Originally recorded and released in 1988, Nurse With Wound's ambient opus was years ahead of its time, a ground-breaking set of atmospheric sound patterns designed for ritual ceremonies. Hailed as a masterpiece on release, it soon became a firm favorite of NWW fans and topped the world ambient chart for over three months. Originally a limited-edition, three-album set housed in a handsome 12-inch gold and black foil embossed box, this new edition, a CD facsimile of the original vinyl set, contains the entire album, plus 40 minutes of superb quality, previously unreleased music from the original sessions that did not appear on the vinyl. A green foil blocked cover and new parchment insert makes this one of Dirter Promotion's most elegant and desirable releases to date.

Early electronic music from 1959 to 1969 produced by the Institute of Sonology/Instituut voor sonologie, in Utrecht, Holland. Works composed by Dick Raaijmakers, Frits Weiland, Ton Bruynel, Konrad Boehmer, Gottfried Michael Koenig, and Rainer Riehn. Raw material -- a real revolution: music produced by machines designed to construct a new era. Officially founded on September 1, 1960, at the instigation of several people representing cultural institutions, the Institute for Sonology had already taken initiatives in the field of electroacoustic music since 1954. A large complex of studios (initially under the name STEM = STudio voor Electronische Muziek) was set up under the patronage of Utrecht University in an old house on Plompetorengracht in Utrecht. Instruments, machines, and tapes (among them, that of Varèse's "Electronic Poem") coming from Philips laboratories. Double-LP includes insert.

Notes on the five radical composers featured here. Ton Bruyneel: The realization of "Reflexen" took place at the Institute for Sonology and in the composer's private studio. Brunèl has written numerous works for tape and for tape and live instrumentalist. Gottfried Michael Koenig: He studied church music in Braunschweig and composition in Detmold. From 1954 to 1963 he worked at the famous studio for electronic music of the West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne. From 1964-1984, he was the artistic director of the Institute for Sonology. Koenig is one of the pioneering composers of electronic and computer music of the first generation of post-WW2 composers. Dick Raaijmakers: Born in Maastricht, he studied piano at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. From 1957-1960 he joined the Studio for electronic music at Philips in Eindhoven. Rainer Riehn: Born in Danzig, in 1960 he studied composition under Johannes Aschenbrenner and then (until 1963) at the Robert-Schumann Conservatory in Dusseldorf. Until 1966 he studied music in Mainz, Zurich and Berlin. In 1965-66, he participated in courses on electronic music in Utrecht under the direction of G.M. Koenig. Frits Weiland: He enjoyed a technical as well as a musical education. After working for the Dutch Radio and television broadcasting system, he worked from 1961 to 1990 for the Institute for Sonology. Konrad Boehmer (1941-2014): Born in Berlin, from 1959 to 1961 he studied composition under Godfried Michael Koenig. From 1961 to 1963, he worked in the electronic studio of the Cologne Radio (WDR) where one of his creations was "Position" for tape, voice, and orchestra.

Kalmyks (Oirats) are part of the Western Mongolian ethnos, living on the territory of modern Russia. Tatiana Dordzhieva and Maria Beltsykova were deported to Siberia. The two energetic and charismatic grand mammas present here traditional Kalmyks songs (songs about the deportation of Kalmyks in 1943-1944) and Soviet Folklore. This is the first collaboration between Ored Recordings and Sub Rosa.

"In early November 2014 we went to Kalmykia. Our goal was the local 'Dzhangar' epic. The epic genre, as one of the most archaic, can be called a basis for Kalmyk music culture. We met up with Maria Beltsikova and Tatiana Dordzhieva in this village. On the day of our meeting we were able to record more than twenty songs. In the repertoire of Maria and Tatiana there have been religious Buddhist songs, droning laments, ceremonial wedding songs, heroic ballads about Kalmyks in the Patriotic War 1812, and, of course, Soviet folklore. The songs of the 'red' period was presented with a variety of songs: praising the Communist Party and workers of the collective farms and songs about the deportation of Kalmyks in 1943-1944." --Bulat Khalilov (Ored Recordings)

LCDM / ethographic series: Since the beginning of its foundation, Sub Rosa has been interested in ethnographic recordings -- among the milestones: the Inuit anthology, the Bhutan recordings by John Levy . . . more recently, the works of David Toop (Yamomami shamanism) and Ragnar Johnson (Yemen, Ethiopia, recorded in the early 1970s). The time in which the recording is done, it matters a lot because it also captures the air of that Time. On the other hand, the label can only feel it from where they are. It is in this state of mind that they start again a cycle of recordings where the ancient past connects current times.

Double LP version. Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad's grandchildren, Mia and Judd Apatow, to present a selection of 13 turntable-friendly Mainstream Records tracks recorded between 1970 and 1973. Ultimate breaks and beats from Mainstream Records. The Mainstream sound is unmistakable: Earthy, rich and funky, it's the signature sound of producer Bob Shad. After working with such geniuses as Charlie Parker, The Platters, Billie Holiday, and Janis Joplin over three decades, Shad decided to go back to producing Great Black Music in the early '70s through his label Mainstream Records and started releasing a formidable series of jazz albums known as the 300 series. Released between 1971 and 1974, these albums are the main source of this set. Coincidentally, it opens with one of the two tracks on the tracklist not produced by Shad himself. Saundra Phillips' "Miss Fatback" is nonetheless fascinating as it's one of cult disco producer Greg Carmichael's earliest productions from 1975. The other track not issued by the Shad sound factory is Almeta Lattimore's 7" single "These Memories," a truly great soulful track from 1975 and now a sought-after classic on the international soul scene. Shad's forte was jazz, and the sessions with great musicians, including Bernard Purdie, Billy Hart, Stanley Clarke, Dom Um Romao, Joe Sample, Freddie Robinson, to name just a few. Filled with gorgeous Fender Rhodes chords and heavy basslines, they define the unmistakable Mainstream sound which had one foot in the great jazz and bop tradition and the other in the sonic jazz explorations of the early '70s. Oscillating between jazzed-up covers of soul hits like Jay Berliner's "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" or Afrique's "Kissing My Love" and more introspective originals such as Hal Galper's "This Moment" or Dave Hubbard's "T.B.'s Delight", They all have this perfect balance between groove and depth. One perfect example is Pete Yellin's "Bird And The Ouija Board", a superb 12-minute opus starting off with a deep abstract improvisation before switching to an up-tempo funk beat. Shad had a long-standing association with such jazz divas and this side is represented here by Maxine Weldon's beautifully breezy version of David Gates' standard "Make It With You" and Sarah Vaughan's superb "Just A Little Lovin'". Also features December's Children, Blue Mitchell, Reggie Moore, and Buddy Terry. Most of the tracks released for the first time since their original release. Remastered from the original tapes. Liner notes by UK journalist Paul Bowler.

LP version. 350gsm sleeve with selected UV high gloss varnish. Liner notes by Midori Takada, Satoshi Ashikawa, and Gareth Quinn Redmond. WRWTFWW Records announce the reissue of Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way (Wave Notation 2). Initially released in 1982 as part of the Wave Notation series (which includes Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Postcards), Still Way is, without a doubt, a seminal Japanese environmental/ambient/minimalism album, often mentioned alongside Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass (1983) (WRWTFWW 018LP, WRWTFWW 019CD/LP) and Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green (1986) as one of the genre's most important pieces. "Like the moment of stillness, after the wind passes through the garden, when the rain stops for a brief second..." Notably inspired by Erik Satie's Furniture Music and Brian Eno's ambient work, Satoshi Ashikawa aimed to compose music "intended to be listened to in a casual manner, as a musical landscape or a sound object -- not something that would stimulate listeners but music that should drift like smoke and become part of the environment." The result is simply phenomenal, subtle minimalism and emotional elegance exquisitely orchestrated by Satoshi Ishikawa and his team consisting of his wife Masami Ashikawa (on flute), Midori Takada (on vibraphone), Yuko Utsumi (on harp), Tomoko Sono (on piano), and Junko Arase (on vibraphone). In conjunction with Still Way, WRWTFWW Records is releasing Laistigh den Ghleo (WRWTFWW 039CD/LP), a companion album by Irish ambient/minimalist composer Gareth Quinn Redmond, inspired by Ashikawa's approach. Liner notes by Midori Takada, Satoshi Ashikawa, and Gareth Quinn Redmond.

LP version. 350gsm sleeve with selected UV high gloss varnish; WRWTFWW Records announce the release of Irish ambient/minimalist producer Gareth Quinn Redmond's Laistigh den Ghleo, a companion album to Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way (Wave Notation 2) (WRWTFWW 030CD/LP). "Conceptually derived from the work of Japanese minimalist composer Satoshi Ashikawa, I have composed an album which hopes to engage, enrich and reflect the listener's surroundings, an Environmental Music" --Gareth Quinn Redmond. Working with Still Way as a base for inspiration, Gareth Quinn Redmond takes Ashikawa's meditative sound designs to more dramatic and lyrical landscapes, gracefully instilling his personal touch into the master's melodic patterns and presenting six pieces which blend and reflect the modern listener's ever-changing environment. As Midori Takada explains in the liner notes, "Even though Gareth is deeply influenced by Still Way, he looks above, toward the air and the sky. He pays respect to Ashikawa's approach, but adds bold elements from another dimension -- Satoshi Ashikawa aspired to crystallize the sound structure of nature that exists in the environment. Gareth tries to capture what flourishes out of it." Laistigh den Ghleo is released in conjunction with Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way (Wave Notation 2) reissue on WRWTFWW Records. Liner Notes by Midori Takada and Gareth Quinn Redmond. LP version comes in 350gsm sleeve with selected UV high gloss varnish.

If Wishes Were Horses, Blueboy's first and now legendary album is finally reissued by Australian label A Colourful Storm. Presented for the first time on vinyl since its release in 1992, the recording by Keith Girdler, Gemma Townley, Paul Stewart, Lloyd Armstrong, and Mark Andes is immortalized in Sarah Records' history as an evergreen of indie-pop and modern DIY. "...the sort of feelings that rarely escape from the Sarah daydream factory" wrote NME at the time. This long-overdue reissue is presented with the original artwork faithfully restored by Sarah Records' own Matt Haynes. Full-color reverse-card sleeve with printed insert and lyrics sheet.

Away Music starts a new vinyl series entitled Reissued focusing on Move D & Pete Namlook tracks that were previously only available on CD. Opener "Footer" is a darkly absorbing piece with menacing bass rhythms and frosted textures, an interplanetary trip that finds modern kinship with the likes of techno experimentalist Donato Dozzy. The majestic "Der Bergkönig" is less linear and more suspensory, with beautiful synth motifs looping over icy pads building to a celestial crescendo complete with sweeping strings. Closer "Stranger" is an adventurous 16-minute epic that rides on slick deep house drums and phased bass.

Cehennem is the first-ever collection of the highly sought after and largely previously unheard EMS Synthi AKS recordings of Gökçen Kaynatan, one of Turkish pop and rock's best kept secrets. A key figure during the birth of Turkish rock and roll, a founding father of Anatolian rock and the studio brains behind the first Turkish electronic pop records, Kaynatan's influence runs like the lifeblood through Turkish pop and rock. Having shunned the recording industry early in his career, he remained a driving force behind the scenes and on TV screens, spearheading the explosion of synth technology in Turkish music with his pioneering use of the EMS Synthi AKS, the fruits of which would only be shared on stage, never to be repeated television broadcasts, and in archival recordings that haven't seen the light of day until now. Having chanced upon the newly released EMS Synthi AKS in 1972 during a sabbatical in Cologne, Gökçen undertook six months of tuition in order to fully explore every intricacy of the highly versatile portable modular analog synthesizer. As the beating heart of his now self-sufficient custom-built studio it would propel Gökçen's forward-thinking aural ambitions to a new plane. Making his first entirely synthesizer-based public performances in Germany in 1974, he then returned to his homeland to soundtrack the dawn of the Turkish television age as in-house composer and one-man house band for Turkey's first TV channel TRT, signaling the arrival of a new era in Turkish pop and rock. Increasingly dogged by ill health, Gökçen privately harnessed the Synthi to channel his suffering caused by what would later be diagnosed as a brain tumor, dutifully recording and archiving his studio experiments, which would remain in the proverbial can for over 40 years. With unparalleled access to Gökçen's closely guarded private vault, Finders Keepers Records presents another first with this previously unheard collection of EMS Synthi AKS recordings that represent a vital yet hitherto missing thread in the development of modern Turkish music. Recorded between 1973-75, this modest compendium comprises two of Gökçen's earliest synthesizer compositions and an updated recording made whilst recovering from brain surgery -- arguably some the earliest Turkish synthesizer music committed to magnetic tape, further cementing Gökçen's indelible legacy within Turkish popular culture. Cehennem was mastered from the original quarter inch studio tapes with full cooperation from the man himself.

Aspiring to connect with a world beyond our consciousness and our planet, nimiia vibié sounds the interactions between a neural network, audio recordings of early Martian language, and microscopic footage of extremophilic space bacteria. Here, the computer is a medium, channeling messages from entities that usually cannot speak. However, it is also an alien of our creation. Drawing on nimiia cétiï, Jenna Sutela's project on machine learning and interspecies communication, the record manifests a more-than-human language. This language is based on the computer's interpretation of a Martian tongue from the late 1800s, originally channeled by the French medium Hélène Smith and now voiced by Sutela, as well as the movement of Bacillus subtilis, an extreme loving bacterium that, according to recent spaceflight experimentation, can survive on Mars. The bacterium is also present in nattō, or fermented soybeans, a probiotic food considered as a secret to long life. Beyond Bacterial-Martian culture, or Martian gut bacteria, the project attempts to express the nonhuman condition of computers that work as our interlocutors and infrastructure. Personnel: Miako Klein - contrabass recorder; Shin-Joo Morgantini - flute; Ville Haimala - sound production. Mastered by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.

Jenna Sutela works with words, sounds, and other living materials. Her audiovisual pieces, sculptures, and performances seek to identify and react to precarious social and material moments, often in relation to technology. Sutela's work has been presented at museums and art contexts internationally, including
 Guggenheim Bilbao, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Serpentine Galleries. She is a Visiting Artist at The MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) in 2019-20. The project originates in n-dimensions, Google Arts & Culture's artist-in-residence program at Somerset House Studios. Machine learning in collaboration with Memo Akten and Damien Henry.

"This record is a soundtrack for Uganisudani. Uganisudani is JR Yamanote line running in Tokyo and has the fewest number of users per day but, the deepest."

After 11 albums and unknown quantities of cassettes, compilations, and split releases, Sound Of Turning Earth is the first release outside of Japan for one of the most original figures in Japanese music, Kumio Kurachi. Recorded by Jim O'Rourke at his home studio, Sound Of Turning Earth is Kurachi solo on vocals and guitar, mixing surreal lyrics and theatrical vocal personas with unorthodox tunings inspired by Japan's national instrument, the koto. Lyrically, Kurachi draws life from the small events of life, the hira, the joy of choosing a lipstick in springtime, the business of changing the tatami, raindrops deciding whether to fall as snow. Set to his own brand of progressive folk in the Hirajōshi scale and laced with winding melodies which can be hard to forget, Kurachi maps his own territory for the people who inhabit his every day. As much a visual artist as a musician, Bison present Sound Of Turning Earth in the form of a deluxe CD accompanied by three double-sided art cards by Kurachi, a four-panel fold-out poster, and full translation of his poetic lyrics. These striking songs speak for a liberated imagination. Kumio Kurachi has performed actively in Japan since the '80s, and still plays shows in Fukuoka regularly. Past collaborators include Taku Unami and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. He has played with Tenniscoats, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Katsura Yamauchi, Tori Kudo, Jim O'Rourke, and Eiko Ishibashi.

"The music is so melodious that the mixture of the strange wording, guitar and variations of voices thrives all together and it can haunt you without noticing it, just like the small events of everyday life you can't escape from." --Midori Ogata

LP version, back in, 2018 repress. Dark, hypnotic, tripping nyabinghi from 1974. Led by Jamaican Rastafarian singing hand-drummer Ras Michael over four extended excursions, the music is organic, sublime and expansive, grounation drums and bass-heavy (with no rhythm guitar; rather, Willie Lindo brilliantly improvising a kind of dazed blues). Lloyd Charmers and Federal Studios engineer George Raymond stayed up all night after the session to mix the recording, opening out the enraptured mood into echoing space, adding sparse, startling effects to the keyboards. At no cost to its deep spirituality, this is the closest reggae comes to psychedelia. Previously squandered in an incongruous 2-for-1 reissue, now lovingly returned to its original, singular glory at Abbey Road. Pressed on super-fly vinyl and housed in new standard-printed sleeves.

A spontaneous Turkish-Norwegian-Dutch expedition makes the story of Durul Gence's Asia Minor Mission group the stuff of lost-rock legend and remains one of Turkish music's great "what ifs?". Durul Gence assembled the underground fusion group known as Asia Minor Mission (AMM) in early 1972 (with Irfan Sumer, Oguz Durukan, and Ugur Dikmen). Unintended for commercial release, Finders Keepers present these previously unheard tracks sourced directly from original tapes. A testament to the inimitable talent of Gence and the only studio document of the mythical AMM Turk jazz funk troubadours -- a pop-psych Hollandaise holiday postcard which has taken five decades to be delivered.

2019 repress; Originally issued in 2011. An Empty Bliss Beyond The World returns our doddering protagonist to the deserted ballroom, wandering its waxed floor and dilapidated grandeur in an attempt to capture an era which has long since disappeared but still haunts the atmosphere. James Leyland Kirby conjures a quieter, more introspective spirit, lost in his own mind amidst a low-lit labyrinth of ever-decaying and antediluvian shellac phrases. Sourced from his mysterious collection of 78s, these vague snippets of archaic sonics reflect the ability of Alzheimers patients to recall the songs of their past, and with them recollections of places, people, moods and sensations. The effect is subtly amplified by the chronic mastering at D&M, allowing each memory to segue seamlessly and unpredictably into the next for an otherworldly and disorienting experience. Coupled with another deeply enigmatic artwork commission from Ivan Seal, An Empty Bliss Beyond The World, is a highly potent transmission from one of the most singular characters in electronic music. Mastered by Lupo.

Tobias. on Studios Works 1986-1988: "In 1985, I started working as a sound engineer in the famed Far Studios of German hit producer legend Frank Farian in Rosbach near Frankfurt, and there had an array of gear at my disposal that not many producers could afford, and know how to use in consequence. In the center a high-end Neve studio desk, but also the finest machines created by mythic brands like Linn, Kurzweil, Publison, or Quantec. Confronted with this considerable amount of opportunities on a daily basis, I soon decided to use what I was surrounded with for my own musical ideas, and started experimenting with it in my spare time. My perception of sounds quickly surpassed what I had known before. The equipment offered me many possibilities to position sounds within a song and I learnt how to compose by filling up all the places in between the speakers. There was not only left and right but near and far as well, and even up and down. My preferred perspective grew to be that of standing in front of the speakers, 'looking down' on a song from a slightly higher position. The material was recorded on analogue reel-to-reel audiotape, which I subsequently edited and deconstructed manually with a razor blade, an edit block and a roll of audio splicing tape." Second album of archival material, never released before.

2x12" version. New album by Chris Korda. Akoko Ajeji means "Strange Time" in Yoruba. All the tracks on the album are in complex polymeter, determining not only the rhythm, but the harmony too. The result is an intricate but non-random pattern of interference. Vizyon means "trance" in Haitian Creole; Its polymeter repeats after 155,195,040 beats (roughly 805 days) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 19. Asiri means "secrets" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 14,894,880 beats (roughly 80 days) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 31. Iyika means "circles" or "revolution" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 58,198,140 beats (roughly 300 days) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 19. Ala Aye means "dream world" or "space bound" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 118,731,810,156,960 beats (roughly 1.7 million years) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 37. Awose means "template" or "stencil" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 5,785,219,440 beats (roughly 85 years) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 349. Ra Bayi means "buy now" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 629,909,280 beats (roughly 8.6 years) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 23. Ra Mi means "buy me" in Yoruba; Its polymeter repeats after 480 beats (3 minutes and 26 seconds) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 5. Egungun is Yoruba for "bones" or "ancestors" in the collective sense; Its polymeter repeats after 27,720 beats (3:33:14 in elapsed time) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 11. Dek Sep Bluso means "seventeen blues" in Esperanto; Its polymeter repeats after 16,336,320 beats (roughly 91 days) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 17. Fazo Kanto means "phase song" in Esperanto; Its polymeter repeats after 78,540 beats (roughly 10 hours) and has a Greatest Prime Factor of 17.

LP version. Includes CD. Eight new beguiling Kjetil Mulelid compositions expertly balancing energetic, often rhythmically complex and harmonically rich music with beautiful and evocative melodies. It's not all about Mulelid though, bassist Bjørn Marius Hegge (31) and drummer Andreas Skår Winther (28) effortlessly conjure additional layers, tones, and textures, incorporating a sense of calm; an unhurried yet constantly unfolding sound world which can be said to be distinctively Scandinavian, most typically heard in Hegge's sole composition "Bruremarsj (Wedding March)". Kjetil André Mulelid grew up in the small village of Hurdal, and started playing the piano when he was nine, after hearing Chopin on the stereo. In high school, he had the good fortune of studying with some inspiring piano teachers. Later he received a bachelor's degree in jazz performance at NTNU in Trondheim, again being blessed with top teachers, such as Erling Aksdal, Vigleik Storaas, and Espen Berg. He is also a member of jazz quartet Wako. Bjørn Marius Hegge has been making waves on the Norwegian jazz scene lately, with his quintet's debut album Hegge winning a Norwegian Grammy. He also has his own trio with pianist Oscar Grönberg and young drummer ace Hans Hulbækmo.

"Stop looking back for something you left behind. The future holds the thing you need to find." "The new EP sees the Detroit house artist working with an array of musicians, including Lori (Laura Christoforidis) on vocals, Silentjay -- who released a collaborative EP on Rhythm Section -- on sax and three members of the popular neo-soul group Hiatus Kaiyote, Simon Mavin, Perrin Moss and Paul Bender, on keys, drums and bass respectively. There are two versions of the title track on the EP. Parrish's mix is on the A-side, with an alternate mix from Dego." --Resident Advisor

"Daniel Koehler for a 12"! Koehler... he has all that stuff... like the cover: He drew the dragon on the back some years ago. Those sounds... somewhat brutal, even dirty, with mean resonances cutting... The rhythms, unfolded with unflinching relentlessness, bashing the same spot over and over and over, that shrouding shimmer of fantastic otherworldliness... it has strange effects, it becomes so tactile."

2019 repress. Self-described as "...a cosmic rock relaxation creation to elevate sensory awareness to include the aura of intuitive perception of higher realm of human/divine consciousness using the astral body projection experience vehicle to pierce time/space/logic dimension barriers on the return voyage to the ultimate concept." Exact replica reissue of this classic 1974 private press LP. Previously reissued on CD via Em Records in Japan. On Stapleton's NWW list, of course. Moolah were a duo of Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson. "The [kozumitsuku] psychedelic album where 1974, two youths of New York are identified [mura] and announce. The piano, the keyboard and the percussion musical instrument electric set and electronic sound, esoteric Buddhism vocal sound, drawn, concrete sound, the delay effect, it is the work which is formed with tape opposite revolution."

The Bug and Burial return as Flame 2, on The Bug's Pressure imprint. Following Flame 1's Fog/Shrine 12" on Pressure (2018).

2019 repress. Two 180-gram LPs with 15 bonus tracks from the deluxe CD edition. Despite his huge success with his 1971 political concept album What's Going On, Marvin Gaye left social concerns behind for those of a more intimate nature with this 1973 album. Let's Get It On album broke new ground, gaining its place in history as one of the most sexual albums ever recorded, laying the basis for every slow jam ever after, and making Gaye both socially concerned and sexy -- a potent commercial combination.

LP version. Jonas Munk and Nicklas Sørensen team up for a genre-defying record that explores American minimalism, psychedelia, and electronic music -- both vintage and contemporary. On a foundation of interlocking guitar and synthesizer patterns, the duo constructs lengthy pieces that are experimental yet welcoming in nature, precisely executed yet with room for soaring improvisation. Always Already Here pays homage to the masters of classical minimalism (Steve Reich, Terry Riley) and the pioneers of electronic music and kosmische (Brian Eno, Manuel Göttsching), still it doesn't sound derivative or retrospective. The type of hypnotic bliss Munk and Sørensen strive for is distinctly timeless. Always Already Here came to life during a handful of intense sessions in Munk's studio in Odense, Denmark. However, from a larger perspective the record seems to be a culmination of several years of collaborating. From 2010-2014, Munk recorded and produced three full-length albums for Sørensen's band Papir, and in the period 2015-2017 the two collaborated on Sørensen's two solo efforts Solo and "Solo 2". During the same period they have occasionally performed live as a duo, playing semi-improvised shows based around guitars and synthesizers. These live shows have assuredly influenced their collaborative work with an explorative, animated quality ? which is especially apparent on the album's free flowing, zen-orientated B-side. Always Already Here ties together several musical threads: academic pattern-music, psychedelia, avant-garde sound exploration as well as a highly melodic sensibility. It's a multi-layered, colorful album that demands full sonic immersion.

After more than ten years, The Flying Luttenbachers are back. The Flying Luttenbachers' Shattered Dimension is the first offering by the seminal cult band since 2007. The current New York City based version of the group on this recording features stalwart leader and primary composer Weasel Walter on drums, saxophonist Matt Nelson (GRID, Elder Ones), bass guitarist Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch), and guitarist Brandon Seabrook. During The Flying Luttenbachers' prolific initial 1991 to 2007 sprint, the ever-morphing ensemble explored and challenged the parameters of aggression, dissonance, freedom, hyper-structure, and speed across many idioms ranging from hyperactive free jazz/improvisation, blistering no wave/extreme metal noise infused rock, and ambitiously composed brutal prog. Shattered Dimension was recorded one afternoon in November 2018 at Seizures Palace (better known as Martin Bisi's legendary B.C. Studios to some) with engineer Jason LaFarge. The album opens with a succinct bang in the form of the chaotic blast beat-plus-melody structural form "Goosesteppin'". After the unison melodic statement, the foursome rampages full-speed ahead through the changes, evoking the whiskey-and-cocaine drenched early era mayhem of improv super­group Last Exit. Four frantic minutes later, the Luttenbachers rein things back a bit, with the extended harmolodic group improvisation of "Cripple Walk". The third composition on the record is the stately, ominous "Epitaph", 13 unlucky minutes of monolithic repetition, overlaid with frantic, destructive free playing in an episodic narrative. "Sleaze Factor" offers a bit of relief in the form of a prominent groove, another harmolodic venture, again influenced overtly by the jazz output of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, Columbia Records' era Arthur Blythe, and the early James Blood Ulmer records. The final cut on this album is the 23-minute long form called "Mutation". It is a succession of abstract blocks highlighting specific sonic activity, organized as a surreal journey through immorally uplifting atonality and repetition. Gatefold sleeve.

Trailblazing Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto is joined by revered electronic musician Taylor Deupree on this live recording, documenting their collaboration at St John-at-Hackney Church in 2014, part of ThirtyThree ThirtyThree's flagship concert series St John Sessions. The two musicians develop a kinetic understanding over the recording, entering a sparse musical dialogue -- flourishes of prepared piano give way to bursts of noise and sculpted synths. Totally improvised, the performance follows their collaborations on record -- as a duo on 2013's Disappearance, and in a trio with Illuha on 2014's Perpetual. Ryuichi Sakamoto has had an extraordinary career, from his founding of revolutionary electronic trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, to his remarkable film scores, notably Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) and the soundtrack for Oscar-winning film, The Revenant (2015). Taylor Deupree, meanwhile, spent his career devoted to his label, 12k, and an intricate form of ambient minimalism. Originally released in 2015, ThirtyThree ThirtyThree's inaugural record, the album has been remastered by Deupree. Features new artwork; Comes in a gatefold sleeve; 180-gram, transparent blue vinyl; Includes 24" photographic print.

A new double single by Hey Colossus for Alter. "Carcass" is taken from their latest Four Bibles album (ALT 047CD/LP) and leaves a poppier impression, albeit Hey Colossus style, with dual vocals and searing guitars. "Medal" is a near three-minute blast of their signature dirge with a hook as big as the sound itself. Two tracks, the two sides of Hey Colossus -- half melodic downer pop and the other a destruction tune with no respite. Edition of 300.

The second release on Ara comes from Adiel. The repetitive motives are the core of Musicofilia EP, pushing further Adiel's research of hypnotic patterns and raw textures. "Musicofilia" conveys Adiel's exploration of dissonances colliding with abrasive beats and soothing melodies. "The Call" starkly highlights the wistful tone of the record, when "Vanishing" offers a dense soundscape underlined by an irregular rhythmic structure, leading to the title track, unfolding as an overdriven club jam. "Rednight", with its throbbing pulse, gracefully concludes this EP by channeling its melancholic, yet sharp spirit.

Portland composer and pianist Derek Hunter Wilson returns with his second album, entitled Steel, Wood, & Air. Ten lush, expressive pieces featuring piano, bass clarinet, and strings, this collection reflects the efforts of a young musician challenging himself and discovering his voice in the process. Inspired equally by the contemporary neoclassical scene and early recordings on the ECM label, Steel, Wood, & Air stands, timeless and buoyant, on its own. After releasing his debut album, Travelogue (BNSD 016LP, 2017), Wilson set about re-examining what it means to be a composer. This reappraisal revealed a path toward self-discovery that in turn led to the gradual unfolding of Steel, Wood, & Air, a surprisingly rich endeavor given its strict palette, elemental mindset, and determination to avoid overdubs. Wilson was also invited to contribute a track to Thesis (Loscil, Julianna Barwick, Dustin O'Halloran), the label curated by artist Gregory Euclide. His response, the 10-minute "A New Way of Thinking (In Three Stages)", hinted at things to come and was paired with fellow Beacon Sound alumni Rauelsson for a limited edition split 10" release in late 2018. Early on in the process of writing the album, Wilson stumbled across the lectures of David Lang, about which he writes: "Listening to him talk about composing and seeing his enthusiasm for being a composer, and the field in general, made me feel like I had permission to feel that way too. It made me more conscious about what could be possible in contemporary classical music. Listening to him impressed upon me the importance of honesty in creating music. It creates a need as the creator to examine what is essential to them, and that in one sense is what music is or can be -- it's a tool to use to figure out who you are as a person. And honesty is key to this. It's a journey that I'm just at the beginning stages of." From the attention-arresting opening track "Different Opinions" to the unabashedly gorgeous "Knife Fight", and through to the meditative resolution of "Steel, Wood, & Air #7", this is an album with open arms bringing gifts for those who listen carefully. Cover photo by Brett Kallusky. Design by FISK Projects. Recorded at Type Foundry and The Map Room in Portland. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll. Includes two-sided insert and download code; edition of 300. "An evocative cycle that promises to be one of the season's highlights." --A Closer Listen

Big Joanie are Stephanie Phillips (singer/guitarist), Estella Adeyeri (bass) and Chardine Taylor-Stone (drums). The band formed in 2013 and released their first EP, Sistah Punk in 2014 and the single Crooked Room in 2016. As part of London's thriving DIY punk scene Big Joanie have played with locals Shopping, toured with US punks Downtown Boys, and Dutch punk band The Ex. Inspired by The Ronettes, Nirvana, Breeders, and Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Joanie have described themselves as being "similar to The Ronettes filtered through '80s DIY and Riot Grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis." Big Joanie recorded Sistahs at Hermitage Works Studio with producer Margo Broom. The album title derives from the band's belief in sisterhood and female friendship. One of the main reasons for coming together was to create an atmosphere to be "completely ourselves as black women and discover what was possible to realize in those spaces." The album cover features Steph's mum Joan, whom the band is named after, and her aunt on holiday in Wales. Outside of the band all three members are involved in communitarian activities whether running the Decolonise Fest, volunteering at Girls Rock Camp, or leading the Stop Rainbow Racism campaign. The Daydream Library Series is the independent house label of Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and Eva Prinz.

Down At Dawn present a reissue of Brown And Roach Incorporated, originally released in 1955. Recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles in August 1954, this is the first Emarcy recording of the legendary Brown & Roach Quintet featuring the great Harold Land on tenor sax, Richie Powell on piano, and George Morrow on bass. Under the direction of two modern jazz masters such as trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach the quintet shines through a fine set of classic standards, including "Stompin' At The Savoy", Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out Of You", and a couple of Brown-Roach originals.

In recent years, Southern California has proved to be fertile ground for heavy psych, prog, and free rock. The amount of excellent bands growing out of the San Diego soil is simply unparalleled. Among the youngest generation of these bands are the five-piece Monarch, a band rooted in psychedelia and experimental prog, with a view towards broader horizons. There's something refreshing about Monarch's take on psychedelic rock: they aren't afraid to weave Allman Brothers-esque dual guitar lines with synthesizers and saxophone. They can be heavy, but there's an unmistakable panoramic quality to their compositions too, reflecting the rich and diverse environment they've grown up in, with dazzling pacific coastlines, mountains and desert highways. Compared to their debut album, Two Isles from 2016 (EPR 035CD/LP), Beyond The Blue Sky is a more complex record. The three-year journey has led the band through several separate recording sessions and ended up going all-analogue at Audio Design studios. It's an album that's meticulously crafted and with sights set on new musical territory. Their songwriting has matured and each track feels like a mini-epic, traveling unexpected routes before reaching their sonic destination. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the album's centerpiece, the three-part "Beyond The Blue Sky/Phenomena/Counterpart", where Monarch manages to fuse all their influences into one mammoth composition. It's an album to drive off into a careless summer sunset and beyond.

Treat yourself to this wonderful (and highly-limited) 10" single from Julian Cope's Dope feat. Fuck Authority. Consisting of two, 20-minute tracks, "666" is a Deutsche sing-a-long from beyond the grave, replete with martial side drums and cacophonous orchestral strings. With raised steins, our gruff-voiced male choir recounts their bolshie nursery rhyme -- a beguiling tale of a mysterious tree that predicts the future. Awaiting listeners on the other side of this epic release is Dope's most overtly psychedelic offering thus far. Off-kilter and raging, this non-LP B-side is entitled "1381", after the year of Wat Tyler's Peasant's Revolt. Unbalanced? U-Betcha! As Fat Paul's cataclysmic FX and Holy McGrail's Space Echo obscure and overwhelm Fuck Authority's vast stereo bass guitar, one can only praise the poor technicians who captured it all on vinyl.

"Aircraft was the name Steve Cohen used for the largely unknown and quite fantastic synthesizer music he was creating in NYC in the '80s. This was in the same period Steve was in the late-period No Wave band, China Shop, along with guitarist Naux (who would go on to play with the Voidoids) and percussionist Richard Edson (whose next band was Sonic Youth). Steve had been active in the NYC sub-underground since the '70s, even playing at Giorgio Gomelsky's legendary 'Zu Music Festival' in 1978. Steve pops up playing bass on various odd sessions with various odd musicians like the late painter-turned-punker-turned-funkateer Snuky Tate, among others. But very few had heard the music Steve recorded as Aircraft apart from the handful of friends to whom he passed cassettes back in the day. We found out about Aircraft through Christopher Livengood of Video Nasties. Chris befriended Steve a few years ago and was blown away by the Aircraft tapes he heard. Steve eventually opened up his archives to Chris allowing him to assemble Sideways/Backwards -- an amazingly great LP's worth of synth/guitar/drumbox gabble that was darn near lost in the fogs of time. The album includes notes about where and how each track was put together, and the music will be a blast for anyone who digs the '80s output of the Residents or German groups like Der Plan. Very cool!" --Byron Coley, 2019 Edition of 250.

At the height of Scott Walker's fame, the BBC invited him to host his own TV program, with two 1968 specials being followed by a series in the spring of 1969. The footage has been wiped but the audio survives, finding him singing a variety of songs with orchestral backing, together with guest appearances from Blossom Dearie, Kiki Dee, Dudley Moore, Billy Preston, and others. It has been mastered here to the best possible standard, and is presented together with background notes and images. Any live performances by Walker are rare, making these of especial historical value. Also features O.C. Smith, Salena Jones, Jackie Trent, Tony Hatch, John Williams, Gene Pitney, Noel Harrison, Maynard Ferguson, Jon Hendricks, and Ivry Gitlis. Professionally re-mastered; four-CD set in a clamshell box; includes 16-page booklet with background notes and rare images.