CD

Ab Baars Trio & Ken Vandermark

2008

"This pairing is as comfortable as a reunion of grade school classmates. Recorded live at Amsterdam's Bimhuis at tour's end, Goofy June Bug finds both men splitting their time between tenor saxophone and clarinet (backed by Baars' regular rhythm section of Wilbert de Joode and Martin van Duynhoven) and both honor each other's musical traditions: Baars' compositions are as likely to carry a '60s free jazz influence as Vandermark's are to contain European classical elements."

Terrie Ex & Paal Nilssen-Love

2013

"Fourty-two minutes of unadultered sonic violence and energy. Rock? Jazz? Noise? Punk? Paal Nilssen-Love beats the bejeezus out of his trap kit and Terrie Ex throws harsh antagonistic feedback attacks into the process, which have no direction at all, played with the enthusiasm and energy of a garage band of 16-year olds, exploring what they can produce together, equally being surprised at things that work and that don't work, with an audience that shouts and applauds when the volume decreases, thinking the lengthy improvisation is over, but actually it isn't, because neither Paal nor Terrie want to let go, diving back in, sometimes hesitantly, sometimes with renewed power, new attacks, some novel ideas - and it must be said, not all of them are violent - to be further explored, developed or altogether massacred with an attitude of self-destruction, with a loathing of feelings like empathy or sympathy or even apathy, expressing feelings of anger and disgust, as it should be in a punk band."

Paal Nilssen-Love & Frode Gjerstad

2010

Hairy Bones

2009

The Ex

1988

"Maybe in bursts, where the undertow doesn't need to be ribbed with volume, this record represents the real Ex, the complex, hyperfast, mobile scourge of convenient ignorance and partyline stupidity."

Frode Gjerstad Paal Nilssen-Love Project

2013

Djibril Diabate

2017

"1. Masani Cisse ... a rich nobleman, a very important person, close to god. Began very poor, making a living cutting and selling firewood. One day he saw a big dead tree. Long long time ago a rich warrior, a king, stranded at the tree, dying. A ghost promised him to guard the money at the tree. Masani Cisse started to cut. After three times, the ghost appeared and asked what he was doing. "I'm hungry," Masani answered. The ghost answered that he could do anything because the money was there in the spirit of the king. "If you are really hungry, you can take the money. But some things you are not allowed to do with it. You can not seduce women from someone else with it, for example." The story of Masani Cisse runs parallel with the beginning of the kora. The founder of the kora is called: Moussa Boulouge... "

Anne-James Chaton / Andy Moor / Thurston Moore

2016

Frode Gjerstad Trio

2012

Sonic Youth & Mats Gustafsson

2000

Joe Morris Bass Quartet

2008

"The music is as free as you can expect it from these musicians, but always very rhythmic, boppish even at times, with Gray and Morris providing the solid, yet shifting foundations for the two soloists, two strong sylists by the way, to interlock and carry the tune, if that's the right word for this music."

Kuzu

2019

"KUZU is a hard-charging but patient trio that came together in the fall of 2017, after saxophonist Dave Rempis a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums) individually as part of a lengthy solo tour of the U.S. that he undertook in the spring of that year. Dorji and Damon’s work as a guitar/percussion duo has become well-known, a highly refined and specific language developed through relentless touring and recording over the last few years, with a sound that straddles improvised music, rock, and any number of as-yet-undefined territories. These two provide an incredibly fresh take on the possibilities inherent to spontaneous composition. Superimposing Rempis into this mix was a logical next step after the relationships they’d forged individually. "

Lotte Anker · Pat Thomas · Ingebrigt Håker Flaten · Ståle Liavik Solberg

2018

"All the energy and nuance of this captivating convert are captured in this stunning live recording. Both exhilarating and hypnotic, the album is a cutting edge release traversing the worlds of contemporary classical music and avant-garde jazz by a group of improvisers at the forefront of the creative music world. credits "

The Ex

1982

"Musically, they sound like a rather more melodic version of Crass; politically, they are a lot harder and their lyrics are excellent... An unashamed political manifesto."

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's Time Machine

2017

"Time Machine is Ingebrigt Håker Flaten — electric and acoustic bass, effect pedals. His robust fingerwork is ever-present in this new collection that explores mood & texture in a bold departure from his usual propulsive rhythms. An outgrowth of his eclectic outings with the likes of The Thing, Atomic, The Young Mothers, Plutonium Farmers and more, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten bridges the divide between jazz & rock, exemplifying the rugged freedom that defines both genres, joining pioneers like James Blood Ulmer, Stanley Clarke, Sonny Sharrock and Bill Frissell."

Zu & Mats Gustafsson

2005

Terrie Ex & Paal Nilssen-Love

2011

"Ex guitarist Terrie and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love met in the Jottem Studio in Wormerveer, NL, to record these 4 extended and rugged improvisations; rhythm vs strings with a skronky temperament."

Ibsen's Ghosts

2011

"Both McPhee and Bishop have played far on the outside but while these pieces are framed as improvisations between the four participants, neither strays too far from their lyrical side. The opener begins with a mournful trombone laying out thematic concepts. McPhee joins in the mourning against Zerang's slow rumble. Then it all gives way, Bishop becoming increasingly percussive, as if trying to match the drummer's off-kilter rhythms before this in turn disintegrates and McPhee, his tone reminding me of Charles Tyler, comes storming in. And so it continues, each track revealing just why they are regarded as amongst the greatest improvisers currently performing. "

Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson

2012

Rempis/Stadhouders/Rosaly

2018

"This transatlantic trio combines musical sensibilities derived from their experiences in two world capitals of improvised music, Chicago and Amsterdam. Rempis and Rosaly, both longtime staples of the Chicago scene, have partnered for more than 15 years, most significantly in the Rempis Percussion Quartet and Rempis/Rosaly Duo. The two met guitarist/bassist Jasper Stadhouders at the Moers Festival in 2009 where the three shared a stage on the legendary “morning sessions.” Despite being only 18 years old, Stadhouders was a presence to be dealt with, his energy and aesthetic already developed into a cohesive whole. "