2026 repress; reissue, originally released on CD in 2005. Eric Dolphy's final studio album is hailed as one of the finest examples of mid-60s post-bop. Dolphy, having recorded the album in February 1964, was in Europe less than six weeks later and his all-too-brief life ended less than two months after that. It marked his last flurry of original compositions and is considered his apex. It is fascinating to consider whether he would have moved past or away from the album in 1965, had he lived. Though Dolphy should not be considered an avant-garde musician by the term's most common definitions, most interpretations of Out To Lunch have been done by players working squarely in that area. So it is with this album, the most ambitious in its recreation of the five-tune disc (with one original added to the final "Straight Up And Down", extending the piece to almost thirty minutes). All five compositions from the original quintet LP are revisited in the same order, the record sleeve even duplicates the old album jacket, although a photo taken by Daidō Moriyama inside Tokyo's Shinjuku railway station replaces the enigmatic "Will Be Back" sign. Otomo Yoshihide first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde, and contemporary classical. Recognizable themes ("Hat and Beard," "Out to Lunch," "Straight Up and Down") appear, and individual players -- including Alfred Harth on bass clarinet -- don't carry forward echoes from the past in the spirit of a sincere and heartfelt homage. However, a good deal of the time all bets are off; in addition to the usual brass, reeds, bass, and drums (and of course a bit of vibraphone, here played by Takara Kumiko) are such sonic paraphernalia as sine waves, contact mike, no-input mixing board, and, of course, "computer." Otomo himself plays electric guitar. From composition to composition and even during episodes within compositions, the band takes radically different approaches. There are blasts of free jazz energy not too far removed from the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, an impression reinforced by the presence of spluttering wild man Mats Gustafsson on baritone sax. Not surprisingly and often in contrast with the Dolphy original, the music is dense and filled to overflowing with sounds -- sometimes due to fundamental reworkings in structure rather than just the larger size of the ensemble. Dolphy is transported into the 21st century and allowed to romp through modern developments in music.

Hot on the heels of their spectacular self-titled debut album, The Handover is back with their second long form composition, New Old Medicine. Aly Eissa (oud), Ayman Asfour (violin), and Jonas Cambien (vintage organ/synth) have been cutting their teeth on the international touring circuit for the past two years, landing from town to town in their seductive spaceship to blow people's minds and then dematerialize into the void. An outline for a new piece began to emerge along the route and late last year during a stop in Berlin, this metamorphosis of the trio's sound was recorded in pristine form by Rabih Beaini at Morphine Studios. Attempting to define the music is not as important as allowing it to define itself -- from person to person, village to village. All we can do is suggest what may resonate to lure you into the arena; psychedelic, folkloric, Egyptian, etc., as these excerpts from the liner notes suggest: "Though one long piece, New Old Medicine moves through several unofficial chapters. It originates in the psychic depths with a pensive melody. Gradually solidifying, the organ's first solo ushers the piece into a swaying, reverent dance. This dance nears its end with a vigorously percussive section on oud, handing it off to the violin for a climactic solo. A momentary pause, then the rhythm thickens, and the musicians ride untethered through the midnight. This frenzy is followed by a calm repose on placid water. But this calm is merely a deep inhale before the final charged ascent into cosmic rapture." Don't sleep on this one! Limited edition vinyl pressing with two-page insert including liner notes by Tucker Wiedenkeller.

In the early 1970s, Roy Ayers formed his own band: Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Its lineup included artists well known to funk and soul fans such as Bernard Purdie, James Mason, and Edwin Birdsong. This 1973 album presents Roy Ayers in the midst of a creative evolution toward a sound increasingly influenced by soul and funk, moving beyond the early phase of his musical career, which was more rooted in orthodox jazz. On Red Black & Green, he teams up with highly accomplished collaborators such as keyboardist Harry Whitaker, arranger and producer William S. Fischer, and Strata-East musicians Charles Tolliver and Sonny Fortune. Here, however, the latter two do not venture into the spiritual jazz sounds so characteristic of their own recordings; instead, together they embrace a sophisticated funk groove where Ayers showcases his extraordinary vibraphone talent. The album includes outstanding versions of "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Day Dreaming," as well as original compositions such as "Cocoa Butter," "Rhythms of Your Mind," and the superb title track, "Red Black & Green." After years out of print, Vampisoul are pleased to present this much-needed vinyl reissue of an essential album in Roy Ayers' career. Pressed on 180g vinyl.

Originally self-released in 2023, Stella Kola, the debut album from Beverly Ketch (Jow Jow, Weeping Bong Band) and Robert Thomas (Sunburned Hand of the Man, Dalthom), now returns in a renewed edition -- bringing wider attention to a record that already felt like a quietly essential artifact from the moment it first appeared. Given the pair's respective roots -- and the presence of collaborators drawn from across the Northeast experimental underground -- one might expect "a brutal blast of acid swirl." Instead, what emerges is something far more unexpected. The album is "steeped, not in noise and dissonance, but in the fragrant, captivating folk of Linda Perhacs, Judee Sill, Karen Dalton, and Bridget St John." From the opening moments the record reveals its core sensibility: "a ballad that digs deep into the psychedelic-folk tradition until it takes root in a freshly sporous permaculture." What follows is a set of songs that feel both carefully assembled and organically grown -- delicate structures held together by a wide circle of contributing musicians, including Wednesday Knudsen (flute), P.G. Six (harp, guitars, keys), Gary War (synth), Jen Gellineau (viola, violin), Willie Lane, L. Gray, and others. Rather than functioning as studio additions, these collaborators form a genuine collective presence. Like many of the '60s folk records it echoes, Stella Kola carries "the feeling of community and camaraderie" at its core, shaping a warmth that runs through the entire release. The album's emotional palette leans toward a quiet, persistent melancholy. Its sound edges into the terrain of Fairport Convention and Pentangle, with references to "Beggar's, Kings, Dark Damsels, and Tarot," yet never settles into revivalism. Instead, Ketch and Thomas extend the tradition outward, refracting it through their own distinctly American, underground language. Even among a prolific and unpredictable network of underground musicians, Stella Kola stands apart. With its return in reissue form, the album reasserts itself not just as a hidden gem, but as an essential document of contemporary folk experimentation -- an intimate, collective work that continues to unfold with time.

A note from Lawrence English: "Beatriz Ferreyra is a sonic world builder. For six decades she has been responsible for the creation of works that inhabit a place between the living world and the subliminal zones of the unconscious. Her compositions forge new realities, constructed piece by piece, from fragments of places and things we know, reedited and refocused to create something few of us might even imagine possible. Ferreyra's life in sound has transcended from the analog to the digital and back again. She is equally at home with tape manipulation as she is with digital transformations and it is this sense of material agnosticism which has lent her work such a personal quality. She pursues sound in the absolute, and allows it to guide her curiosity. A Distracted God collects three works from Ferreyra, each one a microcosm of listenership that speaks to her wholly consuming practice in sound. The edition takes in both tape and computer-based works, which reveal the very particular ways within which Ferreyra has explored and shaped sound. She remains one of the true pioneers of her generation, a fearless and relentless maker for whom the totality of sound's affect is forever front of mind." Cut at 45 RPM.

A note from Gabriella: "Parasymbiosis -- the ability of two separate organisms to exist closely together. I have long pondered the concept of connectedness in relation to life's existence. The Dalai Lama teaches that destruction of one's neighbor equates to destruction of oneself. In contrast, modern Western culture has placed the individual at the epicenter of existence -- to the detriment of non-humans and humans alike. Ecological Memory influences present or future responses of a community; it is this shared memory that enables organisms, objects and the environment to connect to each other, and to the other. What happens when a community or ecological system loses this memory, this connection? The systems begin to break down; intergenerational memory evolves in rapid short steps, culture and connection becomes unrecognizable. Time speeds up. Yet with the naked eye, the universe reflects slow time. Its very distance provides a sense of stasis. Understanding the night sky could very well be the vastness of time we have forgotten through our ecological memory, our loss of the visible difference between the likes of night and day; non-referenceable and dictated by intangible rhythms that exist beyond the cyclic elements of nature. Through Parasymbiosis I imagined sounds of the inherent connection between the earth and the universe. Contemporary society has rendered invisible the heritage of the night sky and what it teaches us. The wonder and awe it inspires, in its pure, unadulterated form untouched by light pollution and modern satellite activity, has always informed non-human and human life cycles and human culture. In modern times, only 40% of human beings can still see the Milky Way. We have forgotten that the dark sky and the earth reflect each other -- they are, as a metaphor, parasymbiotic. The Electric Cristal (EC) features strongly in Parasymbiosis. It is a microtonal, electro-acoustic instrument that has captured my imagination through its deep and fragile resonance created by touching glass rods encased in aluminum. Ceated by Dylan Crismani (AUS) in 2019, the EC conjures vast soundscapes. Electronics exploit the volatile vibrations and random frequencies that the instrument generates."

Following Murder Ballads [Drift] (2021, SR 506LP) and Murder Ballads [Passages], (2022, SR 510LP) here is the last chapter of the trilogy: Murder Ballads [Incest Songs]. First time on LP vinyl. Textured sleeve with marbled vinyl. Incest Songs is the final chapter of the Murder Ballads trilogy, and its most fully realized expression. Where Drift and Passages explored the post-isolationist frame through voice and single instrument, this third volume dispenses with that approach entirely, opening instead onto a more labyrinthine sonic architecture -- one built from overlapping, saturating, blurring voices, all of them Martyn Bates'. The decision feels both inevitable and quietly inspired. Bates' vocalizations unfold as layered calls and responses, muted and distant echoes, sung whispers and counter-melodies, ultimately resolving into a mesmeric conversation of musical inferences and correspondences. There is a mellifluous, dream-like quality to the whole -- infused with that characteristic stillness that slow, hypnotic unfolding of gossamer subtlety -- yet never quite losing a certain drugged, disquieting beauty beneath its surface. Incest Songs pushes the post-isolationist form further out than either of its predecessors, innovating and extemporizing with a dazzling assurance. And yet, remarkably, this remains a territory still almost entirely unexplored by other artists -- the sole province, it seems, of M.J. Harris and Martyn Bates. As Bates himself reflects: "I feel, in personal terms -- listening to it, I think it's easy to detect that the whole thing has been a truly exhilarating experience for the both of us, realizing and developing this strange, sublime creature of ours -- and now I guess it's up to others to take up the challenge, to build on what we've done -- and I think that there are still SO MANY fantastic possibilities." Re-emerging thirty years after its initial inception -- somewhat surprisingly, Murder Ballads [Incest Songs] still remains/exists in an area overlooked by other artists, an area that truly still remains the sole province of M.J. Harris/Martyn Bates.

Limited edition of 250. Textured sleeve. Marbled yellow flame color. Jean Dubuffet used to define his music as something disordered and dirty. But here, it is a Dubuffet returning from a long journey in Africa, with haunting rhythms that reach trance-like states, corrupted by ErikM's UK Drill.

"With one exception, this disc is a recording of a concert given at the Ateliers Claus in Brussels in March 2024. It was preceded by three short hours of improvisation the day before and the day before that, during which ErikM and I made a series of careful observations of each other's playing. It must be said that neither of us had skimped on transporting a few cases, the contents of which would have allowed us to play several concerts in a row without ever repeating ourselves. Erik had brought his turntables to Brussels, as well as sophisticated electronic machines, accompanied by a virtually infinite sound bank. For my part, I had both a mechanical orchestra and a range of acoustic instruments at my disposal. In two sessions, we eliminated the superfluous and the ineffective. On the evening of the concert, it was through close observation-of each sound, each direction taken by one or the other, each intention, each break-that we composed this record in the moment: vigilant and scrutinizing, like the pairs of eyes on the cover of this album." --Pierre Bastien

Many Many Women by Petr Kotík is a large-scale composition for voices and instruments from 1975-78 on the text of Gertrude Stein's novella of the same name. It was published in Paris in 1910 as part of the book G.M.P. -- Gertrude, Matisse, Picasso. Voices and instruments performed by members of S.E.M. Ensemble and Ostravská banda. In 1972, the book was published again by Dick Higgins in his publishing venture Something Else Press. Kotík used the complete text, which determined the length of the piece. Inspired by his close collaboration with the composer and singer Julius Eastman, Kotík began composing for voice in 1971. Gertrude Stein was the first author Kotík used in a series of compositions on her texts. Many Many Women is the culmination of this series. A performance of the entire composition lasts almost six hours and features three pairs of singers and three pairs of instrumentalists performing in parallel perfect intervals: fifths, fourths, and octaves. It can also be performed in a shorter version with a smaller instrumentation. Starting in the mid-1970s, Many Many Women was performed incrementally, as Kotík continued to compose the piece. The completed composition was premiered in its entirety in 1979, in a series of three consecutive six-hour performances: at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, and in New York City, at Paula Cooper Gallery and at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The current recording of Many Many Women features two sopranos; countertenor; tenor; bass-baritone; bass; two flutes; two trumpets; and two trombones. The poetic nature of the text evokes imagery that can lead to staging. In June 2022, the festival New Opera Days Ostrava (NODO) presented the complete (one movement, six-hour in duration) performance of Many Many Women. Subsequently, the piece was recorded and edited down to a length of a double CD -- 142 minutes of music. The liner notes were written by the Viennese composer Bernhard Lang, who has been associated with Kotík for almost twenty years.

2026 restock. Originally released on CD by Staubgold side-label Quecksilber in 2007, Space Solo 1 is Rafael Toral's second release in his ongoing Space Program, a venturesomely bold series of recordings. Internationally-acclaimed for his experimental drone and ambient guitar work, the Space Program is completely divergent from his past output. Equipped with handmade instruments, Toral's project is a performance-based discipline, which he calls "post-free jazz electronic music." Following the Space Program's inaugural release, Space, Space Solo 1 presents a raw exploration of a select few instruments Toral designed for the series. In contrast to Space, which consists of thoughtfully layered recordings from various live and studio performances, Space Solo 1 presents unaccompanied instruments traveling through unfamiliar territories where sounds exist in their singularity. The result grabs at the listener to stay alert, tiptoeing around silent moments, increasingly mounting tension and inspiring awe. As each instrument hints at a particular language belonging only to itself, Toral's masterful playing is revealed as an instinctual process. Space Solo 1 is 44 minutes of otherworldly splashing, ripping, beeping, hissing, etc. An indefinite number of sounds carefully coaxed from unique instruments, drawing a blurry line between ancestral and futuristic. Now available on LP through Taiga, this deluxe audiophile version was mastered direct to metal, pressed on 200 gram transparent red virgin vinyl and is presented in a limited edition of 500 copies. The jacket was cleanly designed by Helder Luís at No Type, featuring the Rui Toscano drawing from the CD version printed on reversed stock with a pantone red flood in the pocket.

LP version. Clear pink color vinyl. "The work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio's singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio's instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: 'All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person.' The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Standout 'the ineptitude for mutual discernment' expands on lyrical themes first explored on 2015's Au De La where 'verdure' echoes melodies from the title track of 2014's Feral Verdure. These references to their past serve as potent reflections on BIG|BRAVE's evolution as artists. A sonic whirlpool of string instruments surround Wattie's commanding vocals as she shifts from spectral undulations on pieces like 'what may be the kindest way to leave' to the direct, spare declarations of the title track. The ambiguity of mountainous chords on 'an uttering of antipathy' are coupled with autotuned phrases emphasizing the protagonists' isolation inside the fray. Together the trio shift to deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture."

"On June 16, 2025, I saw this UK Subs multi-track demo tape for sale on eBay, of all places. I got it and sent a photo of the front cover of the tape box, which informs the back cover of this 12" to Pete Davies to see what he might remember. He said it looked legit. I took the tape to Infrasonic Sound, a great studio in Nashville, Tennessee and asked engineer Pete Lyman if he could transfer the tape. Days later, he sent Ian MacKaye and I a rough mix of the session. I was stoked to hear that three of the four tracks were unreleased. I contacted Ian and suggested we take the tracks to Don Zientara's Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia (where we made our first records decades ago) to mix them. On September 30 there we were with Don. Due to the tracks being so well recorded, and the band playing so incredibly, our first mix began to take shape very quickly. Part way into the session, Eddie Janney (Untouchables, Faith, Rites Of Spring, One Last Wish, Happy Go Licky, Skewbald) arrived to sit in and we had another Subs fan in attendance. Together, we finished mixing the last two tracks. We brought the mixes to Pete Lyman for mastering. I wrote Charlie and asked his permission to unleash the tracks and he said go ahead. So, here we are with three unreleased UK Subs tunes and a new mix of 'Same Thing.' Studio kicks, indeed! These songs are finally where they should be -- with you." --Henry

Kronstad 23 return with Dødehavet, the Norwegian quartet's third album and first release on Batov Records. Continuing their instinctive, analogue-led approach, the record sits between cinematic jazz and psychedelic rock, threaded with Scandinavian folk and wider global influences. Recorded live to tape with minimal preparation and no modern studio intervention, Dødehavet captures a band working on feel, interaction and momentum rather than polish or precision. Despite living at opposite ends of Norway, old friends Øyvind Arnodd Vie Berg (keys), Alexander Tøsdal Tveit (guitar, sitar), Eirik Rømcke (bass) and Hans Christian Dalgaard (drums, percussion) conceived the album almost casually, sketching the idea of a reunion over a drink before committing quickly to writing and recording. Sessions took place at Berg's home studio in Bergen, with the quartet working fast, relying on intuition and shared musical language rather than extensive rehearsal or postproduction. On Dødehavet, Kronstad 23 lean more decisively towards groove and collective propulsion, expanding their palette without sacrificing the immediacy that defines their sound. While still largely recorded in single takes, the album is given added heat by contributions from saxophonists Håvar Skaugen and Inge Weatherhead Breistein. Recorded with all four core musicians playing together in the same room, Dødehavet avoids sterile production in favor of a raw, direct sound. Most pieces were captured in one or two takes using a 50-year-old mixing console and tape recorder, deliberately resisting contemporary studio techniques to preserve a timeless, lived-in character. Influences surface organically rather than through rigid composition. Kronstad 23 operate with a deliberately low-pressure dynamic. The quartet meets only a handful of times each year and rarely rehearses in a conventional sense, instead trusting shared instincts and keeping structures loose. The project's name nods to Afrobeat-era band naming conventions, with "23" marking the year the project came into focus and Kronstad referencing the Bergen neighborhood where the group's first sessions took place. While Afrobeat is only one strand in their sound, the name reflects openness rather than fixed identity. At its core, Dødehavet is about process rather than statement -- music shaped by listening, restraint and collective momentum. Jazz, soul, folk, Afrobeat, rock and raga merge into a single, unforced language, captured in real time and left largely untouched. FFO: Gábor Szabó, Amancio D'Silva, Mulatu Astatke, Soft Machine, Surprise Chef, Menahan Street Band, Ikebe Shakedown, El Michels Affair, The Sorcerers, Sababa 5, Ill Considered, Tommy Guerrero, Glass Beams.

2026 restock; Third release by the Maciunas Ensemble on Edition Telemark after 1976 (ET 314-07LP, 2015) and the self-titled 50th anniversary LP from 2018 (ET 785-08LP). The group had been founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1968 with the aim of realizing the score Music for Everyman by Fluxus initiator George Maciunas, which they interpreted as allowing total freedom in the sounds being produced. The group met regularly, usually once a week during their heyday, and improvised on instruments that were at hand. Every session was recorded to be played back and discussed before the next session. This method meant that small changes and subtle new ideas could be integrated from one session to the next, eventually leading into completely new directions over a longer course. Paul Panhuysen linked this approach to the oral traditions of folk music. One of their most productive periods were the early 1980s where, after settling on a stable line-up of Paul Panhuysen, Jan van Riet, Leon van Noorden and Mario van Horrik, the group developed their own brand of minimalist rhythmic music, inspired in equal parts by rock, post-punk, drone and minimal music of the time. A selection of named pieces had crystallized from the improvised sessions that were worked on and refined, many of them having long durations and featuring wordless vocals by Paul Panhuysen that added another unique rhythmic layer to the music. Phill Niblock, while visiting the ensemble's home base Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, called some of these pieces "rhythmic drones", drones produced by repetitive rhythmic strokes, simultaneously on various instruments. Some recordings from this period can be heard on the LP Music for Everyman 861 (1986, Apollo Records) and the self-titled LP. Virtually unknown until now have been five more pieces that were released by the band in 1983 and 1984 on two cassettes named YoplaBoum and Permanent Wave. They are re-released here for the first time, with a double LP featuring the whole YoplaBoum cassette -- the 43-minute title piece split across the first two sides, the two others on sides C and D -- and a CD including the two tracks from Permanent Wave. Single sleeve with two printed inner sleeves featuring liner notes by Leon van Noorden and Mario van Horrik, and a selection of photos and artwork from the period; includes CD in cardboard sleeve; edition of 300.

This 7" single is the first release in a fictitious series of avant-garde music packaged in those cheap generic covers of hit singles from the 1950s and 1960s. The series opens with Nikolaus Gerszewski's 7-minute orchestral piece Beethoven Square, pragmatically split into parts I and II across the two sides of the record. The cover advertises the history of Edition Telemark, but is also an homage to the elegant product design of the period.

This double LP with 16-page booklet is the extensive documentation of the exhibition Godspeed in 4/4 Time at the church St. Matthäus in Berlin, where artist William Engelen installed an instrument consisting of 366 metal tubes that was on display from May to September 2025. The tubes were mounted next to each other surrounding the nave of the church. Each tube was unique and differed from the others in length, diameter, thickness and/or material (copper, brass, stainless steel, aluminum), and gave a different sound. The design of the instrument may be read as a graphic score that represented one calendar year. One possible way to play the score was to walk through the room and strike each tube. Visitors were allowed play the instrument themselves and realize the score in different ways. On a number of days, musicians were invited for concerts on the tubes combined with their own instruments. Among others, these concerts featured: percussionists Evi Filippou, Robyn Schulkowsky, and Marius Wankel playing the metal tubes; Zinc & Copper (Robin Hayward, Hilary Jeffery and Elena Kakaliagou) playing brass instruments together with Robyn Schulkowsky on the tubes; SPILL with Magda Mayas on piano, harpsichord and chest organ, and Tony Buck on the metal tubes. The double LP includes recordings of all these groups on sides A to C, followed by a solo improvisation on a single tube by William Engelen on side D. The performances were recorded and mixed by Adam Asnan and mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. The LPs are housed in a gatefold sleeve and accompanied by a full-color 16-page booklet documenting the installation and concerts in beautiful photos, texts, and more.

"Another mind-blasting slab from the band that emerged from the exquisitely raw chaos of Up-Tight. Guitarist Aoki Tomoyuki, who founded and led Up-Tight from 1992 to 2024, is one of the prime exponents of Japanese string-based underground insanity. His approach combines the psychedelic flow of White Heaven's You Ishihara with the scuzz-dynamism of High Rise's Munehiro Narita and the experimental distentions of Fushisusha-era Keiji Haino. Up-Tight's records were all sold blurts of N Generation Japanese freak logic, and that tradition has been continued by the Tomuki Trio. Their first two albums, Mars (on Riot Season) and its follow-up Shitsuren, were both boiling cauldrons of axe-smoke, with tunes that wandered through dizzying array of styles and moods, all of them underlaid with a splendid sense of utter disorientation. And that continues on album title. Even when the trio slows down into riffs that 'plod' in the tradition of the Stooges' 'We Will Fall,' they manage to infuse the air with shreds of sonic karma that refuse easy categorization. The way they balance the overload of their sound is definitely in the tradition of Japanese underground guitar noise of the past 35 years, but the Tomoyuki Trio seems bent on destroying the boundaries that have usually separated their precursors into distinct categories. They demand all access to all styles at all times. And the success of their attack on extant generic norms is abundantly clear throughout this album. It's an insane spin, and one I've been playing more or less non-stop for the past week without tiring of its inventions or becoming inured to the complexities of its sonic architecture. Album title is jam-packed with beautiful surprises for anyone who has the ears to hear it. Let us hope that cohort includes yourself." --Byron Coley, 2026

Electro-Anâhata (1986-1994). Fully electro-acoustic version of "Anâhata" realized on Jean-Claude Eloy's personal computer from the original electro-acoustic recordings of this work. Electro-acoustic works of a contemplative nature. Electro-acoustic parts alone of Âhata-Anâhata (struck sound -- unstruck sound) including a new unreleased part. Electronic music studios where the original "Anâhata" was produced (1984-86): Studio of the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, Amsterdam (1984 and 1986), the entire production (pre-recorded material processing, new material generation, premixing) and all final mixing processes; Tokyo-Gakuso studio, Tokyo (1983): for the Shô and Ô-Shô (traditional mouth organs from Japan) sampling with Mayumi Miyata. Conny's Studio, Neuenkirchen, near Cologne (1984) with Asian Sound and Michael W. Ranta: metal percussion instrument sampling, including Bonshôs (Buddhist temple bells from Japan) sampling.

2026 restock. "Unquestionably Portland's most well-loved punk group, the Wipers formed in the late 1970s and in 1980 released their debut LP, Is This Real? -- twelve songs of stabbing, jittery guitar, snapped vocals, and unabashed teen angst. Full of desperation and yearning, the LP has stood as a blueprint for wretched youth for over 25 years. In the early 1990s Is This Real? was given mainstream attention when Nirvana covered two tracks off the record and Cobain announced it was one of the primary influences on his group. While it was reissued on compact disc and available as a part of the Wipers Boxed Set (Zeno), this is the first time Is This Real? has been available on vinyl in the U.S. since its initial release. Remastered from original tapes as provided by Greg Sage himself, the LP is pressed on audiophile grade vinyl and housed in a deluxe tip-on sleeve. Complete with a printed insert that replicates the original innersleeve, the Jackpot Records reissue of Is This Real? is a lavish tribute to one of the greatest recordings of the last 30 years."

As a follow-up to Munster's previous work reissuing the recordings of Pau Riba, a key figure in Catalonia's counter-culture and music scene, the label now presents Juguetes De Época Y Cajas De Cerillas -- Singles y Rarezas: Primera Epoca (1967-1969). This collection brings together songs taken from rare releases in his discography -- such as the album recorded at one of the concerts performed by Grup de Folk during its brief existence, Folk 2 (1968) -- as well as from his singles: "Taxista!" (1967), "Noia de porcellana" (1969), "Miniatura" (1969), "L'home estàtic" (1967), "Pau i Jordi" (1968), and "El Nadal no té 20 anys" (1967). Alongside these tracks, this compilation also releases for the first time part of the previously unheard material found on magnetic tapes discovered in the artist's studio after his passing. Among these tapes were the instrumental recordings of "Taxista!" -- versions with slight differences from those issued on the original single, possibly prepared for television playbacks. These recordings provide further insight into the making of Riba's first release, particularly regarding the mixing process and the later addition of subtle details. The album also includes an extensive booklet featuring detailed liner notes and photographs of the artist.

"German guitarist Olaf Rupp combines elements of traditional flamenco (rasgueados, arpeggios, picados) with the fractured cadences of Derek Bailey, fusing them together with a blast-furnace tone recalling John Lee Hooker's most blown-out extremes. And yet, despite decades of concerts and releases on FMP and Emanem, often with marquee-grabbing collaborators like John Zorn, Peter Brötzmann, Butch Morris, Paul Lovens and Lol Coxhill, Rupp's music is largely unknown outside of European free improvisational circles, and (until now) has never been presented on vinyl. Over its four double LP sides, Fuzzy Logic sounds like a Guitar Solos-era Fred Frith musing on Jandek or Carlos Montoya essaying the music of Cecil Taylor, veering from unadorned yet forceful exclamations into torrents of austere, alien gestures packed with modal angst (a rarity in the capital-I Improvisation world), rewarding careful listening with previously unexplored microlandscapes of impossibly interlocked waveforms. Fuzzy Logic is powerfully unrooted. But most strikingly, it tracks Rupp's autodidactic turn into the fraught world of effects pedals. These days, soldering-iron jockeys produce an absurd array of signal processing tools, from bit crushers to tone benders, lo-fi loopers to 24-bit digital arpeggiators, all designed ostensibly as creative tools but more often marketed towards lazy players plying YouTube gear demos rather than pushing their boxes past the limits. Fuzzy Logic, rather, beelines to the tone-smearing outer limits of overdrive, eschewing the well-trodden paths of wail, feedback and sustain to produce a rainbow spray of strange overtones, self-oscillation, and whispered notes beyond the reach of human touch. In a way, Fuzzy Logic echoes Palilalia's previous forays into the exquisitely fried spectrum of electric guitar exemplified by some of Bill Orcutt's records, but more pointedly by Cyrus Pireh's jaw-dropping explorations of speed-runs skittering through grainy distortion. But unlike Pireh, and unlike anyone else you'll likely conjure up, Rupp's work (despite its virtuosity) taps a primal throb dripping with eldritch and unspeakable menace, that punches through the buttery intellect to throttle the brain stem -- particularly at top volume, which is exactly how you should bathe in Fuzzy Logic to fully experience its torrential majesty." --Tom Carter

Double LP version. "The album was recorded over three days whilst the Heads were rehearsing for a couple of live dates with their friends, and peers, Mudhoney. The guitars, drums and bass were laid down live in Bristol, over-dubs added and then mixed/produced by John McBain in Portland. Initially planned as two single albums, (Volumes 1+2) it soon made sense that they should be put together as a double LP. Named in a nod to the Stooges' Raw Power classic 'Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell,' it describes the trajectory everyone is on. The Heads are renowned for their brutalist take on psychedelic rock, this new album shows how much they have absorbed from their years of existence, their peers and the world around them. Not much change though, they haven't mellowed out. The pummel is there, the spaced out sike zones are there, there's wigged out guitar solos that will peel the paint off the walls, there's even pop songs if you look/listen hard enough. John McBain has done a grand job in fine tuning the noise and sonic assault. It's hard to draw a direct 'for fans of' list, because ultimately this album is for fans of the Heads. However, you can trace the DNA of this album back to the Stooges, Hawkwind, 13th Floor Elevators, Can, Mudhoney, Monster Magnet, Loop, Spacemen 3, MC5 etc. all squeezed through the Head's heavy sonic blender."

2026 repress. LP version; includes download code. Soulsheriff Records presents a milestone in electronic music, Liaisons Dangereuses' legendary 1981 self-titled debut album, newly remastered and reissued for the first time since 2002. Liaisons Dangereuses still fascinates today, through its innovative sound and the mystery encompassing it. The 10 electrifying songs, produced by Chrislo Haas (DAF) and Beate Bartel (Mania D, Matador) and reinforced by Krishna Goineau's French and Spanish speech-attack lyrics, created a unique style. The album, anything other than a typical Berlin or Düsseldorf thing, became an international favorite. Songs like "Peut Être... Pas" and "Los Niños del Parque" played a decisive role in the development of house in Detroit and Chicago, as well as various forms of European techno.

Marcos Valle is one of those artists you simply can't overlook if you have even a passing interest in Brazilian music. Whether your taste leans toward bossa jazz, samba, psychedelic folk, or modern soul, Valle has surely recorded a great album for you. By the late 1960s he had already released enough outstanding records to secure a place among the greatest Brazilian artists of all time, but fortunately his career didn't stop there. He has continued recording fabulous albums over the following decades, right up to the present day. This second album by Marcos Valle (1965) is one of the foundational works of bossa nova. In fact, the record includes one of the most widely heard and covered Brazilian songs in history: "Samba de Verão." In addition to his work as a composer -- alongside his brother Paulo Sergio -- Marcos Valle also begins to reveal himself here as a great singer, with a soft, almost fragile voice, while his acoustic guitar recreates the same intimacy of the nighttime atmosphere in which he composed most of the songs. The arrangements were co-written with Eumir Deodato, with the participation of other renowned Brazilian musicians, and they surround Valle's compositions with elegant string orchestrations, bossa rhythms, and jazzy touches of swing. Highlights include the sophisticated beauty of songs like "Preciso Aprender a Ser Só," the rhythmic 3/4 feel of tracks such as "Seu Encanto," and the powerful "Deus Brasileiro." First vinyl reissue in over 50 years! Pressed on 180g vinyl.

2026 repress. 140-gram LP. Cluster's self-titled debut was originally released by Philips in 1971; this edition is the first reissue to restore the track running order of the original Philips release. Includes liner notes by electronic avant-garde pioneer Asmus Tietchens. In 1998, The Wire listed Cluster's self-titled debut as one of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. Cluster is a monster; it contains a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears when it was released. Yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio called Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from the group's third member, Conrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, in addition to playing live, they recorded their first album in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until Plank's death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, embrace of near total aural abstraction, and confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation, and a positive mindset were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- a synthesis of pop music, stripped of embarrassing glamor, and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises, and structures to be heard on this album that would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future.

2026 restock; LP version. "The tone of the guitar and Sir Richard's gentle, loving touch with it hold forth from the first moment of Tangier Sessions, sitting clear and true in the home-recorded night air above the city. The album sequence is the precise order of the songs as they were conceived and recorded. Rick's all over the neck in the early going while sorting through the dynamics of the instrument -- in fact, guitarophiles, the first couple of songs feature Sir Richard Bishop playing without a plectrum for the first time ever! Towards the end of the first side of Tangier Sessions, Sir Richard and guitar begin to chill out and cut loose in a different way -- arriving in the moment that was imagined for them, they stretch out, finding themselves in open space with fewer changes. This is a place where a player like Sir Richard Bishop can relax while remaining totally focused and present, hearing what the guitar and he are capable of in real time. The discoveries of side one give way to the trilogy of songs that comprise the second side, and the issues presented by 'Mirage' are revisited from another angle, another spot on the map in 'International Zone,' leaving finally a sense of journey completed in the serene moments of 'Let It Come Down.' The narrative that builds as a function of this (noble)man-guitar dialogue gives Tangier Sessions a visceral punch that makes for a singular listening experience, even in the crowded realm of solo acoustic guitar albums. Nobody plays the guitar like Sir Richard Bishop -- and on Tangier Sessions, he's found a guitar that nobody but him plays either."

2026 repress. Twenty years ago, Jan Jelinek's debut album Personal Rock was released by Source Records (1999). Under the pseudonym Gramm, it brings together eight tracks that have not been available on vinyl since their original release. Faitiche presents the re-release of the album: Personal Rock will appear as a double-LP, featuring the original cover artwork. Includes download code.

What people wrote about Personal Rock two decades ago:

"Situated somewhere between Jelinek's much loved Loop-Finding Jazz Records, Farben, Move D's Conjoint project and Atom Heart's most immersive work for Rather Interesting, it's a late night album full of subtle production tricks and melodic house structures that belong to the pre-millennial IDM heyday, but which transcend its overly-masculine templates." --Boomkat

"A serene little masterpiece." --De:Bug

"Though many producers have pushed forward the clicks-and-cuts style of experimental ambience developed by German experimentalists Oval (among others), few have been able to match their knack for making abstract cuts into pieces of undeniable beauty. Jan Jelinek's first LP as Gramm is one of the precious few, and it's obvious from the opener." --AllMusic

"Organized in organic structures and minimal movements, the tracks get into utopian states and super-desirable moods, offering superior contentedness and dependable taste of the kind seldom sustained for a whole album. (...) Subway-Escalator-Soul." --Spex

"Jackpot Records presents the triumphant return of Land Of The Lost, the Wipers' fourth LP, to the Wipers re-issue catalog. This time, the label even lovingly recreated the locked groove at the end of side one (mimicking the original LP), and Chris Newman's original, cryptic artwork still radiates from the album cover in the same way it did on its initial release in 1986. With Greg Sage's distinctive vocal pleas and his crunchy, swirling guitar riffs, Land Of The Lost feels heavier than anything the Wipers had attempted up to that point."

2026 repress. Peru enjoyed a thriving and exciting music scene since the mid-1960s. Bands such as Los Saicos, Los Shain's, and Los York's, to name just a few, released a number of brilliant records that drove young fans crazy and set an example for many to follow. The end of the decade brought about an evolution in sound and new music genres, as Peruvian bands kept an eye on the groundbreaking British and US artists exploring baroque pop, psychedelic rock and early prog. One of them was Traffic Sound, founded in Lima in 1967. Over a very short period of time the band managed to successfully develop their career transcending their starting point, in which they'd simply record covers of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, or The Young Rascals, moving on to the more mature sound of their first LP with self-written songs, Virgin (1969), a masterpiece of Latin rock, and this second self-titled LP, released in 1970. Traffic Sound incorporates here complex arrangements and long song structures with which they approach prog music. However, the immediacy of songs like "Yesterday's Game", with a fierce and contagious guitar riff, or "Chicama Way", a terrific anthem, clear any possible doubt about the sound principles of the band: groovy rock. While tracks such as "Those Days Have Gone" or "America" show the friendliest yet psychedelic side of the group, "Tibet's Suzettes", the opening song of the album, simultaneously introduces all the ingredients of the Traffic Sound recipe: hypnotic rhythms, untamed guitars, and very skilled playing. Although some influences cannot be ignored, this second Traffic Sound album is huge and deserves to be considered one of the greatest recordings of its time, even internationally, as essential as the most hailed works of Cream, Caravan, or Led Zeppelin that served as a bridge for rock music between the '60s and '70s. Presented in facsimile tri-fold sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

2026 repress. Vampisoul present the first vinyl reissue of Litto Nebbia's Bazar De Los Milagros, originally released in 1976. A space jazz-folk masterpiece infused with prog scents from one of the true legends of Argentinian music, Latin rock pioneer Litto Nebbia. Floating electric piano, acoustic guitar, female choirs and Moog sounds combine with Litto's own voice and create a unique blend of delicate beauty. The use of analog synthesizers in this conceptual album was a turn in Nebbia's work at the time. A long seven-minute suite opens the album, mixing acoustic textures with synth sounds, setting the grounds for the entire LP. Songs of introspective darkness alternate with other tracks influenced by sunny bossa nova, musical passages fueled with epic energy where the voice of Mirtha Defilpo accompanies Nebbia along with the intricate and enveloping instrumental work driven by Daniel Homer's guitars and Litto Nebbia's keyboards. The album draws a complex soundscape made up of an almost infinite number of musical pieces, rich in layers and textures, that -- decades after its original release -- still stands out for their modernity. Bazar De Los Milagros is undoubtedly one of the most advanced recordings of those that appeared in Latin America at the end of the '70s. Includes the song "La Caída", as recently sampled on Jay Electronica/Jay Z's hip-hop hit "The Neverending Story". Bazar De Los Milagros has also been listed on Japanese DJ and music expert Chee Shimizu's Obscure Sound guidebook, a must for record collectors. Includes facsimile version of the 32-page booklet that accompanied the original 1976 release; remastered sound.

"Philip Glass, the great American composer, was already in his mid-30s before his first album appeared, and then only because he produced the double LP himself. Music With Changing Parts was the inaugural release on his own Chatham Square imprint in 1971. At this point, Einstein on the Beach, Glass' first opera, was still five years away. Yet in Changing Parts, one can already hear much of his vocabulary in full bloom: the buoyant arpeggios, the melding of electronic and acoustic instruments, the elongated drones of human voice, the primary emphasis on pulse (an interest he shared with fellow composer Steve Reich) and the ecstatic potential inherent in repetition. The album features the original Philip Glass Ensemble -- the composer himself, along with Jon Gibson, Dickie Landry, Art Murphy, Steve Chambers, and Robert Prado -- playing Farfisa organs and woodwinds as well as Barbara Benary on electric violin. As Glass describes in his memoir Words Without Music, he secured a $500 interest-free loan for the recordings' initial release from the Hebrew Free Loan Society -- an organization intended to help immigrants from the Old World upon arrival in the US. Though Glass was merely the grandson of immigrants, the venture wasn't far off the society's charter as Changing Parts helped usher in a new world of sound that would become known as minimalism. Chatham Square went on to release albums by other composers in Glass' circle, including Gibson and Landry. The label was named after the Manhattan intersection where Landry had a studio and the ensemble rehearsed. Born in Baltimore in 1937, Glass first moved to New York to attend Juilliard at just nineteen, having already graduated from the University of Chicago. A staple of the Downtown scene, he can perhaps be appreciated as akin to the likes of sculptor Richard Serra or filmmaker Jim Jarmusch: mavericks who became major cultural figures entirely on their own terms. This first-time vinyl reissue reproduces the original side-breaks and gatefold sleeve."

Black Editions presents the expanded and definitive edition of White Heaven's brilliant third album Next to Nothing. Originally released in 1994 by Tokyo's Noon Disk, the full album was only ever available in a limited vinyl pressing of 250 copies. Since then, it has become one of the most sought-after artifacts of the '90s Japanese underground and is regarded as a highpoint of Japanese psychedelic rock. Led by vocalist, songwriter and conceptualist You Ishihara, the album finds the group in a phase of refinement. Taking a more intricate and open approach, the music is buoyant and light yet at the same time, nocturnal and introspective. Next to Nothing marks the first time guitarists Michio Kurihara and Soichiro Nakamura appear together on record after having separate turns as lead guitar on the group's first two albums. The pairing is revelatory as they weave luminous melodic lines, sometimes in parallel, sometimes opening into sustained intricate counterpoint. Bassist Koji Shimura and drummer Ken Ishihara shuffle and swing in parallel with a fluid, sinuous rhythm, while flourishes of synthesizer, mellotron and the introduction of Go Hirano on keyboards and piano deepens the group's sound with orchestral colors and a soft cinematic haze. Across the album, clear, shimmering guitar tones and gentle chord progressions are layered with bright arpeggiated figures and darker minor-key passages. The songs develop through gradual changes in tone and dynamics as Ishihara's voice reveals a gentle yearning and wistfulness. An extended version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "The Look of Love" serves as the album's entrancing focal point; stretching the song's familiar lounge-pop swagger, the group renders it as a slow-burning, psychedelic meditation crackling with electricity as it drifts into the night. Available for the first time on vinyl in over 30 years. Remastered and expanded with three previously unreleased song versions on a second LP cut at 45RPM. Presented in a heavy tip-on gatefold with metallic and ink pigment foil stamping, spot colors as well as a gatefold insert. House in a custom vellum wrap with a mirror metallic sticker seal. Pressed at RTI Recorded at Inter Music Studio, Tokyo 1994. Remastered at Peace Music 2021, Produced by You Ishihara.

Cloud Management return to Altin Village & Mine for a unique collaboration with New York writer and creative polymath Vivien Goldman. A pairing spanning generations and geography, but with a musical overlap that is quite fitting in both process and result. Cloud Management's jammy, improvisational approach to their dubby electronics blends well with Goldman's idiosyncratic vocal style, which has its origins in the early days of post-punk and UK dub experimentalism. Cloud Management blend many historical aspects of German electronic music into something distinctly their own, while retaining a view well beyond those borders or any particular era. This approach fits well with Goldman's deep multidisciplinary career, not easily defined because of its eclectic abundance across disciplines, yet always orbiting around music as its foundation. When it comes down to it, these are great tracks created in the same way they sound: loose but refined, circling and turning inwards and outwards, back onto themselves. A dub of a dub of a dub, but never falling too far from the source -- the minimalism necessary to deliver a direct, steady resolve and a gripping listen. The B Side of the record features three remixes by artists from across the globe, all with strong connections to the front line of dancehall, dub, and electronic music experimentalism. Longtime Equiknoxx member Time Cow from Kingston (Jamaica), delivers a version of "Quick Cover Up" that represents a major overhaul of the original. This remix strips away much of the looseness of the source material and leans into a lush yet slightly darker atmosphere, created by layered synths and a masterful use of underlying percussion and melodic stabs. Up next are Twin Cities, Minnesota-based Feel Free Hi Fi, who take on "Judge Judge." The duo tighten things up, overlaying weighty vintage string synths and digi-flute melodies. This version feels designed for smoky, late-night dub sound system sessions, harkening back to dub's foundations. Last but not least is London's Pat Orburn. Stripped way down, the remix rides an interplay between alternating minimalism and a more lo-fi but lush exuberance, somewhat reminiscent of a bossa nova-esque minimal synth sound. This version's lo-fi pop sensibility provides a fitting contrast and completes an eclectic yet copacetic trio of remixes for the record.

"On what would have been Arthur Russell's 75th birthday, Audika Records presents a remastered/redux double vinyl rerelease of the much-beloved compilation Love Is Overtaking Me of Arthur's folk, pop, and country songs including 'Planted a Thought,' 'Close My Eyes' and 'I Couldn't Say It To Your Face.' Originally released in 2007 the redux edition includes new masters from a recently found pristine tape reel and was remastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering in Portland, OR. Revised artwork by Molly Smith with extensive liner notes from Arthur's partner Tom Lee. Over twenty years ago, Audika Records began compiling and releasing the exceptionally varied, long sought-after music of Arthur Russell, and in the process has succeeded at helping the beloved, late artist find the broader audience he always believed he would reach. A new generation of listeners and critics has come to appreciate Russell as a visionary and an influence upon a broad range of today's most compelling musical artists. While much critical and popular affection for Russell's music has come about well after his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, many fellow artists believed in his genius and were drawn to collaborate with him during his lifetime. The legendary producer John Hammond (Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen) recorded Russell on several occasions; a number of these recordings now heard on Love Is Overtaking Me, along with songs recorded with various incarnations of The Flying Hearts, a group formed by Russell and Ernie Brooks whose shifting lineup included, by turns, Jerry Harrison, Rhys Chatham, Jon Gibson, Peter Gordon, and Peter Zummo as well as Larry Saltzman and David Van Tieghem. Several other Russell projects are represented on Love Is Overtaking Me, including The Sailboats, Turbo Sporty, and Bright & Early. Compiled from over eight hours of material, Love Is Overtaking Me reaches back further to Russell's earliest compositions beginning in 1973 and spans forward to his very last recordings, made at home in 1991. Several of the songs featured prominently in Matt Wolf's now herald 2008 film Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell."

LP version. Laurence Pike's Possible Utopias for Jazz Quintet represents a search for freedom, potentiality -- liberatory strategies that transcend the ego and the solitary, atomized figure. But in this case, the album title is also a red herring, because there is no jazz quintet here -- just Pike, his drums, and his machines, not so much an ersatz ensemble as a purely notional one, a thought experiment equipped with drumsticks, circuitry, and the desire to go beyond hardwired limits. And the results incorporate the vocabulary of jazz, along with that of ambient, electronica, and post-rock. The Sydney-based musician has a long history of coloring outside the lines, not just in his solo recordings -- including four albums for the Leaf label between 2018 and 2024 -- but also in the trio Pivot (later PVT); Szun Waves (alongside saxophonist Jack Wyllie and Border Community's Luke Abbott); Triosk, which recorded an album with Jan Jelinek in 2003 (FAITBACK 005LP); and even post-punk titans Liars, whom he joined in late 2018. Of his first album for Balmat, Pike says, "My loose concept was: What does music sound like when the expectations of late capitalism are removed from it? How might a jazz musician from an idealized culture of the future, or even another world, utilize musical language when the conventions of style and marketing are no longer a factor in music making?" That inquiry, he says, connects to his "guiding principle: that the purpose of music is to access something bigger than the individual, and reveal a sense of possibility and freedom in the world to the listener. To create an understanding that the future can be something other than what we imagined or expect, even unconsciously." Heady ideas, but plug into his stream-of-metaconsciousness flow and you may start to intuit what motivates him. There is a deeply lyrical expression in these pieces, but also a sense of exploded perspective, of ideas approached from more angles than any one mind could dream up. Of a collectivized consciousness, of mycelial networks branching across tone and rhythm and timbre, of ideas articulated in distributed fashion, nodal points dancing across drum heads. Pike's imaginary quintet is hardly without precedent; it's a continuation of concepts floated across Jan Jelinek's Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records (FAITBACK 001LP), Burnt Friedman's many guises, and much of the recombinant improv of the International Anthem roster, not to mention the far corners of ECM's catalog in the late 1970s and 1980s.