summary 
Tuesday, 22 May
HERMANN NITSCH
PLANAM
2cd + Book // £29.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: PLANA-N 4AKT.062
Review to follow shortly…
Thursday, 10 May
Recorded live at the Music Research Centre at the University of York, 'Leyfdu ljosinu' is the latest full-length from Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, and follows 2009's phenomenal 'Without Sinking'. Again we are treated to Gudnadottir's delicate melancholia, but unlike its predecessor, 'Leyfdu ljosinu' is one single piece, recorded in one take with absolutely no post production to meddle with the sublime nature of the tonality itself. This gives the album a rare sense of levity and depth, and a pacing that many so-called 'experimental' artists attempt but few manage to truly mas… Read more
RICHARD KNOX & FREDERIC D. OBERLAND
Gizeh Records
CD // £9.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: GZH36CD
Lovely collaborative LP of rich string arrangements and electro-acoustically treated drones from Leeds-based Richard D. Knox (Glissando) and Parisian, Frederic D. Oberland of Farewell Poetry. 'The Rustle Of The Stars' is based on the pair's imagined concept that "450 km from the arctic circle, 'The Rustle Of The Stars' is a phenomenon of austere beauty, a barely audible noise that occurs when the draught from human breath causes multiple collision among the ice micro-crystals in the air." The music reflects their sentiment with a sensitive approach, using myriad… Read more
GESKIA
323 Sayonara Memories (+ Remixes)
Home Normal
2CD // £8.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: HOMEN033
**Limited edition of 500 including bonus remix CD** A regular of Japan's Flau label, Geskia! makes a neat dent in the Home Normal schedule with the Hip-Hop-inflected electronica of '323 Sayonara Memories'. At once minimal yet rich with detail, his work here is lodged somewhere between the likes of Bola, The Remote Viewer and The Boats, a filigree weave of fractured, glassy glitch melody and organic Hip Hop head nod textured with ambient pads and effected instrumentation. A remix disc features reworks by his Japanese peers and likeminded producers: Moshimoss, Lycoriscoris, Flica, … Read more
Thursday, 03 May
CATHERINE CHRISTER HENNIX
Live at the Grimm Museum: Volume One
Important Records
CD // £12.99
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Cat. Number: IMPREC342
Sonic Acts' maiden release is a collaboration with Important Records presenting Catherine Christer Hennix's extraordinary live recording of 'Blues Dhikr Al-Salam', made on sunday 14th August at The Grimm Museum, Berlin. Swedish-American composer Christer Hennix is regarded among the elite of 20th and 21st century minimal composition, spending the 1960s studying the work of Iannis Xenakis and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and later becoming a noted disciple of Pandit Pran Nath and La Monte Young in the 1970s. Coincidentally, this piece was first premiered at Young'… Read more
The musical guise of one Cameron Webb, Seaworthy is his outlet for a certain type of blissful, shimmering guitar-based ambience. Imagine taking the base elements of dream pop and shoegaze and distilling them to a flavor rich syrup and you'll have an idea of Webb has been taking his sound, and 'Bellows & Breath' might be his most successful deconstruction yet. The guitar is still the focus, but its sound has been stripped down to the bone, leaving only trace elements at times to hiss and thrum around trapped field recordings, melodica and broken tape machines.
Thursday, 26 April
Eldritch, literate chamber-pop business from the UK's own Felix, new on Kranky. Originally the solo project of Lucinda Chua, Felix has become a two-piece since the release of 2009's well-received You Are The One I Pick, with Christopher Summerlin now contributing atmospheric guitar treatments to the brew. Though deeply atmospheric, this is definitely one of the more direct, reverb-light releases in the Kranky canon, with Chua's beautifully modulated vocals - not to mention her elegantly expressive piano and cello parts - coming through crystal clear in the mix. If you dig things like Peter Broderic… Read more
STEVE RODEN & MACHINEFABRIEK
EAT, SLEEP, REPEAT
CD // £9.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: ESR201201
"'Lichtung' is a collaborative project centered around an audio-visual installation. Sound artists Steve Roden and Rutger Zuydervelt (a.k.a. Machinefabriek) composed the audio, while the video element was provided by the German visual artist Sabine Bürger. The installations exhibition was part of a series organized by Galerie Vayhinger revolving around the German concept of 'heimat' - the area in which someone was born or had their early formative experiences. Considering the artists' far-flung locations it was decided that the gallery's locale should provide them with a 'temporary… Read more
Thursday, 19 April
STEINBRUCHEL + CORY ALLEN
QUIET DESIGN
CD // £11.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: ALAS017
**Edition of 400 copies housed in absolutely stunning machine stitched, offset printed sleeves** Contemplative, careful and otherworldly meeting of two sound artists; Austin's Corey Allen and Zürich-based (Ralph) Steinbrüchel. Synchronizing highly considered elements of technology, design and sonic fidelity true to both artist's oeuvres, 'Seam' took over a year of file exchanges and intensive, process driven work to integrate their individual approaches to sound craft and design. The results take shape as 13 tracks - six "proper" compositions linked by seven threads - reflected in the desi… Read more
'Four Organs' / 'Phase Patterns' are two of Steve Reich's earliest recordings and were originally released in 1970 on the French label Shandar. It's 12 years since they were last reissued and doubtless they still sound magnificent, futuristic and elemental today, some 40 years since they were first realised. With 'Four Organs' Reich applies the idea of slowing down a piece of sound until many times its original length without changing pitch or timbre. In it, Jon Gibson's maracas play a fast eighth note pulse while the four organs - played by Steve Chambers, Philip Glass, Art Murp… Read more
ANTHEA CADDY + THEMBI SODELL
ROOM 40
CD // £8.99
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Cat. Number: RM448
**Bespoke gatefold slipcase with inserts** Under the aegis of Host, Australian sound artists Anthea Caddy & Thembi Soddell present three excitingly unpredictable, viscerally affective and explorative electroacoustic compositions for Room40. "The physical environment - be it an empty corridor, a crowded city street or a vast open space - can affect and distort a person's perceptual state. In turn, a person's existing psychology can alter their perception of that same environment. This creates a dynamic interplay between physical reality, sensory perception, and psychological interpretati… Read more
PHILIPPE PETIT & FRIENDS
Home Normal
CD // £9.99
NOW: £6.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: HOMEN035
**Six-panel digipak designed by Bas Mantel** For his cinematic, miasma-like opus 'Cordophony', intrepid French composer Philippe Petit has assembled a stellar cast including (but not limited to) the talents of Reinhold Friedl, Nils Frahm, Aidan Baker, and James Johnston for one of Home Normal's most striking releases. Petit deftly handles "processed acoustics/field recordings/foundsounds + electronics + turntables & glass manipulations + percussions + synths/piano + balloons" while his seventeen piece personnel contribute all kinds of cello, electric harp, vibraphone, tibetan bowls, f… Read more
Thursday, 12 April
BERSARIN QUARTETT
Denovali Records
CD // £12.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: DEN128CD
One of Denovali Records' most prized artists presents the long awaited followup to Thomas Bücker's eponymous debut as Bersarin Quartett. These are quietly epic ambient compositions in the mould of Max Richter, Marsen Jules, Ulver or Stars of the lid: widescreen pieces imparting panoramic visions of majestic quality and intent. Since his 2008 debut, Berlin's Bückner enlisted two befriended guest musicians into the band in 2011 and the new experiences they've undertaken are fed into the twelve tracks on offer. Grandiose string arrangements are washed against supernatural synth shapes and apparitions… Read more
Tuesday, 10 April
LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT
Denovali Records
CD // £12.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: DEN117CD
**Glossy slipcase and inner** Les Fragments de la Nuit are a striking addition to Denovali Records' roster of dramatic soundscapers. 'Musique de Nuit' was imagined in Versailles by the ensemble's central composers, Ombeline Chardes (violin) and Michael Villar (piano/percussion), and played by their quintet also including Cendrine Mazzucco (violin II), Aurore Moutomé Miath (violin III), and Ian-Elfinn Rosiu (cello) - Ombeline also contributing vocals with Marion Gomard and Maryvette Lair. Theirs' is a richly emotive sound - hence their music was chosen for the trailer to the mov… Read more
Thursday, 05 April
ORCAS (RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI & BENOîT PIOULARD)
Morr Music
CD // £8.99
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Cat. Number: MM111
Rarefied, dub-infused ambient pop from Rafael Anton Irisarri - aka The Sight Below - and vocalist Benoît Pioulard, author of several acclaimed albums on Kranky. For this collaborative work, which comes courtesy of Morr Music, they attempt to fuse traditional song-craft and post-minimalist composition, and make a terrific job of it. They named the project after the whale synonymous with America's Pacific Northwest - "a methodical sea hunter that is also a totem of the open oceans' expanse" - and it's a fitting metaphor for their music, which is stately and beautiful but… Read more
DEAF CENTER / BIOSPHERE / VARIOUS
Lost In The Humming Air (Music Inspired By Harold Budd)
Oktaf
CD // £9.99
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Cat. Number: OKTAFCD004
Whether in collaboration with Brian Eno or solo, Harold Budd's richly evocative ambient piano music has inspired a generation of modern classical and ambient composers. Oktaf realise this fact in reverent fashion with thirteen tracks from contemporary scene stalwarts bowing to to the master. All of the names on offer should be well known and present a reassuringly luxuriant selection. Of these, highlights have to be Deaf Center's grandly widescreen 'Plateaux', Biosphere's solemn minimalist composition 'Det Var Kulmørkt Hjem', and Mokira's organically morphing 'Harold Dubb', but the whole thing is a genuine pleasure to experience.
ERNSTALBRECHT STIEBLER
Sequenz II / Mitteltone / Trio 89
m=minimal
CD // £15.99
NOW: £8.95
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Cat. Number: MM009CD
According to m=minimal records, Ernstalbrecht Stiebler is credited as the 1st German composer to base his compositions on minimal techniques. His first reductionist work 'Extension I' was premiered in 1963 and offered a clear opposition to the serial compositions of that era. However, you'd be forgiven for not knowing this because his work has largely slipped under the radar and is known only by the most ardent followers of 20th century composition and new music. He's probably best recognised in his own country for his radio productions and involvement in the presti… Read more
Imagine what would happen if Isan made an album with Ducktails, and you're pretty close to the sound of Sad Souls' 'Apeiron'. Effete vocals sail across a milk sea of guitar loops soaked in echo and cosied up next to the sweetest synths. It's muzak for the waiting lounge in heaven.
Wednesday, 04 April
JEAN-LUC FAFCHAMPS & ICTUS ENSEMBLE
Kdghz2sa, A Six-Letter Sufi Word
Sub Rosa
CD // £13.99
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Cat. Number: SR313
"In total darkness, or in a very large room, very quietly Since 2000, I have been spending much time writing Sufi Letters, despite the fact that I am not a Sufi, or even Muslim, and I do not speak Arabic. They are based on a Sufi chart connecting a vast system of symbolic interrelations to the 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet - a sort of methodical summary of metaphorical and mystical thinking, as it has been drawn once by Sheikh Abul-Muwwayid of Gujarat [India] for incantations. So Sufi Letters is a common work process, not a cycle in the classical se… Read more
Thursday, 29 March
Impressive debut album of post-rock/neo-classical drones. The Leeds-based trio features Richard Knox and Angela Chan of Glissando togther with their long-time friend Owen Pegg, moving away from previous, piano-led output towards a widescreen sound encompassing post-rock and neo-classical traits with avant-garde tendencies. 'Desperate In her Heavy Sleep' features five compositions built from heavy-hearted strings - cello, guitar, violin - rendered and set against sombre electronic backdrops recalling the work of Stars Of The Lid or Deaf Center.
Thursday, 15 March
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI / JONNY GREENWOOD
NONESUCH
CD // £15.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: 7559796251
**Compelling contemporary avant-garde collaboration between Poland's living-legend Krzysztof Penderecki and Radiohead's revered and innovative guitarist/composer** "Nonesuch Records releases an album of works by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and composer/Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The artists' work was presented side-by-side in two concerts in September 2011, highlighting Penderecki's influence on younger composers, at the European Congress of Culture in Wrocław. In its report on the Congress, which celebrated Poland's presidency of the Europea… Read more
Thursday, 08 March
JULIANNA BARWICK
Julianna Barwick
CD // £11.99
NOW: £8.99
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Cat. Number: FL001
**Self-released reissue of Julianna Barwick's excellent debut album from 2006** Last year many of us were properly introduced to the angelic plainsong of Julianna Barwick through her celebrated Asthmatic Kitty album 'The Magic Place' and the 'Frkwys Vol.6' side with Ikue Mori. So it's about time we all got acquainted with her under-the-radar debut 'Sanguine' from 2006, which she's cleverly just reissued on her own imprint. Naturally, 'Sanguine' is more stripped down and simplistic than her later work, and endearingly so. Working with a loop pedal and a spontaneous instinct she layers her glos… Read more
JULIANNA BARWICK
Julianna Barwick
CD // £10.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: FL002
Originally self-released in 2009, and just now reissued, 'Florine' joins the dots between the extraordinarily talented Julianna Barwick's 2006 debut and her celebrated releases of 2011. It's a six song cycle of effortless beauty and elegiac quality, at once avant-garde in scope and deeply, instinctively emotional in the manner of classic chamber pop from Cocteau Twins or Grouper. Her vocals are layered, gossamer fine and richly harmonised into wordless hymns on an ancient and mysterious scale, creating the most rarified atmospheres and moments of sheer, breathtaking glory. It's not to be missed.
Two years since their well-received 'Sval' CD for the esteemed 12k, Pjusk present a third album of isolated dark ambient tones and space for Glacial Movements - following the label's last release by Scott Morgan of Loscil. From their cabin high int he mountains they paint wide, desolate soundscapes, linking one to the next in a manner reflecting the the Norwegian translation of the album title 'Tele' - meaning frozen underground water. They're accompanied by engineer/producer Andreas Nordenstam on the creaking electro-acoustic fidelities of opener 'Fnugg' and Frodebeats for the haunting 'Flint', but the res… Read more
Thursday, 01 March
STEVE PETERS + STEVE RODEN
12K
CD // £8.99
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Cat. Number: 12K1069
"In 1995 Steve Peters and Steve Roden toured as a trio with singer Anna Homler; sometimes they would vocalize behind her, and they liked the way their voices blended together. They then spent about 15 years saying that “someday” they should record a voice-based project together. Aside from the physical distance between them, the problem was always: What would we sing? Neither wanted to write or sing lyrics. Inspiration came in the form of a book of Japanese jisei – poems allegedly written by monks on their death bed – printed in both English translation and Romaniz… Read more
Thursday, 23 February
**Dial's lone singer/composer presents the follow-up to his deeply refined debut** "Recorded by Tobias Levin at the Laiszhalle Philharmony Hamburg a dense concert atmosphere sets the tone. Stringent seriality is combined with that Romanticism of the minor key which one also finds in a certain corner (and a more popular one) of modern twentieth-century piano music; in the likes of Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Arvo Pärt, John Cage and György Kurtág. Deep contemplation and solemn expression paired with intellectual clarity. Each note has weight, and every sound a purpose. Unlike Naujo… Read more
**Custom gatefold slipcase with inserts** The fourth album from master percussionist and experimental composer Andrea Belfi is also his first for Room40. 'Wege', translating as "Path", is built around a cyclic electro-acoustic system influenced in part by Steve Reich's 'Pendulum Music' and revolving around spiralling interconnections of synthesizer, feedback and drums as he explains "This device creates feedback on two drums on my drum kit, and I can modify it by stopping and stretching the drum skins with hands and various kinds of sticks, mallets and brushes, and/or by filtering the feedback with a… Read more
"Eyvind Kang has contributed string arrangements for a number of artists including Laurie Anderson, Blonde Redhead and Sunn O))). Across his illustrious musical career in addition to arranging and performing with other musicians, he has released many recordings of original music notably the acclaimed choral piece "Athlantis" (Ipecac) and "The Yelm Sessions" (Tzadik). The Narrow Garden is no exception, offering one of his most original and perhaps one of his most playful recordings to date. The music on The Narrow Garden sounds like it was composed for a film soundtrack in the way that E… Read more
Thursday, 16 February
2CD // £20.99Sublime two hour improvisation meditating on the "supreme emanation from the Hebrew alphabet" by the master of minimalism. 'Aleph' was created in 2008 by Terlaugh O'Rahalleigh at the behest of John Zorn for his curation at the Alpha-Bet Sound Project at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The piece was played on a Korg Triton Studio 88 Synth tuned to a just intonation scale used by Lou Harrison, and recorded in one sitting straight to a Zoom handheld device - on which Terry actually forgot to switch the setting from mp3 to Wave, but thankfully caught his magnificent energies anyway, and … Read more
*Limited edition of 500* Montreal's I8U, known for releases on Room40 and Atak, presents her first recordings as France Jobin. This switch to her own name signifies a purification of aesthetic on 'Valence', offering three beautifully deep and meditative compositions swimming in the same infinitely tranquil waters as Eliane Radigue, Franca Sacchi or Celer. The work overall takes it's inspiration from her interests in quantum physics and digital composition, and finds parallels between the "wacky world of subatomic dimensions" and the elusive emotions she encounters within experimental electronic mu… Read more
