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This is the repeated call and the rallying chorus of the nearly 40-minute centerpiece to composer and percussionist Asher Gamedze’s new album Constitution. The expansive double album, a minoritarian fellowship in breath, is Gamedze’s follow-up to 2023’s Turbulence and Pulse (IARC0057), and his first with The Black Lungs. The album – recorded in one day at Cape Town’s Sound and Motion Studios – is an elaboration of the possibilities of autonomous constitution in and through polyrhythmic, modal, large ensemble music.
On Constitution, the power of the question, the possibility of an improvised answer and the celebration of being together exists not in the solo but in the group, the ensemble. Here The Black Lungs collectively explore and deconstruct the conceptual, tonal, and atonal possibilities of themes which are at once of old and new dreams - curious and instantiative, melancholic and emergent.

“The Black Lungs is inspired by the revolutionary thought and practice of the Black Consciousness Movement. In particular, the relationship between antagonism – constituting a united front of all the oppressed against white supremacy and racial capitalism – and the possibilities for resistance and elaboration - the creative militant capacities of those assembled – enabled and unleashed by that process of constitution.”

Formed in 2007, The Boxmasters have recorded an impressive and diverse catalogue of music that touches on their love of a wide array of influences, but most importantly, the rock and roll of the 1960’s. Love & Hate In Desperate Places is their 17th album and the ten songs evince a wry perspective on human nature and love. The lively melodic rock cloaks the wry wit of the lyrics. The album was produced by The Boxmasters, Billy Bob Thornton and J.D. Andrew, who also wrote every song. Listening to The Boxmasters, one can hear obvious odes to the Beatles, Byrds and Beach Boys, but also important to The Boxmasters are The Mothers of Invention, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Big Star. Since forming The Boxmasters, several long-time friends have contributed to the sound of the band, but the core of The Boxmasters has always been Andrew and Thornton. As primary songwriters, the sound of the Boxmasters has been an evolution as the duo constantly strive to find new inspiration, new sounds and new ways of expressing what is in their hearts and on their minds. But at the core, there is a backbeat, a lyric with meaning and music played with emotion. As a touring band, The Boxmasters have cultivated a rabid cult fanbase across the United States and Canada. Opening for the likes of ZZ Top, Steve Miller, George Thorogood and Kid Rock The Boxmasters have proven to win over large audiences. As a headliner, frequent stops in Kansas City at “Knuckleheads”, Springfield, Illinois at “Boondocks” and “Merrimack Hall” in Huntsville, Alabama have shown dedicated yet still growing audiences. Two appearances at Levon Helm’s “Midnight Ramble” in Woodstock, New York were highlight performances for the band, as well as the “Ramble at The Ryman” that Levon hosted in 2008. The Boxmasters performed on “The Grand Ole Opry” in 2015, another in a growing resume of must-play venues.

Human Worth are proud to present the stunning new full-length from the ferocious noise rock duo Modern Technology, with a portion of proceeds donated to charity. How two players can make this much racket just has to be heard to be believed. The bass guitar and drums duo Modern Technology sound deceptively larger, louder and noisier than one could expect. The duo of Chris Clarke and Owen Gildersleeve (Old Mayor) present their second full length album 'Conditions of Worth' through rising leftfield heavy label Human Worth. Encapsulating influences of ‘90s Touch & Go era noise rock, the grubby grit of sludge metal, and the ferociousness of post-hardcore, Modern Technology hit you with the same energy and volume as their lauded live shows – which for those who caught them on their recent UK tour with Chat Pile will be able to attest to!

Marching forwards as thoughtful as they are sonically unhinged, ‘Conditions Of Worth’ takes the duo’s voiced concerns and socially conscious outlooks further and louder, tackling issues including mental health, the effects of austerity, societal degradation, and the ever increasing climate emergency. ‘Conditions Of Worth’ is available as a limited edition heavyweight 180g Transparent “Utility Yellow” Vinyl in a stunning package designed by Chris Clarke. 10% of all sales proceeds will be donated to charity Choose Love, helping to provide humanitarian aid, search, rescue and legal advice to refugees and displaced people across the globe.

For those of you who"ve mislaid your history goggles, this archival release recalls an ancient time in the world of recorded music. Yes, back in the dinosaur days of the 1990s, a creature known as Aerial M walked the earth, before evolving into Papa M and PAJO and beyond and back. Even then, the music of M had a next-wave vibe, walking upright among the knuckle-draggers (and having drinks in the evening with others of its genetic detatchment). It was too much to last very long, of course - but some things end up lasting forever, don"t they? Fuck! So it is today that Drag City, an organization largely set up to bring you the best of all available M recordings, is proud to be there for the release of the only Aerial M session ever recorded for John Peel"s BBC Radio One show, as it was originally recorded on 3rd March 1998 and broadcast on 2nd April of the same year. The studio versions of these songs, which appear on Aerial M"s S/t album (DC114) and Papa M"s Hole of Burning Alms comp (DC231), were played by "M" himself (now revealed to be David Pajo!), which makes this album a rare alternative view of the canonical M, played by an actual Aerial M band who, all too briefly, embodied the sound for a year or so before Papa brought a brand new bag. This Session found them fortuitously roadburned from several weeks in the European Theatre. So much the better for our archival ears, as OG-M"s signature minimalist long-fuse sizzle is thrillingly intact here; in fact, even more so, as the tunes are jammed out past the studio versions" originally delineated borders, reaching rudely across the table in moments of liveness that the studio-bound project might have decided against when conferring only with the walls. For fans of their epic version of "Turn Turn Turn", this is more sweetmeats from that raucous old skull - but if you"ve not been down this road before, be prepared: the taste will set you slowly aflame. And then, before you know it, the band is dined and dashed - just like the band that Aerial M was, all too briefly amok on the earth that was too.

A founding member and keyboardist of acclaimed jazz
groupBADBADNOTGOOD,Tavares has gone from being an in-demand
producer with some of the biggest names in music to a songwriter and
artist in his own right, having touched corners of the globe and cemented
twoGRAMMY Awardsand five nominations
Between collaborations with Kendrick Lamar , Ghostface Killah , MF DOOM , Tyler
the Creator , Kali Uchis , Tavares has also played with Frank Ocean ,
soundtracked Virgil Alboh 's landmark S/ S 2019 runway show for Louis Vuitton,
and penned songs for Post Malone , Rosalia , Travis Scott , Kodak Black , Justin
Beiber,Camilla Cabello,Jack Harlow amongst others.
With a sound that fuses his nostalgia for the golden era of blogs with the
eclecticism of the late 2000s, the combination of the internet crossed with an
isolated suburban upbringing has laid the groundwork for Matty's genre-bending
artistry. Embracing a raw creative output with an aversion to following the norms
of the industry reverberates across his discography,Matty has found success in
previous releases including 'Clear' and 'I'll Gladly Place Myself Below', which push
the boundaries of sonic creativity and knowledge.
Now with his upcoming album POPS , Matty relinquishes his lowkey and
understated style for something larger than life, while maintaining a level of
honesty and openness that has defined his past work to make for a dynamic
release that constellates around music's greatest subject - love.

Nonesuch Records releases Laurie Anderson’s Amelia, the 2024 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient's first new album since 2018’s Grammy-winning Landfall. The record comprises 22 tracks about renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart’s tragic last flight. Anderson, who Pitchfork says, ‘sees the future, but she starts by paying attention’, wrote the music and lyrics for this subjective narrative piece. On the album, she is joined by the Czech orchestra Filharmonie Brno, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, and Anohni, Gabriel Cabezas, Rob Moose, Ryan Kelly, Martha Mooke, Marc Ribot, Tony Scherr, Nadia Sirota, and Kenny Wolleson.



Earhart was a passionate pioneer of early aviation, achieving fame as the first woman to cross the Atlantic, in 1932. Five years later, she embarked on a flight around the world. Before she could complete the voyage, her plane disappeared without a trace; it has never been found. “The words used in Amelia are inspired by her pilot diaries, the telegrams she wrote to her husband, and my idea of what a woman flying around the world might think about,” Anderson says. First premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2000, the updated piece was recently performed across Europe.



Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative pioneers. Her work, which encompasses music, visual art, poetry, film, and photography, has challenged and delighted audiences around the world for more than 40 years. In a recent 60 Minutes profile, Anderson Cooper said she ‘is a pioneer of the avant-garde, but ... that doesn’t begin to describe what she creates. Her work isn’t sold in galleries. It’s experienced by audiences who come to see her perform: singing, telling stories, and playing strange violins of her own invention... she blends the beautiful and the bizarre, challenging audiences with homilies and humor. She blurs boundaries across music, theater, dance, and film.’ The Washington Post has said she ‘doesn’t just tell stories; she draws out every word with a kind of physical pleasure, tasting its flavor as she probes the everyday mysteries of life,’ and the Guardian has called Anderson ‘one of the great popular artists and storytellers of our time.’



Anderson released her first album with Nonesuch Records in 2001, the critically lauded Life on a String. Her subsequent releases on the label include Live in New York (2002), Homeland (2010), the soundtrack to Anderson’s acclaimed film Heart of a Dog (2015), and her Grammy-winning collaboration with Kronos Quartet, Landfall (2018). Additionally, Anderson’s virtual-reality film La Camera Insabbiata, with Hsin-Chien Huang, won the 2017 Venice Film Festival Award for Best VR Experience, and, in 2018, Skira Rizzoli published her book All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code, the most comprehensive collection of her artwork to date.



Recent exhibitions and installations of Anderson’s work include Habeas Corpus at New York’s Park Avenue Armory; her largest exhibition to date, The Weather, at Washington, DC’s Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art; and Looking into a Mirror Sideways at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, which was her largest European exhibition to date. Anderson recently toured with Sex Mob, performing her piece Let X=X. Earlier this year, she was awarded the 2024 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, along with Christopher Nolan and David Attenborough, and the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet in her honour: Asteroid 270588, Laurieanderson.



Nonesuch released a re-mastered edition of Anderson’s landmark 1982 album Big Science in 2007 for its 25th anniversary, followed by a vinyl LP re-issue in 2021; its beloved single, ‘O Superman’, became a surprise viral hit on TikTok earlier this year.

Issued on vinyl for the first time and pressed on 2 x 140g black vinyl, Juno Reactor’s 2004s album, ‘Labyrinth’, their 6th long player. Ben Watkins is an essential innovator of modern electronic music and a pioneer of Trance. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Watkins has created a unique driving fusion of electronica, orchestral and global music executed on an epic & symphonic scale. Juno Reactor was formed as an art project in 1990. Ben Watkins wanted to collaborate with other artists, producing exciting projects that were not commercially driven. He wanted to create experimental music and non-musical soundtracks that would work with installations, art pieces, and film projects. Labyrinth ranges from orchestral, industrial, and techno as well as containing Juno Reactor's trademark tribal sound (possibly as best featured in Conquistador II). The album also features two songs from Watkins' collaboration with The Matrix composer Don Davis on the films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, "Mona Lisa Overdrive" (from Reloaded) and "Navras" (from Revolutions). As well as releasing a string of influential albums as Juno Reactor, Watkins’ tracks have been placed in numerous highprofile feature films, television programmes and computer games and Ben Watkins composed large sections of the original score for the films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, as well as composing the entire orchestral score for Japanese anime feature film Brave Story.

Abstrack Records is back with a new EP, putting the emphasis on instrumental music. Angers based band Auroboros, whose paths crossed on numerous time with Abstracks, largely on the occasion of infamous Freaks Pop festival, delivers twenty minutes of a progressive and cosmic, rocky jam.
«Camel» feels like a pursuit, a chase after an uncatchable vanishing point. The relentless acceleration of the tempo and the increasing power of the instruments feel like they’re leading us to an inconcei- vable paroxysm.

During the breakdown, everything strangely feels faster and calmer at the same time, we think we’re catching a glance at this horizon, even believing we’re reaching it as drums are fading away. But the ascent starts again and the trance is non negotiable. The power stream of the instrumental energies washes over the immobiles and the sceptics.

On the B side, two very different reworks complete the picture. Romain FX distills the dancefloor essence of «Camel». With a cosmic, almost oriental approach. The original piece gives birth to a proper peak-time banger, pure leg shaking material.

Mytron gives us a more playful and trippy remix. Seven minutes of a vibe that seems to be spinning and drifting, without ever breaking the patiently settled groove, filled with tribal spirit and sometimes even humour.

American English is the second studio album by British new wave band Wax, which consisted of Andrew Gold and 10cc band member Graham Gouldman. The two got together after 10cc split up in 1983 and released a total of three studio albums, including the 1987 American English. The album grew into their most successful effort, largely due to the hit single “Bridge To Your Heart”, which charted in the top 10 in many European countries and remains their biggest hit to-date. The album spawned two more singles; “American English” and “In Some Other World”. The album’s front cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson, who is best known for closely working with Pink Floyd, in addition to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Def Leppard among others. American English is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on pink & purple marbled vinyl and includes an insert.

Gregory T.S. Walker’s Minstrels & Minimoogs was self-published by a young, nomadic composer and virtuoso in 1988 to accompany an immersive multimedia performance at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Created with this outer, and other, world setting in mind, the four tracks find Walker stretching toward an ancient-to-future vision where Egyptian myths and Hieronymus Bosch-ian tableaus are rendered in a screaming three dimensional circuitry of electronic drums, synth guitars, and, of course, Minimoog. Given the musical terrains and outmoded topics traversed, and that this entirely DIY effort was originally released as a micro one-sided 12” edition, Minstrels & Minimoogs is as perplexing and euphoric a document lost-to-time as it is now found.

Born in 1961 into an intensely musical family spanning four generations, Gregory’s mother Helen Walker-Hill was a noted musicologist specializing in the rediscovery and work of historical Black female composers, while his father, George Walker, was the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. Both parents studied with the famed (and famously strict) Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1950s, and held to lofty aesthetic standards in their home life. Walker began studying the violin as a child, but when a burgeoning interest in the electric guitar and rock music as a teen manifested, it was largely verboten in the household. The rule was that the music played in the home was to be acoustic and classical. Although the elder Walkers eventually relented and allowed Gregory’s guitar to be plugged in for a brief interval on the weekends, the remaining days he settled for strumming it sans amplification.

Gregory, conditioned and eager for a life in music but looking to get out from under the influence and yoke of his famous composer father, ultimately chose to study computer music at the University of California at San Diego, where he earned a Master of Arts. This was followed by another MA in electronic music composition at that hotbed of West Coast experimental music, Mills College. Intermedia and multimedia in the arts was the rage in the 1980s, and Mills was one of the centers for it; audacious spectacle meeting visionary performance, such as one of the realizations for Anthony Braxton’s music for multiple orchestras a young Gregory performed in with his violin.

After a series of solo synthesizer concerts around California, Gregory followed a girlfriend on a mid-country move to Boulder, Colorado. After picking up yet another composition degree at University of Colorado Boulder, his life as a composer really started, writing a piece for extended technique for guitar, a passacaglia for vocoder and orchestra, as well as Minstrels & Minimoogs.

Envisioned as a multimedia performance such as the kind he’d experienced at Mills (which was all but unknown in Boulder at the time), Gregory roped in a number of college going or aged friends of varying skill levels and musical sympathies to accompany him with distorted sax or oblique spoken interludes. Confronted with a lack of finances, but driven to get his ideas captured in a complete musical package, the album was recorded in his brother’s apartment. If not every player assembled was on Gregory’s virtuosic level, so be it; it was more about capturing the spirit of his intentions and embracing the serendipity of mistakes.

An inspired attempt at world building, Minstrels & Minimoogs draws on the deep well of musical knowledge Gregory gathered from his parents and teachers, but all the while subverting that historical basis by incorporating mutant strains of prog and pop music. The work accumulated is not unlike the playful 1980s work of Gregorio Paniagua, where medieval estampies and rondeaus are wrenched into an anachronistic present where Hildegard Von Bingen and Kate Bush are contemporaries. Ars nova, new art, a 20th century minimalist jester and troubadour.

A one sided LP was the cheapest option Gregory found to have Minstrels & Minimoogs memorialized on vinyl, so somewhere between 50 to 100 copies were pressed. There was no distribution, outside of copies that were handed out to friends or sold at the performances at the planetarium. Gregory T.S. Walker’s cosmic-futuristic forays into oblique pop and baroque subversion could forever reside perfectly in both the domed simulacrum of our universe for which it was composed, in the formats it is being reintoduced now, and our own biblical firmament. For in the words of Gregory, straight from the original liner notes: “God Is A Minimoog”

Gregory T.S. Walker’s Minstrels & Minimoogs arrives again August 23, 2024 on vinyl and digitally as part of uncommon¢ (“uncommon sense”), an open-ended, serialized endeavor from Freedom to Spend that provides new meaning for rarefied recordings from music's outermost fringe.

Last Summer, Daniel Foggin, guitarist, writer and chief architect of Smote, uprooted himself from his usual home in Newcastle to live and work in a farmhouse in Kelso, near the Scottish border. “Through the summer when I was working up there, myself and Rob (Smote drummer) would finish work and go sit by a small river and have a couple of beers in the sun, and it was the best thing ever” he relates “So I guess the philosophy is that to some people it looks like any other stream, but to us it was supreme happiness.” Hence came the title of the fourth Smote album proper, one largely recorded in this same farmhouse – A Grand Stream. It’s an album that’s the truest incarnation thus far of his vision for this band – a full-scale psychic voyage into the ether and a drone-and-repetition-fuelled series of incantations that takes simple, primal ingredients and utilises them for the purposes of aural sorcery, summoning spectres and revelations aplenty in its wake. Whilst the folk-tinged, ceremonial ambience that Smote have made their trademark is present and correct here, utilising Swedish classic psych heaviness and Swans textures as fuel for the ominous rhythms of ‘Coming Out Of A Hedge Backwards’ and the uplifting cadences of opener ‘Sitting Stone Part 1’, Foggin and his cohorts also waste little time exploring new more eerie and ethereal textures and dimensions. The meditative ‘Chantry’ in particular sees them gravitate towards a headspace akin to the drone-based epiphanies of Kali Malone’s ‘Does Spring Hide Its Joy’ filtered through the transcendent amplifier worship of ‘Earth 2’. A Grand Steam takes this band – one who’ve always eschewed the cliches and stumbling blocks of all contemporary psych rock in favour of their own unique and wyrd vision – into a realm in which they transcend through willpower and skill alike into something preternaturally thrilling, mapping out their own crepuscular new territory Question is; dare you step over the threshold?

The French-Mauritanian conductor, pianist and composer Leila Olivesi presents her sixth album ASTRAL - a brilliant opus with the best musicians on the French jazz scene. The albumis also her second with a large ensemble, the first being the acclaimed Suite Andamane,which received a coveted "Coup de Coeur" from the Academie Charles Cros.

A gifted composer, Leila was inspired by the great jazz masters, including Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williams. 'ASTRAL'demonstrates their influence and her talent for creating harmonic and melodious original music, full of modernity.

"Leila's music has compositional and conceptual integrity - recurring themes intertwine and morph through the title track 'ASTRAL', the trippy interlude 'Interstellaire' and the song 'Au Feu Des Reves'. There are surprises waiting around every corner, and she deftly avoids any hint of that tired old "head insolo-solo-solo-head out" formula. Odd meters dance effortlessly, and she's not afraid to swing! While her original music is the focus of this album, Leila's fresh arrangement of Mary Lou Williams' classic 'Scorpio' is a lovely bonus. This is fully contemporary acoustic jazz on a high level, with brilliant musicians that interpret and breathe her musical visions to life." - Geoffrey Keezer

The Moon and the Melodies is a singular record within the Cocteau Twins" catalogue - unusually ethereal, even by their standards, and largely instrumental, guided by the free-form improvisations of Harold Budd, an ambient pioneer who had drifted into their orbit as if by divine intervention. Building on the atmospheric bliss of Victorialand, released earlier the same year, it signalled a possible future for the trio, yet it was a path they"d never take again. Now, almost forty years after it was fi rst released, it"s being reissued on vinyl for the first time - remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself. Over the ensuing years, The Moon and the Melodies has attracted a passionate fan base. Its most atmospheric tracks routinely turn up in ambient DJ sets. "Sea, Swallow Me" is one of the Cocteau Twins" most streamed songs on Spotify, having found a new life on TikTok, where it serves as the soundtrack to innumerable expressions of hard-to-express melancholy. For such a low-key aff air, the album casts a long shadow - but Raymonde believes the record"s uniqueness stems directly from its humble, unpremeditated origins. "It captured a moment in time between friends that are enjoying making music together. Really, that"s the essence of it."

Last Train are an exception on the French indie rock scene. From the Olympia in Paris to the biggest festivals, the four Alsatians have won over a devoted audience with their hypnotic, moving concerts. Independent or nothing, they self-produce their records and tours, as well as their music videos, short films and even documentaries, with rigour and determination. At the end of 2022, the musicians had the luxury of taking their time and the right to experiment. Far from the beaten track, they are rewriting their own repertoire in a cinematic and contemplative way. By collaborating with the Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse, Last Trainconfirm their viscerallove of large-format sounds and images, and present a veritable compendium of inï¬,uences in twelve tracks.Original Motion PictureSoundtrack is the soundtrack to a film that doesn"texist. From a symphonic chaseto a neo-classical interlude, from an organ requiem to an electronic soaring, the Mulhouse-based band play with the boundaries of genres. Last Train sets the bar ever higher with this unexpected, singular and striking album. It is accompanied by a mini-series documenting the work done in the studio, the collaboration with the orchestra and the day-to-day life of an authentic, inspired band.

Last Train are an exception on the French indie rock scene. From the Olympia in Paris to the biggest festivals, the four Alsatians have won over a devoted audience with their hypnotic, moving concerts. Independent or nothing, they self-produce their records and tours, as well as their music videos, short films and even documentaries, with rigour and determination. At the end of 2022, the musicians had the luxury of taking their time and the right to experiment. Far from the beaten track, they are rewriting their own repertoire in a cinematic and contemplative way. By collaborating with the Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse, Last Trainconfirm their viscerallove of large-format sounds and images, and present a veritable compendium of inï¬,uences in twelve tracks.Original Motion PictureSoundtrack is the soundtrack to a film that doesn"texist. From a symphonic chaseto a neo-classical interlude, from an organ requiem to an electronic soaring, the Mulhouse-based band play with the boundaries of genres. Last Train sets the bar ever higher with this unexpected, singular and striking album. It is accompanied by a mini-series documenting the work done in the studio, the collaboration with the orchestra and the day-to-day life of an authentic, inspired band.

"South Wales' Top 10 rockers Scarlet Rebels return with the follow-up to their #7 UK Top 40 Album 'See Through Blue'. Boasting an eye-popping album cover by Boomtown Festival poster designer Holy Moly, it certainly lives up to its name and perfectly illustrates the band's message of unity – i.e. 'Where The Colours Meet’.
Armed with the crack production team of Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy, 'Where The Colours Meet' sees the band radically expand their sonic palette, bringing in lush instrumentation, piano, keyboards and large drum sounds to channel the best of 80s rock. It’s an album full of fluid guitar lines, tasteful leads and irresistible choruses but with a contemporary full-on sound - imagine a modern-day U2 meets Bruce Springsteen!"

As an extension of his highly successful „Big Beat Manifesto“ series on Public Possession, currently standing at Volume XI, Eden now opens up his garden to invite some friends. The BBM label will host a series of releases that are close to his heart.
Secret D.J. Tools, meditative seances & more. Kicking of the new label is young fellow kiwi Colter Carson, delivering 5 stellar dance songs. Already tested & approved this mix of heavy percussion, quirky baselines and large synths will be just the right treat for all fans of the Big Beats!

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce a reissue of Chico Mello and Helinho Brandão’s self-titled release from 1984, the first return to vinyl of this classic of Brazilian experimental music with its original cover art and complete track listing. An under-recognised figure whose work inhabits a singular terrain where radical new music techniques and music theatre meet musica popular brasileira, Mello has lived and worked in Berlin since the late 1980s. A student of Dieter Schnebel, Mello played in the 90s iteration of Arnold Dreyblatt’s Orchestra of Excited Strings alongside compatriot Silvia Ocougne, with whom he produced a radical and hilarious deconstruction of MPB classics on Musica Brasileira De(s)composta (an early and rather atypical release on Edition Wandelweiser).

On this release, his only recording predating his move to Europe, Mello works with the alto saxophonist Helinho Brandão, who appears to be otherwise unknown outside Brazil. The record’s six tracks range from solo saxophone improvisation to densely layered ensemble works bridging minimalism, acoustic sound art and a plaintive melodic sensibility that calls up Edu Lobo or Milton Nascimento. Beginning with a dramatic, dissonant wind and string surge from which emerge ominously pounding piano chords, opener ‘Água’ slowly builds in intensity, a halo of clustered vocal harmonies gradually closing in on Brandão’s squealing sax until the piece opens up to reveal a gorgeous passage of melodic singing. The piano accompaniment reduces to tolling bass notes as the voice begins a repeated incantation, suggesting a ritualistic atmosphere reminiscent of parts of Xenakis’ setting of Oresteia. Dissonant, sawing tremolos on the strings climb to a crescendo before disappearing into the sounds of water being poured and splashed into metal vessels, presented not as a field recording but as a percussive element performed by the ensemble. A child’s voice then appears, singing to piano accompaniment the same melody heard earlier in the piece. After a brief solo alto improvisation from Brandão, working with the guttural pops and fleeting melodic gestures of Braxton or Roscoe Mitchell, the remainder of the first side is dedicated to the leisurely unfolding of ‘Baiando’ over the course of twelve minutes. A trio for Brandão on soprano saxophone, Mello on a very period-appropriate phased nylon string guitar and Edu Dequech on bongos, the performance eases its way hypnotically through subtle variations on a set of rhythmic and melodic patterns, almost derailed at points by Brandão’s wild forays into extended technique but held together by Mello’s droning guitar notes.

The second side opens with another multi-part epic for a larger ensemble, ‘Matraca’, which makes use of strings, electric guitars and a wide range of South American percussion instruments. Rasping violin harmonics hover as drum hits, repeated guitar notes and triangle accompany a slowly descending bass glissando. A sudden change in direction introduces a thrumming, incessantly repeated bowed bass tone, beginning a series of episodes of minimalist phasing and pattern variation, the combinations of electric guitars and orchestral instruments giving the ensemble an ad hoc charm like the early Penguin Café Orchestra but with more percussive drive. Eventually the piece is overrun by a cacophony of the titular matracas (a kind of ratchet/cog rattle). Following a lyrical trio improvisation by Mello, Brandão and Gerson Kornin on bass, the final ‘Danca’ focuses entirely on Mello’s layered acoustic guitars and vocals, using this restricted palette to build up a haunting piece of almost orchestral density, reminiscent of the 70s work of Egberto Gismonti in how it thickens a folkish ambience with harmonic sophistication.

Arriving in a starkly beautiful gatefold sleeve and sounding better than ever in its new remaster, one might call the stunning music contained on Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão ahead of its time. But what (other than some of Mello’s own work) produced in the years since its initial release has really touched the organic fusion of minimalism, free improvisation, radical instrumental technique and popular song achieved here? Forty years after its first release, Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão remains music of the future.