Galina Ustvolskaya - Piano Sonatas (Markus Hinterhäuser)

Pain and anguish, in the form of six sonatas.

Very dark, atonal piano works have become a recent interest of mine, and so far this is a stand-out. The dynamic range is huge, and the slight amount of reverb on the recording suits particularly well with the overall vibe. The fragile melodies and thunderously dissonant chords create a truly disturbing atmosphere. They have done particularly well choosing the cover art.


Piano Sonatas

William Parker - Sound Unity

Another great album from Mr Parker, which sees him and his quartet keeping themselves relatively restrained this time around. It's still tending towards avant-garde rather than just post-bop, but it's nowhere near as free as some of his other work. That's not to say it's any worse, or any better for that matter, just a different style. Sound Unity is a fascinating record.


Sound Unity

Insect Warfare - World Extermination

Don't know how I have posted this yet.

One of the greatest grind albums ever.


World Extermination

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a Sophie

An avant-garde jazz soundtrack? Probably the coolest idea ever.

Great stuff here, as it's easy enough for the jazz newcomer to dig as well as those who are well acquainted with the avant-garde.

These guys are an important group, I'll be sure to post more of their stuff in the future.


Les Stances a Sophie

Andrew Hill - Point of Departure

See that line-up?

Yeah. Look closely. All those guys are on this album.

Yeah I know man, 'holy shit!' and all that nonsense. Album rules.


Point of Departure

Unsane - Unsane

A somewhat overlooked album/band that nonetheless have enjoyed a strong cult-like following... sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Unsane are a trio from NYC who have been going for over 20 years, and this self-titled album is their debut from 1991. Their noisy brand of punk has influenced quite a few other bands, and I assure you that listening to this album will provide many 'hey this kinda sounds like...' moments. Anyone with an interest in punk, in any of its forms, should get acquainted with this release.


Unsane

William Parker - Double Sunrise Over Neptune

Ok it's definitely overdue - I really need to post some William Parker.

Modern avant-garde extraordinaire, bassist William Parker has been keeping the flame burning for all things free and avant-garde in todays somewhat diminishing jazz realm. He gained attention by working with saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and has since worked with an enormous amount of talented people across the globe. The last couple of decades has seen him rise to prominence with many albums as leader under his belt.

This album here is somewhat in the meditative style of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, with a large ensemble playing repetitive figures of eastern influence. Awesome playing all round, and the vocals which at first seem like a bad idea, turn out to fit quite well.


Double Sunrise Over Neptune

Don Cherry - Symphony for Improvisers

Another gem of great ensemble work from Don Cherry. Same kind of idea as Eternal Rhythm; a two-part avant excursions into strange territories with fantastic results.


Symphony for Improvisers

Don Cherry - Eternal Rhythm

Amazing group work here. Cherry's work with the group improv adds a little bit of south east asian flavour to the similar kind of large ensemble free jazz that Coltrane and Coleman had practiced on Ascension and Free Jazz respectively.


Eternal Rhythm

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre - Humility in the Light of the Creator

Fantastic stuff right here. Great avant-garde sections, free sections, and all round spiritual fervour.

A must if you dig that kind of stuff (and if you don't then you should).


Humility in the Light of the Creator

New Burial Goodness

Fresh tracks from Burial, and if they are indicative of the quality of his forthcoming album (of unknown name or release date), then its time to get excited.

Burial - Stolen Dog by weallwantsome1

Burial - Street Halo by weallwantsome1


Also these tracks have been floating around for a bit, which was a collab with both Four Tet and Thom Yorke. Pretty nice combo if you ask me.

Ego:




Mirror:




Fingers crossed we keep seeing more material in the coming months.

Maeror Tri - The Beauty of Sadness

As the title suggests, this is beautifully depressing music. Great ambient tracks that are quite substantive.

Easily sits in the top echelon of my infinitesimal ambient collection.


The Beauty of Sadness

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

An apt title indeed.

Spaced out psychedelic jams with both mesmerising motifs and dense soundscapes. Also the album cover is awesome, just look at it.


Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Alfred Schnittke - Symphony No. 1

Taking influence from all that came before him, and applying it to a modern template, Schnittke achieves a strange yet brilliant marriage of serialism and classical eclecticism. Genre-hopping isn't exactly a popular thing in classical music, though if ever there was a case for it, this is it. There is, of course, the serialism and atonal terror of the 20th century, but also triumphant marching, baroque oddities, romanticism, nods to Mozart, Tchaikovsky and others, and even a god damn jazz duet; all with a perverse kind of twist though.

This really is a strange piece of music.


Symphony No. 1

Krzysztof Penderecki - Matrix 5

Terrifyingly incredible.

"Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" is perhaps one of the most intense musical experiences ever.




Matrix 5

More Lightning Bolt

You know what just fucking watch and be amazed and then download that shit alright

Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow

And another from this crazy two-piece, which is even better.

Get on it already.


Wonderful Rainbow

Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain

Dirty bass, relentless pinging drums, feedback, nonsensical rambling vocals... sound enticing?

Well it should because these guys rule.


Hypermagic Mountain

Torture Chain - Across Great Landscapes to a Legacy of Blood

Awesome bm with riffs straight from satan himself. Some of the best I have heard in recent times.


Across Great Landscapes to a Legacy of Blood

Lee Morgan - Search for a New Land

Don't know why The Sidewinder gets all the attention, when this is clearly the better album.

But anyways, look at that god damn line-up. This is another one of those times when the music itself might get scrutinised a little too much because of said line-up, but everybody here puts in a solid performance, and that alone is worth hearing; when they fire up though, it's something special.


Search for a New Land

Noah Howard - The Black Ark

An absolute gem from an under-appreciated free jazz genius.

If you aren't sold by that sentence then there is something wrong with you.




The Black Ark

Karmic Swap

sucks at replying to emails/getting their products finished in a timely fashion.

Don't order from them.

I just want my god damn The Men 7" already.

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

The second wife of one Mr John Coltrane (who took over McCoy Tyner's spot at the piano during the last couple of years of Trane's life), had quite an amount of talent herself, perfectly displayed on the spiritual brilliance of this album. With the great Pharoah Sanders in tow, and also Rashied Ali, who had both played with her husband, plus some crazy percussion, a harp and Hindu influence, you know you are in for something special.

Measures up to a lot of what her husband did; though a comparison to the work of Pharoah Sanders is more accurate stylistically speaking, and it is as equally great as those also.


Link removed (after 1 day!)... use google.