda, eight trombones
In the Beginning: Etude II (Keyboard-Plucked Strings) (1980) Jane Grothe, harp; David Rosenboom, piano and computer; Jeronimo (Jxel) Rajchenberg, requinto, charango, and coco banjo samples
In the Beginning: Etude III (Keyboard & Two Oranges) (1980) David Rosenboom, piano
In the Beginning IV: (Electronic) (1980) David Rosenboom, Buchla & Associates 300 Series Electric Music Box
In the Beginning V: (The Story) (1981) Amy Tatum, flute; Claire Chenette, oboe; Andrew Leonard, clarinet; Briana Lehman, bassoon; Daniel Rosenboom, trumpet 1; Marissa Benedict, trumpet 2; Steven Suminsky, trombone; Doug Tornquist, tuba; Danny Holt, piano 1; Richard Valitutto, piano 2; Nicholas Terry, percussion 1; Matthew Cook, percussion 2; Andrew Tholl, violin; Mark Menzies, viola; Derek Stein, cello; Maggie Hasspacher, contrabass; David Rosenboom, conductor
2 CD set for $28

also available..

DAVID ROSENBOOM - Life Field (Tzadik 8091; USA) David Rosenboom (born 1947) is a composer, performer, interdisciplinary artist of unprecedented range and experience as well as conductor, author, and educator. Since the 1960s he has explored ideas about spontaneously emerging musical forms, languages for improvisation, new techniques in scoring for ensembles, cross-cultural collaborations, performance art, and multimedia, the interactive music of the infosphere, an approach to compositional modeling termed propositional music, and extended musical interface with the human nervous system. His work is widely published, recorded, distributed, and presented around the world, and he is known as a pioneer in American experimental music. He performed at the Electric Circus in 1969, on the original recording of In C with Terry Riley, with La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music as well as with Anthony Braxton, Jim Tenney, Richard Teitelbaum and countless others.
This exciting CD showcases four decades of compositional activity, embracing minimalism, electronics, indeterminacy, improvisation and more. Life Field is an essential document of one of the most versatile and fascinating musicians of our time. TZADIK COMPOSER SERIES
CD $14

DAVID ROSENBOOM - Future Travel, And Out Come the Night Ears (New World 80668; USA) David Rosenboom, Buchla Touche & 300 Series Electric Music Box, piano, violin, percussion, texts
"Future Travel (1981) is a journey in sonic imagery. It is set sometime in the future and its starting point is Earth. The traveler, whose point of view we imagine, is a spirit being, representing the first awareness of a new form of consciousness to which humans have evolved. At an earlier point in the evolution of the Earth human beings had become aware of the unstoppable momentum of the course they had set and the unlikelihood of their surviving. Consequently, attention was turned towards learning to direct the process of their evolution to a new form. This form is a macroscopic one, a large-scale organism, to which all, individual entities of earlier Earthly forms contributed. The first awareness of this new form of existence is beginning now.
"And Out Come the Night Ears (1978) is a solo for piano interfaced with an electronic system developed through a particular improvisation practice that manifests anew in each performance. Because this practice has an identity in my mind associated with specific piano exercises I composed for myself, certain musical materials, particular interactive electronics techniques, and a body of performances, it is as such a piece that is not a piece and I call it a piece. The recording presented here is extracted from an approximately one-hour-long performance given in a concert that was coincident with the rollout of the then new Buchla 300 Electric Music Box. I sometimes think of the piano as if it was an orchestra, and in this rendition, the Buchla 300 provided a means of extending that orchestra." - David Rosenboom
CD $15

DAVID ROSENBOOM - How Much Better if Plymouth Rock had Landed on the Pilgrims [2 CD set] (New World 80689; USA) David Rosenboom (b. 1947) has been widely acclaimed as an innovator in American experimental music since the 1960s. Although much of his work has been collaborative, virtually none of his large-scale collaborative works has hitherto been documented on record. How Much Better If Plymouth Rock Had Landed on the Pilgrims (1969-71) is considered to be one of the most important, prompting the following Washington Post review after a 1970 performance: "If there were a device whereby one could plug into the deepest levels of human consciousness, and then translate this input into sound, what we would hear would probably resemble How Much Better if Plymouth Rock Had Landed on the Pilgrims, the radical composition by David Rosenboom.. The elemental pulsations of the piece seem to echo not only our fundamental biological cycles, but those innate psychical tides that govern the flux of human thought and feeling.. The listener becomes receptive to fantasy and hallucination and instants seem stretched to eternities.. Rosenboom's idiom poses a new esthetic.. against the ascetic, disciplined, puritanical streak that one associates in this country with the Pilgrims, this new music hurls a rejuvenated sensuality and mysticism." This is the world-premiere recording of the complete work.
2 CD set for $28



New on Dorobo!

DARRIN VERHAGEN - Black Frost (Dorobo 20; Australia) "If Black Ice delivered the 'searing pain upon arrival' to the Black | Mass trilogy, Black Frost serves as something of a gently uncomfortable antidote. Bordered by lowercase, delicate electroacoustic, sinecore and glitch terrain, frost presents material considered, precise yet modest in tone."
CD $17

E.P.A. [DARRIN VERHAGEN] - Black Ice (Dorobo 19; Australia) "Darrin Verhagen, in tugging on a thread of viciousness which has lain subdued and understated for most of Shinjuku Thief's backcatalog, was surprised to pull up a 42 minute slab of sonic violence which is as unmerciful as it is exquisitely crafted. Under his new power electronics pseudonym 'e.p.a.' we find a finely balanced tension between visceral chaos and deliberate nastiness. If all the Shinjuku Thief albums which preceded it suggest the ghostly existence of a dark world, Black Ice delivers the map, the accelerator and the searing pain upon arrival. Counterbalancing the sonic assault, is the most seductive artwork i+t=r has yet delivered -- his design rendered in matte varnish on high gloss black stock. Black Ice is the first in the 'Black | Mass' trilogy (Dorobo 019-021)."
CD $17

PHILIP SAMARTZIS + SACHIKO M - Artefact (Dorobo LTD 7; Australia) "Artefact is collaboration between improvisers Sachiko M and Philip Samartzis. Sinewave and noise generators interact to form a textural foundation for explorations into degradation, distortion and rupture. Commenced in Paris in late 2000 and completed one year later, both composers bring an ascetic sense to each track's formation allowing the minutiae of sonic detail to evolve gradually, gently modulating between sporadic and dense moments of activity. Limited edition of 600 copies."
CD $17

also, last copies of

RASMUS B LUNDING & PHILIP SAMARTZIS - Flourescent (Dr Jim's 30; Australia) Fluorescent is the first recorded collaboration between Danish electroacoustic improviser Rasmus B Lunding and Australian sound artist Philip Samartzis. It is a culmination of studio-based improvisation and live performance in which environmental recordings, abstracted textures and prepared instrumental gesture converge to create restlessly modulating densities bordered by abrupt transitions. The title reflects the luminosity of the sonic grain resonating over time, radiantly occupying space to highlight the familiar while rendering it strange.
CD $17


New and recent on Audiomer!

WHITE OUT [TOM SURGAL/LIN CULBERTSON] - Asphalt and Delay (Audiomer 09; EEC) Whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility and contrast are severely reduced. The horizon disappears completely and there are no reference points at all, leaving one with a distorted orientation. These same characteristics could be applied to the sound of the musical brainchild of Lin Culbertson and Tom Surgal. In the past White Out have been heralded for the way they entirely reinvent themselves to accommodate the creative personalities of their many prestigious collaborators, including Thurston Moore, Nels Cline, Jim O'Rourke, William Winant, and many others. Recorded over an extended period of time in an undisclosed midtown Manhattan location high above the city streets, Asphalt and Delay marks the first time in White Out's recorded history that Culbertson and Surgal have devoted an entire album to duo improvisations. Each of the five compositions captures a different hue of the spectrum of sound in White Out's sonic universe. Asphalt and Delay puts White Out in a whole new light, unfettered by any external influences they burn super nova bright. The artwork for this LP is provided by Belgian photographer Yoko Tack.
LP $26

FREDERIK CROENE - Le Piano Demecanise (Audiomer 07; EEC) "Le Piano Demecanise is the result of Frederik Croene's urge to sabotage the piano, to destroy the nostalgic relation between player and instrument, making obsolete acquired techniques, finding himself unable to play repertoire, thus freeing himself and the object." -- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly 757. Frederik Croene performs his music on a "dismantled" piano, which, if I believe the cover of this record, looks like a drum set. It seems to me that much of the music is played in an improvised manner, but perhaps with classical training in mind. Also, again, I am not sure but it could very well be that Croene takes his inspiration from Zen. Sometimes, like in "Gonflammation," the piano actually sounds like a piano, which is odd if it has been dismantled, but in "Postludium 'pour le piano,'" Croene allows external piano sounds into his music. Overall the music has a very contemplative and percussive nature. Either with hands, sticks, or bows, he gently approaches the piano and works on it, very much like a composer, an explorer, and an improviser. Croene explores the possibilities in a careful way, almost like a scientist, and let's the results speak for themselves. Hard to place on the scale composition versus improvisation, but throughout very nice
LP $28

HIEROGLYPHIC BEING - Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants (Audiomer 08; EEC) Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is the first full length album from Chicago based electronic music artist, producer, and DJ Jamal R. Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being. Educated by house legends Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, he's been following a singular musical path, producing a gritty futuristic meltdown of house, free jazz, new age, and noise. For this record, Jamal worked with the concept of plants having a religion, and the question of what their way of worship would be. This resulted in a dark, deep-space overture with raw synth stabs, extreme pitch-shifted textures, and hypnotic tribal rhythms somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra's interstellar electric keyboard explorations. Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is an unclassifiable tour de force that is oozing with profound cosmic meaning. Artwork by visual artist Robert Beatty (Hair Police).
LP $26

SACHIKO - Golden Hypnos (Audiomer 05; EEC) In collaboration with Croxhapox Gallery, AudioMER. presents Sachiko's first all-drone vinyl release. Heavy-weight vinyl and paste-on sleeve with artwork created by Johan De Wilde. Stellar vocals and drones: three pieces of hypnotic, gliding delight. "The first side is a completely mesmerizing stone. Accompanied by Rinji Fukuoka (Overhang Party) on voice and cello, Sachiko sounds as if she is gargling planets as she levitates wordless vocals through a slowly shifting bible-black background of orchestral drone and eternal music strings generated by vortices of cello and viola and hovering electronics. Can't think of anything that so beautifully combines the vision of the original Dream Syndicate with the aesthetics of dark Japanese psychedelia. On the flip there are two tracks, both of which extend the time-blurring effects of the first side into new zones of heavenly tonefloat, with Sachiko's high vocal style dissolving in butterflies of F/X while electronics hiss and spit and intergalactic shortwave travels through endless space. Easily the best record she has made to date, a mesmeric slice of higher-minded drone narcosis and a classic Japanese underground side. Highly recommended." -- David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue.
LP $26

MAURO ANTONIO PAWLOWSKI - Untertanz (Audiomer 02; EEC) Mauro Antonio Pawlowski is best known for playing skronky guitar riffs in various Belgian bands such as Deus, Othin Spake, Evil Superstars, Club Moral, and countless other projects. On his own he is notorious for being an unpredictable master of puppets who simultaneously oozes freshly demented nursery rhymes and weird avant rock from his trousers. Untertanz is a collection of live performances that capture his free jazz take on madman rock 'n' roll. Think Ciccone Youth era Sonic Youth, Bruce Haack, The Residents, Jandek, and Derek Bailey. Ranging from abstract spooky blues to musique concrete made for stampeding schoolgirls to wonky dances of death, this album captures Pawlowski at his most alchemic and complete.
LP $28


RYOJI IKEDA - 0 Degree C (Touch 38; UK) 2012 repress of the second full-length by Ryoji Ikeda on Touch (originally released 2001), following the highly acclaimed +/- (1996). Recorded and mixed at CCI studio in Tokyo, this release features two works in Ikeda's continually expanding electronic style. "O C" is an exploration at the edge of one's perception - an extension of +/- and the next step. "C" adds a velocity axis and a density axis to factors, O amalgamated numbers, structures, frequencies and sounds.
CD $16


New on Wergo!

KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN - Zyklus fur einen Schlagzeuger/Klavierstuck X (Wergo 6772; Germany) "Wergo's essential reissues from their famous 1960s era Studio Reihe series continue with a recording of music by Karlheinz Stockhausen. The composer's 'Zyklus fur einen Schlagzeuger' is offered in two different versions performed by two different performers: Max Neuhaus and Christoph Caskel. Stockhausen originally wrote the work for the Kranichstein Percussion Competition in 1959. He deliberately did not determine the length of the piece's performance, so as not to be overly specific concerning the work's multiplicity of meanings, the different characters of various performances, or the technical abilities of the players. For 'Klavierstuck X,' performed here by the legendary pianist Frederic Rzewski, Stockhausen combined two extremes. The work is based on the attempt to mediate between relative disorder and order, chaos and balance."
CD $25

MICHAEL SVOBODA - Da Lontano: Music of Scelsi, Cage, Stockhausen, and Nono [H-SACD] (Wergo 6744; Germany) Featured works: Giacinto Scelsi - Mantram -- Canto Anonimo'; John Cage - Solo for Sliding Trombone; Karlheinz Stockhausen: Signal zur Invasion I; Luigi Nono: Post-prae-ludium per Donau. "Trombonist Mike Svoboda's Da Lontano ('from a distance') surveys rarely heard works written by four heroes of new music that are 'outside' of the ordained list of masterworks by these composers. Each has an element of indeterminacy, which allows Svoboda to place a personal stamp on the performances. Scelsi said he received the music for his 'Mantram -- Canto Anonimo' from other spheres, merely acting as an intermediary between two worlds. For 'Solo for Sliding Trombone,' excerpted from Cage's 'Piano Concerto,' Svoboda devised a version for eight trombones which he plays all by himself. 'Signal zur Invasion I' is excerpted from Stockhausen's opera 'Dienstag aus Licht.' It consists of 126 fanfares from the opera. In Nono's 'Post-prae-ludium per Donau,' the sound of Svoboda's tuba is multiplied and rearranged by electronic musician Holger Stenschke to create a unique spatial polyphony." This is a stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player.
CD $25


AMERICAN MAVERICKS [V.C. With HENRY COWELL/LOU HARRISON/EDGARD VARESE]//SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY - American Mavericks [H-SACD] (SFS 56; USA) "This recording by Michael Tilson Thomas and the Grammy award-winning San Francisco Symphony features stunning live recordings from the SFS's wildly successful American Mavericks festival. Presented in premium audio, this hybrid SACD includes performances of four works by three influential but seldom heard twentieth century masters. MTT's performances of Henry Cowell's 'Synchrony' and 'Piano Concerto,' with Jeremy Denk on piano, combine Cowell's distinctive musical language with exceptionally expressive playing to produce a powerful musical experience. Lou Harrison's eclectic compositional style and organ soloist Paul Jacobs' spectacular virtuosity are on full display in Harrison's 'Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra.' This one-of-a-kind disc concludes with Edgard Varese's monumental 'Ameriques,' with its orchestral siren that has influenced generations of composers." This is a stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player.
CD $26


PHILIP GLASS - Einstein On The Beach: Highlights [CD + DVD] (Orange Mountain 82; USA) "In celebration of the 2012 revival of the seminal modern opera Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Orange Mountain Music presents this world premiere recording of highlights from live performances at BAM in 1984, featuring the Philip Glass Ensemble and produced by Kurt Munkacsi. As a special bonus, the disc is paired with the film The Changing Image of Opera, available on DVD for the first time. This rare Chris A. Verges film documents the 1984 production of Einstein on the Beach at BAM." DVD run time: 58 minutes; NTSC all region format.
CD + DVD for $20


C JOYNES/STEPHANIE HLADOWSKI - The Wild Wild Berry (Bo Weavil 49; UK) This is the first recording for Bo Weavil by English folk singer Stephanie Hladowski, coming together with regular recording artist, C Joynes. The Wild Wild Berry is a highly individual record that accents both of their respective styles. Chris' melodic beauty is equally matched by Stephanie's turn of phrase. The album contains their renditions of 11 British traditionals, some better-known than others. All the songs were mostly selected from archive recordings at Cecil Sharp House, and chosen on the basis of something unique about the original recording, rather than the song itself. Nothing about the record is a let-down -- the simple melodies and powerful authority make this a recording that one will play a thousand times over. LP $25
also available as CD for $16


BOBBY WELLINS QUARTET + KENNY WHEELER/DELME STRING QUARTET - Birds of Brazil (Hep 2097; UK) Composed and arranged by Bobby Wellins with orchestration by Tony Coe and recorded in 1982. The Birds of Brazil movements performed by the Bobby Wellins Quartet joined by Kenny Wheeler, Chris Karan and the Delme String Quartet.
CD $21


JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET With McCOY TYNER/JIMMY GARRISON/ROY HAYNES or ELVIN JONES - My Favorite Things Live: Coltrane at Newport 1963/1965 (Impulse! 907602; USA) John Coltrane appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival on five different occasions, the first in 1958 as a member of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue-era sextet. As a bandleader, Coltrane performed at the festival in 1961, 1963, 1965 and 1966, and it is the middle two sets that are combined here on this intriguing release.
The 1963 band was a variation on Coltrane's classic quartet (Coltrane on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums and Jimmy Garrison on bass) with veteran drummer Roy Haynes sitting in for Jones, who was unable to be in attendance. Jones was back in the drum chair for the 1965 appearance (Coltrane's final Newport showing in 1966 found him working with an entirely different band that included his wife Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders). Since Coltrane did lengthy versions of his signature arrangement of "My Favorite Things" in both 1963 and 1965 (he did it in 1966, as well), it's impossible not to compare the approach of the two different drummers. Haynes has a lighter, skittering touch that gives the piece a kind of airiness while Jones is all power and propulsion which makes for a more ambiguous and ominous feel.
Both versions are striking, but the REAL treat here is the 23 minute+ take on "Impressions" from 1963, which has NEVER BEFORE BEEN RELEASED IN ITS ENTIRETY (an edited version was released in 1978). Here Coltrane and Haynes trade phrases and percussive glides after Tyner and Garrison lay out what is a truly wonderful dialogue between two veteran jazz musicians. There's little doubt that the quartet hits with more raw power with Jones driving it, but here Haynes' contribution is perfect for the moment. Taken together, the 1963 and 1965 sets make a nice whole, and having two great drummers with slightly different approaches only underscores how complete Coltrane's vision was at this point in his career. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
CD $11



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SALE ON LAST COPIES OF EARLY ZORN/NYC DOWNTOWN COLLECTIVE IMPROV CDs!

JOHN ZORN/TOM CORA/EUGENE CHADBOURNE/TOSHINORI KONDO/POLLY BRADFIELD/ANDREA CENTAZZO - Environment For Sextet [aka The New York Tapes] (Ictus 1/New Tone 5026; Italy) The very beginnings of the current NY "Downtown" Music scene from the late 70's back when Kondo, Chadbourne, Bradfield and Centazzo lived in New York and worked in various line-ups with Zorn! These sextet improvs and various solo improvs [and one duet not on the original super-rare LP edition] were recorded live at the Columbia U. WKCR radio station on Nov 7, 1978, which virtually predates the earliest Zorn and Chadbourne releases on their joint Parachute label and, along with the sister CD release 'USA Concerts', is the earliest documentation of what then was the most extremely weird performance ethic on the planet! Highest recommendation! "Originally issued on percussionist Andrea Centazzo's Ictus label, Environment for Sextet was recorded in New York in November 1978 (it was a live broadcast for radio station WKCR) and features the torchbearers of what would later become known as the downtown scene -- John Zorn, Tom Cora, Eugene Chadbourne -- at their wildest and woolliest, along with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, who has recently returned to the spotlight (as part of Peter Brotzmann's Die Like a Dog project) and violinist Polly Bradfield, who sadly hasn't (though her Solo Violin Improvisation on Chadbourne's Parachute label remains a classic of the genre). While the two "Environments" tend to feature the full ensemble, the "Solo Improvisations" tracks (both of which are misleadingly named) alternate solo and tutti passages to great effect. The final "Improvviso III" is a Zorn/Centazzo duet originally featured on another Ictus release, USA Concerts, but is here back where it belongs with the material it was played with originally, as Centazzo notes. The music is all credited to the percussionist, hence its clear sense of underlying structure (Zorn's legendary game pieces owe a not inconsiderable debt of thanks to the percussionist), and a quarter of a century after it was recorded it still sounds hair-raisingly radical, especially compared to what some of the musicians involved went on to produce. Zorn's impressive collection of birdcalls gets a thorough workout, Chadbourne's guitar is at its most extreme (the country & western songs were still a while away), and Centazzo, who on the strength of this recording alone deserves a place at the improv drummers' high table alongside Paul Lytton, Paul Lovens, and Han Bennink, is astounding. Essential listening for fans of improvised music, especially Zornophiles." - Dan Warburton
CD $10.00 7 for 6 SALE.

JOHN ZORN/TOM CORA/EUGENE CHADBOURNE/TOSHINORI KONDO/POLLY BRADFIELD/ANDREA CENTAZZO/DAVEY WILLIAMS/LaDONNA SMITH/JACK WRIGHT - USA Concerts East [aka The New US Concerts] (Ictus 10/New Tone 5044; Italy) The very beginnings of the current NY "Downtown" Music scene from the late 70's back when Kondo, Chadbourne, Bradfield and Centazzo lived in New York and worked in various line-ups with Zorn! These various duets, trios, quartet and sextet recordings found here were recorded live during a tour of the US East Coast - where they meet up with Davey, LaDonna and Wright along the way - during Nov-Dec 1978, which virtually predates the earliest Zorn and Chadbourne releases on their joint Parachute label and, along with the sister CD release 'Environment For Sextet', is the earliest documentaion of what then was the most extremely weird performance ethic on the planet! Highest recommendation!
"Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo came to the US in Nov/Dec of '78 and played with a host of improvisers in NYC, Alabama, Mississippi, Woodstock, San Diego & the Bay Area, long before any of these players were well known. Andrea recorded these gigs and released much of this material on his own Ictus record label. Along with Frank Lowe and early Zorn & Chadbourne lps, it was the first time that many of the early downtowners were documented. This cd collects live material from '78 - '80, has three unreleased tracks and it is the first time any of this rare/historic material is on cd. Zorn fanatics take note, he is only on the opening 4 minute track, still this is a fascinating collection of mostly duos & trios, plus the one sextet track with Zorn on mouthpieces, birdcalls & a cup of water, Polly Bradfield on violin (using a comb & toothbrush, mostly), Chadbourne on guitars, crazy trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, Tom Cora on cello & Centazzo's percussion. There is joyous, hilarious and demented innocence to all of this, unlike anything else at that time. Noteworthy are the duos & trio with guitarist Davey Williams & LaDonna Williams on strings & vocals, recorded in the deep south, also pretty early in their avant careers. When I first reckoned upon these players in '79/'80 at Studio Henry, I was confused and unsure of how to take these musicians. With Fred Frith's help and some patience, I realized how important, extraordinary and new this world was. This cd captures that early charm and challenge quite well" - BLG
CD $10.00 7 for 6 SALE.


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SUN RA & His MYTH SCIENCE ARKESTRA - Angels And Demons/Sun Sound Pleasure/We Travel The Spaceways (Solar; EEC) Digitally remastered release containing three albums on one CD from the eccentric Jazz/Avant-Garde legend. Contains the complete legendary and inimitable Sun Ra album Angels And Demons At Play. As a bonus, the LPs Sound Sun Pleasure!! and We Travel the Space Ways in their entirety, as well as a rare song from the same sessions which first appeared as a single. Includes 12-page booklet. Solar Records.
CD $16

SUN RA & His MYTH SCIENCE ARKESTRA - The Nubians Of Plutonia [aka Lady With The Golden Slippers]/Bad And Beautiful (Solar; EEC) 2 LPs + 2 bonus cuts!
CD $16



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A Fantabulous Bargain That Will Keep You Busy For Weeks - At less than $3 A CD!

EUROPEAN JAZZ [V.A. With TUBBY HAYES/KRYSZTOF KOMEDA/JUTTA HIP/RONNIE SCOTT/ENRICO RAVA/MICHEL LEGRAND et al] - New Sounds From The Old Continent: Bebop, Cool and Modern Jazz From The 50s [10 CD set] (Membran; Germany) This budget-priced 10-CD Box Set of European jazz features 150 tracks from across the continent, recorded between 1949 - 1960. Each disc is sorted by country/region (except disc which 1 is Vocalists) and artists include some of the finest Europe has to offer: Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, Johnny Dankworth, Stephane Grappelli, Michel Legrand, Enrico Rava and Krysztof Komeda.
More than ever, Jazz from Europe is an international phenomenon. The originality and authenticity of European Jazz is by now even acknowledged in the American motherland, not least since the Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) from Sweden was the first European act to grace the cover of Downbeat magazine in 2005.
But there are other new stars from the old continent like Jamie Cullum, Nils-Petter Molvaer, Silje Nergaard, or Tomasz Stanko who are known and revered all over the world. This box-set shows that these artists are not only the tip of the iceberg but also, like they say, 'standing on the shoulders of giants': the ten-CD box set European Jazz presents the impressive beginnings of a unique Modern Jazz from the continent.
Already in the 1950s Jazz-musicians from across Europe reached not only instrumental mastery, but also found original sounds and styles between Bebop and Hardbop, Cool Jazz and national (Folk-)traditions. Innovators from Scandinavia (e.g. Lars Gullin, Ake Persson), Italy (ECM-Star Enrico Rava, for instance), Poland (the legendary Krzystof Komeda, who also wrote many a soundtrack to Roman Polanski's movies), Belgium and the Netherlands (Harmonica- virtuoso Toots Thielemans or Bobby Jaspar), France (Michel Legrand, Sacha Distel, and many more), Great Britain (sax-players Ronnie cott, Wilton Gaynair, or Tubby Hayes) or Germany (Jutta Hipp, Michael Naura et al) created a Jazz-music that was as groundbreaking back then as it is fascinating today.
The more than 150 recordings on this box-set - many of which are presented for the first time on CD and most of which are only available in this collection today - present some of the most important and most exciting recordings from the creative beginnings of 'European Jazz'. A thrilling experience between improvisation and composition (not only for European Jazz-fans), a great sounding Continental trip through the coolest sounds of the Fifties, and a treasure trove for collectors.

CD 1 VOCALISTS
1. Annie Ross - I'm Just A Lucky So And So 1959 GB
2. Monica Zetterlund - Deep In A Dream 1958 S
3. Les Double Six - Stockholm Sweetnin' 1960 FR
4. Cleo Laine - Sugar 1959 GB
5. Jula De Palma - Pennies From Heaven 1958 I
6. Inge Brandenburg - What A Difference A Day Made 1959 D
7. Lita Roza - That Old Black Magic 1956 GB
8. Cleo Laine (with the Dave Lee Quintet) - April In Paris 1956 GB
9. Rita Reys - Zon In Scheveningen 1958 NL
10. Alice Babs - Many Tears Ago 1960 S
11. Monica Zetterlund - Detour Ahead 1958 S
12. Lita Roza (with Tony Kinsey Quartet) - Guilty 1955 GB
13. The Polka Dots - Monday Date 1959 GB
14. Cleo Laine (with the Dave Lee Quintet) - April Age 1956 GB
15. Jula De Palma - Just One Of Those Things 1959 I
16. I nge Brandenburg - It's Alright With Me 1960 D
17. Les Double Six - Il y a fort longtemps (Evening In Paris) 1960 FR

CD 2 SCANDINAVIA
1. Lasse Gullin - Lotus Corniculatis 1955 S
2. Max Bruel Quartet - Maxisme 1956 DK
3. Ake Persson - Nassi Goreng 1955 S
4. Lars Gullin Sextet - Half Nelson 1956 S
5. Rolf Billberg - Tautology 1956 S
6. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group (Rolf Billbwerg, as, Harry Backlund, ts, Allan Lundstrom, ts, Lars Gullin, bs, Nils Lindberg, p,arr, Sture Nordin, b, Conny Svensson, dr) - Birdland 1960 S
7. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Blues For Bill 1960 S
8. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Brand New 1960 S
9. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Cotton Tail 1960 S
10. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Curbits 1960 S
11. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Just A Take Gullin 1960 S
12. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Moonlight In Vermont 1960 S
13. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Play For Love 1960 S
14. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Taboo 1960 S
15. The Swedish Modern Jazz Group - Zodiac 1960 S

CD 3 ITALY
1. Quintetto Basso-Valdambrini - Lotar 1959
2. Franco Cerri - Flavio's Blues 1960
3. Franco Cerri - Just One Of Those Things 1960
4. Piana, Mondini, Donadio, Azzolini - Bag's Groove 1960
5. Piana, Mondini, Donadio, Azzolini - All The Things You Are 1960
6. Piana, Mondini, Donadio, Azzolini - There Will Never Ne Another You 1960
7. Enrico Rava 4tet - Tema For Franco 1960
8. Enrico Rava 4tet - Line For Lyons 1960
9. Enrico Rava 4tet - Fine And Dandy 1960
10. Modern Jazz Gang - The Drum Is A Tramp 1960
11. Modern Jazz Gang - Polimnia 1960
12. Modern Jazz Gang - Blue Mirria 1960
13. Modern Jazz Gang - Carme For J
14. Sestetto Bebop Gilberto Cuppini - Esophagus 1949
15. Sestetto Bebop Gilberto Cuppini - Perdido 1949
16. Nunzio Rotondo and The Sextet of Hot Club Of Rome - The Man I Love

CD 4 FRANCE
1. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - On A Scale 1956 AU
2. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Bicinium 1956
3. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Evanescence 1956
4. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Tension Detente 1956
5. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Paradoxe 1956
6. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Triads 1956
7. Le Jazz Groupe de Paris (arr.: Andre Hodeir) - Milano 1956
8. Martial Solal et Les Kentonians - Blues Martial 1956
9. Martial Solal et Les Kentonians - Jive At Five 1956
10. Martial Solal et Les Kentonians - Why Not? 1956
11. Sacha Distel - On Serait Des Chats 1956
12. Sacha Distel - No. 1 For Sacha 1956
13. Sacha Distel - Avec Ces Yeux-La 1956
14. Sacha Distel - A Piece Of Pizza 1956
15. Sacha Distel - Half Nelson 1954

CD 5 FRANCE
1. Bernard Pfeiffer - Tired Blues 1952
2. Bernard Pfeiffer - Steeplechase 1952
3. Bernard Pfeiffer - Midday On The Champs-Elysees 1952
4. Bernard Pfeiffer - Caravan 1952
5. Michel Legrand - Sous Les Ponts De Paris 1959
6. Michel Legrand - Paris In The Spring 1959
7. Michel Legrand - Sous Le Ciel De Paris 1959
8. Michel Legrand - Paris Canaille 1959
9. Michel Legrand - Paris Je T'Aime D'Amour 1959
10. Michel Legrand - I Love Paris 1959
11. Michel Legrand - La Vie En Rose 1959
12. Stephane Grappelli - Dans La Vie 1959
13. Stephane Grappelli - Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir) 1954
14. Stephane Grappelli - Marno 1954
15. Stephane Grappelli - Crazy Blues 1954
16. Stephane Grappelli - Viens Au Creux De Mon Epaule 1954
17. Stephane Grappelli - Red-O-Rey 1954

CD 6 GREAT BRITAIN
1. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - Wilton's Mood 1959
2. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - Deborah 1959
3. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - Joy Spring 1959
4. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - Rhythm 1959
5. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - Blues For Tony 1959
6. Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair - The Way You Look Tonight 1959
7. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - Oh, My! 1957
8. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - Plebus 1957
9. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - Reunion 1957
10. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - A Foggy Day 1957
11. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott -Through The Night Roared The Overland Express (A Broken Bridge Ahead, A Madman At The Throttle) 1957

CD 7 GREAT BRITAIN
1. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott- Royal Ascot 1957
2. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - On A Misty Night 1957
3. Tubby Hayes and The Jazz Couriers feat. Ronnie Scott - Cheek To Cheek 1957
4. Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra - Treasure Drive 1960
5. Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra - Riverside Stomp 1960
6. Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra - After The Party 1960
7. The Dizzy Reece Quartet - Main Title from 'Nowhere To Go' 1958
8. The Dizzy Reece Quartet - The Escape And The Chase 1958
9. The Dizzy Reece Quartet - The Search (On The Scene) 1958
10. The Dizzy Reece Quartet - Sunset Scene (Nowhere To Go) 1958
11. Victor Feldman Modern Jazz Quintet - Septet - Umf 1955
12. Victor Feldman Modern Jazz Quintet - Septet - Bird's Last Flight 1955
13. The Joe Harriott Quintet - Straight Lines 1960
14. The Joe Harriott Quintet (Plus One) - Caravan 1960
15. Lennie Felix - Scene '59, Act 2 1959
16. Vic Ash Sextet feat. Johhny Scott - Just For The Boys 1959
17. Melody Maker Poll Winners (feat. Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Ross, Bill Lesage) - Hark Dog 1959

CD 8 GERMANY
1. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Cleopatra 1954
2. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Don't Worry 'Bout Me 1954
3. Jutta Hipp Quintett - (I Don't Stand) A Ghost Of A Chance 1954
4. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Mon Petit 1954
5. Jutta Hipp Quintett - What's New 1954
6. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Blue Skies 1954
7. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Laura 1954
8. Jutta Hipp Quintett - Variations 1954
9. Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims - Wee Dot 1956
10. Michael Naura Quintet - Two Brothers In Law 1958
11. Michael Naura Quintet - Sanssouci 1958
12. Michael Naura Quintet - Party With John 1957
13. Michael Naura Quintet - Nachtmahr 1959
14. Michael Naura Quintet - Dropping 1957
15. Michael Naura Quintet - Blues For Milt 1960

CD 9 The NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM
1. Rita Reys & Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers -Taking A Chance On Love 1958 NL /US
2. Pim Jacobs Trio - Relaxin' At Camarillo 1955 NL
3. The Diamond Five feat. Cees Slinger - Les Halles 1960 NL
4. Jean 'Toots Thielemans - Soul Station 1957 BE/US
5. Jean 'Toots Thielemans - Fundamental Frequency 1957 BE/US
6. Jean 'Toots Thielemans - Isn't It Romantic 1957 BE/US
7. Jean 'Toots Thielemans - Imagination 1957 BE/US
8. Bobby Jaspar - Memory Of Dick 1955 BE
9. Bobby Jaspar - Minor Drops 1955 BE
10. Bobby Jaspar - Night In Tunisia 1955 BE
11. Bobby Jaspar - Bag's Groove 1955 BE
12. Bobby Jaspar - Herbie Mann - Flute Bob 1957 BE/US

CD 10 POLAND
1. Krysztof Komeda Quartet - Temat z filmu 'Niewinni Czarodzieje' 1960
2. Andrzej Trzaskowski Trio - Requiem Dla Scotta La Faro 1958
3. The Wreckers - Kalatowki '59 1959
4. Wr oblewski & Kurylewicz Ensemble - There Will Never Be Another You 1958
5. Jan Walasek Jazz Ensemble - Tea For Two 1960
6. Jozef Mazurkiewicz & Jeanne Johnston - On The Sunny Side Of The Street 1958
7. Krzystof Komeda Sextet - Kotek w chmurach (Kitten In The Clouds) 1956
8. Krysztof Komeda Sextet - Memory Of Bach 1956
9. Krysztof Komeda Sextet - Mystery Of The Past 1957
10. Krysztof Komeda Sextet - Opus In Mulligan Mood 1957
11. Krysztof Komeda Sextet - Kolysanka 1957
12. Krysztof Komeda Sextet - Blues For Sopot 1957

10 CD BOX SET for [drumroll..] ONLY $29 !!!


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MAD MUSIC INC - Mad Music (Drag City 512; USA) "Like something out of pulp science fiction, the record known as Mad Music, Inc appeared in the Boston area in the late 70s without track titles, credits or contact information. Beautifully packaged, the record exuded a mystery so mysterious as to be entirely unclear if the creator(s) even realized how odd the whole thing was. To be clear -- this is not one of those phony discoveries that seem to show up with increasing regularity these days. Collectors have known about Mad Music for years, but the very few who know the story aren't talking. Play the record, and everything becomes more unclear still. . . . What is this music, and who is it for? Is it some mutant strain of new age, jazz, a soundtrack? Would it explain anything to know that the jam at the end of side one is called 'Gospel Disco'? Does it help if we disclose that this lushly arranged album features professionals and amateurs working together? Is it a put-on? Or was there some greater purpose involved? The world may never know. For the fine folks who actually buy records, randomly selected copies come with one of a kind inserts -- authentic 35-year-old documents from the Mad Music archives -- an underwater loudspeaker catalog, a photo from the recording studio, an academic clipping entitled Cerebral Dominance in Musicians and Nonmusicians. But even if you buy the entire run and put it all together, this is one mystery you may never solve. We can promise you this -- you've never experienced anything like Mad Music, Inc."
LP $18


TRACTOR/THE WAY WE LIVE [JIM MILNE/STEVE CLAYTON et al] - John Peel's Tractor: The Road from Townhead Mill, Rochdale [2 LP + CD set] (Ozit 8010; UK) Early '70s UK band who released their first album A Candle For Judith under the name The Way We Live and then changed their name to Tractor from thence onwards, recording the first two [of many] albums for John Peel's Dandelion records. Superb progressive psych with excellent songs, vocal harmonies and guitar work. Sounds like Hawkwind meets the early Pink Fairies with a splash of acoustic Led Zep.
"A glorious 40th anniversary double gatefold LP on 180 gram red vinyl. Unearths a mixture of past classics from Tractor's career and previously unreleased recordings." Includes a CD of the entire album.
LP $42


THE VELVET UNDERGROUND [LOU REED/STERLING MORRISON/MAUREEN TUCKER/DOUG YULE] - La Cave 1968 (Keyhole 9001; UK) When this legendary show was recorded, The Velvet Underground were in a state of flux. Founding member John Cale had just departed, and his replacement Doug Yule had only been in the band for two days. Nonetheless, the quartet turned in a superb performance, including several then-unreleased songs (with alternative lyrics) and plenty notable guitar soloing, making it essential for VU devotees. Includes background notes and pictures. Digitally remastered.
CD $17

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND [DOUG YULE With IAN PAICE et al] - Squeeze (Kismet 4031; UK) A Velvet Underground album in name only, this is in fact a solo album by the VU's latter-day leader/vocalist Doug Yule. who plays all the guitars, keyboards, bass guitars, and produced. Recorded in London in the autumn of 1972, with help from Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, and a sax player known only as Malcolm [Malcolm Duncan?]. It's a pleasant pop-rock collection, not bad in itself. It originally appeared in England and a handful of other European countries in early 1973, but has never been available on CD before. Digitally remastered with background notes included.
CD $17




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