Two suites Lelekovice pefromed by the Violent and The As Usual Dance Towards The Other Flight To What Is Not by Fred Frith. CD

Features Richard Thompson on guitar and vocals, Henry Kaiser on guitar, Fred Frith on bass, and John French on drums and vocals. CD

Richard Thompson and Henry Kaiser on guitar, Fred Frith on bass and violin, John French on drums, and everyone on vocals. CD

One of our favorite mixing of modes from the old school – a tremendous second album from the legendary Aksak Maboul! The record mixes arty playfulness with some rootsier elements – bits of Eastern instrumentation, jazz, improvisation, and even some post-punk elements – all in a way that makes for one of the most creative recordings of its time – a set that easily provides key inspiration for more recent genre-crossing acts like this! There's a bit of Y or Ze Records whimsy at times – but the end result is much deeper, and much more compelling– as you'd expect from a group that features Fred Frith on guitar, Chris Cutler on drums, Marc Hollander and Michel Berkmans on reeds, and Denis Van Hecke on a range of cool cellos! Each tune has a slightly different flavor, but there's still a really unified feel to the record too – one of those European projects that comes together like nothing you'd hear from the US. Titles include "Geistige Nacht", "A Modern Lesson", "Palmiers En Pots", "Inoculating Rabies", "Cinema", and "Bosses De Crosses". CD

Pure acoustic genius from Hans Reichel – an improvising musician who rose up in the same generation as Derek Bailey and Fred Frith, but who's got a sound that's maybe much more in the experimental style of American artists like John Fahey or Robbie Basho! We're not saying that Reichel sounds exactly like either of them, but there is a similar love of overall sonic possibilities, and finding tunefulness far from the norm – continually coming up with breathless beauty at a level that's really unexpected, and definitely different than the usual session of free jazz on the FMP label. Titles include "Could Be Nice", "Two Small Pieces Announced By Cigar Box", "Bonobo Beach 1", "Southern Monologue", and "Bonobo Beach 2". CD

Overlooked work by one of the true guitar geniuses of the 70s – an artist who should be right up there with Derek Bailey and Fred Frith – especially with groundbreaking work of this nature! Hans Reichel has a very unique approach to the electric – one that's both very deft on the strings, but also has a sonic sensibility that almost seems to use the instrument to trigger sounds as much as to create notes – moments that are often quite melodic, even when free – shifting between the infinite tonal possibilities of the guitar and some of its textural elements too. Some of Reichel's later work wasn't as great as his 70s output – but this album's a tremendous and well-lauded classic! Titles include "Lupi", "Shaved Guitar", "Krampfhandlugen", and "Alfons Al Piepenbrink & His Lonely Wah Wah Pedal". CD

With Fred Frith on guitars, Tim Hodgkinson on organs and reeds, Lindsay Cooper on rreds, Chris Cutler on percussion and electronics, and even Irene Schweizer on piano! CD

With Fred Frith on guitars, Tim Hodgkinson on organs and reeds, Lindsay Cooper on rreds, Chris Cutler on percussion and electronics, and even Irene Schweizer on piano! CD

A classic group from the New York downtown scene – with Anton Fier on drums, Arto Lindsay on guitar and vocals, Bill Laswell on bass, Fred Frith on guitar, David Moss on sounds, and John Zorn on alto and game calls! CD

Four important albums from Jade Warrior – all brought together here in a single set! Floating World is the first album in Jade Warrior's mid-70s run for Island Records – and a set that marks a key shift for the group – a moment when they leaned even more heavily into their interest in global sounds, dropped most of their vocals, and used their impeccable instrumentation to take off in really amazing ways! The core duo of Tony Duhig's guitar and Jon Field's flute serve up most of the instrumentation here – and both players handle plenty of percussion too – yet there's a richness to the record that's undeniable too, which is a great testament to the way the pair make really special music together! Martha Mdenge serves up some guest vocals on the final track "Quba", the group take on the legendary "Monkey Chant" of Balinese music, and other titles include "Red Lotus", "Clouds", "Mountain Of Fruit & Flowers", "Waterfall", and "Easty". Kites is one of the most ambitious records ever from Jade Warrior – a set that expands their core sound in a wonderful way, with all sorts of great guests who really add a lot to the music! As before, the duo of Tony Duhig and Jon Field are at the core – guitar, flute, and plenty of percussion – but augmented here with all sorts of cool contributions by guests who include Fred Frith on violin, Gowan Turnball on saxes, and Jeff Westley on electric piano – plus Clodagh Simonds on a bit of vocals – all really bringing a new sort of majesty to the sort of music that the group delivered on their previous record – but without losing the sense of intimacy either. Titles include "Towards The Mountains", "Wind Song", "The Emperor", "Songs Of The Forest", "Quietly By The River Bank", and "The Last Question". Waves is a key moment in the continuing evolution of Jade Warrior – and a set that nicely moves the group from the prog styles of their roots, into leaner territory that's almost jazz-based at times! Some of the group's contemporaries were making such shifts, but usually in a way that was more heavy handed – where the lightness that Jade Warrior had on previous records really guides the music here – as they work with their core combination of keyboards, flute, guitar, and plenty of percussion – with additional work from Dave Duhig on lead guitar, Maggie Thomas on alto recorder, and Steve Winwood on moog, piano, and keyboards! There's a bit of vocals on the record from a female singer – but most of the tracks just have this gentle instrumental flowering – moving through an album-length suite that includes the tracks "Caves", "Groover", "River To The Sea", "Song Of The Last Whale", "The Sea", and "Wave Birth". Way Of The Sun is a set that's got a few sharper edges than some of the previous records by Jade Warrior – yet one that still hangs nicely in that Eastern-inspired blend of jazz and prog that made their Island Records years so great! As before, the album works as a unified whole – each track crucial to the overall feel of the set – with plenty of excellent work on flute from Jon Field, amidst more conventional guitar, keyboard, and percussion. There's some occasional nice guest moments on flugelhorn, harp, and saxes – and titles include "Sun Ra", "Dance Of The Sun", "Heaven Stone", "Moontears", "Sun Child", "Carnival", and "Death Of Ra". CD

Bill Laswell on bass, Fred Frith on guitar, and Michael Beinhorn on electronics – plus a trio of percussionists. CD

With John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Fred Frith, Joey Baron, Yamatsuka Eye, and Bob Dorough! CD

John Zorn on alto sax and vocals, Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, Fred Frith on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and Yamataka Eye on vocals. CD

The first, and arguably the best, of John Zorn's Naked City albums. The sound is extremely intense, and represents a blinding blend of influences, most of which Zorn had been showcasing in more easy going settings on previous albums. The core group includes Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Fred Frith, and Joey Baron – plus a guest appearance by Yamatsuka Eye. Hard to find on vinyl, and with the titles "Demon Sanctuary", "Speedball", "James Bond Theme", "Ingenous Ejaculation", "I Want To Live", and "Latin Quarter". CD

Magnificent early work from Eugene Chadbourne – a set that was recorded on Christmas Day, 1977 – and only issued a decade later on cassette – but sounds that are every bit as mindblowing as the material on Chadbourne's first few albums! The music here is heavy on compositions from Thelonious Monk – and the set also features Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman tunes too – all reworked by Chadbourne with this incredible acoustic guitar style – very freewheeling, but still tied to the roots of jazz through a sense of melody – in ways that are maybe even more illustrative of his role in the scene than some of his other work. At one level, there's an acoustic guitar craft here that stretches back to the early blues recordings, but through a strong sense of avant freedom – ala Captain Beefheart – but Eugene's care with the tunes, mixed with his expressive phrasing, also put him in a space that's somewhere between the world of Derek Bailey and Fred Frith, and that of jazzman Barney Kessel, whose name he's holding in the poster on the cover. Titles include "5th Of Beethoven", "Reflections", "Off Minor", "San Francisco", "Hackensack", "Dewey Square", "Central Park West", "Brilliant Corners", and "Light Blue". Also includes a number of Chadbourne originals – and unissued tracks as well! CD