„Beat Circus has created a singular intriguing sonic identity by filtering certain bizarre old-time American and European pre-jazz styles through a progressive contemporary fearlessness.“ – Weekly Planet You can hear echoes …
„I like Doctor Nerve and all the various players in the band. This was recorded very early in the band’s legacy.The songs are short, tight and consise. It is an …
Clarity. Attitude. Skill. These really aren’t qualities that define our present time. All too often, our ephemeral reality finds itself reflected in a jittery retro-music that sucks its data from …
„If you like Berlin school 1970’s electronics…this is a feast of scorching sequencers and synthesizers, laced with searing guitars over lots of cool outer space drifting.“ – Expose Radio Massacre International is …
„Alto saxophonist Mike Osborne’s career was relatively short—barely 20 years between his first gigs with the pioneering Mike Westbrook Band and his retirement from the music scene because of mental health …
“Made up of three highly distinctive voices in the world of jazz and avant-garde music, Thumbscrew should probably collapse under the weight of its own star power but Tomas Fujiwara …
„Posterity is going to remember the Microscopic Septet as one of the best bands of the 1980s.“– The Philadelphia Inquirer // “…at once capriciously whimsical and deadly serious.” – New York Sun …
„Tatvamasi’s debut album Parts of the Entirety does more than just hold a great deal of promise. Straight out of the gate, they’re an awfully convincing act. Parts of the …
„Conceptually, it suggests what an inspired meeting of Steve Reich and King Crimson might sound like…masterfully weaving together lush melodies, minimalist tendencies and heavy rock overtones.“ – Innerviews // „Technically remarkable…“ …
„[Empirical] remains enthusiastically devoted to remaking jazz for a contemporary audience… This fine set is a significant renewal of Empirical’s commitment to giving 1960s hard bop and free jazz (probably …
„Some of the most nervous, unstable punk imaginable; the rush of the band playing through every single short song as fast as possible (presumably so they can quickly snort another …
„Working within the instrumental parameters of the standard post-bop combo – piano, bass, drums and saxophones – the band situates itself in a space midway between what could be called …
„[Workpoints]…may well prompt a serious reassessment of this important British artist, out of whom much of the most inventive latter-day British jazz …has emerged.” – Penguin Guide To Jazz Two valuable …
„[Carousel is ] a solid and convincing record, with many of the old Soft Machine qualities of compositional interest and high standard of performance in evidence. Enjoyable and consistant“ – …
„Skewered blasts of noisome, Red metal shatters through rough and tumble landscapes of shuddering percussion, ominous, gravelly basslines and wheezing synths. An all-instrumental bulldozer of an album…“ – i/e Happy Family first …
„On Stringy Rugs, the second Cuneiform CD by Dutch avant rockers Blast, the group demonstrates its ability to navigate tricky and complex compositions, in which scored themes and improvised ideas …
„A wonder of complex rhythms, virtuoso musicianship and a name that’s really, really hard to pronounce.“– Go & Do // „…what innovative metal groups have been trying to do for …
Upsilon Acrux makes some of the most detailed compositions I have ever heard” – Nels Cline // “Upsilon Acrux is Amazzzzzzzzing” – Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) // „…a stunning example …
„Absolutely gorgeous. Even „Bixby Slough“ in its cacophony is brilliant. „Scarfnet“ is the most genious R.I.O. song by an american band, and what a lovely band.“ – Anton Bildern/RYM Brilliant composer …
„An ethereal wonder from an Italian architect / music installation & soundtrack master. A lush adventure of mediative synth and melodic scores for lyricon and small chamber ensemble. Highly recommended …
“…A Beautiful Western Saddle…marries Curlew’s recombinant joy with the unpredictably veering, darkly satiric poetry of Canadian Paul Haines. It’s a match made in heaven… A friend once asked me why …
Miriodor was formed in 1980 (in Québec City) by the meeting of François Émond and Pascal Globensky. Different musicians came and went until the band settled as a sextet, in …
„…a perfect marriage of 70’s Canterbury and burning jazz-fusion, with complex time signatures, ripping keyboards and squonkin‘ sax lines… reeks of promise and delivers on many fronts“ – Sea of Tranquility „The …
„The partnership between guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Richard Pinhas and Cuneiform Records has been exceptionally fruitful. Not only has the label reissued his earliest experimental recordings, but they’ve followed up …
The award-winning Norwegian jazz quartet Pixel is in the vanguard of a scene brimming with exceptional young musicians, charting an exhilarating, improvisation-steeped jazz path infused with the cathartic energy of …
Anfangs ist es, als könne man in Zeitlupe verfolgen, wie diese drei Schweizer Musiker ihren Song aufbauen. Andi Schnellmann schlägt sieben Takte lang einen tiefen Basston an, macht dann mit …
For their sixth album, What Is the Beautiful?, The Claudia Quintet brings together the acclaimed compositional approach of leader John Hollenbeck with two of the most important male singers in improvised music, Kurt …
„Mazurek and company channel electric Miles, Sun Ra, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago to make a recording that is cosmic, spiritual, raw, and powerful.“ – Avant Music News “Inspired by …
„…this is a great live RIO album. It was recorded live in concert – I guess the tape recordings of the amateur musicians were played on stage along with the …
„The sheer volume of ideas and instruments explored here defy categorization…Verse is an excursion worth your attention.“ – A Closer Listen „This melancholic, mosaic record . . . shuffles nimbly between extremes …
“Driving, aggressive fusion mixed with wickedly complex rhythms, hints of R.I.O. and avant-garde sounds, and Alberto Piras’ unbelievable vocal skills…essential.” – Exposé A sextet of violin, analog keyboards, guitar, bass, drums …
This weekend’s Five Dollar album is Solar Flares Burn For You by Robert Wyatt.Vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Robert Wyatt’s career extends from the beginnings of the psychedelic era to the present day. This …
The New Year is off to a rousing start in the modern jazz world with the advent of this mini-masterpiece. “BeBop Starburst” effectively illustrates the boundless concepts that could be …
„This audacious power trio delivers the sort of sonic blast that hasn’t been felt since bassist Bill Laswell’s ’80s bands Massacre and Last Exit. In Finnish guitar wiz and sonic …
„One of Portland’s brightest lights.“ – Downbeat // „Says more than most singer-songwriters—without any words at all.“ – Willamette Week // „A truly unconventional approach to improvised music that puts other third-streamers …
Just Us is the LONG awaited reissue of Elton Dean’s very first solo album, recorded & released in 1971, while he was still a member of Soft Machine. In addition to the …
1984 was always a musical oddity, and it may be a little incoherent and self-indulgent at times, but it has held up well over time, and still contains music of …
„One of the great soprano saxists of all time.“ – All Music Guide // „…a trombonist of such sweeping power and majesty that he transcends all styles.“ – The New York Times …
„On a day when your transmission drops to the asphalt and the humidity’s enough to fry brains, Oren Ambarchi’s resonating, disembodied guitarisms establish a soothing alternate universe.“– Pitchfork Media “Nearly four decades …
„The master guitarist’s avant-garde playmates have included Stampfel, Pulnoc, Beefheart, the Beefheart repertory band Fast ‚N‘ Bulbous, and bigger weirdos than that. So for him, this re-creation of pre-Code animator …
„This 1977 debut release laid the groundwork for Tibbetts‘ extraordinary ECM albums; stunning 12 string chops, eccentric, fascinating tape effects and a consistent sense of spiritual dimension.“ – Guitar Player „At …
For me personally, Happy The Man was the greatest symphonic rock band that the US ever produced. Their greatness lay in their excellent musicianship and their willingness to really ‚push …
„Le Rex has energy and verve in abundance…robust and adventurous, this is an ensemble not to be missed.“ – Columbia, SC Free Times // „…this Swiss combo mixes it up with …
„[a] swirling, psychedelic, gypsy-tinged art-rock masterpiece…“ – New York Music Daily „I spent about 6 years writing for this record. I’ve trashed dozens of tunes along the way. This record is …
2014 sees Mercury Prize nominated rock-jazzers Led Bib celebrate their 10th Anniversary with the release of their fifth studio album, and third for American label Cuneiform, ‚The People in Your Neighbourhood‚. On the …
For years Mike Johnson was certain that the master tapes for Thinking Plague’s first two albums were long lost. They recently surfaced & made Early Plague Years possible. Thinking Plague grew out of basement recording experiments …
Soft Machine were one of first and one of the greatest jazz/rock bands of all time. Their importance and influence was especially great in Europe, where they influenced several generations …
„Great writing and ensemble playing. Deep thoughtful solos.“ – Jack DeJohnette All in all, a super strongly individual stylists playing deep, dark, muscular music with a remarkably wide appeal.“ – Jazzwise
Robert Creeley [May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005] was one of America’s greatest living poets; he was the link between the Beat poets of Greenwich Village and those of …
Palermo’s three originals more than hold their own. The title of “Dirty White Bucks” might suggest a nod to Zappa’s obsession with 1950s teen culture, but it’s not a Ruben …
„Whipsmart geek-prog with sax up front and catchy as all get out. Klezmer tunes and tempos. The addition of post-punk jaggedness helps to make this the sort of thing that …
I Just Did Say Something is the fourth release (and Cuneiform’s first) by this very excellent, free-bop style quintet, with members who come from well known ensembles in their native Norway …
[Hearing of the death of Keith Tippett only a few days ago made me want to choose something of ours that he was on for this five dollar Friday. This is sort …
„This is an exquisite album in which the musicianship is deft. The all original compositions are clear and thoughtful in their arrangement. I would highly recommend this album to fans …
„Although this is the debut recording from Israeli band Ahvak, the music is tight, complex, and mature — not the sort of result normally associated with a fledgling band. But …
„Algernon is one of those bands…that is pushing the boundaries of rock…and more to the perimeters. They obviously don’t care if it can be pegged to a genre, they only …
„Smith is working at his highest level since the mid ’70s. This quartet – with its combination of maturity, craftsmanship, and sense of adventure – is the perfect band to …
„Guapo take classic prog tropes and revivify them…brazenly and gloriously, it brandishes all the hallmarks of golden-era prog rock, but given a steroid boost and stripped of ego.“ – The …
„Cartwright is best known as the leader of the adventurous rock/jazz group Curlew. This recording is a change of pace from that sound, even if it is not a new …
„..influenced by Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Earth, Wind & Fire. (They are) tight and precise and seem capable of playing absolutely anything with great gusto…the Mats/Morgan …
„…Sonar’s idiosyncratic sound world…once you are in, you don’t want to leave…“ – Nik Bärtsch (pianist, composer and ECM recording artist) // „A really fascinating blend of art-rock, groove-based minimalism and …
„One of the most successful combinations of booty-shaking & brain-stimulating music to be released this year!“ – Splendid // “Boston’s own rabble of horn players and drummers bring a positively Sun …
„You’d never mistake Claudia for anyone else.” – DownBeat // “Sensing the tipping point where improvisation undermines a composer’s intentions, or composition imprisons good improvisers, is the challenge for musicians …
„A sometimes beautiful album … [which] references a theme of rootless wandering and displacement running as an undercurrent throughout the CD.“ – AllMusic // „Janel and Anthony are an important step …
„I…was stunned by his Hendrix meets late era Coltrane approach.“ – Guitar Moderne // „Despite the boilingly hot drive…influenced by Cream, Lifetime, the Jimi Hendrix Experience (and perhaps more notionally the …
„Guitars crunch, slash, crash and bang through a bundle of hard driving prog rock cookers. Think 1973 and King Crimson…“- Keyboard // „Djam Karet took the two main drivers of their …
Das ist das große Thema in dieser Zeit. Wie unterstützen wir die Musiker/Innen, die von Ihren Konzerten leben müssen und das auch nur mehr schlecht als recht. Später ist dazu …
„Djam Karet took the two main drivers of their music, hard-edged guitar work and electronic ambient, and forcibly separated them…this was…the ultimate defining moment for Djam Karet, as it proved just …
„This is great Hopper writing, fantastic psychedelic music with a hint of experimentation. Delta Flora is one of the most beautiful records to have come out in 1999…“ – Francois …
„Tons of weird rock records have streamed out of Chicago over the past two decades, but none have blended pop smarts and avant-garde impulses as skillfully as this marvelous brainteaser …
„A single Phil Miller album is, in 1988, a greater event than ten Miles Davis albums. More!“ -Puls (Norway) // „…like a 90’s version of Brand X.“ -Pulse. Guitarist and …
„A major statement by a very fine band“ – The Wire // „…in the fine tradition of the Art Ensemble, Roland Kirk, or Mingus at his most out; solid intuitive, organic …
„…a brilliant achievement, highly recommended to any fan of electronic music, past or present. Play it loud and often.“ – Goldmine // The nine pieces on this 75 minute CD are …
„Edit Peptide is gloriously wacky, yet amazingly concise and jaw-droppingly tight.“ – DPRP // „Edit Peptide is a dense album filled with musical twists and turns. This is math-rock with …
„…a turbulent masterpiece that leaves a residue of angst lingering long after the CD ends.“ – Alternative Press After co-founding Univers Zero in 1974 and co-leading that group through their first two …
On the Winter Solstice of 2014 – the Northern Hemisphere’s longest night of the year – composer, bandleader & percussionist Adam Rudolph convened 11 of New York City’s finest and most adventurous …
On Avanti! Miriodor have climbed their highest peak yet and now stand patiently waiting for you to discover them.“– David Lynch/All Music Guide Fortuitously placed under the sign of number …
“The sound of Brown vs Brown is original, fresh and deserves your great attention.” – Jazzenzo // “No category fits them perfectly, whether punk, jazz, free, avant-garde…open to any influences …
“Zevious split the difference between the Tony Williams Lifetime and the 80s Downtown scene…[they make] algebraic music feel wholly organic , almost swinging.“ – Jazz Times // „…Zevious is for anyone …
„I’m not sure where Doctor Nerve is going sometimes, but they sure are in a hurry to get there.“ Doctor Nerve is a rock band that has been annihilating the …
