Avant Garde 2023

Now in its 14th year, the unique and constantly evolving Fire! Orchestra is back with their most ambitious work so far as well as their largest line-up, counting a mostly Scandinavian cast of no less than 43 members. While the popular and widely praised Arrival is a highlight in both our and the band´s catalogue, this monumental triple album ups the ante.

This long out-of-print holy grail private press album, originally released by the late Abdul Wadud himself in 1977, is finally being reissued on vinyl. This reissue was originally sanctioned by Abdul himself. Unfortunately, he passed away on August 10, 2022. We thank his family, and particularly his son, Raheem DeVaughn, in assisting us see this masterpiece through to become available on vinyl to a new generation.

Rhun are a French sextet playing zeuhl and avant progressive-influenced music. Their first album came out a decade ago on AltrOck and they’ve just resurfaced with their excellent second album here.

CHROMB! has been making CHROMB! for ten years, five albums and many concerts. And CHROMB! is music. The band is driven by four heads, propelled by an overflowing imagination, electrically powered and impervious to classification. Sometimes its mother is jazz, since CHROMB! looks like her in photos, sometimes it's rock, since it's true that it's not completely wrong. What defines CHROMB! above all is their elasticity, their devotion to both melody and racket, and their obstinacy in continuing to invent unpredictable pieces of music.

Unexpected encounter between Junko Ueda, eminent figure of the Japanese medieval epic storytelling, whose warm and profound voice summons the terrestrial energies, and the organic madness of the monster PoiL practicing with cosmic rock without net.

Unexpected encounter between Junko Ueda, eminent figure of the Japanese medieval epic storytelling, whose warm and profound voice summons the terrestrial energies, and the organic madness of the monster PoiL practicing with cosmic rock without net. Just after releasing the debut record, the story continues with the epic story of Yoshitsune.

Univers Zero's new album (since 10 years) follows the lineage of 'Phosphorescent Dreams', originally released only on CD in Japan in 2014, and reissued as an LP on the Sub Rosa label in 2019. Lueur is the fruit of two years' work and reflection, the foundations of which were laid by Daniel Denis (keyboards, drums, percussion…), then enriched by the contributions of Nicolas Dechêne (guitars), Kurt Budé (clarinet / bass clarinet) and Nicolas Denis (bass, percussion, vocals), all three present on Phosphorescent Dreams.

The second album by underground rock-and-beyond shapeshifters The Holy Family comes complete with a heavy concept for the psychedelically inclined, and pairs this with music which does this justice and then some. Go Zero follows up the British group’s widely praised self-titled debut from 2021 and – says foundational member David Jason Smith – “is based on a hypothetical theory that there is no such thing as ‘the future’. We are continually moving forward into our past until we arrive at our birth – creation – the Tree Of Knowledge… or ‘Going Zero’, as I’ve termed it.” It figures, then, that over some 40 minutes the five musicians conjure a sound that exhibits an affinity with great experimental totems down the ages, in a manner that’s avowedly forward-facing and stamped with their own identity.

‘Trugschluss’ is the strong sequel to the much-acclaimed debut album 'Barkas' (2020) by Belgian instrumental trio Kameel. The new songs sound angry, sharp, menacing, crooked and angular ('Von Grund auf am Zweig', 'Trugschluss', 'Black Bag'), sometimes hauntingly beautiful ('Charlie Tango', 'Big L .'), or even infectiously danceable! (‘Tonny’, ‘Showgun’). Kameel plays music without compromises but with lots of humor.

Born in 2012 when the three were living in the same apartment building in Cairo's Agouza district, the trio's instrumental improvisation-based explorations are propelled by Louca's North African percussion loops and shimmering keys, Shalabi's West African tinged free jazz guitar and grounded by Bishop's driving Krautrock-style acoustic bass.