Classical Music 29 Items

In 1973, Stay On It turned the coordinates of avant-garde music on its head. It is minimal, but un- ashamedly groovy; it is open to improvisation, grants performers all the freedom they could need, but it isn’t jazz and never slips into the non-committal. It is open to theatrical and performative elements, but also to poetic-lyrical ones. Cut to 1981. Eastman releases The Holy Presence of Joan d‘Arc. Where has the lightness gone? The relationship to pop music? The love for the musicians who have to develop the piece during its performance? It sounds like heavy metal: forceful, dark, urgent, sawing—and then plaintive, heartbreaking.

The latest in a brilliant run of releases from the 130701 label this year, ‘The Sea at The End of Her String’ is a seven-track EP that highlights three adventurous, hugely talented female artists from the current roster of FatCat’s pioneering 130701 imprint. Featuring seven exclusive new tracks, the EP is available both digitally and in a limited edition, one-time-only vinyl pressing of 300 copies to be sold exclusively on a short, triple-bill UK tour this Autumn. Both tour and EP feature the same three artists – French pianist / composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Polish cellist Resina and Swedish-Iranian pianist Shida Shahabi, whose debut LP, ‘Homes’, will be released in mid-October.

Tofu Resistance returns with his new ep “Thorídur”, marking his 3rd release on Ynfnd after his full length debut “1//23“ in 2019.

This EP sits comfortably between both the world of beats and a more relaxed environment. Returning to his roots, Tofu Resistance aka Tobias Kleine remembers his early influences of sample based music and classy hip hop grooves.

The result is a sonorous sketch of deceleration, answering with bouncy rhythms to nod your head to. You can hear him playing the drums, guitars and various other instruments on this record. A beautiful blend of organic and electronic production, adding his unique Tofu flavor.

Strictly limited edition of THE Silva Sessions (cd) and THE M. Session (Vinyl-Only) by Rico Puestel coming in natural cotton tote bags with an exclusive artwork fusion print.

The vinyl-only THE M. Session EP by Rico Puestel marks the epilogue to his simultaneously released full-length piano album THE Silva SessionS.

With the recordings being apart seven months, Rico Puestel didn't touch any instrument in the meantime while coming back to it several months after a physical assault (leading to an almost lost hearing on one ear) to completely improvise THE M. Session recordings. Those are based on the things that were happening inbetween.

While not being able to produce any new music back then, playing the instrument was the only opportunity for him to start recovering...

Writing on cover. Sticker on cover.

Home is a powerful concept with an abstract definition. This solo album takes those subjective ideas and unifies them under one roof. Evolving from Jerve’s #dailypiano posts in 2019, ‘The Soundtrack of My Home’ relays thoughts and improvisations that trace his journey from childhood home to adult and now, father. Nurturing a mood or feeling, each song begets a sonorous story of someone close to him, expressed through the language of piano playing.

Jerve makes use of his hands as a human step sequencer, often programming two or more motifs of varying lengths in a polymetric fashion. These melodic patterns and arpeggios evolve at varying rates but grow around clear progressions with standard 8-bar forms.

The first track - ‘Kjetil’ enters with an earnest, gentle and endearing character - like a young river near its source. As with such a river, it will grow to varied sizes throughout the album but must begin as a humble expression from the source. The following titles sketch his interpretations of the people that have made up his home.

There is a theme across the album that unites the songs, so much so that differentiating tracks can at times be difficult. Though, Jerve punctuates this overarching mood with a few distinct structures, as found in tracks ‘Karoline’ (wife), ‘Espen’ (brother) and ‘Sven’ (father). ‘Turid’ (daughter) and ‘Jon Eirik’ (brother) seem less directive and welcome more intrigue, reminiscent of a curious child wandering through the dappled light of a forest.

‘Iben’ (daughter) and ‘Eivor’ (daughter) have a hypnotic, three-pointed melodic structure that leaves the listener suspended; transfixed - while ‘Sussi’ (cat) carries unique momentum and suitably feline autonomy. ‘Mette’ (mother) has a mood of ascending, like that of a child's upward gaze at their maternal carer. Utterly nuanced in structure, Jerve leaves ample space for subjective interpretation and allows the listener to weave their own life into the tones.

As expected from the founder of Dugnad rec - this album signifies a deeply personal sentiment. Sometimes we are forced to confront the music and other times, we are left to wonder. Here, we find a balance and unity that allows little thoughts and worries to drift away, bringing us warmly to rest in the present. The LP edition's bonus track features producer/performer extraordinaire Stian Balducci, drawing a line to the next chapter of piano-based music from Dugnad rec: Tokyo Tapes: Piano Recycle.

Eduardo De La Calle and crew return with 4 tracks of deep off kilter electro and idm Big tip if you're into Bitstream, Gosub and Silicon

Jane Gregory's infamous 'Do Not Go' is a beautiful operatic drama, one seeped in a level of expression and passion rarely found across other genres. Rare too are the original pressings, with as few as 90 copies released by Crass Records in 1985 it's now one of the hardest on their back catalogue to find. One Little Independent have announced it as part of a new vinyl single reissue series. The origins of this record lay a long way from classical music. The band Crass put anarchy to use in a positive way in the post-punk era from 1978 with a mixture of brilliant records and a willingness to educate and engage with their followers through their collective-living mentality, concerts and concerns over a range of issues from animal rights to anti-nuclear campaigning. To be honest, such a summary does not do justice to the powerful effect of Crass, who offered up a sense of empowerment to themselves and their followers, and the influence then extended to the music business. As for Gregory's identity, she was (according to Rimbaud, who produced the single at Southern Studios) an "operatic and classical singer who acted as Sarah Brightman's understudy, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem". Requiem was actually a classical piece of music rather than a musical that came together in 1984 (with three soloists, Brightman, Placido Domingo and Paul Miles-Kingston and was premiered early in 1985. According to Rimbaud: "Crass wanted to do a crossover single and the idea was to make a popular, classical record, which it isn't - but it is nevertheless very beautiful." By the time Rimbaud had produced the single, Crass had split (1984) and their label - the Crass Records arm - was winding down as a viable concern. This probably accounts for the Jane Gregory single Do Not Go/ After A Dream being issued on the D Sharp imprint in late 1984 or early 1985. It would be fair to say that the record limped out rather than being released and there is web speculation that as few as 90 copies were pressed, so you were very lucky to pick one up. Like the Our Wedding single (which sells for up to a300), the Jane Gregory record is now one of the most sought-after and collectable records in the Crass and Crass Records catalogue. It is in the Rare Record Price Guide at a150 although copies have sold for up to a300 in competitive online auctions. The A-side of this single also appeared on the 1992 Crass Records compilation A Sides Part 2 1982-84.

Wavy grave rave for better tomorrow.

Estonian composers Timo Steiner and Sander Molder team up to create music for a modern ballet inspired by Yukio Mishimas famous novel "The Temple of The Golden Pavillion" The album follows the emotional narrative and delves into the charm of both - beauty and repulsiveness of the ugly. The 16 tracks oscillate between serene meditative cello melodies, lush harmonies and oversaturated noise. The ballet choreographed by Teet Kask premiered in 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia. Cello by the Solo Cellist of Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Theodor Sink. Cover art by Mart Anderson.

Pique-nique Recordings is proud to present 'Chrysanthemum', two spontaneous piano improvisations by composer and bandleader, Erik Deutsch; directed, sculpted, and accompanied by Spencer Zahn. Sparseness, beauty, and freedom define Deutch and Zahn’s creative output, which was formed over a mutual admiration for Thelonious Monk’s Solo Monk LP. With his first solo improvisational recording in a 25-year career, Deutsch combines his extensive experience in the free-music realm with inspiration from the likes of Alice Coltrane and Bill Evans. This release is part of an ongoing series that aims to capture the New York City jazz scene in its current, always evolving form. 'Improvisation is the main form of communication between NYC jazz musicians; the purest, most direct path to the essence of another creative spirit. I’ve ventured down that road in hundreds of jam sessions over the past few decades (and made life-long friends in the process). Yet somehow, when it’s time to get in the studio, one tends to lean towards pre-composed material with an idea in the back of your head that the studio free-improviser is a different kind of cat than oneself, perhaps with a different artistic integrity or maybe even lacking material. Fuck that. I’m glad to take the plunge and I say with all honesty that nothing could feel better in this moment.' - Erik Deutsch

Limited Edition.

Peach-colored vinyl.

The third release of 2020 is from Oliver Leith, a London based composer making acoustic music, electronic music and video. His work focuses on text, image, video, theatre, pathos and the everyday.
Balloonwas originally commissioned by theLondon Sinfoniettaas an acoustic piece, and first performed at the Southbank centre'sSound Unboundfestival in 2019.
" This is an arrangement for synthesisers of many tunings. I called it Balloon because I had this image of thrashing a balloon with a baseball bat or something, rather than breaking or bursting it just sort of floats off - unhurt, even if you absolutely pelted it."
Slide" is old and one of my first purely electronic pieces and really was me doing a hack job with computers. On my aged software you could make parameters and automation dance around by using a mouse and track pad at the same time, that doesn't work anymore because my computer tries to be sensible so I'm back to shifting tiny notes all the time which is about as slow as pencilling in acoustic music. It felt like quite an analogue way to play with notes so that's a shame." (Oliver Leith)

Record Store Day 2020 Release.
Limitation: 500 copies.

Edith Sitwell’s series of her most famous poems re- released on the 100th anniversary of the original transcripts. Includes the original ultra rare Jim Flora artwork, this beautiful package includes 26 page lyric booklet. Idolised by Smiths frontman Morrissey, Sitwell was like the Warhol of her day, publishing a mountain of essays and poems covering every aspect of the arts. The Scarborough-born poet-eccentric extraordinaire who had once publicly declared that her immense wisdom had been born of a long, unrequited love affair with the Russian painter, Pavel Ychelitchew (unrequited on the account of his homosexuality). Morrissey heavily featured Edith as his tour mascot on his Kill Uncle tour and used her image as his stage backdrop and on his T-shirts.

Pablo R. Ruiz returns for his sophomore release for Portage Garage Sounds with an evolution of his distinctive blend of sonic brilliance (first witnessed on 2017’s “Bad Hombre.”)
"Estados Criminales” features 5 tracks, playful yet sinister, like the chaotic energy of a carnival ride falling off its hinges.

There is no such thing as confused programming! Relentless, grungy dark Acid with an industrial feel at a reasonable pace by I-F as Jungian Archetype!