Klanggalerie

“With solid training as a classical musician, Sophie Agnel took a close interest in modern jazz before committing in the early Nineties to the shifting, deliciously uncertain ground of free improvisation, thanks to her fascination for the powers of expression displayed by a few great keyboard-heretics such as Keith Tippett, Fred Van Hove or Christine Wodrascka. She began reworking the prepared piano techniques imagined by John Cage and transformed her instrument into a sort of extended piano. Coming...

“Fourth album by French group consisting of Jac Berrocal, David Fenech and Vincent Epplay. Guests: Jan Wobble and Jean-Herve Peron.

Jac Berrocal is a 1946-born musician (trumpet player), poet and sometime film actor who came of age in the '70s Paris improv scene, where the boundaries between music, art and theatre were porous and begging to be breached. During the 70s his uproarious performances routinely wound up jazz and rock audiences alike, but earned the admiration of many musicians...

“Jac Berrocal is a 1946-born musician (trumpet player), poet and sometime film actor who came of age in the '70s Paris improv scene, where the boundaries between music, art and theatre were porous and begging to be breached. Inspired by bebop, chanson, free jazz, beat poetry, early rock 'n roll and myriad Eastern influences, and with an iconoclastic, anything-goes approach to instrumentation and technique that would later align him with post-punk sensibilities, Berrocal blazed an eccentric and....

“Jac Berrocal is a 1946-born musician, poet and film actor who came of age in the '70s Paris improv scene, where the boundaries between music, art and theatre were porous and begging to be breached. Inspired by bebop, chanson, free jazz, beat poetry, early rock 'n roll and myriad Eastern influences, and with an iconoclastic, anything-goes approach to instrumentation and technique that would later align him with post-punk sensibilities, Berrocal blazed an eccentric and unstoppable trail across the

“French group Un Drame Musical Instantané was founded in 1976. They present an original, unclassifiable, inventive music, which drifts from jazz to electronic sounds and contemporary music. Klanggalerie has started an extensive re-issue programme with these unqiue avantgarde pioneers which will bring back their classic albums but also side projects like this one. "Rendez-Vous" was recorded in 1981 but never released.
This is what group founder Birgé has to say about the recording: "I met Hélène...

"Over the past few months, former Residents composer Charles Bobuck has released several Tiny Tunes through his website, newsletter and as free giveaways for holidays. We are now happy to present you the first collection of these songs on CD. Eggs For Breakfast collects 26 of these tunes, perfect little pop songs about important and unimportant things, with playful joy or rather melancholy. All songs composed and performed by Bobuck, and yes, all vocals, too."

“Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England who where active from 1979 until 2003. The group were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work - they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organisation and music venue and refused to integrate into the commercial music racket.They saw their music as a revolutionary cultural force - a belief that radical musical forms must be part of positive social change. Despite this position, the group....

“Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England who where active from 1979 until 2003. The group were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work - they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organisation and music venue (the legendary 'Ambulance Station') - they refused to integrate into the commercial music racket turning down publishing deals from major labels - stubbornly opting for total independence.
Bourbonese Qualk were also known....

“Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England who where active from 1979 until 2003. The group were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work - they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organisation and music venue (the legendary 'Ambulance Station') - they refused to integrate into the commercial music racket turning down publishing deals from major labels - stubbornly opting for total independence.
In 1984 Bourbonese Qualk occupied...

“Elisabeth Harnik, an Austrian based pianist and composer has created a multi-faceted body of work by blurring genre boundaries through various collaborations in the field of improvised music, interdisciplinary projects and contemporary compositional works. She studied classical piano and later - with Beat Furrer - composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz. As an improviser she works within an electro-acoustic inspired sound-world, using specific preparations and extended...

So, there is all this bullshit and fake obscurity about The Residents. We all know that.
Charles Bobuck is a fake name for (I think) Hardy Fox, who was one of the original Residents, but left sometime in the 80s.
This is him performing some of those tunes today.
Note: we list this under “C” just like we list Jethro Tull under “J” and Muddy Waters under “M”; it isn’t his name.

“New arrangement and new vocals crack open altered interpretations of favorite Residents standards. Charles.

Charles Bobuck is Hardy Fox, who was one of the original Residents, but left sometime in the 80s. Now Hardy is releasing album (good ones!) under the name Charles Bobuck. Why? Dunno.
Note: we list this under “C” just like we list Jethro Tull under “J” and Muddy Waters under “M”; it isn’t his name.

"The all-new album by former Residents composer Bobuck. Based on the H. Fox story, "O-bay Scooplaws and the Summer of Love." Scooplaws was one of the thousands of bands who pilgrimaged to San....

“The first duet album by Rhys Chatham and David Fenech, two well-known musicians of the experimental scene. It is a long piece of music in a minimalist spirit, where the two guitarists meet and merge with Rhys' trumpets, flutes and vocals and David's small percussion.This record has an organic feel and natural development that makes it unique. Tomorrow starts tonight ! Rhys Chatham is best known for his compositions for electric guitar orchestra... he began his musical career as a harpsichord tuner...

“Pascal Comelade was born in Montpellier, France. After living in Barcelona for several years, he made his first album, under the name of Fluence, influenced by electronic music and by the group Heldon.
Since 1980 Comelade releases music under his own name. Ever since, his music has become more acoustic and is often characterised by the sounds of toy instruments, used as solo-instruments or as an integral part of the sound of his group, the Bel Canto Orchestra.
Marc Hurtado is one half of the..

The great improvising cellist Tom Cora (1953-1998) packed a LOT of music into his 44 years on this planet. He appears on a ton of some of the greatest 'jazz and more' albums of the 80s and into the 90s, but he will always be remembered by me for his wonderful work with Curlew, who I worked with for 5-7 years with Tom.
In addition to Curlew, he worked in a number of other projects, the best known being Skeleton Crew, The Chadbournes, Nimal and The Ex with Tom Cora.
I recently tried to count up how.

“In 1983 Tom and David recorded the album "Cargo Cult Revival" together which was released on Fred Frith's label Rift Records. For this first ever CD re-issue, it was remastered by Martin Bowes.

Tom Cora made his musical debut as drummer on a local US television programme. In the mid 1970s he played guitar for a Washington, D.C. jazz club house band. He took up the cello while an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and studied with cellist Pablo Casals' student Luis Garcia-Renart and...

“Lol Coxhill was an English free improvising saxophonist and raconteur. He played the soprano or sopranino saxophone. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a member of Canterbury scene bands Carol Grimes and Delivery and then Kevin Ayers and the Whole World. He became known for his solo playing and for work in duets with pianist Steve Miller and guitarist G. F. Fitzgerald. Coxhill collaborated with other musicians including Mike Oldfield, Morgan Fisher, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath and its...

“David Janssen is best known for his work as Ted The Loaf in Renaldo & The Loaf. When the band came to a halt in 2006, he concentrated on solo music. The Darkening Scale project was born. It is a purely digital affair created by David in his home studio. This is what David says about the album:
Hydrogen Kaleidoscope, like previous Darkening Scale releases re-examines the material, plus tracks from Secondhand Muon, to make a revised 'best of' version of the two releases. Seems like ancient history to..

“David Janssen aka Ted The Loaf (of Renaldo & The Loaf) started The Darkening Scale in 2006 when Renaldo & The Loaf took a longer break. It is a purely digital affair and its releases originally came out as downloads only.
Over the past couple of years, Klanggalerie has released two DS albums: The Entomology of Sound and Sonic Archeology. We are now happy to present you Stuck Bad, The Darkening Scale's cover version of The Residents' Duck Stab album.
David Janssen has processed the original...

"The Darkening Scale is the solo project of David Janssen aka Ted The Loaf of Renaldo & The Loaf. A purely digital affair, DS started in 2006 when RATL was on hold. The Entomology of Sound was the first album and came out as digital file and a very limited CDr. David says about it: "Back in 2006, much to my surprise, I found myself making music again after a long gap. Starting at the bottom of a steep learning curve, The Entomology of Sound was the first result, followed by a couple of other collections...

"Déficit Des Années Antérieures are one of the most important French avantgarde groups ever. "Les Ambulants", their second album, came out in 1984 on the band's own Illusion Production label. It is considered a milestone in DDAA's career, establishing their trademark sound and developing further after "Action and Japanese Demonstration". For this re-issue, the original album has been complemented with bonus material so that playing time is now around an hour. The original artwork has been reproduced to...

“Jean-Luc André, Sylvie Martineau-Fee and Jean-Philippe Fee started DDAA (Deficit Des Annees Anterieures) in 1977. They are pioneers of the French experimental and indie scene, also connected with Industrial 80s music and audiovisual projects.
Approaching music in a completely unique way, and brilliantly produced by their own Illusion Production label (with more 40 published items), DDAA was and is undoubtedly one of the most legendary groups of the French underground for the past 30 years. Their...

"We are proud to present the new album by legendary French avantgarde group DDAA. Active since 1979, they have developed their unique sound that has produced classic albums like "Ronsard", "Action and Japanese Demonstration" or more recently the collaboration "Cinq Faux Nids Six Fauz Nez" with jazz band Palo Alto. One of the longest surviving groups from the classical avantgarde. If you like Jacques Berrocal, Ghedalia Tazartes or HNAS (with whom the band have released a split 7"), you will love DDAA....

A new release by the wonderful Amy Denio will always make ME cry “EUREKA!”.

“Amy Denio is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Often called an unclassifiable avant-garde jazz musician, her main instruments are voice, alto saxophone, clarinet, accordion, acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, and theremin.
Her new album Eureka consists of songs of various stlyes, some were written...

“Der Blutharsch and the Infinite Church of the Leading Hand came into existence in 2011. Prior to that, mastermind Albin Julius had worked under the name Der Blutharsch, which in itself was his follow-up project to The Moon lay hidden beneath a Cloud.
While The Moon lay hidden was part of the then-strong neofolk scene, Der Blutharsch started as a Martial Industrial project, showing similarities to Laibach or Autopsia. It gradually changed into a more rock oriented group, and in 2011 the extra name...

“Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers.
The Austrian musician, composer and pedagogue Ingrid Schmoliner performs in various international and interdisciplinary...

“Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California. All members of the band had solo careers next to the output of Tuxedomoon, with Steven Brown releasing a new album in 2021, and touring Europe in 2022. After composing and recording the sountrack for the film "El Informe Toledo" Steven was asked by the director Albino Alvarez to perform the music live at the film's premiere in the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City. Having employed session musicians for the recording...

“Etant Donnes is a French duo named after Marcel Duchamp's last major work. The group consists of brothers Marc and Eric Hurtado, born in Morocco and working mainly as performance artists and musicians. Their sound can be described as a mix of field recordings, found sounds and sometimes whispered, sometimes violent vocals. They describe their sounds like this: "Through Marc and Eric, it is the volume of each word that becomes an object-sculpture, together with the power of their bodies expressing their...

“Etant Donnes is a French duo named after Marcel Duchamp's last major work. The group consists of brothers Marc and Eric Hurtado, born in Morocco and working mainly as performance artists and musicians. Their sound can be described as a mix of field recordings, found sounds and sometimes whispered, sometimes violent vocals.
They describe their sounds like this: "Through Marc and Eric, it is the volume of each word that becomes an object-sculpture, together with the power of their bodies expressing...

“Etant Donnes is a French duo named after Marcel Duchamp's last major work. The group consists of brothers Marc and Eric Hurtado, born in Morocco and working mainly as performance artists and musicians. Their sound can be described as a mix of field recordings, found sounds and sometimes whispered, sometimes violent vocals. They describe their sounds like this: "Through Marc and Eric, it is the volume of each word that becomes an object-sculpture, together with the power of their bodies expressing their...

“Michael Fischer is an Austrian musician, composer and instant composition conductor. He works on the immanence of language within sounds, their sculptural and dramatic evidence, on the tenor saxophone, the violin, on cd-player setting and conducted instant compositions, in improvised and experimental music. Since 1999 he connects the electro-acoustic phenomenon feedback with acoustic instrumentation by creating and playing the feedback saxophone. He also collaborations with literary writers, dance...

"The first album by former Residents composer Hardy Fox after the era of Charles Bobuck. An album full of love songs, a glimpse into Hardy Fox's younger self. Electronics and rock meet to create lovely minimal pop tunes that any Residents fan will surely love.
Fox says: "Here's a new idea. How about writing a love song? Oh, you say it's been done, maybe overdone. So why would I be so foolish as to tackle such a subject so fraught with cliches and meaningless sentiment. Probably because I am stupid....

“Hardy Fox used to be composer for The Residents. He left the group when he didn't feel fit enough for touring and when he turned 70. Since then, he has released many albums under the name Charles Bobuck, switching to his real name Hardy Fox when his albums became more personal.
Hardy died in 2018 of a brain tumor. Since then, Klanggalerie keeps Hardy's music alive. We have a whole lot of archival music that will be released over the following years.
Ibbur is soundtrack music connected with...

“Hardy Fox was the primary composer of The Residents. Hardy first stopped touring with The Residents due to health issues. Soon afterwards, he left the group completely to concnetrate on his solo work...
A week before his death, Hardy recorded the very touching farewell recording to his fans, 25 Minus Minutes. During the last months of his life, Hardy submitted several recording to be released after his death. Killing Time is one of them.”

“Hardy Fox was the primary composer of The Residents. He created an incredible body of work, using all kinds of names other than The Residents, amongst them Combo De Mechanio, Sonidas De La Noche, Dead Eye Dick, Charles Bobuck or Black Tar And The Cry Babies. Hardy first stopped touring with The Residents due to health issues. Soon afterwards, he left the group completely to concnetrate on his solo work. After several albums as Charles Bobuck (later only Bobuck), the name given to him when still a member...

“Denis Frajerman started as composer in the French experimental Band Palo Alto. With a strong interest in literature and orality as a musician, he collaborates regularly with storytellers and writers for radio sessions, oratorios, or records.
 Strongly linked to the work of Antoine Volodine, his first solo album, Les Suites Volodine was directly influenced by his writings. They both share a taste for haunting atmospheres, black humor, witchcraft. Volodine and Frajerman also worked on creations...

“Fred Frith is one of the most important musicians of our time. He was born in Sussex, UK and now lives in California, USA. He first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. He was and is also a member of groups like Massacre, Art Bears, Skeleton Crew or Cosa Brava.
Over the past 40 years Fred has collaborated with outstanding musicians like John Zorn, Tom Cora, Bill Laswell, Carla Kihlstedt, Henry Kaiser, Phil Minton, Brian Eno, The Residents....

“Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improvisor. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. He was also a member of the groups Art Bears, Massacre, and Skeleton Crew.
Annie Lewandowski is a composer and performer who works in song and improvisation. As an improviser on piano, accordion, and electronics, she has performed and recorded with musicians like...

"A collaboration between one of Jazz's most important musicians and the main composer from the Residents."

"Hardy Fox grew up in Texas. After college he moved to San Francisco reveling in the free love days of 1967-68. He co-founded the much loved cult band, the Residents, where he was primary composer.
Hardy retired from The Residents in 2015 but continued to compose for the group through 2017."

"Fred Frith never felt the need to hide behind an eyeball mask, & I - for one - am...

“Núria Andorrà is a percussionist, improviser and composer. From the classical and contemporarily background but always drawing from other sources of inspiration. Núria proposes a universe where images, sound and the body come together to transmit the same emotions and create from an interdisciplinary perspective. She has performed with Agustín Fernández, Fred Frith, Lê Quan Nihn, Joëlle Léandre, Mats Gustafsson, Nate Wooley and Joe Morris. She has also worked with Carles Santos, Hector Parra, Matmos and...

“GBK are an Austrian free jazz trio that isn't afraid of being groovy. The band was founded in 2007 after a first meeting the year before, being thrown together in an improvised music session. They performed many years under the name of KGB before changing their name recently due to Russian war against Ukraine. All three musicians are happy to swap roles in their trio, therefore abstract experimental sounds have the same place in their repertoire as groove and melody. Drummer Didi Kern works both in jazz...

“Geins't Naït was founded in Nancy, France, in 1986 by Thierry Merigout and Vincent Hachet, both students at the Architecture School of Nancy. A year later Laurent Petitgand joined the band. Their sound is often described as an equivalent of bands like Einstürzende Neubauten, Coil or Test Dept., but Geins't Naït is not pure classic Industrial. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude, Petitgand refines them to create some musicality within the post-industrial...

"Hardy Fox used to be composer for The Residents for over four decades. He later released solo albums under the name Charles Bobuck before finally switching to his real name in 2017.
After Heart, Nachtzug is his second solo album. In the beginning, this release was intended to become a TOOK release - simply releasing Fox's sketches for The Residents' Ghost Of Hope album. But this idea soon turned out to be not challenging enough, so Hardy started using his original sketches as the basis of an...

“Hardy Fox used to be composer for The Residents. He left the group when he didn't feel fit enough for touring. Since then, he has released many albums under the name Charles Bobuck, switching to his real name Hardy Fox when his albums became more personal. The first, self-titled and also known under the name Heart, is a study of the young Hardy Fox, an album about Love. The second, Nachtzug is about his last days touring with The Residents.
After a break from recording, Hardy Fox is now back with...

Grumpy editor's note: at this point, I don't think either name listed here is a real name....

"Hardy Fox grew up in Texas. After college he moved to San Francisco reveling in the free love days of 1967-68. He co-founded the much loved cult band, the Residents, where he was primary composer.
Hardy retired from The Residents in 2015 but continued to compose for the group through 2017. In addition to his work with that band, he has recorded as a solo artist under various names including Charles..

“A classic masterpiece from 1981, never re-released on CD before.
Originally 1000 copies pressed on orange/red vinyl. 120 copies were sold through Rough Trade and Virgin Records. 800 copies were bought and later destroyed by the United Dairies label, making this record even more rare.
Hastings of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded the album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesiser and piano..

“Charles Hayward is an English drummer and was a founding member of the experimental rock groups This Heat and Camberwell Now. He also played with Mal Dean's Amazing Band, Dolphin Logic, and gigged and recorded with Phil Manzanera in the group Quiet Sun project as well as a short stint with Gong. He was a session musician on The Raincoats' second album, Odyshape, and on one occasion played drums for the anarchist punk band Crass. Since the late 1980s he has concentrated on solo projects and....

“Crossfade Estate was a special, distinct project. It was made in November 2005. Recorded in 10 hours. Edited, mixed and collaged over 18 months. It was a development of Charles Hayward's long term relationship with The Albany in Deptford, London. They asked him to push their recently installed digital recording suite and see what he could make.
The approach was a step further from the series Accidents+Emergencies which Hayward had curated in the late 1990's. It was a pulling together of different...

"Helios Creed is a founding member of legendary US avantgarde space rock band Chrome. Chrome was founded in San Francisco in 1975. Their sound wasn't easy to label - being ahead of their time, Helios Creed and Damon Edge created music that featured heavy elements of feedback and distortion. They experimented in mixing synthesized noise with rock instrumentation, therefore they are now seen as part of the post punk movement (even when punk was still in full flow at that time). Their breakthrough came in...

“Het Zweet (Sweat) was the band project by Marien van Oers, native of Breda in the Netherlands active from 1983 to about 1988. The music consisted of long 10 minute percussion pieces played on self built instruments (shopping trolleys amplified with pickups, blown cardboard tubes etc.) with repetitive shouted vocals by Marien.
The music was often placed in the industrial camp and linked with the likes of Test Dept. but in fact Het Zweet were more concerned with 'tribal' music, physicality and trance..