MUSIC

In preparation for their Japan tour with Grouper in April 2012, En (Maxwell August Croy & James Devane) defined the genesis for 'Blood'. Upon returning home, ideas developed from their performances were fleshed out and a new organism birthed. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma was sent parts of the completed En track, which he used to create 'Blood Variations'.

Try and up that feel-good jam and ride worlds with spinning city’s. Now delete scene. Where’s the fucking high?!

The rare 2015 masterpiece is reprinted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Constellation Tatsu! Here is the end of dub and ambient that permeates the SNS level. Maybe it's going to leap like Zonotope → Jerry Paper.

The rare 2016 masterpiece is reprinted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Constellation Tatsu! H.TAKAHASHI, an ambient musician / architect in Tokyo, draws a watercolor ambient image with roots in the aesthetics of Japanese "environmental music" under the direct line of Hiroshi Yoshimura.

I want to keep this one in my family. A collection of the finest synths and funk that you want to recommend to a wide range of music lovers! An emerging label / art collective based in Bloomington, Indiana, USA and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the Sam Gendel cassette work, which was an instant kill, has also been released. > The cassette that needs attention has arrived. Brazilian Rio de Janeiro musicians Gabriel Pessoa Guerra Calavanti and Lucas Andrade Ramos Caramuru De Paiv are cult labels launched there in 2013 when they were in their late teens and early 20s, respectively. > A cult label <40% Foda / Maneiríssimo>, a cult label that has been making great strides from modern funk / synth boogie to lefty house lovers. Arrived. With the support of the organizers Gabriel and Lucas, this gorgeous book features the songs of the label they love most. I've thought about this idea personally, but it's overwhelming! Symbolized by the smooth edges of jazz aesthetics, deep house like Larry Heard and Theo Parrish, mid-'90s video game BGM, library music, and the abundance of Hermeto Pascoal and Milton Nascimento. Electro-Funk ~ Balearic Boogie ~ Good house full of uplifting and humorous after New Age Revival, where even typical Brazilian jazz intersects! limited edition.

A Certain Frank is the Düsseldorf based duo of Frank Fenstermacher and Kurt “Pyrolater” Dalhke. Through the 80s and early 90s, they made speedy, wild coldwave as Der Plan, releasing music on their own label Ata Tak (which also released Oval’s wonderful debut ‘Wohnton’!). In the mid-90s, influenced by a lifelong love for the exotica and tiki bar jazz of Martin Deny and Les Baxter, the two formed A Certain Frank. Hence, the sounds of A Certain Frank are far warmer, sensual and sultry than that of Der Plan. “Without You,” from their 2001 album ‘Nothing,’ approaches something like Sade across its pulsating, truly gorgeous six minutes. And the New Age composition “Naïve,” from A Certain Frank’s 1996 debut ‘No End No…’ (and appearing on DSPs for the first time courtesy of your friends here at ULYSSA), drifts back-and-forth between enchanting flute lines and brooding, synth stabs. And then, there’s “Nothing,” a shadowy triphop earworm that stands confidently alongside the work of Skalpel or Portishead. Yes, A Certain Frank is that good and, sadly, that overlooked. In fact, taken altogether on ‘Ulyssa presents: A Certain Frank,’ it becomes quite clear that their austere dada experiments in electronic lounge and jazz are as curious and captivating as more celebrated albums like Nuno Canavarro’s ‘Plux Quba’ and Björk’s ‘Debut.’ The time has come to give A Certain Frank its due. ‘ULYSSA presents: A Certain Frank’ is the first time any of these songs have been released on cassette and the first time songs from ‘No End No…’ have come to streaming services. ULYSSA Season 2 begins here. Sploosh.

At its current upload clip, Spotify adds an estimated 50,000,000 songs to its catalogue every three years. It would take one person 83 sleepless days of endless listening to aurally ingest just one 24-hour cycle of new Spotify uploads. The truth is that only a tiny percentage of those songs (we heard someone say 5%) are ever listened to by another human being. It’s as endless and frightening as the cosmos — nay, death itself. Yet, down in that deep, digital Mariana Trench, that void of unlistening, there are untold startling and curious treasures — irreverent, enigmatic creators; wild-eyed, impractical romantics; undiscovered jazz savants; or maybe just some regular folks who wrestled lightning into a bottle just once then forgot where they put it. They’re truly all legends to us. We howl their names and speak of them as demigods. We’ve gone deeper than most would dare — digital residue forever under our fingernails — and have pulled these gems from the depths on this collection. Please enjoy some hotdogging & peacocking. 19 new dear friends await you.

Endless piano and tape loop variations by Australian composer and multi-disciplinary artist, Lisa Lerkenfeldt. A music for three pianos in the advent of isolation. A poem to Xerochrysum Viscosum, an everlasting daisy native to Melbourne, Victoria. An unfolding fantasy through the field of time. A proposal for multiple players and machines. 'A Liquor Of Daisies' is the prelude of Lisa Lerkenfeldt's forthcoming album 'Collagen', out summer 2020 on Shelter Press.iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 208px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=892168959/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless>A Liquor Of Daisies by Lisa Lerkenfeldt

Musician and composer Sahba Sizdahkhani serves as a unique crossroad of East meets West. Influenced heavily by both 1960’s spiritual free-jazz and Persian Classical Music, he channels the fire-energy and longing for connectivity these two stormy histories represent. At age 12, his self-proclaimed “aha moment” occurred while listening to The John Coltrane Quartet for the very first time. He was hooked and immediately began studies on jazz drum set and classical snare drum. As the years passed, however, his ferocious love of jazz and improvisation would open pathways and pointers to his native roots of Persian Classical Music, and eventually, he would begin formal studies on the Iranian santur with master santur player Faraz Minooei. Sahba has completed two separate Bachelor of Arts degrees: one at Berklee College of Music, in Jazz performance, and the other at The University of Maryland, in Art History & Archeology. He worked in Paris for several years in textile design but ultimately moved back to New York city to further pursue jazz drumming. He has composed film scores for Chelsea Winstanley (JoJo Rabbit), Whalerock Industries, maverick avant filmmaker Paul Clipson, as well as a live score performance for the Cinema 16 series in the legendary tunnel underneath the Manhattan Bridge. Additionally, Sahba has recently recorded with Michael Morley(Dead C) and currently has running musical collaborations with Derek Monypeny, Rob Magill, and Zachary James Watkins + Ross Peacock. He has shared live bills with a vastly diverse class of artists including Laraaji, C spencer Yeh, Susan Alcorn, Henry Kaiser, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Sunwatchers, Wizard Apprentice, Talibam!, Plankton Wat, Peter Brötzmann, and Don Dietrich (Barbetomagus). He has performed at The White House, Park Avenue Armory, Kennedy Center for the Arts, Basilica Hudson’s 24 Hour Drone Festival, WFMU live performance, “Fire Over Heaven” at Outpost Artist Resources, The Embassy of France, VOA studios, and Garden of Memory Festival at The Chapel of the Chimes. Sahba’s hazy, atmospheric solo performances with 104-string santour and drums have been described as “a dispatch from antiquity.” And WIRE magazine recently stated “Sahba Sizdahkhani starts playing [his] instrument as if he's pleading for his life. His playing is breathtaking. . .” This particular work, “GANJ,” which translates to “treasure” in Farsi, documents the magical first meeting between a musician and a new instrument. It is the first ever raw, unrefined recording of Sahba on solo santur as opposed to drum set. It was recorded in solitude during the Winter Solstice of 2019 without any prior training or study whatsoever on the mystical 102-stringed trapezoid dulcimer. The consequent emphasis due to lack of any technical skill, was pure sonics, overtones, resonances, and an homage to minimalist composers such as Terry Riley, La Monte Young, and early Miles Davis. Days after completing this work, Sahba rushed to seek out formal studies of the Persian Classical Radif with his current teacher, Faraz Minooei.

Vertical is Caterina Barbieri's debut album, composed for vocals and Buchla 200 modular synthesizer. Vertical takes a meditative approach to primary waveforms and the polyrhythm of harmonics, stretching the boundaries between drone, minimalism and techno in multichannel systems. This minimalistic focus arises from the polyrhythmic and stratigraphic potential of voltage-controlled sequencers. Synthesis, drone and immersive listening are three fundamental conditions to enhance an advanced auditory art, not based on extrinsic links, but solely built on the experience of the spectrum, able to develop our very limited ability of perceiving the vertical domain of music, involving us in a holistic way. Caterina Barbieri is a composer and performer of electro-acoustic music. Mostly interested in modular synthesis, three-dimensional spatialisation and psychoacoustic aural sculpture, her music arises from a meditative approach to primary waveforms and the polyrhythm of harmonics.. She received her degree in classical guitar and electro-acoustic music at the Conservatory of Bologna, Italy (plus an exchange program at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden) with a thesis about time, space and spectrum in vertical music. She's currently pursuing a bachelors in Literature and she's active as audiovisual artist, acousmatic composer and guitarist. Her work has been commissioned and performed in festivals and experimental music venues .

Atsuko Hatano is a contemporay classical Viola player who works with electronics to add textures and layers to her sound. Located in Tokyo, Japan, she is a commanding instrumentalist and composer who constructs innovative compositions with strings and layered electronics...... ...Cells #5 is an orchestral collection and sequel to her previous album Cells #2 which will also be released on cassette via Imprec’s Cassauna label. Cells #5 required three years to complete and the work features the artist’s signature methodology where the instrumental performances are gradually enveloped by multiple layers of a string orchestration. When not playing solo Atsuko is extremely active recording, collaborating and playing live with Jim O’ Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi, Mocky and many more acts. Atsuko Hatano: Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Piano (track 1), Xylophone, Oscillator and Chorus Guest Musicians: Eiko Ishibashi: Piano, Marimba, Vibraphone Yuko Ikoma: Accordion Natsumi Kudo: Horn and flugelhorn Icchie: Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet Tatsuhisa Yamamoto: Snare Drum Composed and Mixed by Atsuko Hatano Mastered by Jim O’Rourke Cover by Saskia Griepink

Recommended for all environmental music/ambient fans. Profound and beautiful. A split cassette by up-and-coming chill-out/ambient artists Ben Green and Body Corp, who released their debut album on Music Company in June this year, has arrived. This album was released as a charity project for the Dhadjowa Foundation. This is a long piece rooted in meditation, sleep, and relaxation. The Ben Green side, with its gentle, shadowy tones, leads the listener to a peaceful place, while the new age/ambient Body Corp side, with its radiant nostalgia, is heavenly beautiful. This album is recommended to listeners of Japanese environmental music such as Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satoshi Ashikawa, Loris S.Sarid, and H.Takahashi.

Daydream Nation was Sonic Youth’s sixth full-length, their first double-LP, and their last for an indie label before signing with Geffen. 

Widely considered to be their watershed moment, the album catapulted them into the mainstream and proved that indie bands could enjoy wider commercial success without compromising their artistic vision. 

More recently, Daydream Nation has been recognized as a classic of its era: Pitchfork ranked it #1 on their “100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s”; Spin listed it at #13 on their “125 Best Albums of 1985-2010”. Daydream Nation was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2006 and it was voted "One of the Greatest Albums of All Time" by Rolling Stone. 

The acclaimed and highly sought-after LP by Hailu Mergia and the Walias, Tche Belew, an album of instrumentals released in 1977, is perhaps the most seminal recording released in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution. The story of the Walias band is a critical chapter in Ethiopian popular music, taking place during a period of music industry flux and political complexity in the country. Hailu Mergia, a keyboardist and arranger diligently working the nightclub scene in Addis Ababa, formed the Walias in the early 1970’s with a core group of musicians assembled from prior working bands. They played Mergia’s funk- and soul-informed tunes, while cutting 45rpm singles with various vocalists. While the Walias performed at top hotels and played the presidential palace twice, their relationship with the Derg regime was complex, evidenced by the removal of one song from the record by government censors. Decades later, Hailu Mergia was surprised to see the album fetching more than $4,000 at online auctions (it helped that the most popular of all Ethiopian tunes “Musicawi Silt” appeared on the record). Now everyone has the chance to listen again―or for the first time―to this timeless pillar of Ethiopian popular music.

Benny says, “First and foremost, I’m a beat-maker. I started making music in the mid-90s while listening to De La Soul. When I write songs, I always start with the beat. Like a songwriter strumming their guitar, I drag kicks and snares.” After releasing his album Music in April 2021, Benny had several beats he hadn’t used, and decided to follow up his original self-released Beat Tape (2018) with a new collection. “The idea came to me to ask some rappers to join on the beats, to pay homage to where it all started: hip-hop. It was all very effortless, because there wasn’t a higher goal of wanting to write the perfect song. I was just having fun doing what comes naturally.” The many guests on Beat Tape II include British R&B singer JONES on “Look What We Do”, Stones Throw MC The Koreatown Oddity on “Song 13”, and Mocky, Cola Boyy, and Marc Rebillet on “Beat 100”. Kenny Beats produced “Don’t Look” with Cory Henry, while Canadian rapper and singer Rae Khalil appears on “Beat 5” and “CGEOOL”. PawPaw Rod, MadeInTYO, St. Panther, Oddisee and Faberyayo also feature. Benny says: “I feel so grateful to have all these new and established talents on here that make Beat Tape II what it is. I got people who are not very well known for rapping to rap. Mocky’s first albums, which I played a lot when I was younger, were rap albums, so it was great to ask if he would do that again, go back in time. Cola Boyy is a great singer, but his voice is perfect for rapping, so I was really excited to hear him do that. I’m also excited for my first collab with Kenny Beats. Hope this can be a start of some new stuff, who knows :)”

Don't miss it! Known for his collaborations with big names such as Ry Cooder, Vampire Weekend and Moses Sumney, and as the leader of the jazz trio Inga, he has been active in a variety of fields, from psychedelic to outsider to meditative. This is a follow up to his last album, which was self-pressed in 2018 and has been reprinted many times since then and is a huge best seller in our store. The collaboration with Sam Wilkes is now available on cassette from Leaving Records, and is a continuation of the previous album recorded between 2017 and 2018. The album is a confident work that combines a sophisticated jazz mind with a unique, experimental sound that is full of the free spirit of the West Coast, and sublimates it into a unique, even meditative, sound. The muffled sound image with a perfect balance makes the listener feel even better. Limited edition of 350 pieces. Whether you were baptized by the previous album, missed it, or haven't experienced it yet, this is a must-have album for this year.

Eleh's Polarizer is a two part series focused on the instant, simultaneous reality of the analog world. Polarizer I and II can be played/mixed simultaneously.

Eleh's Polarizer is a two part series focused on the instant, simultaneous reality of the analog world. Polarizer I and II can be played/mixed simultaneously.

Limited to 64 copies. A great mantras by American poet, musician, teacher and his lifelong ally Peter Orlovsky, who has collaborated with Allen Ginsberg many times, and allen Ginsberg and Maretta Greer. A fiercely deep album showing bells, harmonics, and a spiritual drone mantra sung by themselves, Recommended as a must-have item for all drone / avan lovers. Includes insert.

Pauline Oliveros and Guy Klucevsek's "Sounding / Way" was originally released on cassette in 1986 and has been out of print ever since. This LP was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing. The Sounding / Way concept was simple. Each artist would write a piece for two accordions and then they would perform them together. Thus, side A contains Guy Klucevsek's Tremolo No. 6 performed by Guy Klucevsek and Pauline Oliveros. Side B contains Pauline's composition The Tuning Meditation, also performed by both Pauline and Guy. This is the second release in an on-going effort between Important Records and the Pauline Oliveros Trust to maintain and promote the music, philosophy and legacy of Pauline Oliveros. Guy Klucevsek is one of the world’s most versatile and highly-respected accordionists. He has performed and/or recorded with Laurie Anderson, Bang On a Can, Brave Combo, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Rahim al Haj, Robin Holcomb, Kepa Junkera, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Present Music, Relâche, Zeitgeist, and John Zorn. Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer and humanitarian is an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades she has explored sound - forging new ground for herself and others. Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation she has created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly effects those who experience it, and eludes many who try to write about it. Oliveros has been honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern, or in the studios of West German Radio, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment is unchanged. She can make the sound of a sweeping siren into another instrument of the ensemble. "On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level." ~ John Rockwell "Through Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, I now know what harmony is. It's about the pleasure of making music." ~ John Cage

Pauline Oliveros' Tara's Room has long been a favorite in the Imprec office and it's a great honor to be able to release it on LP for the very first time. Tara's Room was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing. Originally released on cassette in 1987 following the 1986 release of "Sounding / Way" with Guy Klucevsek which is also available on LP via Imprec. (For more info scroll down past audio...._ "Both pieces are intended to aid the listener in times of spiritual change, but are just fine for 'everyday' use as well. Highly recommended." Charles S. Russell, Ear Magazine This LP features two long sides of infinite depth and sensitivity. Oliveros performs these pieces using a Just Intonation accordion and her Expanded Instrument System in order to bend both time and pitch. Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer and humanitarian is an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades she has explored sound - forging new ground for herself and others. Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation she has created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly effects those who experience it, and eludes many who try to write about it. Oliveros has been honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern, or in the studios of West German Radio, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment is unchanged. She can make the sound of a sweeping siren into another instrument of the ensemble. "On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level." ~ John Rockwell "Through Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, I now know what harmony is. It's about the pleasure of making music." ~ John Cage

a mixtape of old & new music + vocal versions recorded 2015-2021 vocals by Bogues, ELDON, Manonmars & Yeo Limone music by O$VMV$M tape design & layout by Joshua Hughes-Games printed at 16 Tonne Press, Bristol

‘we have angelo badalamenti meets king tubby at home’ or 'i’ve taken too much of my back medicine in the NCP car park’ seemed right to mark a year of expanding and shrinking time since our album so we took it and stripped it down over some last minute late night sessions, pulling things (inc. hair and teeth) out until something else was there. love to bridget, rax, seb, andy, dean for helping us to make it in the first place & endless love forever to jas, al and d for trusting me with their voices

Masami Akita is one of the most influential noise artists of our time. Known as Merzbow, Akita has developed a recognisable sound with his harsh, confrontational and abrasive sonic emittance. Lawrence English is a curator of sound, vision and thought. As the founder of Room40, English has released countless records and has worked alongside some of the most notable and adorned sound pioneers of our time – in turn becoming one himself. To coincide with Akita and English’s involvement in issue 02, English compiled a Merzbow Mixtape of hidden gems from Merzbow’s expansive archive.