Rashad Becker's new full length album, Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II, is a newly developed continuation and exploration of work since his highly-acclaimed first volume (PAN 034LP, 2013). Incorporating more instrumental-sounding components, the record moves through both fluid and dissonant sounds, which take on different structural and sculptural challenges through carefully-layered compositions. Following Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. I, Vol. II expands in various elements, distorted and warped, focusing in on the tension and energy of synthesized sounds that appear to exist, hauntingly physically. Known for his unrivaled attention to sonic detail across his work, Becker's unique techniques and expressive manipulations of sound are laid bare in an exhilarating new form, stylistically distinctive and uncompromising. The album is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering. Artwork by Bill Kouligas.

DΔWN's, aka Dawn Richard, last album Blackheart (2015) was FACT Magazine's #1 album of the year. It was in the Best Album of 2015 charts by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Vogue, LA Times, Spin, Elle, Noisey and The Guardian, who called it "the most ambitious and revelatory album of 2015." Her first single of 2016, Not Above That (LOC 027EP), has garnered just as much success and she followed it with a series of show-stealing shows at SXSW (at the Pitchfork, Spin, FACT and Hype Hotel showcases). She also collaborated with Kingdom on "Honest", which received Pitchfork's Best New Track. With future collaborations in the works, she looks set to continue breaking down barriers of music, performance and technology. Redemption strikes the perfect balance between future-facing electronic music (with production from Machinedrum and Noisecastle III) and the music of DΔWN's New Orleans upbringing, bound together by an untouchable approach to songwriting and flawless vocal range. The final part in a trilogy that started with Goldenheart (2013) and continued with Blackheart, it represents her most focused, complete album yet. Features contributions by Trombone Shorty and PJ Morton.

Available for the first time since being issued privately as a limited vinyl, United Dirter present the CD issue of this ultra-rare 2014 two track LP, The Great Ecstasy Of The Basic Corrupt. The additional track "Circles Of Confusion" comes from the equally rare Silver Bromide LP (2013). Indulge yourself in these three immersive, ocean deep and intensely powerful tracks of sinister whimsy for the wretched. Yet another classic from the timeless and ever evolving Nurse With Wound. The Great Ecstasy Of The Basic Corrupt comes in a deluxe six-panel digipak.

The Wasp Factory is the very first opera from Bedroom Community's Ben Frost and it is an adaptation of the Iain Banks novel (1984). It was first premiered at Austria's Bregenz Festival and finished up in London's Royal Opera House. This is the first time the audio has been released. Frank is no ordinary boy. The sardonic, misogynistic antihero of Ben Frost's first opera, The Wasp Factory - libretto by David Poutney - is a young psychopath, a sort of mad scientist manipulating human beings like insects in a depraved behavioral experiment. Born and raised off the grid on an isolated island and warped by brutal trauma, he recounts, in a series of monologues, the obsessive rituals, up to and including dispassionate human sacrifice, with which he attempts to find the balance and order hidden in the seeming chaos of an indifferent universe. The Wasp Factory is the title of a miniature maze into which Frank feeds actual wasps as a form of divination, the method of each insect's demise - fire, poison, drowning - standing as a portent of the future. It is also an emblem of his own maze-like mind: a living, buzzing machine and a labyrinthine deathtrap. The opera itself is a kind of ritual, unfolding with the same coldly indifferent and clockwork inevitability as Frank's machinations. However, the materials Frost works with here are perhaps warmer than one might expect from the composer of electronic experiments like Aurora (2014) and Theory Of Machines (HVALUR 002CD/LP, 2006). Now the focus is on the "live" sounds of a small string ensemble and, for the first time, the human voice and over the repeating, tessellating musical cells of that string accompaniment he sets Poutney's text to tuneful, even soulful vocal lines, an extraordinarily unreliable narrator describing scenes of extreme violence and horror in music of incongruous loveliness.

Gunshots At Crestridge is the second full-length album from Philadelphia's Jesse Dewlow, recording under the moniker People Skills. The follow-up to 2014's Siltbreeze set, Tricephalic Head. Ten sunken songs, derisively adorned with rhythm and rudimentary dub effects. Bedroom elegies for the lost and irretrievable, last-ditch spells for transformation and renewal. Thurston Moore and Byron Coley likened the previous record to "South Island New Zealand pop played inside of an armored car," and that description holds here: underneath the hoods of these wracked and weather-beaten recordings are melodies of disarming beauty and optimism, bordering on the (willfully) mawkish, bubblegum ground underfoot. Whether speaking through stately keyboard pastorals ("Mint Julep"), rat-arsed rock 'n roll slur ("89¢ Public Render") or sulphurous aggro-electronics (the two-part title track), Gunshots At Crestridge exposes, then seeks to redeem, all of our tiny acts of self-sabotage, all of our sins against time.

UK artist Beatrice Dillon blesses the 12 x 12 series with the concatenated sidewinder Can I Change My Mind?, finding the square roots of jungle, techno, noise and minimalist dance music firmly anchored in steppers dub and West African percussive tradition. Beatrice's solo works, and collaborations with Rupert Clervaux, define a curious juncture of worldly rhythm studies and probing electronics which exists in a long lineage of avant-garde experimentation. Beatrice synchs swollen, globular bass, needlepoint hi-hats into a mutating bogle which Dillon explores at almost every interstice of half, double, and triplet-timed calculation with devilish sleight of hand and cadence.

First time out for this wildly raw version of the Pablo master-rhythm, shot through with other-worldly incantation. Surely, that's Family Man stalking a sunken cavern, and his bro battering all seven shades out of his drum-kit, like Meters on fire. Could be Chinna on guitar, glazed and violent. Producer Gussie Clarke says Theophilus 'Easy Snappin' Beckford is playing piano, with the front removed so he can strum the strings (like he finally snapped). The mixing rears up right in your face. Transferred from acetate - fuss-pots don't grumble, just be humble. The flip brings unmissable alternates from Gussie's tape-room.

For the uninitiated Richard Youngs is a classically trained pianist and guitarist, but musically he grew up in the shadow cast by punk rock. Adopting guerrilla recording techniques, the independent DIY ethic is at his core. He is a solo artist who also works with a diverse range of artists. He has collaborated with Scottish filmmaker Luke Fowler, Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award winner Alastair Galbraith, Portuguese organist David Maranha, and Japanese guitarist Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple) among others. Since 1985, he has performed irregularly with Neil Campbell (A Band, Astral Social Club, Vibracathedral Orchestra). He was the bassist for Jandek's inaugural live performance at Instal in 2005, and plays as a duo with Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour). He has performed floor spots at Hertfordshire folk clubs, and worked with members of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has recorded a modern pop album with Beyond The Valley Of Ultrahits in 2009, and composed a score titled Past Fragments Of Distant Confrontation for the BBC SSO in 2014. He was commissioned to write music for the art film The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott (2012), and his music has appeared in the 2013 feature film Drinking Buddies. He is the drum machinist of The Flexibles, singer of Amor, among many other things. Whether you're a long-time admirer of Young's work, or discovering him for the first time, there is much to enjoy about The Rest Is Scenery - a perfect introduction to one of Britain's great outsider artists.

2014 release. Lenio Liatsou performs Morton Feldman's composition "For Bunita Marcus". In the 1980's, Morton Feldman composed two large-sized pieces for his favorite instrument, the piano. Both pieces, "Triadic Memories" (1981) and "For Bunita Marcus" (1985), clock in at about 90 minutes. Both compositions are excellent examples of the group of works that they belong to. "Triadic Memories" demonstrates the complexity and tonal opulence of Feldman's pattern compositions from 1977 through 1983, whereas "For Bunita Marcus" shows the stripped-down, almost dismissive structures of his last works created from 1984 to 1987. Feldman himself described "For Bunita Marcus" as a piece in which he "seriously grappled with the idea of meter. I was very interested in this whole problem of meter and the bar line. I was so interested that I started to write a piece in which I took meter very seriously. I saw that nobody knew how to notate. Sometimes, Stravinsky! In my notation I'm close to Stravinsky; that is, meter and rhythm actually being simultaneous and also being more grid-oriented, a balance between rhythm and meter. 'For Bunita Marcus' is essentially made up of just three-eight, five-sixteen and two-two. Sometimes the two-two would have musical content, which was at the end of the piece. Sometimes the two-two acted as silences, either on the left side or the right side or in the middle of the three-eight and the five-sixteen, and I was using meter as a construction, not rhythm but meter and the time, the length of what is going on." - Excerpt from liner notes by Sebastian Claren .

Philip Jeck works as a composer, multi-media artist, choreographer, but above all, he is most well-known as a turntable manipulator. At the end of '90s, he produced something which later would be considered a cult piece - his four part masterpiece Vinyl Coda. It is probably his most important work and the peak of his art; it defines not only his musical language, but also the entire turntable culture, as well as the deconstruction of vinyl. The work is nothing less than a powerful lo-fi symphony which, through magical looping, allows the listener to hear things they otherwise wouldn't hear.

"Back in stock, the 2012 debut full-length from Austin-based electronic quartet S U R V I V E is available once again with yellow and black alternate artwork. A fresh U.S. repress is in high demand for this modern classic, as the band enjoys a recent surge in notoriety on the heels of members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein's soundtrack work on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. Recorded from 2010-2012 at the band's own Omniverse Studios in Austin, this record chronicles the early days of the group as they developed and defined their familiar yet original style of dark soundscapes. S U R V I V E ' s debut full-length marks the culmination of countless sessions recording and crafting a remarkable balance of songwriting and experimentation. The band's signature sound is a combination of vintage and modern synthesizers, recorded live and carefully processed to draw character out of every enriched sound wave before joining the mix. Originally released in 2012 on Berlin-based Mannequin Records, S U R V I V E ' s premiere is a fusion of reserved minimalism and lucid hooks. Underlined by the band's uncompromising standards in sound design, this album maintains a damaged quality that is nuanced and cohesive across all nine emotive tracks. Ambient pieces such as 'To Light Alone I Bow' and 'Deserted Skies' are beautiful hybrids of harmony and tension that represent the record as a multifaceted work of both mood and melody. In contrast, the cold and brutally propulsive pair of singles 'Hourglass' and 'Omniverse' are strikingly addictive, making their way onto the soundtrack of the 2014 feature horror film The Guest, directed by Adam Wingard."

Capturing the groundbreaking Cecil Taylor Unit's second set at the Power Center, Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, on Thursday April 15th, 1976, this exciting set was recorded for broadcast on WCBN-FM's Jazz Alive program. Featuring Taylor on piano, backed by his long-term sideman Jimmy Lyons (alto sax), David S. Ware (tenor sax), Raphe Malik (trumpet) and Marc Edwards (drums), it offers a fascinating glimpse into Taylor's uncompromising vision. The entire WBCN-FM broadcast is presented here, digitally remastered, with background notes and rare images.

Double LP version. Fjaak's path led them from the periphery to the center, and from there, further through the world. Their self-titled debut album for Monkeytown is as much a summary of what had happened in the previous three years as it is an artistic statement. Fjaak combines the energetic peak-time sound of the Berlin-based trio's acclaimed techno singles, like Oben/Unten (2015), with sophisticated breakbeat arrangements and atmospherically dense ambient textures. These eleven tracks are the provisional highlight in a unique success story which started aside club culture's conventions and to this day refuses to compromise. Felix Wagner, Aaron Röbig and Kevin Kozicki were still teenagers when they developed a distinct sound which positioned itself outside beaten paths, both geographically and musically speaking. The trio cut their teeth in Berlin-Spandau's open-air scene and celebrated their first success in the city's center shortly thereafter before taking the techno world by storm with their elaborate analog sound. Having released a few records, they found a permanent home on Modeselektor's Monkeytown in 2014, while incessantly traveling the world. Fjaak draws its overwhelming power from their signature hands-on mentality and the explosive charm of their live sets. Earlier this year, Fjaak let FACT into their Berlin studio for an "Against The Clock" feature, the result of which - an anthemic techno jam - showcases the trio's spontaneous working process. "Against The Clock" sounds rough and unpolished, just like it's supposed to be: Fjaak capture the energy of their jam sessions on Fjaak. Apart from the previously released tracks to be found on the single Wolves/Pray For Berlin (MONKEY 070EP, 2016), the album also features a reworked version of the Fjaak classic "Gewerbe 15". However, Fjaak is far more than a document of Fjaak's studio virtuosity. On it, Kozicki, Röbig und Wagner channel the diverse influences that have informed their unique sound from the very beginning. On "Sixteen Levels", you can hear their love for UK bass sound while "Snow" and the vivid collaborations with Rødhåd or Modeselektor highlight a more placid side of Fjaak. Whether it's peak-time techno or the cowbell-heavy breakbeats of "Fast Food", Fjaak seamlessly blends the musical tensions between subtle textures, raw kicks and smart arrangements. Here and there, there are references to a specific '90s sound. However, Fjaak is first and foremost dedicated to a new musical future.

"Thollem McDonas : 'This is the third trio album Nels and I have made together, each time with a different 3rd partner. The previous two were The Gowanus Session with William Parker and Radical Empathy with Michael Wimberly. Though each session has been unique in itself (different prescribed approaches, the environment and of course the uniqueness that each individual brings), there are definitely overarching themes pollinating each album. As the instigator of each of these sessions, I've always been curious about the sonic experience created each time a unique combination of musicians gather. So, in a sense, this is really kind of a scientific experiment with a control and a variable. I also love the trio format: there's plenty of room for everyone, yet still many possible depths of complexity in relationships between the individuals. The three of us seemed immediately intertwined, psychically and sonically. An amazing place to record with amazing musicians/human beings. I think it all comes through in the recording... an experiment with fascinating results!' Pauline Oliveros : 'This recording brought us together for an unusual musical conversation. There was no plan or guiding structure. Thus the conversation set the pace between eGuitar, V accordion and piano. Each of us contributing, conversing in response to the other from our own individual perceptions. The music develops as a result of those moments of conversation. As different subjects are triggered or introduced the conversation shifts, turns and integrates making the music.' Nels Cline : 'It started on a beautiful sunny day in a rental car to Accord, NY, Thollem at the wheel, his lovely partner Angela riding shotgun. Thollem had instigated yet another miraculous and rather unexpected improvisatory recording session. This time, I was really going to meet the legendary Pauline Oliveros and improvise with her -- and Thollem, of course! We met at a market and caravanned it to a beautiful barn studio. Pauline was immediately welcoming and gracious -- a good start! A few improvisations, some bucolic photos, and precious lungfuls of sweet air later we were headed back to The City. How was that? Did that really happen?? Yes, it really did. A concentrated portion of our probing explorations is thankfully here, on this petrochemical slice: Molecular Affinity. It's a good thing!' Jacket & label are adorned with confocal microscopy images of a Coleochaete green algae, by Fernán Federici. Download coupon included."

LP version. Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation took little time to make their mark on the wider world, brandishing a radiant sound that stands effortlessly apart from the increasingly staid and often paradoxically predictable world of modern psychedelia. Having already been nominated for a Swedish Grammy with their debut EP, Diamond Waves, their full-length 2015 debut on Rocket Recordings, Horse Dance (LAUNCH 086CD/LP), marked out a territory in which beguiling repetition could sashay with sweet pop suss, melodic flourishes with experimental intensity. Yet clearly this was only the beginning of a journey of discovery, and few would have guessed how the band's sound would quickly evolve into still more enchanting and enlightening strains. Their second effort Mirage, sees the band sculpting sprawling, hypnotic jams into elegant nocturnal serenades with such serendipity that their actual creation remains a little hazy even to themselves. "We agree on not remembering very much about how these tracks came about, that all of them were written on the road and that most of them came fully formed" note the band. "Most were really long to begin with, but we found it relieving to break away a bit from the mandatory psych jams a little bit. We also just realized that none of them were written in daylight, which might be why memory is so elusive." Indeed, this hypnagogic approach seems to fit well with the primary inspiration for the five-piece, which centered on "the state where dreams, visions and the present are entwined" - the domain of surrealists and mystics. True to form, Mirage sees the band taking a chic tradition of avant-pop that extends all the way from Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy to Broadcast and Saint Etienne, and warping it mercilessly to their own darker ends. Whilst the brooding yet sultry "Sister Green Eyes" is no less than a sharp slice of velveteen motorik-pop and "Looking For You" reinvents three-chord garage-rock attack with mighty finesse, The Liberation are just as comfortable dealing out the heavy-lidded and electronically-driven "In Madrid" or the dive in the hallucinatory deep end of "Circular Motion", on which they're aided and abetted by Lay Llamas's Nicola Guinta. "Horse Dance was very much about conjuring the strength needed to cut ties" the band elucidates. "Mirage may be about having left but having no clue what's next - the power in being completely lost and thriving on it."

"Joseph Allred fits the Guitar Soli realm perfectly, fully embodying the guitar loner typecast -- he falls in line with Robbie Basho not only in his 12-string playing that has a leaning towards Eastern musical traditions and droning free form raga, but also in his educational background in philosophy and religious studies. Scissor Tail Editions decided to put out Fire And Earth after hearing only thirty seconds of the track 'Leitmotif' -- there's a sincerity in Allred's music and way of life that has been missing from the modern age for a long time. Allred has been quietly releasing records for years, painstakingly designing and hand-printing most of the packaging, never promoting any of them. He hand-painted the covers for Fire And Earth and letterpressed the back covers of Dylan Golden Aycock's latest. Now inhabiting land that's been in his family for two hundred years, he says he's trying to find a place in the family legacy. In Fire And Earth, there is a searching and spiritual quality to the music, and also integrity."

Psychic Advisor is a worldwide affair: Mysterious Makybee Diva from down under, Snad hailing from Chicago, L'amour Fou, the project of Move D and his friends Benoit Bouquin and Marco Wollenberg from Taipeh, and last but not least, Arnaldo reppin' Berlin/UK/Argentina. You might consider this record as a club night from start to finish. There is everything from slow euphoria to crystalline deepness, from shake-everything moments to different states of a sweet dream. But it all fits as if it was bound together. Cover artwork by Stefan Marx.

"Plaster Falling was recorded at the same time as John Bender's first album, I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It. Released in 1981 on the artist's own Record Sluts label, copies of Plaster Falling's initial pressing came hermetically sealed in plaster (and later latex). Thus, listeners had to literally break open the record to find what's hidden inside. Produced in relative isolation, Plaster Falling is a beacon of brilliance in the nascent minimal-wave sphere. Veering towards skeletal urgency, these recordings set bright analog melodies against half-whispered vocals and expand Bender's electronic cryptography thru a series of lone signifiers: 'Station,' 'Plaster,' 'Women,' etc. As Bender explains in the liner notes, 'I began to distance myself from the present and describe scenes as if in a movie -- seeking concrete, terse, juxtaposed imagery.' This first-time standalone reissue is recommended for fans of Gareth Williams & Mary Currie's Flaming Tunes, Minimal Man and Grouper. Pressed on translucent blue vinyl in a limited / numbered edition of 1,000 copies."

Once again, the spirit of collaboration is a key element: Teklife is a closely connected group of friends, working together harmoniously, and pushing each other to greater heights and depths through a shared love of footwork. "Smoke Dat Green", Taso's collaboration with DJ Earl, was featured on Open Your Eyes (TEKLIFE 002EP, 2016), and now, Taso himself takes center stage for the next installment, presenting unreleased classics alongside brand new footwork sounds on New Start. An accomplished DJ and MC, Taso frequently appears alongside DJ Spinn at Teklife showcases all over the world. A multi-instrumentalist with a degree in audio engineering, Taso fuses raw musical talent with technical expertise. Since January of 2016, he has released an impressive eight volumes of the Cold Heat EP series, bringing together a whole range of musical styles and moods through his MPC at 160 BPM. This versatility and willingness to draw inspiration from different sources is evident throughout the New Start LP. The title track is sultry and soulful, with Rashad and Spinn's masterful influence clearly present. "Don't Get Mad" provides a stark contrast - a dancefloor-orientated hype track featuring an on point vocal by Gant-Man. "Bussin", featuring DJ Manny and DJ Tre, sounds like a love letter from footwork to jungle music. The flip side starts off with "AM Track", another beautifully crafted classic, featuring DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn. "In The Green Room", featuring DJ Taye, is a muscular, speaker-rattling West Coast jam, and "Murda Bass" takes its cue from golden era UK dubstep. The heavily-filtered final notes of "De Capo Al Coda", featuring DJ Earl, round off a diverse but consistently high-quality outing from Taso and the Teklife family.

Sabina is a suite of improvised music about nature and magic. About the kind of traces one leaves or want to leave on Earth. All music on this tape (except "Heavy Sand") was improvised and recorded in one take in Corbeil-Essonnes, France, during the last week of October 2015. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Richard Francés. Cover art by Simon Scott. Francés is a French composer and musician born in Alicante, Spain, in 1981 and based in Paris at the time of this release. His Acid Fountain project seeks to bring together abstract and representational art, improvisation and composition, and experimental and dance musics. Other projects by Francés include Juju, his "électronique libre" duo with Adrien Kanter. He also composes, arranges, and tours with French pop artists such as Owlle and Adrien Soleiman, to name but two. . . . As a live performer, he has worked on Julien Lheuillier's kosmische musik project Pointe du Lac and in 2015 he collaborated with the French art dance collective (LA)HORDE. Previously, Francés played drums and synthesizers with French underground psych/kraut/drone band The New Reformed Church of Napalm Katia. In January 2015 Francés founded Hylé Tapes, an experimental electronic music label releasing limited-edition cassettes by international artists like Takahiro Mukai, Raphaël Leray, D. Burke Mahoney, Jay Glass Dubs, and Mortuus Auris & The Black Hand.

Repressed! 75 Dollar Bill, a project by Che Chen and Rick Brown present Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock. "Che's interest in the Arabic modes of Mauritanian music has marked our sound quite a bit but I have brought some things, too. The plywood crate I play is a big factor, defining, by its positive qualities (a nice warm 'boom' sound) as well as by its simplicity, what we're likely to do in the percussion realm. Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock, this new record, differs quite a bit from the previous one, notably in the rhythmic 'tone.' Wooden Bag (2015) was all forward momentum, stomping and shaking, but the new record explores a long-standing interest of mine: odd and 'compound' meters. In most of my previous musical activities, I've convinced my partners to delve into this, but in 75 Dollar Bill it has just felt natural and I believe Che's modal investigations and melodic/harmonic tendencies enhance (and are enhanced by) this combination. The current record differs from the last in another big way: reinforcements! Over our few years together, Che and I have frequently had friends play with us at some of our gigs. There have been all sorts of permutations of instruments and some great friends/players who don't all appear on this record but here we are lucky to have a bunch of them: Cheryl Kingan (of The Scene Is Now) on baritone and alto saxes, Andrew Lafkas (of Todd Capp's Mystery Train) on contrabass, Karen Waltuch (of Zeke & Karen) on viola, Rolyn Hu (of True Primes) on trumpet and Carey Balch (of Knoxville's Give Thanks) on floor tom. Please enjoy Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock. 'Earth' saw is one of our earliest tunes and, I think, the first result of this 'compound meter' approach. It's a slow 9 beat phrase Che came up with for this odd groove. 'Beni Said' has no fixed rhythmic cycle but a roughly unison melodic phrase and a pulsing, loose feeling of 3s and 4s played using a box full of bottle caps. 'Cummins Falls' features Carey Balch on Diddley-beat floor tom and me reprising the maracas. 'I'm Not Trying To Wake Up' is another of our compound meter songs, this one using an 18 beat scheme." - Rick Brown

By 1988, Leonard Cohen had undergone something of a renaissance in North America, propelled by the success of Jennifer Warnes's 1987 Famous Blue Raincoat album. He supported his widely acclaimed synthesizer-heavy I'm Your Man album (1988) with a tour of Europe, the US, and his native Canada. This superb performance at Massey Hall in Toronto on November 9, 1988, was broadcast live on CBC Radio. The complete broadcast is presented here with background notes and images. Limited edition, 180-gram, blue vinyl; Edition of 1000 (numbered).

"Rewind 2016, our mammoth annual survey of the last 12 months of key underground music activity in 26 pages of crucial charts and critical comment. The Rewind issue includes our 50 new releases of the year and 50 archive releases of the year, along with specialist genre charts covering all bases from avant rock to jazz & improv via modern composition, dance, global and more. Plus: our crack team of critics and contributors, as well as some of 2016's most active musicians, give us their takes on the highs and lows of the cultural year."

Cinedelic Records present a reissue of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for the 1968 film Eat It (Mangiala). Even if you find the film Eat It, a film bit too weak-willed of social satire and advertising, the first and last of director Francesco Casaretti, you cannot miss out on the soundtrack from the two-time Academy Award winner Ennio Morricone, composed during his most prolific and experimental period, available for the first time from original master tapes. Morricone wrote a score that is, as always, brilliant, conducted by Bruno Nicolai with the choir I Cantori Moderni di Alessandro Alessandroni. The tracks range between danceable, a known nursery rhyme, classical motifs, romantic, a touch of bossa nova, all of which embrace all the psychological and environmental nuances of alienation and paradox that marks the plot of the film. There are also disturbing and abstract experimentalisms that make this soundtrack unique. Particularly in "Quinta Variazione / Africami" with the fuzzy guitar by Alessandroni, and "Settima Variazione" with its three dreamy amazing underwater variants and ending with "Eat It", in the same version as the highly collected 45rpm that came out at the time and is, until now, the only existing track on vinyl from this score - a legendary cult object and sought out for the killer heavy drum by Vincenzo Restuccia and distorted psychedelic Fender Stratocaster of Alessandro Alessandroni. Highly rigid hand-glued Cinedelic cover, with a folder insert of four facades with photos from the movie.

Dagored present a reissue of Berto Pisano's soundtrack for the 1969 film Interrabang, originally released in 1970. Berto Pisano was a bass player, composer, arranger and Italian conductor. Among the interesting soundtracks he composed, there is certainly a major spot reserved for Interrabang, the cult giallo/erotic film of 1969 which at the time was quite out of the box, as it matched the exotic-erotic genre with the psychological thriller. Strong jazzy themes supported by strings, vibraphone, soft drums, some great bossa nova mixed with shakin' mid-tempo tunes and the magnificent vocals of Edda Dell'Orso. This soundtrack is a truly beautiful experience. Edition of 500 on colored vinyl.

Henning Christiansen (Copenhagen, 1932 - Isle of Møn, 2008) was a Danish composer and an active member of the Fluxus movement. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen and at the more liberal Ex-School (Eks-Skolen), embracing its radical approach in study and creation of art and developing into his own musical thinking. In 1962, he attended the George Maciunas's International Festspiele Neuster Musik in Wiesbaden, where he probably experienced an epiphany that caused a significant shift in his artistic practice and musical composition. Musik Essayistik is the combined reissue of twin releases Fluxid (1983) and Fluxyl (1984) - two of the most obscure and enigmatic records in Christiansen's discography - previously issued separately by Borgen Records in Denmark. Four minimal pieces exploring the clash between instrumental composition-improvisation and pre-recorded real sounds. Embossed green ear on front cover; Edition of 300.

Triple LP version. Comes with deluxe Stoughton "tip-on" jacket and slipcase. "The follow-up to Light In The Attic's game-changing I Am The Center box set is finally here. Three years in the making, The Microcosm: Visionary Music Of Continental Europe, 1970-1986 is the first major overview of key works from cosmically-taped in artists needing little introduction -- Vangelis, Ash Ra Tempel, and Popol Vuh -- and unknown masterpieces by criminally overlooked heroes like Bernard Xolotl, Robert Julian Horky and Enno Velthuys. Whereas I Am The Center called for a reconsideration of an entire maligned genre, The Microcosm requests nothing more than an open mind to consider this ambient, new age, neuzeit, prog, krautrock, cosmic, holistic stuff, whatever one calls it -- as a pulsating movement unto itself, a mirror refracting the American new age scene in unexpected, electrifying ways, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the universality of the timeless quest to express 'the Ineffable' through music. Drawing from major label budgets and homemade cassette distributed circumstances alike, The Microcosm demonstrates a depth of peace profound to behold, and clearly expands the boundaries. Lovingly conceived and lavishly presented by producer Douglas Mcgowan (Yoga Records) and liner notes contributor Jason Patrick Woodbury (Pitchfork, Aquarium Drunkard), The Microcosm features stunning cover paintings by astronomer/entomologist Étienne Trouvelot, and labels by Finnish savant Aleksanda Ionowa. Remastered audio, including a previously unreleased track and several others previously cassette only."

A replica reissue of Rashied Ali and Frank Lowe's Duo Exchange LP from 1973, originally released by Survival Records. From Thurston Moore's Top Ten Free Jazz Underground (1996): "Frank Lowe has been studying and playing a consistently developing tenor sax style for a few decades now. At present he's been swinging through a Lester Young trip, which can be heard majestically on his Ecstatic Peace recording Out Of Nowhere (1993). In the early '70s, however, he was a firebrand who snarled and blew hot lava skronk from loft to loft. He played with Alice Coltrane on some of her more out sessions. Rashied Ali was the free-yet-disciplined drummer whom Coltrane enlisted to play alongside Elvin Jones and Pharaoh Sanders (and Alice) in his last mind-bending, space-maniacal recordings (check out surely the Coltrane/Ali duet CD Interstellar Space (1974)). Elvin quit the group because Rashied was too hardcore. Those were the fuckin' days. And Rashied had his own club downtown NYC called Ali's Alley. Duo Exchange is Rashied and Frank completely going at it and just burning notes and chords wherever they can find 'em. Totally sick. Survival was Rashied's record label which had cool b&w matte sleeves and some crucial releases mostly with his quartet/quintet and a duo session with violinist LeRoy Jenkins."

"Dance Music from Original 7" Vinyl 1965-1978 - The music on this compilation is quite different from the filmy music that was featured on the Karachi airwaves at the time. Bands like The Bugs, The Thunders, The Fore Thoughts, The Panthers, The Drifters, Incrowd, The Talisman, etc. played at parties, local hotels, dancehalls or wherever they were invited. They made the hip crowds take the dancefloor and move to the groove. Those were exciting days like we may never see them again." Features: The Blue Birds, Nisar Bazmi, The Fore Thoughts, Jozi Anjum, The Panthers, Sohail Rana & The Five Caps, Khalil Ahmed, Mohd. Yousuf & S.M. Ayub, Nisar Bazmi, The Silhouettes, M. Ashraf, Sohail Rana and Tafo Brothers.

Ion Ludwig teaming up with Franky Greiner. Hypnofunk!

Unsurprisingly for an artist as prolific and strident as Bryn Jones was, the flood of material he sent to labels and compatriots was not always carefully categorized. Also, sometimes he would be so eager to release material that if things weren't happening fast enough, he'd just send in another tape. And that circumstance is why the fascinating oddity Mohammad Ali Jinnah exists. Staalplaat has previously released, in 2002, the Muslimgauze album Sarin Israel Nes Ziona (2002). While continuing to sort through and release the material Jones left behind with his death in 1999, the Mohammad Ali Jinnah tape was found to have significant overlap with that now out of print album, but only to a certain extent. Six of the 15 tracks on Mohammad Ali Jinnah match up with material from the earlier tape (which included 20 tracks), but when Jones resubmitted this tape he also included extended mixes of four of the tracks from the original album ("Imam Fainted", "Yousif Water Pipe Habit", "Opulent Maghrebi Meze", and "Indo Muslem Atlas") as well as five entirely new compositions. The result is a fascinating re-setting of some of the music from that under-heard release. Whether Jones preferred one arrangement to the other is sadly lost information, but listeners now can appreciate a wholly new experience with the material herein, even if some of the material itself has been previously released. And the new tracks are fascinating, even by Jones's usual standards, whether they're the grinding, obsessively focused percussion workouts, "For Larger Iran" and "Burnt Pages Of Ali Jinnah Koran", or the cryptically distant likes of "Cold Turkey". Paired with classic tracks like the bass-distorted, Middle Eastern boom bap of "Kurds Eye View" and the furtively head-nodding "Zahir Din, Cabdriver Of Zind", the result is a release unlike anything else in Jones's discography. All tracks written, played and recorded by Muslimgauze. Edition of 700.

Timedance concludes 2016 with the up-and-coming London based producer Laksa. "Contrasts" has been in high demand with DJs. A chugging b-boy kick pattern rolls along with crashing hi-hats and claps, before delicate, ghostly synths are faded into picture. A refreshingly unique peak--time dancefloor track. "Lost Code" utilizes low-slung house drums, with muted, cloudy melodies floating above. "Buried" takes things even deeper - delayed, textured percussion, is coupled with murky pads and a deep, suffocating bassline geared for the late night zoners.

Urashima present a reissue of Merzbow's Remblandt Assemblage, originally released on cassette in 1981. Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by Dadaism and Surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters's pre-war architectural assemblage "The Cathedral of Erotic Misery" or "Merzbau". Just as Schwitters attacked the entrenched artistic traditions of his time with his revolutionary avant-garde collages, so too would Akita, challenging the contemporary concept of what is called music. Merzbow would draw further influence from the Futurist movement. Not only would he embrace the Futurists's love of technology and the machine civilization, but he would push their fondness for noise to the very boundaries of the extreme. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely of pure, unadulterated noise. Consequently, in 1980 Masami founded the first noise label, Lowest Music & Arts. Remblandt Assemblage was recorded and mixed at his home in the same year and originally released on cassette the following year on his own label. For the recording of this tape, Masami used a wide range of instruments: tapes, prepared acoustic guitar, tabla, junk percussion, microphone, radio, egg cutter and noise. This is the very first Merzbow album to use tape manipulations. Only a few copies were made and distributed on cassette in 1981, it was otherwise not widely available until being partially reissued on the legendary Merzbox in 2000. For the first time, the complete 1981 cassette version is released on double vinyl here. No changes of pitch were made in the mastering process; digitally remastered from original cassette master for this reissue by Masami Akita in Tokyo, 2016. 140 gram black vinyl with black label and black inner sleeve; Comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on black three panels cardboard sleeve with artwork of five original collages by Masami Akita (circa 1980); Edition of 199.

2DIY4 present an EP of Moby remixes. Swiss duo Adriatique remix "Wait For Me" - preserving the original's piano line, the pair use a deep bassline and rearrange the breathy vocals for a more dancefloor facing version of the original. Magdalena takes on "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" - a stomping build-up utilizes elements of the original's percussion over a rumbling sub bass. Johannes Brecht's take on "Natural Blues" features the original piano motif, a grooving bass line and more prominent vocals. Stimming uses an old school build up approach for his percussive remix of "Natural Blues".

Double LP version. Black Sweat Records present a reissue of Amazonia 6891: Sounds From Jungle, Natural Objects, Echo And Electronic Waves, originally released on cassette in 1986. The idea to evoke a deep journey in the Amazon rainforest has affected various musicians in the history of popular and experimental music, but compared to other works, this rare Amazonia 6891, released only on cassette in 1986, appears as totally original and extreme in his conception. Here, the interest in ethnomusicology of the expert Walter Maioli (part of Aktuala and Futuro Antico) is linked to a precise and comprehensive ecological, botanical, ethological and ethnographic perspective. In fact, starting from the sound recording of the ethnographer Pit Piccinelli's collection of natural objects, the collected material for this work is re-elaborate in different times by the anthropologist and electronic pioneer Fred Gales and by Maioli himself. The result of this multi-disciplinary approach is a long, concrete poem of plant organisms, field recordings of verses and calls of tropical animals, futuristically mixed with electronic sounds, similar to the great experimental trials of Futuro Antico and Ariel Kalma's 1978 album, Osmose (BS 007LP). Listening to this imaginative collage is like looking into a precious cabinet of antiquities and curiosity, whose wonders of multi-colored cellular fragments are shaped in the synthesis of a single universal sound matter. The merger between the wild jungle, the mysterious voices of the aboriginals and the oscillation of the electronic waves, creates a spasmodic tension between amazing and heavenly moments, leaking obscure paths and alien sequences. Amazonia 6891 is a magic trip into the unknown wild, into abyss of creation of kaleidoscopic floras and faunas, simply a proposal for a synesthetic experience and multi-sensory.