Drums

	5UU's: Crisis In Clay Code:ReR5UU2 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Second Installment from monster band 5UU's, featuring rock complexity, extraordinary production (by bassist and singer Bob Drake) and high energy precision mixed with eccentric song-writing. People that work this hard are becoming an endangered species. Extraordinary.
	5UU's: Hunger's Teeth Code:ReR5UU1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The re-formed 5UU's first CD, featuring, one-of-a-kind drummer Dave Kerman with new line-up- Sanjay Kumar (keyboards) and Bob Drake (Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and guests Susanne Lewis, Tom Dimuzio, and James Grigsby. Power, complexity and intelligence - an express train that can pirouette on a dime.
	ALLEN, DAEVID, HUGH HOPPER, CHRIS CUTLER: BRAINVILLE 3: Trial by Headline Code:ReRBV3-1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Three old hands out of Soft Machine, Gong and Henry Cow stretch already flexible musical material into one shape after another, then tie it in knots and generally have a fun with it. High quality recordings combined with seat-of-the-pants playing keep the tension high, underpinning a richly labile music, full of shape and colour that is constantly in motion. Compiled from recent concert recordings in Berlin, London and Tel Aviv, this clutch of extended songs should be to the taste of anyone familiar with the protagonists - or who longs to hear a little more straightforward instrumental playing in place of computers, heavy processing and sanitised post production. Brainville offers you tightrope walking, imagination, fast thinking, and a seasoned musicality: a social music, played by old friends, that blithely goes its own way.
	BUCK, TONY: Red Spiders Code:TESCD0101 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
This Time with Andy (ex) from The Ex, Joe Williamson (acoustic bass) and Stevie Wishart (Hurdy Gurdy). Not that you could tell who does what. Very convincing
	BUCK, TONY: Self-contained_underwater_breathing_Apparatus Code:TESCDO102 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Solo percussion, after the spirit of The Necks by Necks drummer Tony Buck. A slowly evolving and very satisfying non drum solo,. Drum solos are somehow directed, and tend to be technically and purposefully driven. This is rather an organic web of developing sound, seemingly driven by its own logic, the sound hoping that the player has the technique not to stand in it's way. This player does. And interestingly, because the technique is never the point, one notices how extraordinary Tony's technique is, not for itself but for its ability to do whatever the music needs.
	BUCK, TONY: Solo Live Code:WR003 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Tony Buck takes his STEIM interactive Drum/Perc/Sampler system through it's paces, not that listening you'd know where the hell the sound was coming from most of the time. An interesting set of pieces by one of the more interesting drummers around on that noise/electronic/rock fringe, and the only one I can think of to use triggered samples in a way that really works...
	CHADIMA, MIKOLAS and PAVEL FAJT: Transparent People Code:CHADIMA,MIKOLASandPAVELFAJT:TransparentPeople Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Miklolas Chadima's last record Pseudodemocritus - in my opinion a fine piece of work - did badly with most of you, but undaunted, let me recommend this one, a collaboration with master drummer Pavel Fajt (who also plays groove box and electronics). Mikolas takes the guitars, bass, keyboards, saxophones and sings dark texts (he has a very charismatic voice). Studio work, obviously, with a lot of overdubbing, but a happy combination of people and sounds, especially Pavel’s electric stringed wheel – no I won’t explain. A kind of rock, but updated; songs but with imaginative settings. The wholly transparent booklet is charming, but uncompromising.
	CHENEVIER, GIGOU: Le Batteru est le Meilleur Ami du Musicien Code:IPS0603 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
One of Europe's most consistently interesting and inventive drummers, Gigou here customises and records 12 drum/percussion structures and sends them to 12 recipients to add to, compose with and complete as pieces. The recipients are Haco, Sue Garner, Lars Hollmer, Rick Brown, Momo Rossel, Jean Derome, Nick Didkovsky, Kenji Itoken, Hans Buhrs, Kevin Norton and Jonathan Thomas. They do him proud. Structure is what you hear, logically filled out, like the match between a good text and its setting. Includes one raw track at the end so you can see the skeleton. Q.E.D.Experiment a success.
	CHENEVIER, GIGOU: Rumours of the City Code:RUNE114 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Compositions for 7 professional musicians (including Gigou and his excellent band Volapuk) and a number of students - developed in a series of workshops. Some of the compostions - for percussion, clarinets, 'cello, guitar, keyboards - are well considered, spare and telling (as the best of Volapuk) and the mixing of amateur and professional blocks makes for thoughtful listening
	COTE, MICHEL F: Compil Zouave Code:AM067 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
With many guests including Pierre Bastien, Jean Derome, Claude Fradette, Diane labrosse, Martin Tetreault. A strange mixture of Vegas standards and hallucinogenic sounds. There are some remarkable and original things here, and fine percussion.
	CURRAN, ALVIN: Theme Park Code:TZ7039 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A roaring, fascinating and impressive tour de force of percussion, played with both sensitivity and abandon by the legendary Willie Wynant. Curran, almost alone in the contemporary field, has found a territory for percussion that gets past rhythmic precision or extensive use of pitched percussion and gets down to noise, concentration on single sounds, unholy chaos while evolving a breathing, elastic, structure that gives the impression that the sounds are just there, following their own whim ( I can't say logic). It's scored for 4 percussionists and played by one - building it up in layers in the studio - and one whose sensibility is not stereotypically 'contemporary'. A gem in the field, with a stunning beginning.
	CUTLER, CUTLER: Solo Code:ReRCC1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
It took long enough. The electric kit finally gets a chance to speak for itself. I won't try to describe it, but it's been pretty much my main work of the last three years. I can't say it reminds me of anything else but, naturally, I suggest you buy it.
	DAMA DAMA: Dama Dama Code:WORE960003-2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A percussion ensemble with a strange and interesting repertoire, drawn mostly from Czech composers of the last 40 years - and many from the last 6 years. Occasional appearance of non percussion instruments and rock/industrial/theatre aesthetics. A few very off-the-wall moments here. An interesting and unusual record.
	DANI, ROBERTO: Drama Code:20092 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An 8 piece suite for solo percussion (and prepared zither) by percussionist Dani that succeeds where many others fail: it's composed enough to establish expectations that can be manipulated and improvised enough to surprise and find unrepeatable moments; it's masterful with dynamics and texture and it doesn't outstay its welcome.
	DIDKOVSKY, NICK - GIGOU CHENEVIER: Body Parts Code:VanderOeuvre0020 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Etron Fou/Volapuk drummer and Dr. Nerve/Fred Frith Guitar Quartet guitarist play organised pieces, some songs, that move from fast and furious through strange and eccentric to ethereal.
	DILLON, JAMES: Music Projects/London Code:NMCD004 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Includes the magnificent 'East 11th St NY 10003' for 6 percussionists, buy it if only for this. Plus 'Windows and Canopies' for chamber orchestra and 'La femme Invisible' for woodwind ensemble, piano and 3 percussionists.
	DIRK WACHTELAER: konstruction/deconstruction Code:FMRCD84-0701 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Interesting for the method: he sampled his kit, processed the samples, assigned them to pads and then used the pads as triggers, adding additional real-time processing. So they sound like drums and not like drums and some of the stretches work quite well. For me, it's more like an experiment than a properly evolved instrument. Of interest.
	FAJT/MENESES: Songs for the Drums Code:PM0006-2311 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Pavel Fajt and Jim Meneses. Written drum pieces; songs and instrumentals. carefully made and immaculately performed.
	FRED FRITH & EVELYN GLENNIE: The Sugar Factory Code:TZ7623 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred and Evelyn get together in a big empty space - for a documentary - and improvise, mostly. Evelyn has a vast array of classical and profane percussion instruments and Fred has his guitar and pedals. It's a fascinating collaboration not least in the way it uncovers something of the very different root approaches to improvisation that these two musicians somehow bring successfully together. But, eloquently, it works best on the final track, when Evelyn plays a composed piece for Marimba which Fred, not knowing, simply improvises with, perfectly tonally - improvisation is free, but that doesn't mean it has to be abstract or difficult; the rule should be that there are no rules; and for a good improviser, like an actor, no role should be impossible. The result is a truly glorious piece - sublime would not be too strong (and it would chime happily with a deep root in romanticism). People talk a lot about pure music, but here's a very rare opportunity to hear what such a thing might sound like.
	GOSFIELD, ANNIE: Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery Code:TZ7069 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
American national treasures Annie Gosfield and Roger Kleier present 2 classic pieces, the title track and the amazing EWA7. LetÕs start with the second, a serious, industrial - and undeniably musical - composition made of one or other species of noise. Developed in the course of a 6 week Art and Industry residency in the factories of Nuremburg, this sets a standard for any machine or industrial music. It may sound like factories, railheads, sparks and smoke but itÕs played by human beings (with some sampled machinery). ItÕs a great ensemble: Annie herself (samples), Roger Kleier (electric guitar, treated), Ikue Mori and two other percussionists, Jim Pugilese and Sim Cain (playing a lot of metal and machine parts as well as more standard drums). Clean, often poundingly rhythmical but unusual at every turn, this is just a classic work. The title track, played by the Flux (string) quartet and the Talujon (percussion) quartet was written a little later, with the machines still very much in mind. Closely notated for two quartets, this is wholly convincing music. Excellent notes, nice package. You probably want to buy this.
	HAIL: Hello Debris Code:ReRH3 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
After a break of almost 15 years Susanne Lewis and Bob Drake have reconvened their classic partnership. In the meantime rock and post rock has mainly moved away from the song and its classic shapes, leaving commercial pop to straighten them out and endlessly repeat the same tropes and tricks. Hail is rare amongst bands in its adherence to the notion that what makes a song interesting is the application of imagination and skill to its arrangement, performance and recording. The plan is not to drag songs away into other domains by grafting on bits of jazz, classical or electronic vocabulary, but to make them more what they are; to concentrate and distill them. Susanne Lewis's voice is extremely personal, never generic, Bob Drake's signature rhythm section work always exemplary. The songs are real rather than clever, and the production constantly invents contrapuntal detail and colour. This is a virtuosic album that never shows off. For those who wish there were more good songs on the experimental side of transfigured pop.
	HAYWARD, CHARLES: Escape from Europe Code:LSR001 Price: £12.34 Quantity in Basket: none
Recorded and released in Japan, ex This Heat drummer (in case there's anyone who doesn't know) Charles Hayward performs both old and new material with his usual power and flair. It's good to have a document measuring his current programme, now well honed and integrating tape seamlessly into realtime singing and playing.
	HENRY COW: 40th ANNIVERSARY BOX SET - VOL 1 - 5 CDs , box, book Code:RERHCBOX1 Price: £47.00 Quantity in Basket: none
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET 9 CDs and 1 DVD with 2 substantial books - in two solid Boxes. LIMITED EDITION. Assembled over 15 years, this collection gives for the first time some idea of the breadth and depth of Henry Cow's work. Always very much a live band, performance was their metier, and a concert might range far - always driven by an intense dialogue between tightly knit compositions and radically open improvisation. The officially released LPs tell at best only half this story, and one purpose of this definitive collection is to set the work back into its broader context. These are all previously unreleased recordings, that include many compositions and improvisations new to anyone who only knows the official releases, documentation of a number of one-off projects and events and - where different or remarkable enough to justify inclusion - live versions of parts of the LP repertoire. Many of these recordings are high quality radio transcriptions taken directly from the original masters, others are less hi-fi, but justified we think by their historic and musical quality. And everything has been carefully transferred and re-mastered by Bob Drake to the best audio quality that current technology allows without interference or tampering. It's all a million times better than the terrible bootlegs that are swimming around. Altogether, these 9 CDs embody some extraordinary, and occasionally prescient music. Taking this box together with the officially released albums, it is possible at last to get some impression of the extensive ground Henry Cow covered in it's 10 short years. Finally, there is the DVD: 80 minutes of the 1976 Cow (with Georgina Born and Dagmar Krause) performing many unreleased pieces as well as Living in the Heart of The Beast, Beautiful as the Moon &c. This is the only known video recording in existence - professionally made, multi camera - and has not been recovered since its original broadcast (just scour U-Tube, HC is conspicuous by its total absence). And last but not least, there is a great deal of written, photographic and textual documentation. Since this will probably be the last and definitive collection, it has to be thorough. For reasons of fairness and cost we have decided to split the set into two boxes - which can be bought separately or together. VOL 1 covers the period 1971 to the 1976 Hamburg radio show which documents John Greaves' last concert with the band, as well as the extraordinary Trondheim concert from the quartet tour that immediately followed. VOL 2 takes the story through to 1978 and includes more previously undocumented compositions as well as the Bremen radio recording. The Stockholm CD belongs to this second box, which also contains the DVD. Dusted Reviews: The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
	HENRY COW: Stockholm Code:ReRHC7 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Stockholm will form part of the box set, and if you subscribe to the box, we will send this CD alone immediately. The rest of the box will follow when it is released. If you want this CD alone and decide later to get the box anyway, we'll send you the box minus Stockholm, cheaper than the full price, so either way you won't have to buy anything twice. Stockholm is a high quality Swedish Radio recording, made in 1977, that includes Tim's epic Erk Gah (now known as Hold to the Zero Burn), Phil Ochs' No More Songs and The March - none of which we ever recorded for CD release - plus Ottawa Song & other, untitled, pieces. Over an hour of music, taken from the original radio tapes and re-mastered for this edition by Bob Drake.
	HENRY COW: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET - VOL 2 - 4 CDs, DVD, box, book WITHOUT STOCKH Code:RERHCBOX2NS Price: £42.00 Quantity in Basket: none
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET 3 CDs, DVD, box, book. LIMITED EDITION. Assembled over 15 years, this collection gives for the first time some idea of the breadth and depth of Henry Cow's work. Always very much a live band, performance was their metier, and a concert might range far - always driven by an intense dialogue between tightly knit compositions and radically open improvisation. The officially released LPs tell at best only half this story, and one purpose of this definitive collection is to set the work back into its broader context. These are all previously unreleased recordings, that include many compositions and improvisations new to anyone who only knows the official releases, documentation of a number of one-off projects and events and - where different or remarkable enough to justify inclusion - live versions of parts of the LP repertoire. Many of these recordings are high quality radio transcriptions taken directly from the original masters, others are less hi-fi, but justified we think by their historic and musical quality. And everything has been carefully transferred and re-mastered by Bob Drake to the best audio quality that current technology allows without interference or tampering. It's all a million times better than the terrible bootlegs that are swimming around. Altogether, these 9 CDs embody some extraordinary, and occasionally prescient music. Taking this box together with the officially released albums, it is possible at last to get some impression of the extensive ground Henry Cow covered in it's 10 short years. Finally, there is the DVD: 80 minutes of the 1976 Cow (with Georgina Born and Dagmar Krause) performing many unreleased pieces as well as Living in the Heart of The Beast, Beautiful as the Moon &c. This is the only known video recording in existence - professionally made, multi camera - and has not been recovered since its original broadcast (just scour U-Tube, HC is conspicuous by its total absence). And last but not least, there is a great deal of written, photographic and textual documentation. Since this will probably be the last and definitive collection, it has to be thorough. For reasons of fairness and cost we have decided to split the set into two boxes - which can be bought separately or together. VOL 1 covers the period 1971 to the 1976 Hamburg radio show which documents John Greaves' last concert with the band, as well as the extraordinary Trondheim concert from the quartet tour that immediately followed. VOL 2 takes the story through to 1978 and includes more previously undocumented compositions as well as the Bremen radio recording. The Stockholm CD belongs to this second box, which also contains the DVD. Dusted Reviews: The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
	HENRY COW: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET ON INSTALLMENT PLAN Code:RERHCBOXINSTAL Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
We know it's expensive, and that's a problem. But it really is expensive to make, and there's no way around that. However, from feedback we've had we can proposes a special payment method. If you desperately want the box but just can't spend so much at once, you can buy in installments (at £12.5 per CD) and we'll send the boxes with CDs 5 & 10, as well as the extra box for the studio CDs.  At any time you can pay the balance and get the rest of the set all at once (when you win the lottery, for instance). Hopefully this will make it a more manageable proposition for some of you. Just add to the cart as many items as you want at any time, and then in the note section at the bottom of the shopping cart (Use this area for alternate selections and additional sale items) specify the title or titles you want. Please note: CDs 4 & 5 must be bought together, that's 2 items, and the DVD must be the last item you orderÊ - we will send the 2nd and 3rd boxes and the 2nd booklet out with it. Please order this seperately - it is the item listed after this one called: INSTALLMENT PLAN COMPLETION PAYMENT. Thanks. Installment unit Vol 1   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 2   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 3   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 4 & 5       £25 Installment unit Vol 6  (optional)  £12.50 Installment unit Vol 7   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 8   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 9   £12.50 Installment unit DVD    £15
	HET: Let's Het Code:AdHoc3 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Another original Woof release from 1983, this was a project led by Dominic Weeks and Cass Davies from the legendary acappella group Furious Pig, with invitees Tim Hodgkinson and Catherine Jauniaux (absorbed into the mix). Marimbas, bells and all manner of tuned and untuned percussion, with voices (mostly in choral/chant style, sometimes treated) With distant echoes of Gamelan, Harry Partch, The Residents' 'Fingerprince' and a lot of Monkey Chant, these are broadly structured pieces that twist and turn and introduce material in A-B-C-D-E-F form over implied ostinati. Sounds like post facto composition: that is, structure that emerges from improvisation and is then built up in the studio. Rather like Cage basing a composition on marks and flaws on sheets of paper, except with selective intentionality - and a lot of attitude. And a BIG, big sound if sometimes a little monochromatic.This was an interesting and unique LP when it was released, and it still sounds strange and unusual now, in spite of everything that as happened in between.
	HUBBARD, NATHAN: Blind Orchid Code:ALP043 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Eight interesting percussion and electronics centred pieces that explore sound through physical activity, microphone placement and extensive subsequent processing. Mostly extended from drum-kit into noise and pursing density and timbre rather than structure, these are nonetheless coherent and demarcated pieces.
	HUG, ERIC: Versatir Code:t-n-a0058 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
It's many years since Eric's limited edition but excellent LP came out, so this CD is a welcome reappearance. Here Eric plays all manner of percussion and prepared percussion, joined by Erich Tiefenthler on the entire flute family unconventionally played and electronically modulated. Disciplined and organised and not following any genre rules, this is engaging, organic, unusual and entirely musical.
	INACTUELLES: PERCUSSION(S): (3-CDs plus DVD/video and book) Code:inactuellesPercussion Price: £52.88 Quantity in Basket: none
A collaboration between Mode and the Parisian art book store Tschann, combining CDs and DVDs of musical performances with an informative textbook. Volume 1 - a Euro-centric and very partial survey of C20 and C21 percussion music, performed by Roland Auzet and featuring 13 complete works (7 world premieres) for percussion solo (Xenakis, Taïra), percussion and voice (Xenakis, Pape), percussion and ensemble (Xenakis, Milhaud, Alsina) and percussion and electronics (Auzet, Bancquart, Campion, Jodlowski, Tanaka). Plus a DVD with Xenakis' Psappha and Rebonds and a 500+ page book in English and French written by musicologist Pierre-Albert CASTENE: Percussion(s): Gesture and Spirit, which discusses the history of percussion music and includes interviews with Auzet about the interpretation and performance of percussion music, especially the works and the composers recorded in this set. Preface by Pierre Boulez, postface by American percussionist Steven SCHICK. The book, though rather clunkily written (or translated) is the prize here, the 90 page essay on the history and use of percussion in 'serious' music in the C20 is extremely thorough, very well annotated and thoroughly documented. PLUS POSTAGE: UK £2.40, EUROPE £4.30, REST OF WORLD £5.50
	JONES, DAVID: Atmosphere Flying Code:TP038 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Specialised. Jones is an extremely accomplished percussionist and here he ranges from exquisite and imaginative experiments to jazzy and new age pieces. So it's a mixed bag. But highly advanced polyrhythmic ideas are explored, especially 2 and 4 against 5, extended over whole compositions. Mostly performed by 2 percussionists and bass, with occasional voice (percussion includes the whole tuned percussion family: marimba, bells, vibraphone &c. as well as conventional kit) Enough fascinating moments to be Of Interest, and for drummers probably rather more than that. Essentially though, however scintillating the playing often is, the whole enterprise is infused with a quasi commercial jazz lightness. But I had to include it. Very cleanly recorded. Prog mavens will probably like it too.
	JORGENS, P.O: The Technology of Touch Code:NWM008 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A record it's hard to describe and do justice to. Consisting essentially of all manner of percussion carefully arranged and orchestrated, displaying a fine ear for detail and a sure sense of rhythm and dramaturgy. Each piece explores a clear set of sonorities and developmental possibilities with considerable imagination and variety. It's not contemporary, ethnic, minimal, repetitive, indulgent, jazzy ... but I can't say what it is.
	KAHN, JASON: Drums and Metals Code:cut003 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Minimal kit drum percussion pieces, very inventive, simple and original, where rhythm is a mirror through which shifting sonorities and melodic modulations are explored. A strong concept excellently realised. Sound counts (engineered by Bob Drake).
	KENNEDY, JOHN and MARK CHESTERMAN: Drumsmachine Code:L002 Price: £13.51 Quantity in Basket: none
Pieces for drums and drum machines; open, vulnerable unprocessed sound, with a natural acoustic delicacy. A fascinating, sometimes dreamy set of drum-scapes, far from drum solos on the one hand and contemporary percussion music on the other. This is a music that ploughs it's own confident furrow. Private CD-R release imported form New Zealand and in very limited supply.
	KERMAN, DAVE - 5UU's: Regarding Purgatories Code:RUNE135 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Dave's first solo record, with some assistance from singer Deborah Perry, bassist Keith Macsoud, and keyboardists Sanjay Kumar and Charles Turner. Not really 5uu's - the sound is very different, as is the approach to much of the material - and there are more minimal pieces. Though Dave's signature melodies and big orchestrations are here too. He plays a lot himself, which is welcome, and there is more open improvised and studio manipulated material (my favourite part of the record, I think, because the most different).
	KERMAN, DAVE : Abandonship Code:Rune158 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Dave plays all instruments (drums, of course, bass, guitars, keyboards and who knows what else) Thinking Plague's Deborah Perry sings. Full band material, well arranged with Kerman's trademark angular melodies, oblique texts and a curious tribute to Present (track 3). Mostly instrumental.
	KRALDJURSANSTALTEN: Kraldjursastalten Code:MEGA020 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
The legendary swedish reptile asylums, comprising telepathic twins Stefan and Thomas Agaton (Guitar, Bass) with the prodigious Michael Maksymenko (Drums). Nobody has yet got closer to the lurching swing complexity of the old magic band, I mean thinking like not imitating.
	LES BATTERIES: Bell System Code:RIFTCD19 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
More from the drum and other bits and pieces duo of Gigou Chenevier and Rick Brown.
	LUSSIER, RENE, PIERRE TANGUAY: Le Vie Qui Bat Code:AM047CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Improvisations for acoustic guitar and drums - but with the care and perfection now expected from Rene. Close, intimate sound, and constantly to-the-point playing from both parties, make this a gripping and exquisite recording. Minimum means, maximum expression.
	LYTTON, PAUL , JOHN STEPHENS, FRANK PERRY, EDDIE PREVOST, TREVOR TAYLOR: Improvising Percussionist Code:FMRCD81-0501 Price: £13.51 Quantity in Basket: none
Recorded in the early 70's this is an excellent snapshot of the styles and approaches of 5 influential and very different improvising percussionists who were working in London at the time. Especially remarkable is Lytton, whose early use of amplification is highly evolved. Eddie Prevost is subtle and the most rhythmic, Frank Perry dwells on every sound from his massed collection of materials (mostly metallophones). Trevor Taylor also with extended kit and amplification is already more in the sound sphere than the percussive, and John Stephens is - John Stephens. I wish there were more information and documentation - there are not even pictures of the equipment used. Still, a useful and historic document.
	MAGMA: 1001 Centigrades Code:REX6 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
A classic.
	MAGMA: BBC 1974 Code:AKT13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Two pieces- Theusz Hamtaahk and Kontarkosz (58 minutes total) from the early Jannik Top stretch of the band, with I believe their best and most under-rated guitarist, Claude Olmos- Mr. Minimal. Again a surprise; TH appears in a very stripped back, even lyrical form, with the structure clearly revealed and exquisitely performed. Tempi pulled right back. The most hypnotic version I have heard yet of this piece. K follows in a similar mood. Fascinating.
	MAGMA: Concert 1976 - Opera De Reims (triple CD) Code:AKT9 Price: £21.74 Quantity in Basket: none
Same band as Magma Live (except 2nd piano now Patrick Gauthier). CD 1 contains an ok version of J.Top's 'De Futura' for the first time (I wonder what happened to mass band version from Nancy a year earlier) and an improvisation followed by a drum solo. CD 2 has further versions of Kontarkosz and Theusz Hamtaahk (I think you'll continue to listen to the ones on Live and Retrospektiw I, II) which were previously released {bootlegged?} on 'Kiss 11' and CD 3 has yet another Mekanik (the 7Tth ?) and again, it's different and excellent - and clear, especially Vander's part- a study version (+long noisy solo). Special mention for the prodigious Bernard Paganotti.
	MAGMA: Floe Essi, Ektah Code:SRAA26 Price: £5.29 Quantity in Basket: none
One 3 and one 6 minute song. The first is a little like Hatfield/Jazzrock, but more incandescent, the second is intense, somewhere between Tristan and Isolde and Retrovision. Recorded in 1998, but back to eighties strength.
	MAGMA: K.A. Code:SEVENTH34 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
New studio recording of a three part composition thematically related to Kohntarkosz and the earlier major cycle that was part of. This is a return to that kind of intensity and sophistication of composition in the form of a curiously condensed Magma overview touching on most of the themes developed at greater length elsewhere. Written for chorus, two electric keyboards, guitar (discretely deployed), bass, drums and small percussion, K.A. maximises all its resources. It's solid but transparent enough to hear the articulation of ll the parts. The recording is straightforward. You hear the instruments as they are without too much reverb and processing. Christian's playing is exemplary and there are long passages which are as good as it gets. Small percussions (tambourine, bells, blocks &c) are strongly used especially some bravura tambourine - and there is a mass of detail strategically placed. It is mellower sonically than the seventies group, but not lacking: everyone is on top of the material which moves through fractured iteration and stasis which remains one of Vander's compositional trademarks. Elaborately packaged. Full text in Kobaiian, no translation. If you like Magma, this will not disappoint.
	MAGMA: Kohntarkosz Code:REX8 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Classic.
	MAGMA: La Trilogie Code:Rex29-31 Price: £35.84 Quantity in Basket: none
3 CD set with 2 booklets (96pp). Current band playsTheusz Hamtaahk, Wurdah Itah and MDK at 30th anniversary Paris concert.
	MAGMA: Magma Live (dbl) Code:REX10 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Classic
	MAGMA: Mekanik Destruktiw Code:REX7 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
classic
	MAGMA: Mekanik Komandoh Code:REX62 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
classic
	MAGMA: Retrospectiw 1-2 Dbl Code:REX16 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Also from the legendary Paris Olympia concerts 9, 10, 11 June 1980 with Paganotti (bass), Widemann and Gauthier (pianos) Didier Lockwood (violin) and 5 singers, plus Vander himself. CD one is a radically different THEUSZ HAMATAAHK first movement, streetching the composition far from its familiar interpretation. In my opinion this is a classic piece of work. CD 2 is another MEKANIK. For friends of Magma this is an important document.
	MAGMA: Retrospektiw 111 Code:REX15 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Recordings from the legendary OLYMPIA concerts in June 1980. 'Retrovision' is one of the best recordings of the Magma breakneck orgasmic post soul style, and a classic. Followed by a full length version of HHAI and the 4 min. 'LA' DAWOTSIN. Don't be surprised - it's only 36 minutes long.
	MAGMA: Theatre du Taur 1975.Dbl Code:AKT4 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Double CD of beautifully recorded and played versions of Kontarkosz, Hhai, Kobaaia and Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. About 94 minutes. Prodigious. Plus.
	MAGMA: Tristan and Isolde Code:REX9 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Recommended, see above.
	MATCHING MOLE: March Code:Rune172 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Live concert March 1972
	MATS/MORGAN: Live Code:UAEdisc13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Concert by fast and furious Swedish ex Zappa Alumni. With 2 more keyboards, bass and guitar (Jimmy Agren) added. Frighteningly tight and, where required, fiendish in complexity. This is Magma/Zappa level performance and competence. Hard to believe that it's taken from a concert recording. To my taste cumulatively it is a bit too indulgent, there are too many solos, too much veering into jazz rock, so you have to like that. But impressive.
	MAXYMENKO, MICHAEL: Businesscide Code:ReRMM1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Michael, founder and brain behind the extraordinary Swedish post-Beefheartian group Kraljursastalten, and world-class ice-hockey player, here collects his extraordinary songbook including much of the two celebrated '70s releases by Kraljursastalten (the Reptile Institution: Michael plus the telepathic twins Stefan and Thomas Agaton), with later recordings from his solo record and released and unreleased pieces with Henry Kaiser, John 'Drumbo' French, Sten Standell, Andy West and others. Wild lurching swing complexity, ridiculous tempi, great rhythms, sudden mood changes, fine compositions and music that is always to the point: no fat, just coffee and cigarettes. Classic. Genre: Unpopular. Influences: Anatolij Tarasov, chief-coach and master-trainer of the Soviet national Ice-hockey team 1958-1972, inventor of "collective telepathy at high speed".
	MURAYAMA, SEIJIRO and ERIK LA CASA: Supersedure Code:supersedure Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Seijiro plays a snare drum (but in far-flung and microscopic ways, mostly unrecognisable) while Erik uses microphones and field recordings - though this won't give much impression of what's on the CD, which is in a category of its own - nothing like anything done with a laptop, nothing like acoustic improvising, nothing like electronic music, but rich and organic and often surprising. Unusual and interesting. In a small edition; folded card sleeve.
	MURAYAMA, SEIJIRO: 4 pieces with a snare drum Code:plson007 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Four great pieces, unimaginably different from one another, that explore sonorities and ways of coaxing and treating sound from a drumhead you couldn't imagine. On both a musical and a technical level, this is an extraordinary release. Hats off to someone who did something new with a drum. An impressive release - and it comes in hand silk-screened covers In a limited, numbered edition of 100 copies.
	MUSICWORKS 61: (magazine & CD) Code:MUSICWORKS61 Price: £18.21 Quantity in Basket: none
Tuning/Africa. Canada's premiere new music magazine with aMUSICWORKS: Nother excellent issue. The accompanying CD is a gem. Studies in outrageous tuning, songs for tape, voice and radical guitar, African influenced works for chamber group and contemporary African, 2 great percussion pieces (one a classic for tape and percussion) and contemporary chamber music. Plus the - as usual - informative and interesting magazine itself.
	PAPE, GERHARD: Chamber Works Code:MODE25 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	PARTCH, HARRY: The Bewitched Code:CRICD7001 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Last copies of old version. Was formerly a double LP, played by the original GATE V ensemble. One of the few Partch pieces currently in print. Partch was a great American maverick composer who designed and built his own instruments (tuned to an octave divided into 43 parts) out of wood, glass (light- bulbs / Mazdaphone, Cloud Chamber Bowls) and extended existing instruments (Koto, Harmonium/ Chromelodion, Viola, Zither, Balophone &c). Apart from the unusual harmonic content, Partch's music is profoundly rythmical, otherworldly, direct and often edifyingly humorous. Comes with an excellent and very informative 16pp booklet. Note: CRI no longer exists and remaining stock is low. Items will be removed from the website when they're no longer available, but you may wish to inquire via email before ordering.
	PERIL: AstroPeril Code:REDNOTE5 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
See below.
	PROVINI, HERVE: Biological and Chaotic Music Code:UTR4116 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Insufficient sleeve notes are provided to this very interesting record for drums and computer based on bio-mathematical alogrithms. On the "Biological" tracks the computer plays piano and the effect is mysterious and very engaging - sets of rhythms and counter rhythms sounding like conventional kit and piano played in real time but indefinably unjazzy - un-anything - while remaining exiting and highly musical. The 2 "Chaotic" pieces have the computer also playing flute-sounds and a greater complexity of structure and simultaneous lines. All manner of musics emerge and submerge as it unfolds in its protean shape-shifting course. I think this is an important and exemplary record. Maximum stars.
	PUGLIESE, MICHAEL: Percussion Code:Mode25a Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Psappha by Xenakis, The King of Denmark by Morton Feldman, Progress by Nils Vigeland, Waves by Per Norgard and an arrangement for percussion quartet of Henry Mancini's Theme from Peter Gunn. An interesting and varied programme. Feldman doesn't disappoint.
	PYLE, PIP: Bash Code:Rune193 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Glad to take an opportunity to praise Pip. This is his second solo album, this time live - with a quartet (Keyboards, Guitar, Bass), highlighting that strength good musicians have, which recording can often obscure: immediate response and an interactive instrumental fluency that comes from a mixture of technique and unfeignable sensitivity. Excellent sound, exemplary playing all round and careful mixing make this a very listenable and enjoyable CD. In Hatfield era mode, though with Pip's own accent and a nod to what came after, all done with a light, smart, touch that comes naturally to those who invented this genre - setting it apart from much of what now passes as 'prog', which just tries too hard. This isn't experimental or complex, in fact it's quite bland, but it does what it does well and easily, like the jazz of the fifties and early sixties (that's meant as praise) - and Pip plays brilliantly, and only when he needs to. Chapeau.
	REPORTAZ: Bezsensory nonsensors Code:ARS2 Price: £12.93 Quantity in Basket: none
An interesting and unusual record by Reportaz's Andrzej Karpinski (drums, percussion, real-time processing and samples) and Witold Olezak (piano, synthesiser, samples) who between them make full spectrum, exquisite sounding pieces that are somehow both open and structured, rhythmic and free, coherent and capricious. Each piece is minutely articulated, and they move rapidly through ideas. Above all, the sounds are often unfamiliar and rich. Not an earth-shaker but a matured, original collection of pieces.
	RUINS: 1986-1992 Code:MGC21 Price: £15.00 Quantity in Basket: none
See Vrresto for general coverage of the band. This follows drum demon Yoshida Tatsuya's extraordinary project from the first EP (1986) on through another 19 tracks selected from subsequent releases, passing through 3 bass-players on the way (all hi-power virtuosi) and from 4 track cassette recording (a sound Metallica would pay half a million bucks to get) to multi-track tape. While the essential hell-for-leather, impossible speed-and-complexity menu doesn't change, the sound and mood change interestingly with the bassists (the second, Kimoto Kasuyoshi also plays violin). And the style of the music also evolves interestingly over time from simple complexity to more complex complexity - one might say - and from punk-metallic power and distortion to a cleaner more precise music of parallel but interlocked parts. The tracks with bassist Masuda Ryuichi are especially impressive and substantial. To make no mistake, there's a lot of music here. If you like the other Ruins CDs, this is a gem. Japanese Import.
	RUINS: Tzomvorgha Code:MGC22 Price: £15.00 Quantity in Basket: none
See Vrresto for general coverage of the band. The pieces here tend to be more evolved and are stylistically much more various, though the main characteristics remain firmly in place. Absolutely remarkable. The two minute Mahavishnu medley at the end says it all. Japanese Import.
	RUINS: Vrresto Code:MGC14SON-01 Price: £15.00 Quantity in Basket: none
The rhythm section takes over the world. This unique and extraordinary duo rip through 13 very convincing and virtuosic exercises in scalpel-accurate musical assault. Extremely complex, through-composed and full of additive rhythms, unison flurries and staccati - mostly all at terrifying speed - with skid stops, unison accellerandi and decellerandi, abrupt shifts of mood and dynamic - and occasional islands of quasi normality - these pieces manage variety and, with only two voices (mostly instrumentally used), bass, drums and some MIDI controlled extras, sound massive and orchestrated. The influence of Magma and maybe a little This Heat is evident, but not prominent. May need to be taken occasionally or in small doses - in lieu of a caffeine overdose, for instance. Or 500 volts of AC. Made in 1998, with Yoshida Tatsuya and Sasaki Hisashi. Sound is excellent. Japanese Import.
	RUSSELL, WILLIAM: Complete Works Code:MODE34 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
8 unusual and idiosyncratic Percussion pieces by unsung but influential composer and collaborator with Henry Cowell and John Cage, whose first percussion piece was premiered by Slonimsky at the same concert as was Varese's Ionisation. The 1937 piece that finishes the CD is scored for brake drums, pipes, suitcase, tin cans and found objects. American through and through and an important historic compilation. Revised by Russell and newly played by Essential Music.
	SKOCZYNSKI, STANISLAW: Per Un Solo Code:POLONIACD027 Price: £15.57 Quantity in Basket: none
Solo percussion pieces, organised sound-blocks. A very scarce and unobtainable item. Last 3 copies.
	SOCHA, IRENEUSZ & TOMASZ KRAKOWIAK: Kits Code:IRENEUSZSOCHATOMASZKRAKOWIAKKits Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A series of pieces for percussion (variously treated), objects and sampling. Some very nice radical distorted drum sections with interesting studio reworking (tracks 1 & 2) that are really unusual; the rest interesting but more familiar experiments with smaller sounds and scratchy improvisation. Polish import. Limited supply.
	SOFT MACHINE: BBC Sessions (dbl CD) Code:softMachineBBC Price: £18.80 Quantity in Basket: none
Great double CD including all classic sessions (including the earliest, not previously released) Covers the Ayers band, the classic trio and subsequent quartet with Elton Dean. Includes the legendary Moon in June, with entirely new lyrics written by Robert for and about Top Gear. Fascinating to hear how not only the band's aesthetic changed, but also the mixing aesthetic of the BBC. An unmissable document. Finally, there is some stunning playing here. Robert is particularly well recorded on the material so blurry on the 2nd and 3rd LP's. And you can see why Mike Rattledge was regarded with awe, and what a massive influence Hugh had on the musical direction taken after he joinedc. Contents in full:1. Clarence in Wonderland2. We Know What You Mean3. Certain Kind4. Hope For Happiness5. Strangest Scene (aka Lullaby Letter)6. Facelift/Mousetrap/ Noisette/ Backwards/ Mousetrap Reprise7. The Moon In June8. Instant Pussy9. Slightly All The Time/ Out Bloody Rageous/ Eamonn Andrews1. Virtually2. Fletcher's Blemish3. Neo- Caliban Grides4. Dedicated to you but you weren't listening5. Eamonn Andrews/All White6. Mousetrap/Noisette/Backwards/Mousetrap Reprise/Esther's Nosejob
	SOFT MACHINE: Backwards Code:Rune170 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Soft machine recordings from November 1969 and May 1970 (the 7 piece with Marc Charig, Lyn Dobson and Nick Evans added), plus the Robert Wyatt Moon in June demo (1968/9). This is definitely one of the ones to get, a classic.
	SOFT MACHINE: Noisette Code:RUNE130 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A rare recording of the 1970 quintet (with dean and dobson added to the classic trio) which includes versions of Eamonn Andrews, Moon In June, We did it Again, Backwards. Taken from the same (professional) tapes as ÎFaceliftâ (on Soft MachineThird), sound quality is good. Vital for SM fans.
	SOFT MACHINE: Virtually Code:RUNE100 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Hot on the heels of 'Spaced'. This exceptional Cuneiform release contains late 'Third/Fourth' era Soft Machine pieces recorded for radio Bremen in March 1971. The drums are very clean and forward in the mix, and for this alone the CD is a fan must-have. Everyone is on late tour confident form and the recording is studio quality. Indispensable really.
	SUN RA ALL STARS: Milan, Zurich, West Berlin, Paris (5 CD set) Code:Transparency1311 Price: £32.31 Quantity in Basket: none
In 1983 Ra came to Europe with a pretty impressive ensemble - from the Arkestra he brought Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Richard Davis and Clifford Jarvis, then adding all-star guests Lester Bowie, Archie Shepp, Don Moye and Philly Joe Jones. The sound is generally good and there is a lot of variety in the material across the shows. More importantly, these concerts are different in character and style from regular Arkestra performances - in a very interesting way. It's a smallish ensemble and every detail counts, the two extra drummers Philly Joe Jones and Don Moye drive a lot of the material in their own way, and this very classy ensemble mutates to the accommodation of different languages with great success. The Arkestra alumni also flourish in this changed environment. Fewer than a quarter of the pieces are Ra compositions, opening up the palette further, and many are unidentified and probably unidentifiable. Berlin is an incredible concert, that gets wilder as it goes along; about half way in the drummers - who one can hear have been provided with a lot of accessory gear, including large gongs - take the lead, especially I suspect Don Moye, and the concert shifts into another gear altogether. The music becomes elemental and completely free. There follows a three-drummer firestorm that's strictly monumental. After that, anything goes. A luminous performance from all concerned and worth the price of the entire set. The sound is compressed (original tape compression, not re-mastering error) and even this works to the advantage of the music, for once. Stunning.
	TAYLOR, TREVOR: New music for percussion, sound sculpture, tape and live electronics. Code:FMRCD85-C0703 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
Percussionist Trevor Taylor with 5 fascinating pieces made between 1973 and 2003. The two older pieces, one for multi-track percussion, the other for solo percussion and tape are exemplary; layered, complex and beautifully recorded. He uses an enormous range of instruments extremely sensitively. The other three pieces use sound sculptures of particular designers: Derek Shiel, Steve Hubback and Francois & Bernard Baschet, one for each track, solo, multi-tracked and again with pre-recorded tape. Fine, evolved work. Sonorities. In a 3-fold colour digipack with pictures.
	TERRUGI, DANIEL: Syrcus- Sphaera Code:MUSIDICSC244722 Price: £18.80 Quantity in Basket: none
Syrcus is especially interesting for its highly unusual percussion sounds (Boobama, Ududrum &c).
	THIS HEAT: Deceit Facsimile Edition Code:THDeceitFacJap Price: £22.03 Quantity in Basket: none
We have a few copies of the Japanese CD facsimile limited edition of deceit, in perfect cardboard sleeve duplicating the original vinyl release.
	THIS HEAT: Health and Efficiency Facsimile Edition Code:THHealthFacJap Price: £22.03 Quantity in Basket: none
We have a few copies of the Japanese CD facsimile limited edition of H&E in perfect cardboard sleeve duplicating the original vinyl release.
	TREE, CHRISTOPHER: Spontaneous Sound Code:locust15 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Solo performance recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York. Recording of a performance for a vast array of drums, bells, cymbals, metallophones, gong, tympani, wood percussions and anything hittable, as well as whistles and wind instruments, mostly concentrating on blocks and mysterious sweepings of sonorities and overlapping sheets of sound. An impressive performance.
	UNIVERS ZERO: 1313 Code:RUNE20 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	UNIVERS ZERO: Ceux de Dehors Code:RUNE39 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
The Classic. By consent, the most extraordinary and successful of UZ's recordings. Formerly released by ReR as RR 10, now re-released as a co-production with Cuneiform. Not to miss. Repackaged. The 2 Classics 'Ceux' and 'Heresie' for 18.
	UNIVERS ZERO: Clivages Code:Rune295 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
If any band held fast to the values and intensity of vision that marked the most inventive and serious bands of the '70s, it's Univers Zero, who make - and need to make - no concessions to changing fashion; their music is always in its time. Substantial and sometimes dramatic pieces, densely composed, rich with additive rhythms and dark harmony; masterful use of tempi and dynamics. Daniel Denis is one of the great drummers, always intriguing, never demonstrative, with extraordinary drive and precision, and a flawless ear. And these are fine compositions - by Daniel himself, bassoonist Michel Berckmans, bass clarinettist Kurt Bude and Andy Kirk - beautifully played and excellently recorded. Andy Kirk's long piece in particular is perfectly conceived for this band. A fine record.
	UNIVERS ZERO: Crawling Wind Code:Cuneiform155 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissued at last. Precision, drama and deeply focused playing. (see other catalogues for more on UZ).
	UNIVERS ZERO: Heresie Code:RUNE29 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Classic reissue by one of the most influential and respected experimental rock groups of the late 70's, whose extraordinary compositional sense and unusual instrumentation invited comparison with Henry Cow and Magma, though their voice was distinctively their own. The 2 Classics 'Ceux' and 'Heresie' for 22.
	VAKKI PLAKKULA: Una Barca Code:IDA012 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Fast and furious Italians - Drums, Contrabasse, Saxophone and a lot of shouting and singing...written, eccentric and imaginative.. and breathless. No electronics or recording densities, just scorching performances. Rare these days.
	VANDER, CHRISTIAN: Une Homme et une Batterie (video) Code:VANDERVID Price: £20.27 Quantity in Basket: none
Christian talks and plays; a lesson, a philosophy, a technique. For the already interested.
	VARIOUS ARTISTS: Bari Sessions (Hayward/Nu's/Shea) Code:QUANTUM204 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
The David Shea is good and the Charles Hayward worth the whole CD. Recommended.
	WOOD, JAMES: Village Burial With Fire/Spirit Code:MODE51 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Two excellent percussion pieces for ensembles of existing and invented instruments - exploring microtonality and sustain as well as great ensemble rhythm construction. Unlike nearly all 'classical' percussion works in both aesthetic and resources - falls rather somewhere between Partch, Afro-America, Asian traditional and an imagined complex tribal society in a parallel universe. Highly recommended.
	XENAKIS/VARESE: Dammerschein, Persephassa, La Deesse Athena, Ameriques Code:Mode58 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Two pioneering composers, linked by the legendary Phillips pavilion designed by Le Corbusier (well, mainly by Xenakis, his student) as an environment for Varese's concrete masterpiece: The Poeme Electronique. Xenakis also produced a work for this light and sound installation, subsequently moving from architecture to composition. Three pieces of his are represented here: Dammerschein, for large orchestra, the 26 minute percussion classic Persephassa and La Deesse Athena for Baritone, Percussion and Ensemble. Varese is represented by one of his rare full orchestra scores - and one of the great visionary works of the twentieth century, as radical and shocking today as it was almost 100 years ago