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A great, if self-effacing musician joined by a great rhythm section. "Misha Mengelberg has been a central figure of the Dutch Jazz/Improvisers scene since the late 1950s. A brilliant pianist, organizer, conceptualist, composer, dadaist and eccentric le...

“Misha Mengelberg came to Chicago for two days in 1998, made some music in the studio and in concert with a host of musicians, and went home. Which leaves us with memories.
Fortunately there's this gem left behind, these two albums, containing a timeless message. Sounds that do not express, they signify, they exist.
Misha Mengelberg was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz, Mengelberg is known for his forays into free improvisation, for bringing humor.

Mentat Routage are a French avant/progressive-jazz/rock band, with the instrumentation of violin, xylophone, saxes/flute, keyboards, bass, drums. This is a really great music; it's experimental but it also just grooves. Live, they are a 'performance...

I can't say that I am particularly knowledgable about Brazilian music in general or even about progressive Brazilian music, but there is a definite strain of progressive Brazilian music, typified by the work of Hermeto Pascoal that I personally find...

This is a mixture of very nice but 'standard style' Brazilian jazz and the very unstandard stylings of Hermeto Pascoal.

"Mente Clara (Clear Mind, named after a Hermeto Pascoal composition) is a combo from Tatuí, a small city in São Paulo...

Fabio Mentz's 1st album, which seemingly came out of nowhere (and which we still stock, hint, hint), ripped my head off with its blend of real hard core complexity and Brazilian groove. It uses instrumentation like bassoon (Mentz is a bassoonist and he...

Holy crap, this Brazilian CD which seemingly came out of nowhere completely ripped my head off. It uses instrumentation like bassoon (Mentz is a bassoonist and he also plays piano and flute), piano, clarinets, bass, drums and more. It's not all perfect...

Three of downtowns most dynamic performers join forces to form Mephistaone of the first all women supergroups (Susie Ibarra, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Ikue Mori). Separately these three have worked with some of the most important musicians in new...

Featuring the colorful piano of Sylvie Courvoisier, the groundbreaking laptop electronics of Ikue Mori and the dynamic drumming of Susie Ibarra, Mephista is one of the most spectacular new music groups working today, a perfect blend of heart...

Nicolas Caloia double bass
Lori Freedman b-flat and bass clarinet

"Quicksilver apothecaries of pitch, timbre and time, the formidable Montreal-based pairing of clarinettist Lori Freedman and bassist Nicolas Caloia, reconvene their long-term Mercury connection for a fittingly volatile and strange, dangerous, and often beautiful, dose of deeply conceptual body music.
Skin is the culmination of a more than 20-year relationship of intense melodic, harmonic and rhythmic exploration, which has.


Nick Mazzarella alto saxophone
Matt Ulery double bass
Jeremy Cunningham drums
"Artists like Nick Mazzarella, Matt Ulery and Jeremy Cunningham, the members of Meridian Trio, are keeping the Chicago jazz scene alive and as strong as ever. All of them are highly demanded sidemen and also the leaders of their own projects, including the popular Nick Mazzarella Quintet, Matt Ulery's folkish, chamber jazz group Loom, and the ambient Jeremy Cunningham Quartet. But this triangular combo organized..

Very hot jazz/rock trio also including drums and keyboards, let by a virtuoso Stick player who manages to be both the bass and one of the soloists!

"Crisis is the first record work by the Tomás Merlo Group, a group led by the musician, composer and arranger Tomás Merlo.
Recognized as one of the greatest exponents of the Chapman Stick worldwide, this first group work reflects the search to introduce such a little-known and revolutionary instrument in the world of Jazz.
Crisis totally...

Eric Mertens-keyboards, flutes, Dirk Descheemaeker-sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, Mark Verdonck-sax, Hugo Mathijssen-tuba, Anne Mertens-voice, Lieve Vandewalle-cello, Rik Vercruysse-French horn, Eddy Verdonck-trombone...

"White Worker is a perfect follow-up to Eric Mertens' first CD "Spleen". Mertens' compositional work has evolved through new harmonic and rhythmic combinations. The sounds and atmospheres are more refined and mobile, and this widens his musical style...

"Un respiro, Mertens' new solo album offers 10 new compositions, often very rythmical tracks composed for two pianos and two voices all performed by the composer himself. It shows Mertens' passion for the voice, not using it as an instrument but...

Back in print after being unavailable for years, and sounding better than ever.

In 1981, at the nadir of quiet, interesting music, there appeared a very nice, interesting double lp compilation called 'Fruit of the Original Sin' (see listing elsewhere). On it was a 'band' I had never heard of called Soft Verdict, who played a rather progressive rock-influenced music, somewhere between Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Michael Nyman and Steve Reich! After waiting and searching, I managed to find this, their...

"This is the 4th release in the 13 CD series. Karasu is April's release. Much like the flagship release in this 13 month/13 cd series Masami Akita, herein known as Merzbow, returns to his drumset to accompany his complex analogue noise. His prowess as...

"Author, activist, painter and sound artist Masami Akita had been at the foreground of experimental music for over 25 years. Inspired by psycedelic rock, free jazz, early electronic composition as well the physical arts, especial Kurt Schwitters'...

Really nice album as art-object release. This is presented in a hand-crafted round wooden box with screenprinted swiveling lid. The box contains one CD and four round, full-color cards. Only 1000 copies of this handsome CD have been made, and there...

"Volume two of Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds series. Limited edition of 1000. Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will...

“Merzbow is back with a marvelous concept double album. Hatobana is a complex harmonic sculpture featuring squealing tribal sounds and characteristic ethnic noise. Massima Akita keeps us on our toes by offering experiments with varying instruments such as guitar, wooden percussion, violin. A sublime noise opera among the best works to date from this unique Japanese artist.”

"There is no argument; Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist Masami Akita has appeared on over four hundred albums since 1979. The name comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' famous work Merzbau, in which he transformed the interior of his house with found objects. This is reflected in Akita's junk art / collage aesthetic. Other influences on the Merzbow philosophy range from ritualized eroticism (fetishism and bondage), surrealism to extreme metal...

First time on CD for this early, analog material from the man who made noise into a household musical word.

"Over an hour of the best analog material from the King of Japanese noise. Reissue of an extremely rare cassette, dating back to 1985, originally released in Japan by Merzbow's own ZSF Produk and in France by Le Syndicat. All tracks made for "Nil-Vagina Mail-Action February 85." Recorded at Merz-bau Studio, and not "live" as the title would suggest. All material taken from the original...

Masami Akita plays tapes, percussion, electro-acoustic noise, organ
Kiyoshi Mizutani overdubs tapes, synthesizer, violin, machine noise

“First time on CD for this classic Merzbow duo album from 1983. Material Action is a favorite among early Merzbow free-music, junk-noise workouts. Psychedelic improvised instrumental energy abounds on this essential early recording that is PURE MERZ.”

“Merzbow's Merzbeat is one the most unique and legendary titles in the artist's vast archive. This 20th anniversary repress is being issued at the same time as CD reissue of his 1983 album Material Action 2 and a brand new collaboration with Arcane Device, all on Important Records.
Originally released in 2002, Merzbeat contains over 50 minutes of aggressive, psychedelic, organic, analog beat oriented Merzbow compositions. Drummed rhythms, massive looping samples, a punk spirit and a return to analog..

Another wild and wonderful celebration of noise from the singular Japanese pioneer who started it all. Active in live noise electronics since 1978, Akita Masami is an international cult figure, and for his second Tzadik release we are once again...

"Volume three of Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds series. Limited edition of 1000. Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds...

“Japan's leading noise luminary Merzbow meets American electro-feedback artist Arcane Device as they mix and manipulate each other's work. The results are droning, bubbling sonic textures that are as serene as they are extreme pushing the boundaries and meeting in the middle. Both artists contribute long-form manipulations that inspire contemplation as much as highly caffeinated charges of sonic skullduggery. Sonic textures take center stage on Merzbow & Arcane Device.

David Lee Myers aka Arcane...

"The king of Japanese noise, Merzbow, joined on stage by Hungarian drummer extraordinaire, Balázs Pándi (known for his work with The Sun Ra Arkestra, Bill Laswell, Justin Broadrick, Bong-Ra, Venetian Snares and more). The special event on September 29th, 2016 took place under the roof of the legendary FAC251 building, the original home of Factory Records' headquarters and where many of Manchester's musical elite set foot. The show features an exemplary performance of Masami Akita's trademark Japanoise...

“A Perfect Pain is a manifestation of the incredible power created by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Psychic TV/Throbbing Gristle) -- the founding father of the industrial world, and Merzbow -- the undisputed king of Japanese noise. Recorded exclusively for Cold Spring, A Perfect Pain has been hailed as an important album and an extremely successful collaboration.“

“A certain magic floods the room when free improvisers of the highest order get together to make music. And when said improvisers are also kindred spirits who know and can anticipate each other's moves, a kind of wonderful telepathy takes over. Such was the case when enigmatic Japanese noise legend Merzbow (Masami Akita) got together in the studio with fellow countryman Keiji Haino and Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi for Become The Discovered, Not The Discoverer.
For their second encounter for...

“On their first official collaboration, Japanese noise pioneer Masami Akita aka Merzbow and Australian sound sculptor Lawrence English present a harrowing, surrealist portrait of nocturnal industrial activity, spawned by field recordings made in a sprawling factory complex seven hours north of English's home in Brisbane. He characterizes the area as "uneasy and unsettling," awash in the sickly glow of smelters and refinement machinery, somehow not of this world - a liminal quality vividly captured in...

Masami Akita : noise electronics, percussion
Mats Gustafsson : flute, fluteophone, baritone saxophone, live electronics and percussion
Balazs Pandi : drums, percussion

“On the all-too-rare occasions when Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (aka Merzbow), Swedish saxophone aggressor Mats Gustafsson and blistering Hungarian drummer Balás Pándi converge, listeners know to brace themselves for a brain-rattling sonic assault. Each of these men alone had long been established as among the....

“Merzopo is a collaborative two CD album of Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) and the Czech seven member ensemble Opening Performance Orchestra, based in Prague. The first CD contains four compositions by Merzbow. "Futaomote" means 'double face' and it was originally titled 'Janus'. "Yasugibushi" is a Japanese old folk song which was sampled.
The second CD contains two live tracks from Opening Performance Orchestra which were played live in Tokyo and Prague in 2017 and studio edited...

"Cat's Squirrel is a live recording of Masami Akita and Oren Ambarchi's performance in Sydney, Australia in May 2012. Although Akita and Ambarchi have known one another since 1993 and performed together as part of larger ensembles, this was their first performance as a duo. Together they create a massive wall of sound that moves from the cavernous to the blisteringly psychedelic, laying down shifting low-end structures over which pointillist details ricochet across the stereo field. Akita and Ambarchi's...

As a strangely beautiful festival finale, the Finnish pair known as Pan Sonic met with the Japanese sound manipulator Merzbow for the first time. Perched behind their laptops, Pan Sonic artfully explored acoustic phenomena and together constructed a so...

Raz Mesinai is one of the most respected young musicians in New Yorks burgeoning underground electronica scene. His unique approach utilizes samples of acoustic instruments performing his original compositions, electronics of his own design, computers ...

Composer, DJ, engineer and producer Raz Mesinai was born in Jerusalem and raised in New York City. His compositions blend electronics, beats and dub effects with acoustic instruments in creating an esoteric musical tapestry filled with new sonorities a...

Raz Mesinai is one of the most exciting of the younger generation of electronica musicians. His newest project is an electro-acoustic journey, an entire album devoted to the exploration of goatskins. Subtle rhythmic modulations, a mysterious narra- t...


Bo Meson – voice, software instruments
Wolfgang Seel – voice
Peter Rophone – choral voices
Martin Archer – Bb and bass clarinets, software instruments
Graham Clark – violin
Maja Bugge – cello

“Collaborations between poet / composer Bo Meson and composer Martin Archer tend to stray into odd places where neither of them would normally venture, and when they meet up normal rules cease to apply. Quite how the initial idea for this piece, inspired by the odd fact that Matt

"Svart Records can be thought of as the Rise Above Records of Finland. Both labels covers similar territory. Somehow Svart signed the British band Messenger right from under the nose of Rise Above...

One of the great slide guitarists of our time, Michael is well known in the UK and not so well known elsewhere. Very well played with great tone; if you like slide guitar / the blues, this is a fine contemporary release a bit comparable to Jimmy Agren but straighter.

“There's something fun and catchy about Michael Messer's eclectic album, King Guitar. Although the guitar featured on the cover is a vintage acoustic model, the music runs the gauntlet between down-and-dirty electric blues and....

Anthony Pirog-guitar
Joe Lally-bass
Brendan Canty-drums

There's a lot of additional information here, but here is really what you need to know. Brendan & Joe were the rhythm section for DC's legendary rock band, Fugazi, who thrilled literally hundreds of thousands for over 15 years. Brendan and Joe were (and are) a tremendously tight and also rock hard rock rhythm section, which might remind you of the core of similarly rockin' and adventurous bands such as Mission Of Burma and Gang Of...

Anthony Pirog-guitar
Joe Lally-bass
Brendan Canty-drums
James Brandon Lewis-tenor sax

“On their Impulse! debut album, Washington DC's experimental jazz punk trio the Messthetics join forces with acclaimed jazz tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader James Brandon Lewis. Together, they widen the reach of decisive instrumental music through their overlapping of jazz, punk, funk, aggression and innovation.”

"Mestis is the brain child of Animals As Leaders guitarist Javier Reyes. With a line up including percussion and trombone, intrigue sets in as to what sonic offerings this album provides. Polysemy is the follow up to their début EP Basal Ganglia. On a quest to make his own unique mark with his own distinct sound, Polysemy is the first full-length album which takes you on a personal 38 minute journey through Javier’s mind.

Opening with Gentle Giant this album kicks off with a distinct and......

A French band who recorded for the Crypto label and released their one and only album in 1977, which has never been reissued before! The band consisted of Robert Duantet (guitars, vocals), Thierry Scaduto (organ, synthesizer, piano, flute, vocals), Jac...


"One of the few Italian progressive bands to come from Sicily], in Davide Spitaleri the group had one of the finest vocalists on the whole scene, he was operatic in style and had a very intense and heartfelt attitude. Spitaleri was the focal point for...