[2008] Daniel Levin Trio - Fuhuffah

By request... Daniel Levin in cello, Håker-Flaten (The Thing) in bass, Gerard Cleaver in drums.





Buy it directly from Clean Feed here.

[2011] Larsen & Z'EV - In V.Tro

Half recorded during live sessions and another half recorded in studio, this collaboration was commissioned as a "soundtrack for micro-cinematic images on the study of cells", as a tribute to Giuseppe Levi, who researched and exploited the great potential of the in vitro technique, which gives name to this album. Aside from the interesting backstory, Larsen proves again that they shine in collaborative projects. Z'EV delivers his usual experimental approach to percussion to the mix, giving it a strong abstract feel while Larsen controls the mood of the album with its minimalist guitar and synth pair. Somewhat similar to their Nurse With Wound collaboration, Larsen sticks to their minimalistic post-rock side bordering in drone while Z'EV takes care of the bizarre background.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC]

Buy it directly from Important Records here.

[2011] Daniel Levin - Inner Landscape

Inner Landscape is Daniel Levin's first solo album, released via Clean Feed as many of his trio/quartet works. Fully improvised, this album is a stripped out display of his cello skills that have been already evident in his ensemble works but in here we get to appreciate them in full form, exploring the wide range of possibilities the stringed instrument has to offer with a dynamic, precise and beautiful delivery.




Buy it directly from Clean Feed here.

[2009] Supersilent - 9

Back to the extremely low key improvisations, consisting mostly by fiddling with organs. This is definitely another album in the vein of 5 or 6 (specially 5), whose quiet, tense parts are more prominent than those with instrumentation. Dark and brooding, it still manages to retain the style of the band, despite having no percussion at all.

Downloaad it here: [V0][FLAC]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2007] Sunburned Circle - The Blaze Game

A very intense, live collaboration between two masters of psychedelic jams, Sunburned Hand of The Man (USA) and Circle (Finland). Together they delivered a long, almost non-stop show full of blissed out solos and slow building patterns, which reminds me of the best improvised moments in Amon Düül II, everything tightly layered,without a single quiet moment.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Conspiracy Records here.

[2007] Supersilent - 8

Similar in vein to 7, less chaotic and with an emphasis in Helge Sten's electronic dabbling. Part of this session became part of what was later released as 11, the same free form drumming with Henriksen's slow and sultry trumpet can be heard here.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2003] Supersilent - 6

Picking up where it left off, 6 retains some of the minimalistic style introduced in 5, but this time the electronic contributions of Helge Sten and Arve Henriksen's slow, sultry trumpet take over and gives the album a very melancholic, reflexive mood. It constantly toys with off-putting, bizarre synth melodies, overlapping and enhancing the dark atmosphere.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[1998] Supersilent - 4

Follow up of the 1-3 album which compiled 3 CD's into one (half live, half studio), 4 is an entirely studio album, single CD, which combines the free jazz output displayed on their first album with strong electronic elements and even vocalizations (by Henriksen), making it very different from their preceding release.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[1987] AMM - The Inexhaustible Document (Reissue 1994)

Very few albums from back in those days get close to what AMM engineered during the recording of this album: tense, minimal improvisations which explored and exerted the slow building mindset of the ensemble, while managing to retain a feebly kept attention from the listener due to its length.
This reissue in particular has an expanded version of the track Page 9:2 with material recorded during the same period, and considerably less minimal than the original version track.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC Part 1 Part 2] Updated!


Buy it directly from Matchless Recordings here.

[2011] Masami Akita, Mats Gustafsson & Jim O'Rourke - One Bird Two Bird

One of the most interesting releases in which Jim O'Rourke participates this year (the other would be the Ambarchi/O'Rourke/Haino followup of Tima Formosa), One Bird Two Bird is one of the best collabs I've listened in quite a while. I can quite see why Masami Akita is credited with his real name and not his usual monicker (Merzbow), considering his contributions are actually low key and in tune with the building improvisations as the album progresses, of which O'Rourke and Gustafsson (The Thing) are mainly responsible for (and as far of the latter goes, his sax goes crazy on Two Bird, the most awe-inducing track of this album). Without a doubt,  the most intense free improv collab I've heard this year so far.

Download it here: [V0]

Buy it directly from Editions Mego here.

[1998] Supersilent - 1-3

About time I posted Supersilent over here... And I'll try to post all their discography, chronologically.
This is the first release via Rune Grammofon of the collective conformed by Arve Henriksen (Food, Christian Wallumrød Ensemble), Ståle Storløkken and Helge Sten (Deathprod, Merriwinkle). 3 CDs of their very first material, full of unpredictable structures and almost no common melodies through live improvisation; part of instrumentation used for this album (and the ones following next) can be tell apart, but mostly it's a mix of timbres barely recognizable, reminding most of what AMM did many decades ago in a similar vein.
This album alone is a classic of the band, and a perfect start in the modern conception of free improvisation.

Download it here: [V0: Part 1 Part 2][FLAC]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2008] Spunk - En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom

The darkest Spunk album, and pretty much in line with their preceding release Den øverste Toppen På en Blåmalt Flaggstang, it brings most of the bizarre elements of the group by straining as much as possible their instruments capabilities and delivering a somewhat offputting (yet entrancing) atmosphere. Their most cohesive work.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[1989] AMM - AMMMusic 1966

Reissue by Recommended Records from the original 1967 release, which consists on at least 30min extra of free improvisation. Essential material of one of the earliest free improv bands in the history of the style, which borrowed heavily from the jazz basic structure and experimented with electronic equipment, particularly transistor radios.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from ReR Megacorp here.

[2007] Smegma - Nattering Naybobs of Negativity

Nattering Naybobs of Negativity is one of the most representative albums (aside from their debut, Glamour Girl 1941) of this band, which has influenced several experimental and improvisational acts during 4 decades, including (but not limited to) projects related to Stapleton in general, and many others with improvisational backgrounds. And indeed, its extensive use of sample manipulation and bizarre free jazz and tape looping predates plenty of artists from back then, without sounding dated or less out there than late, well known projects. In this album the Zappa influence is quite evident, with its cartoonish samples and crazed ramblings with the pervert humor present in Uncle Meat, but instead of delving further into progressive rock, it loses itself in a free jazz craze, which fits the style nicely.

This is a 2007 reissue of the original 1987 release, which includes Morass (cassette), released a year later.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from Forced Exposure here.

[2004] Grey Daturas - Dead In The Woods

This is one of the bands I consider one of my main influences to explore and compose music on my own, which could've had a full decade of existence in 2012 if they hadn't disbanded in early 2010. Grey Daturas was an australian collective of improvisers, with influences ranging from Sonic Youth, Black Sabbath, Can and many others, which in turn gave the band an eclectic style. Of course being an improvisational group meant that none of their songs were neither rehearsed nor repeated, and well rooted into the heaviest noise rock with doom metal hints, and even in some cases, drone-doom (in the vein of Earth), as seen in the Yellow Swans collab which was well received by many music critics.
Grey Daturas broke up but it resurfaced shortly as the duo known as Breathing Shrine, with Bonnie Mercer (guitar) and Rob Mayson (drums), and keeping with the heavy live output that made them famous.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Breathing Shrine/Grey Daturas official site here.

[2003] Sidsel Endresen & Christian Wallumrød & Helge Sten - Merriwinkle

Collaboration between one of the figureheads of the current norwegian jazz scene, Christian Wallumrød (Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, Close Erase), Sidsel Endresen and Helge Sten (Deathprod's real name) in a free improvisation album with no lyrics, no sheets, no prior arrangements, but full of rich melodies and complex, unpredictable changes.Sidsel Endresen does a great job improvising vocals on the spot, making it seem as if she had been reciting, when it was a case of stream of consciousness. Christian and Helge /Deathprod took care of the synths and electronic arrangements respectively, giving the album an spastic feel.

Download it here: [V0]

Buy it directly from Jazzland Recordings here.

[2009] Spunk - Kantarell

Latest Spunk album, is their most daring release so far, tuning down the vocal experimentation a notch and focusing on the brass instruments, straining the sounds at a vertiginous pace, and leaving a sense of tension through ever song. Sounds somewhat darker than their previous efforts, although the vocals retain a certain innocence that has become their own trademark sound.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2008] Z'EV vs PITA - Colchester

Another Z'EV collaboration, in this case he teams up with Pita (KTL), which has released plenty of solo albums and collaborations with other musicians of the experimental scene. This is a live recording of a Colchester (England) show from 2006, in which Z'EV focused on the live percussion improvisation while Pita worked on the foggy, sonic atmosphere surrounding the stage. Incredible sounding material.

Download it here [V2][V0]

Sold out at Editions Mego.

[2005] Paal Nilssen-Love & Anders Hana - AM/FM

Anders Hana (Ultralyd, MoHa!) joins forces with Paal Nilssen-Love for a 30min. improv session full of squealing guitar and spastic drumming. Plenty of intensity to be found on this album, as it can be expected from these two musicians involved in so many projects in the jazz/free improv area.
Originally released via Utech Records (limited to 150 copies), it was reissued by PNL years later.

Download it here: [V0]

Buy it from PNL here (contact info on the link).

[2005] Paal Nilssen-Love - Twenty Seven Years Later

Second release of this prolific norwegian drummer in Utech Records, the first being his collab with Anders Hana (MoHa!, Ultralyd) also from 2005. Sold out in Utech Records (given it was limited to 150 copies), it was reissued later via Nilssen-Love's own label, PNL.

Download it here: [V4][V0]

Buy it from PNL here (contact info on the link).