Cuneiform releases

Cuneiform
Mysterious and beguiling...gloriously expansive and darkly cinematic...a highly enjoyable and melodic album intricate chamber jazz arrangements for...medium sized ensemble...” – Bird Is The Worm

Having so far self-released three studio efforts, French ensemble Ghost Rhythms present their first live album, and debut Cuneiform release, Live at Yoshiwara, recorded in front of a small audience just before Christmas 2018 at Les Frigos in Paris – in the very room...

"Quite often, we...don't remember our dreams, but dreams always...do remember us."

“[This] is music made at a high level, but with an accessibility and humor that makes it cracking entertainment as much as high art.” – The Big Takeover

Spectral Music is Ghost Rhythms’ second release on Cuneiform Records after 2019’s Live at Yoshiwara, a live album consisting almost entirely of new material, and is their sixth full-length studio effort…

"Gibbs music is full of intriguing inner detail that does not deflect from the ultimate destiny of his pieces." – BBC Music Magazine

"Mike Gibbs' ingenious arrangements suggest a pop art incarnation of a traditional big band...

“The music of Michael Gibbs remains woefully under-recorded, even as the composer hits his mid-70s.... Inspired by Olivier Messiaen as much as Gil Evans, his music is luxurious, complex but accessible, and driven by rock rhythms and electric...

“So much came from my association with Mike... He went from being my hero to a friend, and he’s always been my teacher... I’ve always fantasized about doing something with him adapting some of my music.” – Bill Frisell....

"Masterpiece…or thereabouts: 5/5" – Lowcut Magazine

"This is hypnotic, robotic, thankfully long and yet somehow, so damn soulful. Also, I haven’t heard a Fender Rhodes being played like this since like forever....It doesn’t get better than this." – Deaf Sparrow

Named after one of the most notable Swedish books of all time, Gösta Berlings Saga are currently one of Sweden's most notable bands. The group are a modern instrumental rock band and their style combines...

"The Great Harry Hillman – the current definition of what it means to be a new young modern jazz band in these times. Four very strong individual musicians come together to create an extremely personal style of music that could only exist through time invested band chemistry. From fragile melodies, twisted grooves, to massive band climaxes, they deliver flawless and exciting music" – drummer / composer Jim Black

Switzerland doesn’t produce many musical acts compared to other...

This is a dramatic and dynamic release that I feel certain will impress a large number of people. Guapo is a British trio that plays an intense music that straddles the boundaries of progressive, noise, minimalism and avant-rock. Their sound has...

Prepare yourself for an experience that’s simultaneously otherworldly and assaultive. Guapo's sound is based around ideas like controlled chaos, atonal harmony, uplifting darkness, and beautiful destruction. Nothing about the band or their work...

This is an extremely high-quality vinyl version of this great album with a heavy and totally stunning gatefold sleeve that cost a fortune to produce; I gotta say that it came out beautiful! It includes a download coupon for the digital version of the...

Guapo take classic prog tropes and revivify them...brazenly and gloriously, it brandishes all the hallmarks of golden-era prog rock, but given a steroid boost and stripped of ego." – The Quietus...


Destroying walls between art-rock, avant-squonk, jazz-core and beyond, the decade-old New York quartet Gutbucket is not only equally comfortable playing in front of 900 sweatily pogo-ing teenage skate-punks, a crowd of cosmic indie-psych freaks, on an...

“Forcing a conversation between punk, funk and free jazz for saxophone, guitar, bass and drums.” - The New York Times

“A classic case of a band that defies categorization.” – The Washington Post

What happens...

This is the never-before released 'original Bob Drake master', which the band didn't use the first time. Is it hugely different? I didn't think so, although the band (and Bob!) do, so we are mentioning it...

"...a highly skilled chamber ensemble...offering a literate synthesis of rock, jazz and European folk forms. You can't really put this music into a tidy little compartment, but it's unforced, sophisticated and highly entertaining."-Alternative Press.

Happy Family are a Japanese instrumental quartet (keyboards, guitar, bass, drums) who are influenced by groups such as Magma, Univers Zero, Weidorje, King Crimson & Area. If you can imagine a full CD's worth of the kind of inspired playing & intensity ...

"Skewered blasts of noisome, Red metal shatters through rough and tumble landscapes of shuddering percussion, ominous, gravelly basslines and wheezing synths. An all-instrumental bulldozer of an album..." – i/e...

This title has been out of print for ages, but in anticipation of their new, third album, we made one last printing. Here it is, with the previously Japanese-only bonus track "Dear My Daughter", while they last!

Happy Family are a Japanese...

Happy The Man (1974-1979) are considered by many to be the best US symphonic/progressive band of all time!
This release features very good sound from the final incarnation of the band with all tracks recorded in July and October, 1978:
Stanley Whittaker-guitars, vocals
Frank Wyatt-saxes, keyboards
Kit Watkins-keyboards, flute
Rick Kennell-bass
Coco Roussel-drums
Spirited live versions of pieces from their two Arista lps, some of which are significantly different than the.

"…drags American roots out of the campfire singalong into the solar system." – Village Voice

"Add Joel Harrison to Metheny and Frisell as guitarist/ composers who have created a new blueprint for jazz." -– New Orleans Times

Holy Abyss is a collaborative effort between guitarist/composer Joel Harrison and bassist/composer Lorenzo Feliciati. Joining them is trumpeter Cuong Vu, Roy Powell on Hammond B-3 organ and piano, and Dan...

"A number station is a type of shortwave radio station characterized by their unusual broadcasts, which consist of spoken words, but mostly numbers, often created by artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters, tunes or Morse code. They are transmitted in a wide variety of languages and the voices are usually female, although sometimes men's or children's voices are used. It is widely assumed that the broadcasts are used to send covert messages to spies." – Wikipedia...

Seven major figures from the art-punk, free-jazz, brutal prog, improvisational and modern jazz world come together for a ROCKING tribute to the unfairly ignored, misunderstood and vilified late period works of Albert Ayler. These late period songs have...

Allez Teia, originally released in 1975, was Heldon's second album. It is rightly considered an early, trance-inducing, electronic masterpiece. It is the only album in the Heldon cannon to feature acoustic guitar. Overall, I'd say that...

This is a reprinting of one of our classic Heldon titles which we ran out of a little while ago. The CD's sound is unchanged; this is not a remaster, but it has been repackaged in a way that makes it look more like the original vinyl version, which had one of the all-time great sci-fi covers of all time!

This is one of the classics of the avant-progressive-electronic cannon of 1970s greats, and is a perfect place to start if you do not already know this band!

Originally released on Cobra.

"With Floury Hand (Sketches) is exhilarating listening (and viewing), and in a world now without Lars, poignant and bittersweet." – Dave Lynch/All Music Guide...

"The music on Viandra was recorded and mixed between 2001 and 2007, amidst all the other projects that sent Hollmer packing up his accordion and rushing to the airport for the next flight out of Stockholm. The music itself is as...strangely -- sometimes as magically -- wonderful as anything Hollmer has recorded in his solo career. Lars dominates on keyboards and accordion...while the strings and Berckmans' double reeds are secondarily the most dominant voices...more striking is the mood that he brings...

Patrice Meyer - guitar
Dionys Breukers - keyboards
Frank van der Kooy - sax
Hugh Hopper - bass
Kim Weemhoff - drums
Robert Jarvis - trombone (5,7)

“After a decade of work together, several live albums, many concert tours, and lots of satisfied listeners, we finally got Hugh and crew into a studio to record Carousel, certainly their best yet. After all this time together, the band is really a WORKING unit, with fine playing from all members. This is a powerful set of fusion

Meccano Pelorus was Hugh's fourth album and the first release under his own name since the 1970s! Featuring his great FrangloDutch band (Patrice Meyer-guitar, Dionys Breukers-keyboards, Frank Van Der Kooij-saxes, Pieter Bast-drums + Hugh on bass), this was recorded live in 1987 and 1989 and was the beginning of his career back in the musical arena, after laying out for a good number of years.

"I got a message a few months ago from Hugh Hopper's wife Christine. She reported that since Hugh's passing, she's been struggling with finances. Of course she's also struggling emotionally, as she misses him terribly, but the gist of her message...

“...the coming together of two British jazz-rock giants. ...These gracefully introspective instrumentals feature Gowen's trademark flowing analog synth and Hopper's unique high-register bass work in equal measure.” – muze.com

“...showcases harmonic and compositional sensitivity....” – Revue & Corrigee


Reissue of a long out of print classic from 1980 from these two fine, composers & instrumentalists....

“Hopper wrote the bulk of the material, and these are some of the most gorgeous songs he’s penned in 25 years.” – muze

“This is great Hopper writing, fantastic psychedelic music with a hint of experimentation. Delta Flora is one of the most beautiful records to have come out in 1999...” – Francois Couture/CFLX

“The beauty here is about substance & strong compositional development....natural & effortless. Highly recommended.” – All About Jazz


This is the 3rd release by the.

Atle Nymo - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Mattias Ståhl - vibraphone
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - double bass
Håkon Mjåset Johansen - drums

After a dozen years as one of Europe’s most acclaimed jazz ensembles, I.P.A. is still discovering mesmerizing new sonic territory. Born out of a deep dive into the music of pioneering trumpeter/composer Don Cherry, the group has firmly established its own sound and identity.

Atle Nymo - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Mattias Ståhl - vibraphone
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - double bass
Håkon Mjåset Johansen - drums

After a dozen years as one of Europe’s most acclaimed jazz ensembles, I.P.A. is still discovering mesmerizing new sonic territory. Born out of a deep dive into the music of pioneering trumpeter/composer Don Cherry, the group has firmly established its own sound and identity.

Atle Nymo - tenor saxophone, contrabass clarinet
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Mattias Ståhl - vibraphone, soprano sax
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - bass
Håkon Mjåset Johansen - drums

Keeping an all-star collective ensemble going is a steep challenge in the best of times. I.P.A., a quintet that brings together some of Scandinavia’s most esteemed improvisers, has created a striking new album in the worst of times. The group’s sixth release overall and

Atle Nymo – tenor sax, bass clarinet
Magnus Broo -– trumpet
Mattias Ståhl – vibes
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass
Håkon Mjåset Johansen – drums

For a number of reasons, Scandinavia is currently one of the epicenters of vivid, forward-looking jazz, often marked by a tantalizing balance of form and freedom. Over the past decade, the quintet I.P.A. has come to embody the best of this volatile sensibility, which makes sense as the..

"Ideal Bread puts a new shine on music by Steve Lacy..." – The New York Times

"...(one) could use it as a primer for examining the master's catalog." – Jazz Times

"The disc functions both as an exacting yet refreshingly unfussy homage to Lacy’s work and a snapshot of four versatile, highly sympathetic improvisers in their prime." – The Wire

“They really own this music, turning each tune inside out, never paying stale homage to Lacy but celebrating the multi-faceted nature of his music." – Signal to Noise

"The Ideal Bread lays down a serious marker for the posthumous evolution of Steve Lacy’s music." – Point of Departure


"This beautiful new release by IKP is a wonderful triangulation of sounds, cultures and seasoned musical wizards. The production on this record is impeccable, melding into a wondrous new sound that only these three musicians could make. It's the perfect film score, and who cares about the film!" –Friendly Rich, host Industry Tactics podcast

IKP is Itoken (Kenji Ito, Harpy, etc.) Klimperei (Christophe Petchanatz, etc.) and Frank Pahl (Little Bang Theory, Scavenger Quartet, etc). Kenji..

“One of the most original and compelling groups I know playing some amazing compositions that seem to tread effortlessly between Van Dyke Parks and folk music from an as yet unidentified culture, while making all the things you've always thought of as difficult sound as effortless and natural as breathing...Amazing production. Extraordinary compositions. You need to hear it.” – Fred Frith...

"Janel & Anthony - guitars and 'cello respectively - play a haunting and humbly virtuosic form of music wherein the elements of electronics, looping, and lo-fi timbres live both in intimacy and in majesty in the same house as acoustic...

This is an extremely high-quality, vinyl version of this great album; it came out beautifully! It includes a download coupon for the digital version of the music. Limited edition, one time-only pressing of 500 copies, but 200 went directly to the band...

Richard Leo Johnson is one of the most innovative and inspired acoustic guitarists on the current American music scene. Johnsons style, characterized by complexity, exhilarating speed, and hauntingly unfamiliar harmonies created through found tunings, ...

"Be prepared...the extraordinary Richard Leo Johnson isn't quite like any...guitarist you've ever heard before".-Jazzwise. This one is very low key, very personal and very extraordinary. Best known for his blazing speed and unusual techniques on the ac...

Richard and Gregg work with "junk" percussion, cheap guitars purchased off eBay, field recordings and simple tape effects to make a kaleidoscopic, down-home, psychedelic experience.

Henry Kaiser - six-string guitar
Anthony Pirog - six-string guitar
Tracy Silverman - six-string electric violin
Jeff Sipe - drums
Andy West – six-string bass

Five Times Surprise brings together a volatile mix of longtime compatriots and newly forged relationships. The distinguished improvisers all boast exceptionally diverse resumes. More than finding common ground, they reveal a vast universe of possibilities fueled by creative..

This is the definitive Henry Kaiser solo guitar disc! We gave Henry carte blanche to make what he felt represented his best work, & the result is this 75' disc of incredible guitarwork. Some tracks are from (long out of print) lps, many tracks are prev...

"...The Celestial Squid is so special... Here are two of the greats....no, the greatest." – Jim O'Rourke

Guitar summits don't ascend higher than when legendary British free-jazz pioneer and longtime session ace Ray Russell...

"...a mind-bending, eclectic and challenging sonic stream that doesn’t contain even a shred of pretentiousness, but is full of creativity, individuality, expressivity and outside of the box thinking." – Igloo...