The Squid's Ear
Recently @ Squidco:

Fire! Orchestra:
Echoes [2 CDs] (Rune Grammofon)

A monumental release from Fire! Orchestra led by Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin, in an expanded ensemble of 43 international musicians, with new members including Joe McPhee, for a massive work organized into seven parts, presented in a solid box set spread across 3 vinyl LPs of music with titles inspired by Swedish author & poet Erik Lindegren; magnificent! ... Click to View


Larry Ochs / Joe Morris / Charles Downs:
Every Day --> All The Way (ESP)

In their first collaboration, saxophonist Larry Ochs joins bassist Joe Morris and drummer Charles Downs for a dynamic collective setssion live in the Park West Studios, where the trio's spontaneous chemistry fuels a powerful session of free improvisation, drawing on deep experience, fearless exploration, and ESP-Disk's legacy of boundary-pushing artistry. ... Click to View


Sophie Agnel / John Edwards / Steve Noble:
Three On A Match (Otoroku)

Recorded live at Cafe OTO, the formidable trio of pianist Sophie Agnel, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Steve Noble delivers an explosive set of collective free improvisation, deconstructing their instruments into raw sound materials through playful intensity, percussive collisions, and a fearless, physical approach that dissolves the line between instrument and expression. ... Click to View


Eva Novoa:
Novoa / Kamaguchi / Cleaver Trio - Vol. 2 (577 Records)

Barcelona-born pianist Eva Novoa leads bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver in their second trio release for 577 Records, recorded in 2020 and blending melodic density with contrapuntal dialogue through a boldly experimental set on piano, Fender Rhodes, Chinese gongs, and improvisation, deepening the trio's inventive, textural interplay. ... Click to View


Fred Moten / Brandon Lopez:
Revision (Tao Forms)

Poet and theorist Fred Moten joins bassist Brandon Lopez in their first duo recording, a powerful and searching dialog of voice, text, and bass, recorded at Greyfade Studios, where Moten's incisive spoken word and Lopez's deeply expressive playing fuse into an evocative exploration of Black cultural production, resistance, and creative solidarity. ... Click to View


Fred Moten / Brandon Lopez:
Revision [VINYL] (Tao Forms)

Poet and theorist Fred Moten joins bassist Brandon Lopez in their first duo recording, a powerful and searching dialog of voice, text, and bass, recorded at Greyfade Studios, where Moten's incisive spoken word and Lopez's deeply expressive playing fuse into an evocative exploration of Black cultural production, resistance, and creative solidarity. ... Click to View


CHANGES TO blind (Phil Zampino):
Volume 9 - I Wave on a Fine Vile Mist (Squidco)

The ninth and first concept album from Phil Zampino's CHANGES TO blind project, composed from synthetics, samples, field recordings, plunders, and voice, draws on a childhood 10" circus record to explore life's strange loop through sonic experimentation, collage, and poetry-blurring memory, absurdity, and existential inquiry in a deeply personal, carousel-like narrative. ... Click to View


Satoko Fujii This is It! (w/ Natsuki Tamura / Takashi Itani):
Message (Libra)

A tour de force third release from pianist-composer Satoko Fujii's trio This Is It!, recorded in Tokyo with long-time collaborator Natsuki Tamura on trumpet and kinetic percussionist Takashi Itani, blending angular composition, fierce improvisation, and creatively spirited interplay into inventive, high-energy, and emotionally rich performances. ... Click to View


Thelonious Monk with Sonny Rollins :
1953 To 1957 Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Restoring and remastering three key sessions documenting the evolving creative relationship between Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, alongside artists including Julius Watkins, Ernie Henry, Oscar Pettiford, and Max Roach, in a vital revisitation of formative collaborations that highlight Monk's unique brilliance and Rollins' early improvisational voice within shifting post-bop ensembles. ... Click to View


Christopher Fox :
Dissenting Voices (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

The second set of compositions from Christopher Fox emulating the Subharchord's sonic architecture through acoustic means, performed by Dominic Lash on double bass, Elisabeth Flunger on bass drum, and Kathryn Williams on bass flute, drawing deep resonance from extended techniques and elemental gestures in a richly textural exploration of dissent, descent, and transformation. ... Click to View


Simon Nabatov:
Agree to Disagree (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Pianist Simon Nabatov leads three shifting ensembles through eight distinct compositions in this richly orchestrated and stylistically diverse studio recording, blending chamber elements and jazz improvisation with musicians including Angelika Niescier, Shannon Barnett, Pascal Klewer, and Roger Kintopf, as Nabatov explores contrasting textures, political undercurrents, and tonal interplay. ... Click to View


Von Schlippenbach, Alexander / Barry Altschul Quartet w/ Joe Fonda & Rudi Mahal:
Free Flow [2 CDs] (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

A first-time meeting of four free jazz luminaries — pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul, and bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall — captured live in Vienna, delivering a vibrant and exploratory double CD of spontaneous interplay, deep lyricism, and uncompromising freedom from a quartet of master improvisers united in real-time invention. ... Click to View


New Origin (feat. Christoph Rocher / Joe Fonda / Harvey Sorge):
The Poet Walks (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Formed from a transatlantic friendship and deep musical rapport, the trio of clarinetist Christophe Rocher, bassist Joe Fonda, and drummer Harvey Sorgen create an inspired and richly expressive set of improvisations, balancing melodic clarity and spontaneous invention in a lyrical program that reflects themes of presence, connection, and creative renewal. ... Click to View


Michel Doneda / Le Quan Ninh / Nuria Andorra:
El Retorn De L'escolta (A La Memoria De Marianne Brull) (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

A powerful live performance recorded at Barcelona's L'Auditori in tribute to the late patron of free improvisation, Marianne Brull, capturing the first meeting of soprano saxophonist Michel Doneda, percussionist Lê Quan Ninh, and Barcelona-based improviser Núria Andorrà in a set of radical listening and deep interaction exploring spontaneous collective expression. ... Click to View


Charlotte Hug:
In Resonance With Elsewhere (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Composer, violist, and vocal innovator Charlotte Hug presents her fourth solo album in a stunning multidimensional performance blending voice, viola, and spatial resonance, emphasizing her expanded vocal range across a set of immersive, sonically rich works drawn from her 2022 Ruhrtriennale commission and captured in vivid spatial detail at La Prairie in Switzerland. ... Click to View


Metal Chaos Ensemble:
Barsoom (Evil Clown)

Adapting to last-minute lineup changes, this Metal Chaos Ensemble session trades its typical sextet rock-influenced edge for a more textural, electroacoustic chamber approach, as PEK, Michael Caglianone, Bob Moores, Gabe Boyarin, and Mike Gruen conjure a richly layered sonic tapestry of winds, guitars, electronics, metal percussion, and narration within their aesthetic of spacey, chaotic improvisation. ... Click to View


Expanse:
The Insistence Of Cacophony (Evil Clown)

A spontaneous quartet improvisation navigating unexpected lineup shifts, this Expanse session brings together David Peck, Jonathan LaMaster, Michael Knoblach, and newcomer Cyrus Shauoul in a richly layered journey of electronic textures, percussive chaos, and unconventional instrumentation, blending horns, strings, and noise into an unpredictable and engaging sonic experience. ... Click to View


Turbulence:
Objections To Realism (Evil Clown)

Originally intended as a Leap of Faith chamber set, this richly detailed Turbulence quartet emerged from last-minute changes, assembling David Peck, John Fugarino, Tom Swafford, and Scott Samenfeld in a balanced wind and string ensemble for an intricate improvisation, blending strings, horns, electronics, and the evil clown arsenal of instruments in a texturally nuanced performance. ... Click to View


Leap Of Faith:
Crawling Into Consciousness (Evil Clown)

A seven-piece ensemble rich with seasoned Evil Clown regulars, this expansive session brings clarinetist David Peck and cellist Glynis Lomon together with horns, percussion, bass, and Jiaxin Wan's evocative guzheng, weaving long-form improvisation through shifting timbral landscapes, dynamic interplay, and a wildly imaginative palette of traditional, experimental, and eccentric instruments. ... Click to View


subservientdominance:
Publicdominance (Love Earth Music)

Live recordings from four Northeast U.S. performances by subservientdominance, the solo project of Doug DeWalt, blending power electronics, harsh noise, and deep vocal-driven textures into a visceral exploration of sonic dominance, with each set presenting a uniquely aggressive and immersive approach to raw electroacoustic intensity. ... Click to View


Wallmart / Rubbish:
Asset Protection [split CD] (Love Earth Music)

A split release pairing Rubbish's abrasive industrial textures with Wallmart's ambient dissonance, presenting six tracks that explore themes of consumerism and surveillance through experimental noise compositions. ... Click to View


Sorry For Laughing (G. Whitlow / M. Bates / Dave-Id / E. Ka-Spel):
Rain Flowers [2 CDS] (Klanggalerie)

Revived as an experimental supergroup by Biota's Gordon H. Whitlow, Sorry For Laughing brings together a unique cast including Edward Ka-Spel, Martyn Bates, Dave-id Busaras, Patrick Q-Wright, and Janet Feder in Rain Flowers, a two-CD album weaving post-punk echoes, poetic reflections, avant-classical textures, and psychedelic nuance into a vivid and surreal sonic garden. ... Click to View


Simulcrum:
Automatons (Evil Clown)

Originally intended as an octet, this quartet edition of Simulacrum features David Peck, Eric Dahlman, Robin Amos, and Michael Knoblach navigating a dense electroacoustic improvisation with expanded electronics, handmade instruments, and unorthodox sound objects, embracing radical lineup shifts and the spontaneous resilience of pure freeform experimentation. ... Click to View


Daniel Carter / Ayumi Ishito / George Draguns / Ed Wilcox:
Makeshift Spirituals (577 Records)

Uniting four visionary improvisers — Daniel Carter on trumpet, flute, and saxophones; Ayumi Ishito on saxophones and effects; George Draguns on guitar and bass; and Ed Wilcox on drums — this dynamic quartet merges free jazz, psychedelic textures, and experimental energy into a powerful collective session recorded at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Sound. ... Click to View


Josh Sinton:
Couloir & Book Of Practitioners Vol. 2 Book "W" [2 CDs] (FiP recordings)

Baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton continues his deep engagement with Steve Lacy's saxophone etudes in this 2-CD release, presenting fifteen spontaneous solo improvisations on Couloir, alongside a meticulous yet personal interpretation of Lacy's Book of Practitioners Vol. 2 "W", a suite of six structured études that explore sonic character through repetition, variation, and improvisation. ... Click to View


Hungry Ghosts (Yandsen / Svendsen / Nilssen-Love):
Segaki (Nakama Records)

Captured live in Austria during their 2022 tour, the ferocious trio of Yong Yandsen on tenor sax, Christian Meaas Svendsen on double bass, voice, and shakuhachi, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums conjure a visceral yet nuanced ritual of free improvisation, fusing Buddhist themes and extended technique into a raw, dynamic, and spiritually charged performance. ... Click to View


Steve Hirsh Trio w/ Eri Yamamoto & William Parker:
Root Causes (Mahakala Music)

An inspired session of spontaneously lyrical collective interplay from drummer Steve Hirsh with pianist Eri Yamamoto and bassist William Parker (also performing on gimbri), recorded in a single afternoon at Brooklyn's Park West Studios, presenting four fully improvised pieces that balance nuance, empathy, and depth with free yet cohesive expression. ... Click to View


Ramon Lopez :
40 Springs In Paris (RogueArt)

Celebrating four decades of artistic evolution, Spanish-born, Paris-based drummer Ramon Lopez presents a spontaneous solo performance recorded in just two hours, merging the rhythmic inventiveness of jazz with poetic intuition, drawing on global influences from India, North Africa, and beyond in a deeply personal synthesis of gesture, memory, and improvisational mastery. ... Click to View


Sindre Bjerga:
Decoy Sound (Love Earth Music)

Two live performances from Norwegian sound artist Sindre Bjerga, capturing his signature blend of cassette-manipulated drones, lo-fi electronics, abstract vocal elements, and field-recorded textures in evolving soundscapes that evoke intimate, surreal, and psychedelically fractured environments. ... Click to View


Last Action:
Alien Chrome (Love Earth Music)

Belgian sound artist Carlo Steegen delivers a solo work of dense, textural abstraction under his Last Action moniker, blending elements of noise, industrial atmospheres, and electroacoustic experimentation into a raw and immersive studio performance recorded in the summer of 2024. ... Click to View



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  SQE 1st bday January 29, 2004 (Anthony Coleman/Gary Lucas/Ron Anderson)  

Ron Anderson, Anthony Coleman and Gary Lucas to perform at the 1st anniversary celebration of the avant garde music magazine The Squid’s Ear.

The Squid's Ear 1st! January 29, 2004
8:00 pm
Issue Project Room
619 East 6th Street
New York, NY 10009
$10
map

The Squid’s Ear music magazine celebrates its first anniversary on January 29 with special performances by three of the musicians who have written articles for it during its inaugural year. Veteran guitarist Gary Lucas, a former member of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, pioneering downtown pianist Anthony Coleman and postpunk guitarist (now oudist) Ron Anderson will present solo sets at East Village gallery Issue Project Room to mark the birthday of the online publication.

Guitarist, composer, arranger and manipulator Ron Anderson plays “anything that can make a sound, including the recording studio. He has 42 recordings to his credit, including recent CDs with his group PAK and Jason Willett. Ron was a co-founder of the notorious noise rock group RAT AT RAT R in Philadelphia 1980, and in 1990 founded the bad-boy new music group The Molecules in Oakland, CA. He has also worked extensively with Tatsuya Yoshida and The Ruins, the French band Ulan Bator, and performed at the 2003 Victoriaville festival (in Quebec) with his group The Infusion. He has performed and recorded with James Chance, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, the Sun City Girls, Shelley Hirsch, The Poool, Otomo Yoshihide, Seiichi Yamamoto, John Zorn, Donald Miller, Daniel Carter, Terrie Ex and many others.

Gary Lucas got his reputation as a guitarist's guitarist during the five years he spent playing with his childhood hero, the avant-garde rock visionary Captain Beefheart. A graduate of Yale University, Lucas used to cut classes to sneak off to hear his hero play, and eventually recorded two albums ("Doc at the Radar Station" and "Ice Cream for Crow") with Beefheart and the Magic Band in the early 80's. In 1988, Lucas began a solo career with a show at the Knitting Factory, and was soon dubbed "guitarist of 1000 ideas" by the New York Times. Lucas’s talent and adaptability has led to his working with Leonard Bernstein, Lou Reed, Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, John Cale, DJ Spooky, Captain Beefheart, John Zorn, Patti Smith, Future Sound of London, Joan Osborne, Matthew Sweet, Iggy Pop, Bryan Ferry, Sophie B. Hawkins, the Mekons, Allen Ginsberg, Dr. John, Graham Parker, Bob Weir, and many others. In addition, he is part of a reunion of The Magic Band (without the participation of Captain Beefheart) which debuted live in the UK last April, where Gary plus some of the original classic Beefheart Magic Band members triumphed before 4,000 cheering fans at London’s Shepard’s Bush Empire and at the UK All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival. He was just cited by the editors of DownBeat Magazine as one of their “66 Hot 6-Stringers” alongside the likes of B.B King, John McLaughlin, Leo Kottke, Pat Metheny, Richard Thompson and others.

Keyboardist and composer Anthony Coleman has been an invaluable asset in the downtown scene for over 20 years. His encyclopedic knowledge and his proficiency as a player has allowed him to contribute to numerous experiments in different genres, from leading the bands Self-Haters Orchestra and Sephardic Tinge, to work with John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Dave Douglas, David Krakauer, Marc Ribot and others. His duo with Jazz Passengers saxophonist Roy Nathanson led to unique and charming recordings for Knitting Factory Works and Tzadik. Coleman has received commissions for his compositions from various ensembles including Bang On a Can, Concert Artists Guild, and The Crosstown Ensemble. His compositions can also be heard on harpist Carol Emanuel's Koch release, Tops of Trees, and Guy Klucevsek's accordian extravaganza, Manhattan Cascade, among others.

The Squid's Ear was founded in 2003 to provide intelligent and insightful coverage of New York's thriving experimental and avant-garde music scene and to create links with other avant-garde music communities around the world. The magazine is an outgrowth of Squidco, a website initially developed in 1995 to spread information about unusual music and arts to the online music community. Squidco also operates an online music store at .

The Squid's Ear models itself after print magazines in that it has cover stories and features presented on a roughly quarterly basis. It distinguishes itself by updating weekly with reviews, live listings, comics and news. To date five issues of The Squid's Ear have been published, with articles about New York sound galleries, the Victoriaville Festival, Peter Kowald, psychogeography, Encyclopedia of Jazz, British guitarist and composer Fred Frith, the Amplify 2003 festival, The Vision Festival, and an exclusive issue covering John Zorn's 50th birthday celebration at Tonic. We also have featured exclusive article written by such distinguished artists and bands as Butch Morris, Marc Ribot, Eugene Chadbourne, Jon Rose, Ikue Mori, Anthony Coleman, Ron Anderson, Gary Lucas and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. . Among the musician-written columns that regularly appear in The Squid’s Ear is the Bottom Shelf feature, in which artists are asked to share the “guilty pleasures” from their record collections. Anderson, Coleman and Lucas all wrote Bottom Shelf features during the first year of the magazine’s publication. The essays can be seen on the magazine’s website http://www.squidsear.com or by going to the following links:

Ron Anderson

Anthony Coleman

Gary Lucas

Issue Project Room provides an open and versatile space where both established and emerging artists can conduct, exhibit and perform new and site-specific work according to their respective visions. Through an evolving collaboration with curators, artists and educators, the Project Room fosters a wide-range of artistic projects that challenge and expand conventional practices in art. The Project Room fulfills its mission through a series of diverse programs, events, exhibitions, performances, talks and concerts. It is a filling zone for creativity where possibilities manifest openness for change, new perceptions and experiences. The programs presented are designed to invoke innovation and promote first time showings, rare artist appearances, one-off events and eclectic happenings.



Baby Squid by Madeleine Fix



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reviews about releases
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Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Satoko Fujii This is It! (
w/ Natsuki Tamura /
Takashi Itani):
Message
(Libra)



Sorry For Laughing (G. Whitlow /
M. Bates /
Dave-Id /
E. Ka-Spel):
Rain Flowers
[2 CDS]
(Klanggalerie)



New Origin (
feat. Christoph Rocher /
Joe Fonda /
Harvey Sorge):
The Poet Walks
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Simon Nabatov:
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(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Von Schlippenbach, Alexander /
Barry Altschul Quartet w/
Joe Fonda &
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Free Flow
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Thelonious Monk with
Sonny Rollins:
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Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Daniel Carter /
Ayumi Ishito /
George Draguns /
Ed Wilcox:
Makeshift Spirituals
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Kory Reeder:
Homestead
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John Cage:
Chamber Works 1943-1951
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Josh Sinton:
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Elliott Sharp /
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Measured Not Found
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Jean-Jacques Birge:
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Steve Lehman Trio +
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Un Drame
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Paul Flaherty:
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John Zorn (
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