Guitar

	AGREN, JIMMY: Close enough for Jazz Code:UAEDisc16 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
It's been a few years since Jimmy's last CD, which also came very highly recommended. The new one does not disappoint. This time Jimmy plays most of the instruments (scarily well) himself, with guests on three of the pieces, including amongst them the never less than impressive Morgan Agren). Rooted in the Blues - but blues just as likely in 5s and 7s as 4s - with a strong Beefheartian edge, there is as much virtuoso slide and guitar, quiet complexity, expressive playing and driving rhythm as anyone has a right to expect. This is impressive work.
	AGREN, JIMMY: Glass Finger Ghost Code:UAEdisc12 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Slide guitarist Jimmy Agren with a fine collection of Beefheart influenced pieces, wonderfully played. He's also a mean harmonica player, manodolinist, sometime percussionist and singer. Guests include Mats Oberg and Morgan Agren (who's drumming on this record is frighteningly good), and vocalists Freddie Wadling and Magnus Olsson. Beautifully deployed additive rhythms, always moving, with nothing extraneous or unnecessary. This is an impressive, world-class record that rips from start to finish. I can't praise it too much.
	ALTERED STATES: Altered States 4 Code:ZEN003 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
The classic Japanese music and noise improvisation trio (all were also members of the last Ground Zero). Highly musical and inventive work that shows what can still be done with bass, drums and guitar (plus a few pedals !) and a lot of sensibility. Such a group only comes along once in a rare while. Japanese pressing. Few copies only.
	ALTERED STATES: Altered States 6 Code:ZEN005 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
See above
	ALTERED STATES: Bluffs ii Code:ASBluffsii Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Trio formed by the exceptional guitarist Uchihashi Kasuhisa with the amazing Yoshigaki Yasuhiro, drums (you will remember him from Ground Zero) and impeccable bassist Nasuno Mitsuru here improvise perfect pieces that are imaginative, sure-footed, subtle, powerful, fearless, and cross-genres as to the manor born. A rare treat.
	ALTERED STATES: Plays Standards Code:SKCA1003 Price: £15.57 Quantity in Basket: none
What it says, although the standards are not played in a very standard way. Best known as Japanese noise improvisers, Altered States here re and deconstruct 16 jazz repertory songs (Misty, Mood Indigo, All the Things you are, Someone to watch over me and so on). I think only Japanese musicians could have conceived or executed such a project without parody (this follows Ground Zero's equally remarkable "standards" CD). Great work.
	ANDRTOVA, DASA/RADIM HLADIK: Voliera Code:MAM060-2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Unusual and highly individual approach to guitars - rich, melodic and rhythmical, with some singing, some violin, some environmental sound - explored in nine well paced pieces. One of a kind - those already familiar with Dasa's work will know her approach, here well complemented by Radim H.
	ANGELI, PAOLO and NANNI: Tibi (CD/DVD Hybrid disc) Code:ReRPA4 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
This disc will play in stereo on a CD player and with film and 5.1 surround sound (or stereo) on a DVD player or computer. The music, as always, is prodigious, sounding like a small band, but played by one person in real time (as the film attests). In this format, you can also see the instrument close-to - a highly rebuilt and extended giant Sardinian guitar - with many sympathetic and extra strings, motor driven hurdy gurdy wheels, whirling strings, springs and other appendages, played, like a cello, vertically, with bow, fingers, plectra and machines. However Heath Robinson it may appear, however, it is clearly, under Paolo's hands, a highly serious and extraordinarily flexible beast - that requires and has given rise to new playing techniques. The programme of compositions here navigates through highly organised additive rhythms, freer Frith-like pointillism and some seemingly impossible mini-orchestrations. The film, professionally made, follows the performance, occasionally interpolating abstract passages and processed images. A remarkable player with a unique instrument, playing a music entirely his own.
	ANGELI, PAULO : Linee Di Fuga Code:ERH012 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent and imaginative collection of pieces for Sardinian Guitar (larger and tuner lower than the Spanish variety) to which Paulo has added 12 pickups (in order to be able to treat the sound from each string and various parts of the instrument individually) a foot-board linked to the strings for simultaneous rhythmic accompaniment and electric motors. All manner of techniques are applied to both composed and improvised pieces. The possibilities of the instrument are thoroughly explored. A mature and definitive record.
	ANGELI, PAULO: Bucato Code:ReRPA1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Extraordinary player - extraordinary instrument. Paulo plays a highly modified and treated Sardinian Guitar - in many styles, some of them apparently impossible. Innovative techniques, a deeply musical sensibility and a rich, occasionally baffling, palette of sounds. Inevitably, comparisons will be made with Fred Frith, though not by me, Paulo is his own man. A fine and original work.
	ANGELI, PAULO: Dove Dormondo ali Autobus Code:ERH006 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent and imaginative collection of pieces for Sardinian Guitar (larger and tuned lower than the Spanish variety) to which Paulo has added 12 pickups (in order to be able to treat the sound from each string and various parts of the instrument individually), a foot-board linked to the strings for simultaneous rhythmic accompaniment, and electric motors. All manner of techniques are applied to both composed and improvised pieces. The possibilities of the instrument are thoroughly explored. A mature and definitive record.
	ANGELI, PAULO: Tessuti Code:ReRPA3 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The latest from Paulo on which he plays compositions by Fred Frith and Bjork - solo (though when you hear it, you definitely won't believe it) on his highly customised and extended, electrified, giant Sardinian guitar. A tour de force of technique and a musical pleasure. There is so much subtlety and so much attention to the minutiae of sound, and so much going on at any given time, that it is difficult to relate what you hear to just one person playing. Very concentrated, rewards listening to a few songs at a time. Though strangely, you could probably also dance to it.
	BAILEY, DEREK: Ballads Code:TZ7607 Price: £15.57 Quantity in Basket: none
John Zorn suggested to Derek that he make a CD of Standards, his way. Derek did what Derek does, with chunks of standards seamlessly integrated. Of course it works perfectly, and it makes one wonder why such material has routinely been so absent, even forbidden, in music that is described as free. More curiously the sleeve notes feel they have to explain and justify the admixture - a squirm Derek himself wisely keeps out of. I'd forget the packaging and the idea that this is something odd or special. It works.
	BOLE, ANDY: Ramshackle Pier Code:AdHoc5 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Andy Bole, known to our very old adherents through the remarkable Bole Drawings, was and is a very fine guitarist in (loosely) the British style (Jansch, Graham, Renbourne), with oriental shadings. This is a fine collection of his own (mostly) acoustic pieces, joined on 3 tracks by Bill Gilonis (electric guitar, bass, piano, percussion) and on one by Catherine Jauniaux (voice), the guitars are both single and multitracked. The title track launches into arranged complexity, dissonance and epic structure. And the tracks past this central point agrowmore sonically strange and atmospheric. On its release (1984) the LP was voted album of the year by the specialist acoustic magazine Folk Roots, and Andy went on to make many more, and to play internationally with the named and famous). A solidly musical, diverse, imaginative and excellently recorded piece of work. Highly recommended.
	BRADY, TIM : 20 quarter inch Jacks Code:AM07CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
3 pieces, one for 20 guitarists and two for electric guitar and tape. All guitars played by Tim Brady. This covers a lot of ground, much of it interesting, from electronic sound through relative abstraction and Andreissen-esque minimalism to rock riffs. A little formal, a little trying too hard, but interesting nonetheless.
	BRADY, TIM: PLAYING Guitar: Symphony No.1 Code:AM125CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Guitar, guitar samples, small orchestra, quasi minimal composition with a massive amount of work.. there are interesting ideas sometimes, and good bits. Rather one-dimensional but still a unique attempt.
	BROVOLD, BILL: Obedience Code:RUNE178 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Guitarist Brovold with 5 long pieces (10 minutes each on average), a band record exploring very different trails, rock/beefheart tinged, Cale minimal, RIO style horns , violin, cello and rock rhythm section, additive rhythms, languid meditation, noise and American shades of velvet underground. Zeena Parkins appears as a guest on track 2.
	BUCHANAN, STEVE: Tiny Grimes Code:Hanan000 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Initiated as a film soundtrack and then added to and reworked, this is an unusual and fine collection of pieces featuring tenor guitar (with, variously, keyboards, violin, percussion, singing, Computer, bagpipes, Harmonica, Flutes). No comparisons help, really; a one-off.
	BUTLER GARY: My BachÕs worse than my Rechabite Code:HH01 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
Australian Guitar, Noise & Junk.
	BUTLER, GARY: Greatest Hits Volumes 1-5 Code:garyBulter1-5 Price: £12.93 Quantity in Basket: none
Any of you who listened to of my 'Out of the Blue Radio' shows might remember Gary Butler as the Australian contributor whose 30 minutes were recorded on a beach - he put bread on his guitar strings, set up the recording equipment and let a lot of hungry gulls make the music. Rude, noisy electric guitar, quiet, bizarre sometime acoustic guitar, extended techniques and general chaos. Joined on different tracks by a catalogue of Australian improvisers including Jim Denley, Rik Rue, Warren Burt, Sean Baxter, Amanda Stewart, the Von Krapp Family and the Illawarra Choral Society. This covers a lot of ground, reminds me of the days when improvising was fun and is satisfyingly real.
	CAPPELLI, MARCO: Yun Mu Code:TDS012007RS Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent collection of pieces for guitar(s) and related instruments, starting with a fine cut' n paste piece taken from John Zorn's The Book Of Heads (for Electric Guitar and effects), an inspired version of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint, imaginatively interpreted for modified classical guitar and a selection of international folk string instruments, Yunhae Lee's Yun Mu 2, for classical guitar and harmoniser, Giorgio Tedde's Napoletap, for classical guitar, harmoniser and tambour, and a dice piece by Claudio Lugo for amplified classical guitar. Unusual, substantial and beautifully realised.
	CONVENTUM: A L'affut 'un Complot Code:MPM12 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A very welcome reissue of this seminal Quebequois ensemble, first released in 1977, a project of a tireless Andre Duchesne featuring himself, Rene Lussier and Jean-Pierre Bouchard (all manner of guitars and mandolins - and all of whom re-emerged later, electrified, in Les Quatre Guitaristes de L'Apocalpso-bar), Bernard Cormier and Charles Kaczynski (violin, viola, cello, metallophone), Michel Therrien (oboe, alto sax), Jacques Laurin (electric and contra bass) and Alain-Arthur Painchaud (texts, occasional speech). Two percussionists and 5 singers also appear as guests throughout. Andre is the main singer, and though many tracks are songs, the material is mainly instrumental. Highly orchestrated, beautifully executed and detailed writing mingles acoustic and electric languages, folklore, progressive rock and contemporary music (Bartok) in an uncategorieseable melange. They undoubtedly would have been inducted into RIO had that organisation survived longer. And many will remember them from the recommended sampler. This CD contains the entire first LP with 7 extra tracks taken from a live concert in 1977. Great and enduring compositions. Nicely repackaged with good notes in French and English. Essential
	CONVENTUM: Le bureau Central Des Utopies Code:MPM13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Second and last release from this important band. Now stripped back to a quartet (Duchesne, Lussier, Cormier and Laurin, with Painchaud still on board) they remained equally inventive and versatile. Actually more so, by some distance. This is a record that sets a standard extraordinarily hard to beat. The title track is breathtakingly accomplished and imaginative and there are two great, and long, extra tracks. If you like one of these CDs you will want both. Again, nicely repackaged with good notes in French and English.
	DATA DIRECT: La Dolce Vita Code:CD044 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
SLOVENIA. One of the trio, Borut Krzisnik will be well known to you from our Points East release some years ago. Decidedly up to date, played and processed compositions- skidding off techno here and there - and other genres too, but varied, often great, ideas, well realised. A group (with guests). Excellent sound and packaging.
	DEREK BAILEY, ANTOINE BERTHIAUME, FRED FRITH: Soshin Code:AM113CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Three guitarists on fine form. The title track especially is superb. Otherwise they cover the possibilities, mixing masterful technique with a sure use of processing and pedals.
	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.
	DIDKOVSKY, NICK: Binky Boy Code:PM003 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Compositions by Dr Nerve boss and Fred Frith Guitar Quartet member, for multitrack, duo (w. Mark Stewart) and ensemble (+ Frith, Lussier, Howell) electric guitars, many styles and none, characterised by precision, energy, complexity and full exploitation of the electric mutability of the instrument. Cutting edge; a substantial entry in the lexicon.
	DRAKE, BOB: The Skull Mailbox Code:CTA9 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The strangest so far. Mostly songs; a lot of acoustic instruments, a lot of unidentifiable sounds, a lot of fragments borne on a wind from somewhere else; bizarre picking interludes, humour (maybe) and snatches of incandescent playing. You can't pin this one down; it's full of twists and turns and a geometry that doesn't quite add up. Seemingly casual, there's not an ounce of fat on it, and the production - or anti-production - is, on repeated listening, quite extraordinary. Impressive. Listen to a sample of this release
	DRAKE, BOB: Little Black Train Code:BobDrake:LittleBlackTrain Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Thinking Plague, Hail, EC Nudes, 5UU's bassist and mixmaster with his second solo CD. Fast and furious country picking meets weird fragmentation and fast cut compositions. Guitars, Bass, Drums, Violin and odd unidentifiable noises all flawlessly performed, recorded and mixed into a single organism of musical strangeness. One of a kind. Listen to a sample of this release
	DRAKE, BOB: Medallion Animal Carpet Code:CTA7 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A rollercoaster of a record - intensely musical and highly attentive to the quality of sound - only not in the usual directions. This is what happens when a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and engineer gets to do what he wants his own way, free of the norms of the musical and production values most everyone else is running after. If you think you've heard it all here's something else again. The closest to a description would be his previous CD "Little Black Train". Listen to a sample of this release
	DRAKE, BOB: The Shunned Country Code:ReRCTA Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A collection of 52 very short songs on uncanny themes, illustrated in the exquisite 24p full-colour booklet with a set of 20 commissioned paintings by Ray O'Bannon. Perhaps the scariest thing is that each of these miniatures is a fully formed, fully orchestrated and complete structure - no lazy snippets here - and Bob plays all the parts with his famously Paganini-esque virtuosity in spooky variable tempo synchrony, packing more ideas and material into 50 seconds than many manage on an entire album. You think I exaggerate? A paltry 11 pounds will settle the question once and for all. Classic. Listen to a sample of this release
	DUCHESNE, ANDRE: Locomotive. Code:AM027CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
With Claude Fradette, Remi Leclerc and Francis Grandmont, compositionally and atmospherically this is effectively a new Quatre Guitaristes De l'Apocalypso Bar recording. Some very good pieces in fine complex mode.
	DUCHESNE, ANDRE: Reflexions Code:AM072 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Solo guitar pieces. Reflective. Something new from one of the guiding lights of the Montreal music community.
	DUMOND/FABER: Totem Code:GF001 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Works for guitar ('classical') and electronic treatments. First of all, these are composed pieces and the effects orchestrate and extend the played instrument, which is always responsive as well as productive. Different treatments are investigated in different pieces. Sounding sometimes like Conlon Nancarrow, sometimes like great orchestras and blocks of sound, sometimes frail and delicate like attenuated wires. Interesting project, excellently realised.
	FALAISE, BERNARD : Do Code:AM086CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
15 pieces for Guitar(s) - electric and acoustic, multiple and single) employing all manner of techniques and processing. Crammed with ideas and intelligent disposition of materials. Comparisons with Fred Frith are often bandied about but this time it might be fair, not because it sounds anything like Fred but because it has a similar musicality and originality of approach both to the instrument and the organisation of sounds. Mix of relatively tune-and-rhythm-based material with more abstract pieces - all exhibiting a fine ear for the detail of sound and the combination of effects.
	FEDER, JANET & FRED FRITH: Ironic Universe (DD + DVD) Code:AdHoc07 Price: £20.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Ironic Universe (CD + DVD) [18.50] Ad Hoc 07 The CD features 6 melodic solo pieces by Janet, playing prepared guitar - and 6 duets with Fred. The DVD contains an excellently filmed 25 minute solo performance of Fred's - unusually using only acoustic guitar (though still employing a wide range of playing techniques, preparations, string, bows, bells and so on) - and three 5 minute pieces by Janet, mixing performance with colourful composed images.
	FEDER, JANET: Icyimi Code:BBCD35 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
First CD, self made. Features an unusual set of pieces for treated and prepared acoustic guitars (+ Didgeridoo, Clarinet and Percussion on 3 tracks) which depart from and extend folk and classical performance techniques. A one-off and interesting arrival. All compositions are original, except for Hector Villa Lobos's Prelude No.3.
	FEDER, JANET: Speak Puppet Code:RerJF1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Prepared guitars and dobro, for the most part composed and all very much in Janet's own unique style - somewhere between classical, experimental and folk-picking with attitude. Which doesn’t tell you much about how listenable and strange these pieces are, but then there's no one to refer to or to compare with since Janet is really in a class of one. On some tracks she is joined, variously, by Thinking Plague guitarist Mike Johnson, Margot Krimmel (prepared harp), Mark Weber (voice) and Mike Vargas (paddlydo). This is something new. Listen to a sample of this release
	FITZGERALD, GERRY & LOL COXHILL: Echoes of Duneden Code:RR003 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A record complied from many beautifully recorded performances in Edinburgh in 1975, edited and mastered by Gerry and then rejected by Virgin - after which it lay around until picked up, luckily, by Reel. Gerry, a remarkable guitarist, is virtually undocumented; his only released recordings being the legendary but obscure Mouseproof' (with pre Henry Cow Geoff Leigh), Fleas in Custard (also with Lol) and as a contributor to Fred Frith's Guitar Solos 2. So this is a useful addition to a meagre discography. A subtle, careful, very nicely assembled set of improvisations that keep collapsing into unison or co-ordinated sections. Both protagonists are on great form.
	FOREVER EINSTEIN: Artificial Horizon Code:RUNE25 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	FOREVER EINSTEIN: Down with Gravity Code:RUNE136 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Guitar, Bass Drums. Straightforward instrumental music. No special effects, no extras. An endangered species
	FOREVER EINSTEIN: One Thing After Another Code:RUNE106 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
The remarkable Chuck Vrtacek. 11 compositions for guitar, bass drums, ringing the changes. Interesting use of small trio resources. Nice sleevenotes!
	FOREVER EINSTEIN: Opportunity Crosses the Bridge Code:RUNE41 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
New recordings by Beefheart meets soundtrack meets TV theme maestro's, led by Avant Garde President Charles Vrtacek.
	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.
	FRIEND OF FRED VOLUME 3 Code:FredVol3 Price: £111.63 Quantity in Basket: none
Volume 2 will wrap up with the next batch of releases in October [Impur, Technology of Tears, The Happy End Problem]. The signed free book that accompanies it is in preparation. You can still sign up for it, and for Volume 3 (the next 8 releases). What it means. To become a friend of fred costs 95 pounds (45 now and 50 when we send CD No.5, You get the ARTIST SIGNED LIMITED EDITION of Vol 3: That's 8 CDs with a special signed book full of Fred's notes on the works, the process of their composition and recording, related photographs and other documentary materials. You get the CDs as soon as they come out, the signed book, occasional other additional materials and 1.50 pounds off any other Fred CD you buy from us during the subscription period - whatever label it's on. Volumes 1 and 2 can still be purchased separately. NOTE. Members of the ReR record club will get the book free as part of their membership.
	FRITH, FRED /HENRY KAISER: Friends and Enemies double CD Code:Rune117/118 Price: £20.56 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue of the two now classic LP's 'With Friends Like These' and 'Who Needs Enemies', plus an unreleased album of live material plus 27 minutes of newly recorded pieces.
	FRITH, FRED : Gravity Code:ReR/FRED Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
At last this classic record is back in print in its original form. Fred's first post Cow solo album of great tunes and dancing rhythms with Samla Mammas Manna, The Muffins and various guests. A major work that mixes infectious compositions, great performances, innovative techniques, advance recordings and an overarching structure that binds the entire work together. Still a definitive statement and a great record to listen or jump around to.Remastered, repackaged. Listen to a sample of this release
	FRITH, FRED GUITAR QUARTET: Ayaya Moses Code:AM051 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Second Cd from Fred's guitar quartet, features Fred Frith, Rene Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. New compositions. CD ONLY, NO COVER
	FRITH, FRED GUITAR QUARTET: Upbeat. Code:AMO63CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	FRITH, FRED and the ARTE QUARTETT: Still Urban Code:IntaktCD155 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A 2004 commission for saxophone quartet and guitar (Fred). Good quality radio recording. Open, mostly very sparsely melodic form, with accompanying environmental recordings and solo interludes.
	FRITH, FRED and the ARTE QUARTETT: The Big Picture Code:IntaktCD156 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Two pieces here: the title work, about 14 minutes of very open music for saxophones (often unrecognisable) piano and percussion, which could have been much longer. This is followed by Freedom in Fragments, commissioned by the Rova Sax Quartet in 1994 and recorded by them. This version (it's a modular piece which can be assembled in any order) is very different from the Rova recording, and includes 7 new sections.
	FRITH, FRED: Allies Code:RECDEC70 Price: £13.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred, with George Cartwright, Tom Cora and Joey Baron. Six pieces for dance. An interesting period Fred's composing career. Here are flat simple/complex music zones, where harmonic movement is held in tension by rhythmic shifts distributed amongst the instruments. Intriguing.
	FRITH, FRED: Allies Code:ReRFRO07 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue of the 1989 dance music album, with Joey Baron, Tom Cora and George Cartwright. One of Fred's open field type compositions - where parallel events proceed serenely, coinciding half-unpredictably, but still often enough to sound connected. There is continuity in modular repetition but so many overlays, small alterations, emergent details and new material that the sonic terrain they invoke is constantly mutating and constantly unpredictable (even after several auditions). Continuity is here irregularly interrupted by disruptive events, always settling back into semi-stable planes. Re-mastered and repackaged
	FRITH, FRED: Back to Life Code:TZ8045 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent collection of commissioned pieces for piano (played by Daan Vandewalle), the Callithumpian Ensemble (dir.Stephen Drury) and smaller groupings. They fall into the ambit of chamber music but are pretty instantly recogniseable as Fred's. Very nice work.
	FRITH, FRED: Cheap at half the price Code:ReRFRO Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's third LP for Ralph Records, back in 1983, was a collection of four-track home studio songs (and a couple of instrumental pieces) in which Fred played all the instruments (exceptions: two bass cameos from Tina Curran and Bill Laswell, and some great drum samples from Hans Bruinnsson. Causing raised eyebrows at the time (from, as Fred calls them 'progressive music snobs' - of which I guess I was one) for its apparent simplicity and departure from what was then thought of as Fred Style, this work has matured with age and perspective and no longer seems (to this former critic) to stand outside the oeuvre, but rather to exemplify a persistent strand within it. Echoes appear in many later works. In context it's a record that makes sense - what was all the fuss about? - and it has become a record that's refreshing to listen to. And political - political and personal. In fact, as well as being a very rewarding, darkish, toe-tapper of a record, it seems also to have tapped an important biographical moment. There are some great guitar sounds, production ideas and of course the expected exemplary playing of everything, all the time. A good argument for reissues. Very nicely re-mastered, and in a nice new package.
	FRITH, FRED: Clearing Code:TZ7605 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's first solo recording in over a decade.
	FRITH, FRED: Eye to ear II Code:TZ7517 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Second collection of soundtrack compositions on which Fred plays a lot of instruments and works sharply with recordings; the four part cartoon soundtrack Sideshow is pure pleasure, and brilliantly conceived and executed. Guest musicians add trombone, gu zheng, accordion and voices.
	FRITH, FRED: Freedom in Fragments Code:TZ7076 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
A 1994 commission for the Rova Saxophone quartet mixing through-composed with indicational modules which can be assembled in any order.
	FRITH, FRED: Impur part II Code:ReRFRFC Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Essentially a pretty great concert by a large 19 strong ensemble with Fred conducting as well as playing. Lots of rhythm, harmony, rock noise, exotic instrumentation, power, complexity and melodic writing, with stretches of chaos, eccentricity and theatre. Totally different, then, from Impur part 1 (ReR FRFC1) which was a deconstructed, spatialised simultaneity of musical events heard through open windows or by wandering through rooms; Impur 2 was an unannounced performance upon which audience members had to stumble (and then collect their friends - or not). The recording here was in fact made a little later, by the same people in a different artspace and has been edited and re-mastered by Fred for this release. It fits well in the aesthetic of earlier group records from Fred: Gravity, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog.
	FRITH, FRED: Nowhere . Sideshow . Thin Air Code:ReRFRA07 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Three commissions for dance (3 different choreographers), one [2000] performed by Fred and Carla Kihlstedt, one [2001] by Fred and Carla with Fred Guiliano, (samples) and Gail Brand (trombone) and the last [2007[ with Fred, Hande Erdem (violin) and Threresa Wong ((cello). Layers and plateaux, modules and colour.
	FRITH, FRED: Prints Code:ReRFRA02 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A collection of various songs and extended songs that Fred has made over the years, including a samples and newspaper project made for WDR (radio) and tributes to Bert Bacharach and Serge Gainsbourg. This is Fred in studio mode, writing great songs - sadly a generally rather thinly documented aspect of his work, and one that, in my opinion, he excels at. A very welcome release. Listen to a sample of this release
	FRITH, FRED: Step across the Border Code:ReRFRO03 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Another classic. Along with the Film for which it was a soundtrack this CD follows Fred's work through improvising, group exposition and directed composition (so there is a soundtrack in the film and a soundtrack to the film - both intermingled). This is as broad in musical scope as it is excellently realised and neatly assembled, adding up to a sketch of Fred's many musical identities. Also appearing: Iva Bittova, Tom Cora, Joey Barron, John Zorn, Haco, Ciro Battista and the legendary 'Keep the Dog'.
	FRITH/LUSSIER: Nous Autres Code:VictoCD01 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	GASUL, FELIU: Punta Turment Code:NCM6 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
At last a new CD by the great Feliu Gasull, including many more compositions for the trio with Joan Albert Amargos (piano) and Jaume Cortadellas (flute) who made the 'Feliu y Joan Albert' LP and who appeared on the ReR Sampler. There is as well a frighteningly good duo with and by Javier Mas (Arxillaut) and a two guitar piece with Paco de Lucia - plus three recent solo guitar pieces.
	GIACCARIA, MARCO: Il Mio Cappello Code:MMMGCD08 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Careful, Tuneful, meditative. Adventurous with sonorities, layering, construction and machine/ performance mixing. A rich skein of material that is dense but open. For undistracted or wholly distracted listening, no fast fix. Hints of ZNR sometimes.
	GLANDIEN, LUTZ: Kyomei Code:glandienKyomei Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Highly limited artist edition of wholly acoustic music composed for a family of specially designed and constructed string instruments (monochord, lyre, psalter and others). Beautifully recorded, simple and harmonically rich explorations of strings, space and resonating enclosures. Minimal, delicate and unusual. http://www.lutzglandien.de/ http://www.verklungen.de/
	GYSI, WADI/REICHEL, HANS: Showdown Code:INTAKTCD02 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Live recording for Guitars, Daxophone, Cello and Hammer in Zurich and Tokyo. Such orchestration and diversity of style and timbre is difficult to attribute to what amounts to two electric guitars (though Hans's exquisite handbuilt Daxophone is arguably a new instrument tout court). Plenty of treatments, but above all a breathtaking musical accord and inventiveness between the players - and a fearless mastery of rythmn, noise, lyricism, harmony, surprise. Will be a classic.
	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
	HUGUENIN, JEAN 20: Solo Raye Code:HUGUENIN,JEAN20:SoloRaye Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Solos and occasional duos, of acoustic rags and Guitar pieces, some electric, all beautifully played.
	JUNGHANS, STEFFEN BASHO : Waters in Azure Code:SAAH005CD Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Very minimal steel string and slide guitar.
	KAISER, HENRY: Lemon Fish Tweezer Code:RUNE45 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An earlier compilation for Rune.
	KAISER, HENRY: The five Heavenly Truths Code:FOTHK1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Heavenly = 77 minutes. Includes solo, unreleased CRAZY BACKWARDS ALPHABET material. His first solo project in 3 years.
	KASUHISA, UCHIHASHI: Flect Code:icr009 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A unique voice in the world of extended electric guitar, this CD hears Ushihashi with a meticulously designed guitar-electronic array making pointed, considered and cleanly organised music, often more like electroacoustic tape compositions than 'improvised' guitar. This is careful and finely focussed work in which every sound is made to count; the work of a mature artist who knows his instrument and has evolved a personal aesthetic.
	KAZUHISA, UCHIHASHI and HANS REICHEL: King Pawns Code:Zen006 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Japanese pressing. Few copies only
	KAZUHISA, UCHIHASHI: Guitar Solo Code:Zen002 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Extraordinary guitarist of 'Altered States', 'Ground Zero' etc. puts the guitar through it's paces. Japanese pressing. Few copies only
	KAZUHISA, UCHIHASHI: Phosphorescence Code:Zen004 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
See Above
	KLEIER, ROGER : Deep Night, Deep Autmn Code:St-211 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
9 carefully made pieces for Guitar, ranging from deep textures through thick, Velvet Underground inflected, slabs to picked cascades and singing melodies. Many pedals wisely employed. Predominantly textural but subtle and never dull. There is always movement and structure.
	LA 1919: Giorni Felici Code:MASO90094 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Guests on single tracks- Franco Fabbri, Henry Kaiser, John Oswald, Fausto Rossi.
	LAGOS, VENOSTA, MARIANI: Metamorphoses (Electronic Adventures in Flamenco) Code:ReRLVM1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
11 pieces beautifully played by flamenco guitarist Alfredo Lagos, and then put through an electro acoustic obstacle course by Venosta and Mariani. The raw guitar is reversed, inverted, cut up, re-played, propelled by processed handclaps and swathed in delayed vocals. The large-scale hypnotic structures contrast strangely with the pristine simplicity of the original guitar pieces, and the album works as a profound meditation on culture, technology, art and authorship. Unusual, genre-bending and enjoyable. Listen to a sample of this release
	LEMONS, CHRIS: Control/Refugee Code:CL1 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
'Nirvana meets Lutoslavski' with String Orchestra of of Lyric Opera, Chicago and Rock instruments. Heavily composed and well integrated. OPTION compares to Rhys Chatham, Zappa, Chronos etc.
	LEMONS, CHRIS: Fantasy and Icon Code:CL2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A completely extraordinary production. This is a 38 minute piece for Electric Guitar, Bass, Kit and Udo Drums, Synthesiser, some ethnic instruments and Symphony Orchestra. And it's not Deep Purple but a fascinating and skilfully through composed piece after Lutoslawski - though far more liberal with instrumentation and genre references - where the electric instruments are fully and properly integrated. More amazing is that CL managed to arrange and finance an orchestra (the Lithuanian State Orchestra) to perform and record it. It was then substantially reworked and re-mastered it back in the USA. A remarkable achievement and I'm sure an early glimpse into a career that could produce great things.
	LONDON ELECTRIC GUITAR ORCHESTRA: 7 Wholls - 2 Code:13CD007 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Seven pieces made with acknowledgement to Fred Frith's graphic score "Dry Stone II" by seven very different guitarists. Disciplined and imaginative.
	LUSSIER, RENE - EUGENE CHADBOURNE: L'Oasis Code:VictoCD084 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Live at Victoriaville, Canada and Instantes Chavires, Paris. Barnstorming folk hoots, straight up - both instrumental and occasionally sung in classic Chadborne style -, Rags and more abstract connecting stretches. Mostly these are world class guitar-guitar and banjo-guitar duets, well worth the listening, and for me the more serious they are the better they are. The occasional improvisations are fine, but were probably more functional in performance; the straight playing is exemplary, often inspired. These guys are on the edge of something that could be breathtaking, a little dilute here, but still...
	LUSSIER, RENE and MARTIN TETREAULT: Qu'ouis-je? Code:AM081CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
For Daxophone, Synthesiser, Pick-up and Rhythm Box. Radical, abstract pieces on the edge between playing and electronic aesthetics. Remarkable. Instrument design plus fearless sonic thinking.
	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.
	LUSSIER, RENE: Grand Vent Code:TRICD-7215 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Eight piece band - obvious instruments plus clarinet, trombone and viola - that glides through a diversity of styles as if born to them all. Especially exquisite is Hula Blues But it's not fair to pick tracks, there is also an impressive Zappaesque wah wah guitar piece and a whole set of great, often deceptively complex pieces that are a pleasure to listen to. And excellently played.
	LUSSIER, RENE: Quatorze Improvisations a la Guitare Electrique Code:AM075CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Solo Improvisations. Recorded simultaneously by 8 different microphones in different locations. An interesting method- although there is no editing, overdubbing or equalisation, there is radical mixing of the different sound sources (like filming one event from 8 positions- so that the point of view -of audition - is always changing. Then Rene employs very extended techniques. He is a virtuoso after all, with an aesthetic uniquely his own. Prodigious. Good taken in sections.
	MACLEAN, STEVE: Bridges (dbl) Code:ReRSM2/3 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
These recordings collect together works spanning two decades of composition and experimentation that balance traditional musical resources (the band, compositional skills, instrumental techniques, acoustic and amplified instruments) and the new technologies (computers, software, processing). The first CD showcases polyrhythmic, careful compositions (like those on his last ReR CD, Opposite of War), which still no-one has tried to emulate. The second is more meditative, abstract and electronic, moving from Kora through electric and acoustic guitars - with and without radical effects processing - to piano and virtual orchestra, putting various softwares through their paces.
	MALCOLM, GREG: Homesick for Nowhere Code:Hermes039 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent CD of pieces for guitars, usually more than one at a time, played in unconventional ways - in real time - with little in the way of electronic processing but rather using electric fans, ebow, slide, violin bow, multiple simultaneous instruments. What makes it especially interesting is the content: these are interpretations of tunes by Ornette Coleman, The Beatles, Connie Bauer, Charlie Haden and of traditional Klezmer, Japanese and Islamic melodies. Very unusual, very successful. A fine work, and nicely packaged.
	MARGORANI, LUCIANO: Solo Concert Code:margoraniSolo Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
5 well-recorded and quite different pieces, performed at a solo guitar festival in Desenzano del Garda. The first piece is acoustic, the others electric with pedals, gliss and simple processing. Guitaristic rather than abstract. Piece 4 stands out.
	MASSACRE: Funny Valentine Code:TZ7601 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred Frith, Charles Hayward, Bill Laswell. A lot of fine, thoughtful playing.
	MASSACRE: Killing Time Code:ReR/FR010 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Another legendary release. Fred's first full-on group after Henry Cow - following soon after his move to America - was a power trio with Bill Laswell (bass) and Fred Maher (drums), both from Giorgio Gomelsky's house band Zu - later to become Material. Massacre was loud and their pieces tended to be short, make their point and end. They used the time-honoured structure of bebop: an intricate head followed by high energy explorations of rhythm and timbre (aka noise). But the authority of playing skills remained very much to the fore - hence, perhaps, the term Punk Jazz which was applied at the time. However, this is unequivocally rock. A fully re-mastered reissue of the original Japanese release, plus the five extra tracks that appeared on the long out of print, Rec Dec CD and two, previously unreleased tracks, including The Shadows-Massacre, FBI.
	MASSACRE: Lonely Heart Code:TZ7619 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred Frith, Charles Hayward, Bill Laswell. Fine live recordings from Roskilde, 2003 and Sons D'Hiver, 2003.
	MASSACRE: Meltdown Code:TZ7606 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred Frith, Charles Hayward, Bill Laswell. Live recording from the London Meltdown festival in 2001.
	NUIX, JEP: Intervals Code:NCM2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Excellent collection of pieces by Spanish Composer Nuix. Tape pieces and works for guitar, orchestra and small ensemble.
	NUNO REBELO: On the Edge Code:NUNOREBELO:OntheEdge Price: £14.04 Quantity in Basket: none
Assembled from various improvisations in France, featuring Nuno (E.Guitar), Marco Franco (drums) and occasional extras. Often compared with Fred Frith, Rebelo uses a wide variety of sounds and techniques, as does the excellent Marco Franco; an impressive duo. The first half especially is a model of intelligence, musicality and imagination in improvisation. Good sound, and some classic passages.
	PARRA, ARTURO: Parr(a)cousmatique Code:IMED0264 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Columbian Guitarist and electroacoustic composer with a set of impressive and imaginative pieces, all featuring guitar in some form and all conceived in sonic language that is at one unique and compelling. Fine work.
	PERE UBU: London Texas Code:ReRPU01 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A great live recording of the sadly short-lived version of the band that existed between the arrival of Eric Drew Feldman and the departure of Chris Cutler. By far the best recording of the Scott, Cutler, Maimone rhythm section, I think, and the whole band is on intense concert form: David racked up to 11, Eric working equally on foundations and fine details as to the out-there manner born and Jim Jones somewhere in the stratosphere. Coming back to it, this was a pretty great band. The songs are economical, tightly arranged and take no prisoners. And there's that live energy - the closest we can get to being when and where we weren't. Studio recordings can't do this. Mastered by Bob Drake, and it stings like a bee - with a beret. Play it loud.
	PERLOWIN, MICHAEL: Firebird Suite Code:PM0362-2 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Every once in a while something comes along that mightily stirs my enthusiasm. This is one of those. Pedal Steel guitarist Mike Perlowin paid his dues in bars and clubs, dong what the instrument is famous for doing. But for his own project, released on his own label, he chose to attempt a set of transcriptions and arrangements of C20 compositions by Debussy, Stravinsky, Bartok, Copland, Satie, Shostakovich, Gershwin and Mingus. So far so interesting - the greatness is in the result. With Les Paulian savoir faire, Perlowon has multi-tracked and - on occasion - vari-speeded to get the job done - that is to say, to do the music justice. These are inspired arrangements and great performances and they work brilliantly in their own right as musical objects. They reinvent the music they embody. One expects the Firebird to be prodigious - because of the complexity involved in any half-way accurate realisation of it using only an orchestra of pedal steels (and some lap-steel, mandolin, autoharp, banjo and bass; plus minimal percussion) - but then the rest of the CD is pitched at the same level of perfection: swooningly microtonal and still perfectly articulated; contrapuntal, multilinear, transcendently exquisite. The Pedal Steel, always a glorious instrument, is here, at last, made to show that its greatness transcends the limits of its usual narrow application, that it can be an interpretive instrument of the highest subtlety and sensitivity in any context. The other pieces are: Fanfare for the Common Man, L'Apres Midi D'un Faun e(which is made to reveal its structure in a way even the original doesn't.), Prelude No.2 (which might have been written for pedal steel), Gymnopedies, Le Petit Negre, Polka, The Maid with the Flaxen Hair (stunning; I would say better than the original piano version) and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. I know the territory has been broached before, but not like this. This is a gem.
	PERLOWIN, MIKE: Spanish Steel Code:MPR0563-2 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Follow up to Firebird, and 7 years in the making, this remarkable record applies Perlowin's multitracking, varispeeding, painstaking and minutely musical methods to Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo, Albeniz' Asturias, Rodrigo's Concierto Andaluz (for 4 guitars) Oyanguren's Fantasia Inca and Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol. This is not just a tour de force but a great record of some substantial compositions. To recast everything for pedal and lap steel (and electric and acoustic) guitars - and, now and then, mandolins, mandocello, sitar, bass, autoharp, banjo, autoharp and discreet but essential percussion) is prodigious in itself, to wind up with transparent, rich, engulfing music is the mark of a justified obsession. Another great CD - and, Mike says, tragically, his last.
	PERLOWIN, MIKE: Specail Offer Code:PerlowinSpecial Price: £36.00 Quantity in Basket: none
All 3 Mike Perlowin Titles: "Firebird Suite", "Spanish Steel" & "West Side Story" for one special price
	PERLOWIN, MIKE: West Side Story Code:MPR0279-2 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Second CD of the trilogy, this is a full arrangement of the Bernstein musical, more easy listening than the other 2 CDs, beautifully done but less radical because more obviously suited to the instruments used.
	PHILHARMONIE: Rage Code:RUNE84 Price: £12.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Second instrumental collection by this interesting French guitar ensemble. Light but good compositions.
	QUATRE GUITARISTES: World Tour Code:ReRGQ1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Released on LP in 1987-8 these are composed rock/contemporary/experimental pieces for electric guitar quartet and drums. Complex and energetic. Both LP's are now on one CD, omitting the Fred Frith guitar quartet extracts, which have been released separately. Performed by: Andre Duchense, Rene Lussier, Jean-Pierre Bouchard, Roger Boudreault, Claude Fradette and guests Remi Leclerc and Ferdinand Richard. Listen to a sample of this release
	QUATRE GUITARISTES: Fin De Siecle (vinyl) Code:ReR42 Price: £13.80 Quantity in Basket: none
'Fin' finds Roger replaced by Claude Fradette and Ferdinand Richard and Remi Leclerk added. These are dense Rock/Contemporary Instrumental compositions operating at a lot of borders and not much like anything else. 'Fin' includes commissioned work from Fred Frith and Lars Hollmer - and Bartok string quartet transcriptions.THIS IS A VINYL RELEASE
	QUATRE GUITARISTES: World Tour (vinyl) Code:Re404 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
An extraordinary project dreamed up by ANDRE DUCHESNE: an electric guitar quartet - on 'World' consisting of the Quebcoises RENE LUSSIER. Andre himself, JEAN-PIERRE BOUCHARD and ROGER BOUDREAULT, plus CHRIS CUTLER, drums.THIS IS A VINYL RELEASE
	REDON, PIERRE: Solo Code:PIERREREDON:Solo Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Pieces for Electric Guitar and radical stereo set up. In a very nice package bound by exquisitely riveted metal rods.
	ROWE, KEITH: A Dimension of .. Code:MR19 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
AMM guitarist and radio player at last with a solo work. Many have been influenced by his techniques (Syd Barratt and Fred Frith to name two) but seldom has he received the attention that is surely his due. But it is the musical conception and the sonic and expressive minutiae of the performance that matter here; in this Keith Rowe is sans pareil.
	SCHWARTZ, MARK: The Black Oil CDR Code:markSchwartOil Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
(imited supply) Solo guitar - powerful and dark; a long unfolding performance that employs many pedals, treatments and innovative techniques. Evolved and substantial work by an original and interesting player. Very limited CDR edition..
	SOYBELMAN, LEONID: Surfing in my Bed Code:rere195 Price: £14.30 Quantity in Basket: none
Leonid with Spanish Guitar, preparations, Piezos and Amp(s) finds extreme distortion, feedback and other enormous and extraordinary sounds, with the help of metal and wooden objects. A lot of terror, dedications to Otomo Yoshihide, Marc Ribot, Eugene Chadbourne and Ry Cooder. Powerful, if unremitting. Very charming cover/sleevenotes.
	SUMO (sic): Sumo Home-burned CDR Code:SUMO(sic):SumoHome-burnedCDR Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
All manner of acoustic and some electric instruments and samples, with Ry Cooder, blues, middle eastern echoes, as well as some electronic and recording manipulations. Subtle, thoughtful and musical - featuring songs, melody, harmony, timbre, subtle arrangements. It's well made and well played And while superficially fairly normal, it's actually pretty eccentric and very focussed. This is a home-burned CDR and in short supply.
	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.
	TIBBETS, STEVE: Steve Tibbets Code:CUNEIFORM55009 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
	Toychestra and Fred Frith: What leave Behind Code:SK28CD Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
Small edition 'Concert for Electric Guitar and Toy Orchestra, written by Dan Plonsey. Toychestra is a 6 piece goup (all women) who play.... toy instruments. A charming and curious meeting and an opportunity for Fred to play a lot of great, (mostly) tuneful guitar. The problem is that, for their part, the Toychestra's means are very restricted and the use made of them rather predictable and based on repetition. Nice idea with a lot of nice stretches, but a bit plodding and static overall.
	UNE THEORIE DES ENSEMBLES: En Concert Code:AM022CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Montreal- treasure this, a musical community - where else do you find one ? And here are Michel Cote, Ander Duchesne, Jean Derome, Claude Fradette, Joanne Hetu, Diane Labrosse, Remi Leclerc, Robert Lepage, Rene Lussier, Danielle Roger, Pierre St.Jak, Marie Trudeau (amongst others, of Wondeurbrass, Justine, Les Quatre Guitaristes, Les Granules, Locomotive, Miriodor..) in an ensemble live concert, including pieces specially composed for the full ensemble. Excellent mobile recording (mixed later) - a tribute to the creativity and musicianship of this extraordinary group of active and exemplary musicians.
	VARIOUS ARTISTS: 156 Strings - Nineteen Totally Original Acoustic Guitarists Code:RUNE163 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
19 Acoustic Guitarists chosen and curated by Henry Kaiser, inc. Richard Thompson, Fred Frith,Peter Lang, Duck Baker, Richard leo Johnson, Janet Feder, Mike Keneally, Michael Gulezian, Gyan Riley.. some great pieces here (mostly tuneful, picked) and it's a fine and instructive collection. Sadly there is little or no documentation about the people featured.
	VRIL [Bob Drake, Lukas Simonis, Chris Cutler]: Effigies in Cork Code:ReRVRIL1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Bob Drake proposed this project: to make a CD of Guitar Instrumentals, but now, in the C21- and not to copy the Shadows and Surf bands but to recover the form: tune, arrangement, rhythm, bass, drums, all the essentials: flexibility with focus. Songs pushed them aside in the '60s, and then solos replaced tunes for guitar players. Hendrix remembered, Third Stone from the Sun is a guitar instrumental. We also wanted to return to the old work method, rarer today, where the band sits around with instruments, plays the pieces and works out arrangements together and then records them while they are still fresh. That's what we did, so all the basic tracks were played together, straight to tape. Of course, after recording the pieces we - especially Bob - did a lot more work on them in studio world - but playing and spontaneity remain its underpinning. These pieces cover a lot of ground, fast, and move right along; the sounds continually change and performance is firmly back at the centre of the music. What's not to like? Listen to a sample of this release
	VRIL: The Fatal Duckpond Code:ReRVril2 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Award-winning soundtrack to the film by Horst Gack, (Prix Ultra de Concourse Lumiere, Ulm, 2009: Best Soundtrack). After a break of six years, Chris Cutler, Bob Drake and Lukas Simonis, now with added ingredient Pierre Omer, present the second volume of recordings by the elusive VRIL - a band who revive and update both the great institution of the guitar instrumental and the now sadly neglected practice of collective arrangement, intense rehearsal and live studio performance. Appropriate to the half century that has passed since the birth of the form, these hits dodge about, get bored easily and blend both concentration and complexity with the still indispensable traditional qualities that made the genre great: hummability, crafted sounds, nifty arrangements, ridiculous gimmicks and ensemble playing. 'Neither tribute nor parody, these enigmatic pieces are never more nor less than exactly what they are'.... wrote Lothar Preen in his Melbourne concert review....'but perfectly realised'. With film stills, misleading sleeve-notes and storyboard by the Diogenesian recluse Frank Key.
	WILLIAMS, DAVEY: Antenna Road Code:transmuseq18 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
This is a record you won't find in your local shop. Davey, pataphysical revue alumnus, one of Fred Frith's invitees on the guitar solos project, quiet master of music and with nothing to prove, delivers a small masterpiece of a record that takes no prisoners but also grinds no axes (except the ones under his fingers). His own sleeve notes sum it up best; these are kernels, fragments, short-form miniatures that because of some strange essential quality fill time and memory. On various instruments (steel body guitars, slide guitar, electric sitar, electric guitar [between one and eleven at a time], acoustic guitar, bass, aluminium strip, electric screwdriver, e-bow - but always pared down, lucid, simple, unassuming) he lines up 30 short and very different pieces that occupy between 35 seconds and 2 minutes 59, but mostly averaging a minute, though it never seems so. And, different as they are, they follow one another and make longer seeming pieces. Some are quite abstract - though always catchy - many are fairly or very loaded with the Blues. A very welcome addition to the library.