MUSIC

Who do we become when we live our dreams? It's all here - the high hairdos, the dreams and schemes, the tender camp, the wedding bell fantasias and chaste tragedies. Sister acts, studio receptionists, classmates, angelic voices of the 1960s; some legendary, many hidden in the basement of expired rainbows.

The third installment of Numero’s ode to lowrider souldies, Rust Side Story compiles highly sought after sweet soul singles from the Buck Eye State. Prepare for a low and slow ride from Youngstown to Dayton, Cleveland to Columbus, Toledo to Cincinnati, all soundtracked with silky falsettos and dreamy harmonies.

"The Harlem Gospel Travelers are not from Harlem. They came to Harlem, however, from far-flung corners of the five boroughs of New York City, and it was in Harlem, that legendary center of African-American culture, that they found their voices. As members of the music education program Gospel For Teens, these young men spent many hours on the subway or the bus to ultimately end up at an unassuming brownstone on W. 126th Street. They walked through the red door at the parlor level, the one with the cross on it, and inside they found a world of music. Gospel music. As their teacher, my job was less to impart information, and more to show these talented young men what they already knew. They already knew how to sing, that much was obvious, but it was here that they learned what their voices could really do and how to use them. We listened to the music of the masters: The Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, The Violinaires and The Swanee Quintet, and these young men, really boys at the time, soaked it all in. They quickly moved from imitation to creation, writing their own songs and building original arrangements of traditional material from the ground up. They honed and tightened their harmonies. They learned when to shout and when to whisper. What you have before you is the distillation of all their hard work -- the first full-length album from The Harlem Gospel Travelers. Each member of the group gets a chance to lead here, and each gets to showcase his unique and individual voice. Their styles are already fully formed at such an early age (the youngest member is 18, the oldest just 21), and they use them here to great effect. Each song has a purpose, but the goal of the album as a whole is simple: to glorify the name of God and to sing His praises. We hope you like the music included on “He’s On Time," but more than that, we hope it lifts up your spirit and brings you joy for years to come." - Eli "Paperboy" Reed

The Manchester based artist Craig Tattersall returns to the label with 2 longform compositions centered around piano. The compositions were generated by birds which were captured by a contact mic attached to his garden bird feeder. These initial recordings were partly included in the final recordings adding an organic and intimate touch to the music. Hence, the album presents itself as a more outside experience and complements the Autumn season quite well.

The Humble Bee is the pseudonym of Craig Tattersall, one of Britain's leading ambient writers, who has left outstanding works for famous groups such as The Boats, The Remote Viewer, and The Sea. The 2019 masterpiece cassette album "things are sweeter when they're lost" from Belgian prestigious has been repressed as the 2nd edition after a long absence. A gem of an ambient work released in 2019 as a limited numbered edition of 75 handmade artwork specifications, reissued in a limited edition of 150 copies.

Thanks to all my dear friends and the wonderful people at Dauw. The limited edition tape was given away as a present to thank everyone for the support during Dauw's second year.

thanks: all at dauw, ​a,a,a,e,t,b,l,j and r

Face is a synthbathed meditation on decay and acceptance and shows the typical Jogging House sound in which warm soundscapes are mingled with soft and playful melodies. Boris Potschubay is a German musician based in Frankfurt am Main. Besides his own music, Potschubay curates his own label, Seil Records which forms a home for Hainbach, KMRU among others. Jogging House debuted in 2011 and brought us more than a dozen releases in the meantime. Listening to all the records chronologically one after the other, demonstrates us how Potschubay is experimenting a wide range of sound sources and creates a variety of atmospheres but stays true to its own individuality.

In the wake of their acclaimed comeback album 'Figures' (2020), Aksak Maboul took a playful sideways step to create this total work, a 63-minute, continuous suite of fifteen pieces, which could be described as an experimental audio play.

The thread running through 'Une aventure de VV (Songspiel)' is Véronique Vincent’s text, an enigmatic philosophical-poetical tale unfolding through monologues and dialogues, spoken and sung by a series of characters, played by Alig Fodder, Laetitia Sadier, Audrey & Benjamin from Aquaserge, Don The Tiger, Blaine L. Reininger, and the members of Aksak Maboul’s current live band: Faustine Hollander, Lucien Fraipont & Erik Heestermans.

The music was written & arranged by Marc Hollander and features his characteristic genre-hopping tendencies: strands of electronica, pop, jazz, collage, techno, ambient, improv, krautrock, contemporary classical & systems music are merrily woven together, in the inimitable Aksak Maboul style.

The album’s subtitle, 'Songspiel', highlights its theatrical/musical aspect: the work pays oblique homage to the those experimental radio plays that once emerged from the creative workshops of the BBC, the RTF and the RAI, and especially to those German Hörspiels which, at their best, might combine spoken word, instrumental or electronic music, songs and sonic research.

Une aventure de VV also modestly alludes to certain stage works written by adventurous composers during the first half of the 20th century, which embraced singing, spoken dialogues and elements inspired by popular music. Those composers sometimes invented genre names to describe their pieces: fantaisie lyrique, mimodrama, or... songspiel). 

The first Huerco S. album in 6 years, glyding into new territory with a pool of glassy synths, padded subs and cascading arpeggios, pretty much unlike anything Brian Leeds has made under any alias. "His sound palette has broadened to absorb and refine trap’s un-smeared geometrics and drill’s taught rhythms amongst the gaseous bodies and soul-piercing ambience that has garnered such acclaim; Where those previous veins were rooted in the pre-Columbian civilizations of his native Kansas, Plonk reflects the mournful sodium glow of cities at night, street corners that light up with painful moments of clarity you wish would disappear."

A companion to “The Catburgers - Dreamworld Sessions”, this cassette-only release was recorded at The Rocking Horse Studios in Bathgate in Autumn 1986. The audio is restored from a demo tape owned by journalist Simon Reynolds and contains some of the tracks that made it onto the FELT003.

'Single' isn't just a reissue of Pub's similarly-titled 2002 set, it properly rounds up the Glaswegian dub techno reductionist's first three 12"s and adds a couple of vinyl exclusives. Long-form blunted dancefloor haziness never sounded so lovely: imagine Various Artists/T++, The Black Dog, BoC and Manuel Göttsching locked in a room wth some synths, drum machines and echo boxes. Hot on the heels of last year's much needed 'Do You Ever Regret Pantomime?' reissue comes this equally levitational set of Caledonian miasma, remastered at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering. It's the best way to widen yer appreciation of the Ampoule boss's early work, especially if you've only come across his debut album and the 'Summer' EP. 'Single' is basically a photo album of Pub's earliest experiments, and kicks off fittingly with 'Lunch', from his 1999-released 12" "Lick/Lunch". When that record originally dropped, Pub was only 18 years old and was penning his extended dub-phoric jams on a single synthesizer/workstation. The rudimentary DIY methodology adds to the raw emotionality of the material. It sounds as if Pub is very slowly conducting the loose, trance-influenced arpeggios and dusty rhythms and shifting them carefully in-and-out of frame on the fly almost like Manuel Göttsching on the Biblical "E2-E4". There's a physicality to the music that sounds alien in an era where DAWs are practically unavoidable, and it's sobering to recall. 'Springing Daisy's' is a truncated version of the "Springing Daisy's Mix" of 'Film' (from 2002's "Derail" 12"), turning up on "Single" again to close the collection, shortened from almost 15 minutes to 10 and aptly renamed 'Short Film'. Both versions center around Pub's innate ability to take basic ingredients - in this case a single melodic loop and a distorted T++ style rhythm - and sublime them into gaseous traces of their constituent parts. 'Springing Daisy's' is the "pop" version - short, sharp, beat heavy - and 'Short Film' (a vinyl exclusive) is the abstracted, Basic Channel-influenced inversion, detuning the melody and torching the rhythm into an acidic fizz. 'Derail' is included too, and has never sounded better, showcasing Pub at his most dissociated and melancholy with a distant BoC hum couched in a thick fog of reverberating resonance. 2003's 'Surgery' rounds up the early run, and displays Pub's artistic progression, moving a few steps out of the murk and allowing the drums to push into near-dancefloor territory on the title track. And the new edition is finished off with the trancey 'Kamikazi', a track from the original "> Single" that's never made it to vinyl before.

On 29th September 2017, Iglooghost will release his debut album “Neō Wax Bloom”, almost two years to the day since he made his debut as a teenager on Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder imprint with the “Chinese Nü Year” EP - four tracks documenting the time-traveling adventures of a gelatinous worm-shaped creature called Xiangjiao. Expanding on this story, “Neō Wax Bloom” follows the events surrounding two giant eyeballs crashing into the mysterious world of Mamu. Across its 11 tracks, Iglooghost builds a typically intense, hysterical, borderline batshit crazy soundtrack, introducing new characters to his fantastical world and inviting back old friends Mr. Yote and Cuushe for the ride.

In the words of Iglooghost:

“When a pair of giant eyeballs crash into the strange, misty world of Mamu, the mysterious forces that govern nature itself are disrupted. A life cycle of transforming creatures is thrown off balance, and the odd looking inhabitants of Mamu are forced to adapt to this calamity. These inhabitants include Yomi - a multicoloured pom-pom monk; Lummo - a wise blind witch training a band of melon coloured babies; and Uso - a sneaky bug thief hidden in a green cloak - as well as many others. As their respective stories begin to interlock, the mysteries surrounding the giant eyeballs are slowly revealed.”

Featuring artwork by Iglooghost, the vinyl format includes a large format 12-page Riso printed comic booklet and “Neō Wax Bloom” character sticker sheet. 

The Smile have today confirmed details of a limited edition, vinyl only live EP, titled Europe: Live Recordings 2022, out 10th March via XL Recordings. True to its title, the EP is comprised of live recordings of fan favourites from The Smile’s widely acclaimed debut album, A Light For Attracting Attention, as well as the band’s rendition of Thom’s 2009 solo track FeelingPulledApartByHorses. Europe: Live Recordings 2022 was recorded in various cities over the course of The Smile's first ever tour last summer.

Full tracklist here:
A1. The Opposite
A2. Thin Thing
A3. FeelingPulledApartByHorses
B1. The Same
B2. Waving A White Flag
B3. Free In The Knowledge

In 2021, we started the Mdou Moctar mixtape series. These releases compiled field recordings, cell phone voice memos, interview clips, conversations captured in the tour van, and blown-out board recordings from shows all over the world. As a continuation of those mixtapes, we present the Niger EPs, which examine the roots of the Mdou Moctar band. Early Mdou recordings were contained on cassettes, though the humble tape was soon replaced by the quick and easy facility of cell phone technology. 

Long bus rides are common in West Africa. On one of these rides, you might be seated next to a stranger and ask ‘what are you listening to?’, then a song exchange would begin over Bluetooth. This is a very real way artists found their music distributed far from home. In that vein, the Niger EP series features solely recordings taped in Mdou Moctar’s home country of Niger. Volume 1 begins the series with a mix of recordings from 2017- 2020, documenting the band at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and even impromptu house concerts. A must have for any Mdou Moctar fan!” 

- Mdou Moctar bassist Mikey Coltun

Originally released as an obscure private-press LP by the Florida trio of Ben Champion, Ken Burkhart and Danny Burger. Special guest on this super rare funky jazz outing is Mike Longo who says a few words on behalf of the group on the back cover, and sure enough he contributes scorching Rhodes in the style of his early 70s Greasy Groove sides for Groove Merchant and Mainstream. Also on board are Kelton Champion on guitar, Gary Champion on Bass, Mickey McGann on keys and David Winters on Congas and Percussion: (Just what we love to see on these kind of grooves. Added Phat Funkiness!) The 20 minute title number weaves, bobs, and scorches with a sound that has been described as a "Headhunters Headspace" the groove never dropping for an instant with a Fender Rhodes meets Hammond B3 Prestige Style Scene with an added flavouring of some chunky Moog Synthesizer. This has gotten a lot of chatter on the underground Jazz Vibes lately, copies changing hands for $300 and more. The track "These Are My Friends " regularly sells for upwards of $500 and is one of the most hard to find singles on the Rare Soul circuit. The band are from South Florida, a well known melting pot of culture and music.This area has produced an impressive number of Super Star Jazz Musicians. Among them Cannonball Adderly, Blue Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius, and Mike Longo and a multitude of others. Jazzberry Patch can now be added to that roster with this fantastic re-issue from Jazz Room Records.

Spells is the debut release by Los Angeles based multi-instrumentalist and composer Nailah Hunter on Leaving Records. Each of the EP’s six tracks represent a spell, a unique sonic place forged by imagination and incantation. Ambient in nature, each spell highlights Hunter’s skills as a composer. “It really started off with me just wanting to kind of reclaim the way that I thought about creating music and then also performing it,” Hunter says. “I was like, okay. I need to get back to the basics of why I like to create and what it does for me … so I set out to make spells, in the sense that each layer is one of the steps in incantation... It became about purpose... the procedure and the ritual, so that when it came to performing it, I wasn’t able to get into my head about it because I was just carrying out these steps. Each track is its own incantation, its own spell, its own world.” Colorful atmospheres permeate Spells, each track offering tranquil, reflective setting. Hunter explains, “Another thing that I always wanted to focus on and through making this project have sort of been able to name is that, I like to create places, songs as locations ...whether there are field recordings [involved] or not.” Opening track “Soil” is accompanied by a poem: “a seed is sown, a song from silence.” Its beautiful harp and angelic voices establish the album’s mode of beautiful stillness. This is followed by “Ruins,” a tranquil soundscape abetted by insect field recordings and a slightly warped, heaven-bound trajectory, described by Hunter as a love spell. “Another thing that’s really important to me about my relationship with music is synesthesia. It’s all very palette based... For the song “Ruins,” it comes on like magenta and clementine.” On the colors present in the single “White Flower, Dark Hill,” Hunter describes “the idea of the purples and navies of the night sky and the way that shadows appear under full moonlight, the different shades of moonlight, and how it always brings out the color white.” Each track’s nuanced production and big, emotional sounds do carry a charged energy, colorful and magnetic. The shifting phases and sustained drones of “Enter” mimic the feeling of approaching and walking through a rift into a fantastical world. The listener is advanced into album highlight “Quiet Light,” which Hunter states captures, “that feeling of being like golden light in a cold still pool of water, this very specific image and feeling that I just love so much.” Spells is a powerful opening statement that uses this musician's innate artistic gifts to promote healing and self awareness. Of the album’s inspirations, she adds, “definitely rune magick and just the idea of creating places of rest … sonic places of rest, places to ponder and consider your feelings. Me making music, it’s always been about healing for me and making myself feel better. If other people listen to it and also feel better, then that is delightful.”

版元完売。90年代後半、Torsten Pröfrock（Dynamo）が立ち上げた聖地〈DIN〉からリリースを始動、MonolakeやPoleらと並び、ドイツから発信されるIDM/グリッチ・サウンドの質の高さを世界へと知らしめた才傑Arovane。60年代半ばに生まれたミュージシャンでありサウンド・デザイナーである彼がフランスのアンビエント系名門レーベル〈LAAPS〉から2023年にリリースした最新アルバム『Sinter』のCD/LP版をストックしました。 Boards of Canada や Autechreと並んで言及されることの多いArovaneのサウンドは、彼の固有のメランコリックなメロディー、高度なテクスチャー、複雑なポリリズムによって今も数多くのリスナーに愛され続けています。Taylor Deupreeによるマスタリング仕様。LP版は限定300部。

Since 2008, "438Hz As It Is, As You Are" is "only" the third solo release from Tomoyoshi Date. The last one dates from 2011. Less is more. In parallel, from 2013 to 2021, he has recorded some releases in collaborations with Toshimaru Nakamura, Ken Ikeda, Stijn Hüwels, Asuna and Federico Durand. "This record was recorded on Diapason's upright piano made in the 1950s at the house of his maternal grandmother's sister (*). The piano has moved and tuned many times, and now it has arrived at my living room. It was a pre-mass production piano with a thick board and good sound, but I couldn't tune it without replacing the screws and the weakened base. After consulting with the tuner, I decided to tune the whole tune to the sound of the strings wound around the loosest and most inseparable screws. "As it is" * Mikiko Yamada: A performer who formed a Japanese music group of contemporary Japanese music in 1964 and made Biwa the first five-line score. She also had a samisen, so I called her "Aunt Pen Pen". Her husband was a shakuhachi player, so she was "Uncle Boo Boo". When I tuned in the summer, I tried to tune at 442kHz, but I changed the tune in the winter to 438kHz. From now on, the pitch of this piano will decrease year by year as the material ages. I will play the decaying piano and continue to record music that can only be done at that time. When you drop a needle on a record, a sound is produced on the spot, and the sound constantly changes depending on the air, temperature, and humidity around the needle. The sound also affects all of the listener's life, affecting the frequency of the person's body and mind. The effect of the sound once generated will last forever. This work was created with the intention of having the listener adjust the pitch at the desired speed according to the mood and frequency of the listener at that time. With a little faster 45 turns, you can listen to this dilapidated piano at 440kHz or 442kHz. You can slow it down, or adjust the number of rotations as you like, whether it is 33 rotations early or late. I really like the stretched sound of the recorded piano. When you want to relax, use slow music to adjust the pitch of the space around you, the creatures, and your own body and mind. "As You Are" Tomoyoshi Date

The first volume in a survey of a form of Brazilian country music known as música caipira ("hillbilly music") - a stripped-back forerunner to música sertaneja, the Brazilian equivalent to US country & western which in it's contemporary form has come to dominate the domestic music industry in recent decades. This collection covers some of the earliest recordings made by the pioneering folklorist Cornélio Pires at the end of the 1920s, through to records from the 30s, 40s & 50s and the beginning of the 60s. Somewhat rooted in Portuguese troubadour folk traditions, música caipira is typically performed by a duo singing in parallel thirds and sixths, drawing upon a Portuguese-Brazilian style known as moda de viola - with the viola being the viola caipira, a Brazilian-style ten-string guitar that is the core instrument of the music. Born out of the "outback"-style region in north-eastern Brazil, these songs tell stories of pain, love, loss & betrayal - often backed by homemade guitars using invented tunings. Away from the polished pop country & western-stylings of the sertaneja, these recordings could be viewed as the Brazilian equivalent to the roots music of the American dustbowl or Appalachia.

For the past 20 years Nostalgia 77 has become a catch all for the musical life of Benedic Lamdin. His schizophrenic offerings range from songwriting sessions, soundtracks, excursions into Soul and in this case Jazz. The Loneliest Flower in the Village is an album that sees Lamdin reunited with longtime collaborator and arranger Riaan Vosloo and experienced veterans from a host of Nostalgia 77 projects. 'It had been a long time since we'd gigged or recorded so the idea was as much a little reunion in the studio as any grand plan to record an album' says Lamdin. 'The idea wasn't to do anything new (the material is both a few originals and a few covers), more just hear these players and their easy familiarity with each other after the disruption of Covid'. Playing a clutch of originals by Riaan Vosloo and James Allsopp and covers by long term influences from South Africa such as Chris MacGregor and Abdullah Ibrahim, the emphasis is on strong melodies and open reaches for the soloists. The title track draws upon the song written by South African bassist Johnny Dyani and the result is spectacular; British jazz at heart but awash with references to South Africa and its strong jazz heritage. 'I'm pleased to say that I think this record is the best account of how the band (playing in this lineup since about 2010 ) sounds live. Full of energy and ranging from serene to firing on all cylinders.'

Veils Of Transformation 1972 - 1980 is a collection of the earliest works of Gregory Kramer, one of the 20th century masters of textural electronic music. This collection is available on CD and cassette with liner notes from Gregory Kramer and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who first brought this fascinating work to the attention of Important Records. “Greg is one of the pioneers of electronic music and these pieces are unique opportunities to discover how intricate and dynamic early synthesizers are.” Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Kramer developed a musical language focused on continuous transformation of timbre, yielding a continuity of attention. This musical language, formed of timbral change, is a compelling aesthetic in its own right and a source of meditative experience. The four works on this album share a deep sense of order derived not from organizing pitches or rhythms, but from the evolution of timbre itself. Gregory Kramer (b. 1952) is a pioneering electronic composer, inventor, researcher, teacher and author. In 1975 he co-founded Electronic Musicmobile, a synthesizer ensemble later renamed Electronic Musicmobile, a series of synthesizer concerts in New York from which he formed the Electronic Art Ensemble, a highly regarded all electronic quartet. His work extended to developing synthesizers and related equipment. Kramer also co-founded the not-for-profit arts organization Harvestworks in New York City. He is recognized as the founding figure of the intensely cross-disciplinary field of data sonification. Since 1980, Kramer teaches Buddhist meditation. The four compositions collected here each represent Kramer’s unique approaches: The structure of Meditations on 32 Parts of the Body (1978) is derived from the means of its production. Recording 5 people chanting an ancient meditation text, then layering to gradually achieve more than one million voices. The layering was all done using analogue tape recorders. The decomposition of the sound reflects the anomalies of tape machines out of sync, and the build up of artifacts from the audio tape itself, such as uneven response curves and tape hiss, are all engaged as musical materials. Role (1972) was generated using one complex patch on a large hybrid Buchla 200/100 system. Emerging from a zeitgeist that valued pure synthesis as a combined artisztic and technological research. At the time this piece was realized its as exceedingly difficult to produce electronic sounds that were internally complex. Blue Wave (1980) is built on Kramer’s timbral development technique Veils Of Transformation which allows for disparate timbres to be woven into a continuously developing sound. Monologue (1977) is a virtuosic performance of a massive patch on a Buchla/Electron Farm hybrid electronic instrument. Built into the patch is a pathway for continuous transformation of voice and voltage-controlled synthesizer. The blunt, raw and sometimes harsh sounds of this piece reflect an attitude prominent among composers that music can, or even should, be difficult, contrary to what’s already been done and, by all means, new.

Veils Of Transformation 1972 - 1980 is a collection of the earliest works of Gregory Kramer, one of the 20th century masters of textural electronic music. This collection is available on CD and cassette with liner notes from Gregory Kramer and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who first brought this fascinating work to the attention of Important Records. “Greg is one of the pioneers of electronic music and these pieces are unique opportunities to discover how intricate and dynamic early synthesizers are.” Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Kramer developed a musical language focused on continuous transformation of timbre, yielding a continuity of attention. This musical language, formed of timbral change, is a compelling aesthetic in its own right and a source of meditative experience. The four works on this album share a deep sense of order derived not from organizing pitches or rhythms, but from the evolution of timbre itself. Gregory Kramer (b. 1952) is a pioneering electronic composer, inventor, researcher, teacher and author. In 1975 he co-founded Electronic Musicmobile, a synthesizer ensemble later renamed Electronic Musicmobile, a series of synthesizer concerts in New York from which he formed the Electronic Art Ensemble, a highly regarded all electronic quartet. His work extended to developing synthesizers and related equipment. Kramer also co-founded the not-for-profit arts organization Harvestworks in New York City. He is recognized as the founding figure of the intensely cross-disciplinary field of data sonification. Since 1980, Kramer teaches Buddhist meditation. The four compositions collected here each represent Kramer’s unique approaches: The structure of Meditations on 32 Parts of the Body (1978) is derived from the means of its production. Recording 5 people chanting an ancient meditation text, then layering to gradually achieve more than one million voices. The layering was all done using analogue tape recorders. The decomposition of the sound reflects the anomalies of tape machines out of sync, and the build up of artifacts from the audio tape itself, such as uneven response curves and tape hiss, are all engaged as musical materials. Role (1972) was generated using one complex patch on a large hybrid Buchla 200/100 system. Emerging from a zeitgeist that valued pure synthesis as a combined artisztic and technological research. At the time this piece was realized its as exceedingly difficult to produce electronic sounds that were internally complex. Blue Wave (1980) is built on Kramer’s timbral development technique Veils Of Transformation which allows for disparate timbres to be woven into a continuously developing sound. Monologue (1977) is a virtuosic performance of a massive patch on a Buchla/Electron Farm hybrid electronic instrument. Built into the patch is a pathway for continuous transformation of voice and voltage-controlled synthesizer. The blunt, raw and sometimes harsh sounds of this piece reflect an attitude prominent among composers that music can, or even should, be difficult, contrary to what’s already been done and, by all means, new.

The Well & The Gentle, two of the major works of Pauline Oliveros, are presented here in a first time reissue on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes. If Oliveros had followed a more conventional path she may have, all social obstacles aside, been considered among the major composers of her time. However, Oliveros approached composition in a more egalitarian manner. She wrote music for musicians to interact with or, in the composers words, she wished to create "an inclusive and interdependent and unfolding world of relationships." Oliveros' propensity towards inclusion is part of what makes this work so remarkably distinctive. The Well & The Gentle is carefully crafted, allowing performers to participate in the creation of the work. Players are asked to collaborate, focus, react and make imaginative choices. Only then can the performers "pass through stages of awakening to the possibilities inherent in making music, working together, leading to the essence of what can shape musical impulses and individual freedom simultaneously." Unlike most major composers of the era, Oliveros' work focuses on collaboration and improvisation. For Oliveros, the processes involved in making music are as fundamental as the music itself. Oliveros creates, as Arthur Sabatini put it so eloquently in the liner notes, "A world in which sound and the practices entailed in making music merge; become, at once, source and atmosphere, energy and essence, presence and dynamic." Pauline Oliveros was an electronic music pioneer, accordionist, composer and educator who resided in Kingston, New York. Her instrument was tuned in Just Intonation and she often included it in her meditative improvisational music. Her music is not meditative in the sense that it is intended for listening to while meditating, rather each piece is a form of meditation, such as her aptly titled Sonic Meditations. A central figure in post-war electronic art music, Oliveros is one of the original members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center (along with Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Anthony Martin), which was the resource on the U.S. West coast for electronic music during the 1960s. The Center later moved to Mills College, where she was its first director, and is now called the Center for Contemporary Music. Oliveros often improvised with the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic signal processing system she designed, in her performances and recordings.