BASIL KIRCHIN – Worlds within Worlds, vol 1. EMI SCX 6463, 33 1/3 rpm (UK), 1971

Very limited edition

This is one of the rarest beasts of European experimental music and one of the hardest to get in the respectively extensive Evan Parker and Derek Bailey discographies. And it’s a complete KILLER! Music is spectacular. Recorded at Pinewood Studios, London. Originally scheduled to be a soundtrack for a film, but made into this classic masterpiece of concrete music / cut up – collage piece. Animal sounds transformed into possibilities for improvisers to interact together with.

Definitely an experiment, but with an amazing result musically. This music sounds like definitely nothing else.

There is a vol 2 (part 3 & 4) released that is a bit easier to find with additional material from the same material and concept as vol 1(part 1 & 2).

Mutant Sounds explains:

“This was the 1971 predecessor to Kirchin’s much more well known/distrbuted Worlds Within Worlds Pts. 3 & 4 and involves a similar universe of grotesquely morphed and pitched sonic treatments, only here, legendary improvisors like Derek Bailey and Evan Parker are to be found growling, plinking and spluttering amidst this melee, making this a monster rarity for fans/followers of them as well.”

But the freshness and the attack of the ideas is mindblowing on vol 1. This is yet another holy grail of  music and unfortunately very very hard to come by these days.

Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide explains:

“In 1964, Kirchin began pursuing an approach he dubbed World Within Worlds — essentially, he began combining traditional instruments with wildlife sounds and the amplified noise of insects, painstakingly editing and manipulating the results to create beautiful yet utterly alien soundscapes that clearly anticipated the subsequent ambient experiments of Brian Eno, as well as a generation of electronic artists like Aphex Twin. Not until the Swiss tape recording manufacturing firm Nagra issued their next-generation tape machines and microphones in 1967 was Kirchin able to acquire the technology necessary to fully realize his vision — his source material grew more and more obscure, and his tape manipulations grew more and more extreme with each new project, discovering new “inner sounds” virtually inaudible at standard playback speeds.”

Basil Kirchin – composition and collage

Derek Bailey – guitar

Evan Parker – soprano sax

DON CHERRY – BENGT NORDSTRÖM – PSYCHOLOGY, Bird Notes BNLP3, (SWE) 1963

5 – 10 copies pressed, this is the only ONE with cover and the actual title of the album

This is nothing else then sheer music history and a fully amazing music adventure with one of the most fascinating voices of Swedish and European music history: Bengt Nordström on a Grafton plastic Alto sax encountering the legendary Don Cherry on trumpet in a 12 minute long duet… and it’s a spectacular event! A search… a travel…  between two great minds of improvised music. Naked and open…

A lot can be said about Bengt Bordström and  texts about him and his music will be published later on this site… there are many myths and many incorrect descriptions of his works and attempts…

But true is for sure that he was one of the first musicians ever focusing on solo saxophone playing. Free improvised and TOTALLY personal… and just… full of poetic beauty!

He did his first solo sax recordings already in 1962(!!!)… years before Braxton´s For Alto… and continues through the 60´s to develop his solo playing.

He also produced Albert Ayler´s first recording on his Bird Note Label: Something Different!!!!

But this is the BOMB: PSYCHOLOGY… with its unique hand made cover!

This legendary HOLY GRAIL was only pressed in a handful copies and there is only ONE copy that actually has a cover and the original title ”Psychology”. This copy.

The coverpainting is made by Bengt himself at the amusement park ”Gröna Lund” in 1963. And there are secret written messages made in very very little handwriting on the back of the cover…

Cherry and Nordström plays an amazing duet, opened up by a killin drum solo by Bo Skoglund! Not a logic start of a record like this…. But totally in the best Nordström manner!

The B –side – is a SENSATION of a recording and  a highlight of the Nordströms solo recordings. On the Grafton sax he creates music from a different planet… hilarious!

The other existing copies, we know for sure of 6 other copies… came in a plain white sleeves or more usually in the photo cover Nordström did for his classic ”Natural Music” LP… and he used that sleeve for basically all his alternative pressings.

There are approximatey 35 different matrix´s (sides)  cut of Nordström´s music… and he combined all these sides in different ways and manners… a discaholics nightmare!

Most of the runs were only made in a handful copies like the Don Cherry one… only one version (with the matrix nr 8A / 8D ) were pressed in 200 copies. The same number that the Something Different!!!! record was pressed in.

This completely mindblowing copy has its original art work pasted on brown card board and the design is made by a friend of Nordström: soprano sax player Håkan Friberg.

This is the ONE record that will never leave the collection…

Bengt Nordström – grafton alto sax

Don Cherry – trumpet

Bo Skoglund – drums (solo)

The psychedelic saxophone of Charlie Nothing, Takoma c – 1015, 33 1/3 rpm (USA) ,1967

Rare American LP

This is an odd one. Alto sax improvisations by Charlie Nothing.

Only accompanied by someone playing the gong, congas and banjo ukulele… Nothing himself  maybe???

Music is a research… but of what?

We have no idea of course… but we love this music and we love this release.

This music reminds of some of the solo sax adventure that Bengt Nordström was doing in Sweden in the mid 60´s. A unique and naïve approach to the material. Charlie Nothing doesnt have the same technical skills and imagination as Nordström. You can clearly hear the technical limitations…. BUT, this record is like nothing else… and a very important link in the history of solo sax improvisations. There is a clear Ayleresque attraction here… but also a very folkish touch to it all.

Released in 1967 on John Fahey´s legendary Takoma label!

A spectacular cover with a thick card board sleeve. The drawing made by Nothing himself.

Charlie Nothing, poet, sax player, bee keeper, music instrument builder and creator of the mighty Dingulator ( guitar sculptures made of American cars….)!!!!

When DC found this vinyl in California in a used record store in 1999…. We were told that this record had been sitting in the store since its release and it has been an ongoing joke among the staff, if this record at all would be sold…

Charlie Nothing – alto sax, gong, conga, banjo ukulele

GENYA S/T , TV man Union GNS – 1001/2, 33 1/3 rpm (JAP), 1971

Extremely rare japanese 2 lp set

Mototeru Takagi Trio

Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction

a.o.

This is something to go looking for… absolutely mind bending and dna changing music with a.o. Mototeru Takagi Trio – the MIGHTY tenor sax wailer – and the one – and – only Masayuki Takayanagi ripping the flesh outta his guitar like no one else before.

On top of that we have tracks of more psych/ prog character with Blues Creation, DEW, LOST AARAAFF and Zunokeisatsu… this is something WILD! All is GOOOOOOD! All is WILD!

This is one of the true holy grails of japanese experimental music!

Rare is just its middle name… and if you find it with an intact OBI… you are a lucky man or a woman!

The following informative text is by fellow discaholics at  Tilliqua records, Japan.

Legendary and historical recording that took place during three days in August 1971 as reaction against the scheduled enlargement of Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and subsequent expatriation of the farmers inhabiting the land. The festival brought together an amalgam of people, such as farmers, street beatnik hippies, student radicals and underground outsider musicians. This recording depicts the heated up atmosphere of the festival with its ideological arguments, angry insults and doomsday desperation hovering over the event. However, some staggering recordings by legendary artists were recorded for posteriori and are all included here, making hard-core music addicts and scholars of Japanese underground history quiet delighted. Released privately in 1971 in a tiny minuscule run, the disc collects a great selection of material and without a doubt the most insane piece of music on it is the side-long contribution by Takayanagi Masayuki and his New Direction Unit, flooding the gates of hell with his sonic assault that shook up farmers and student radicals alike, both parties failing to get a grasp on this sonic whirlwind of unrelenting power and soul scorching dementia. Other wild contributions are delivered by the Takagi Mototeru Trio, another prime example of Japan’s kerosene fuelled fire-music that whipped out the tails of any Mig fighter or B-52 that happened to cross the stratospheres high above the festival grounds. But that is not all, another staggering recording to appear on this record is the right in your face sonic assault performance by the first ever recorded ear imploding performance by Haino Keiji’s Lost Aaraaff unit, radical politically charged folk duo Zunokeisatsu, the heavy blues hitters DEW and Blues Creation, delivering wailing and electrically heated up performances, balancing on the verge of sheer riot, chaos and collective frustration. But that is not all, also the interactions, comments, verbal fights of student radicals, farmers and locals add as a great document to fully illustrate the heated up atmosphere of the festival. Listening to this, one comes to fully understand that Woodstock was for pussies

This vinyl has it all: rarity, beauty and raw power… smells good , looks good… and a very necessary piece of vinyl to have in order to survive!!! ESSENTIAL!

Mototeru Takagi Trio

Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction

Haino Keiji’s Lost Aaraaff unit

Zunokeisatsu

DEW

Blues Creation

a.o.

2 to 10 saxophone adventure, swing jazz journal jazz workshop:4, Philips FX – 8503, 33 1/3 rpm (JAP), 1970

extremely rare japanese lp!

This is a monster. another holy grail ( and there are a couple of them…) from the still very much ALIVE Japanese free jazz scene. A classic… heard about… but rarely seen…This beauty has it all… extreme rarity, amazing cover and just KILLIN music.

Reedman, the overlooked mindblower Takagi at his best… playing his bass clarinet to pieces, wailing ahead!!! with great interaction from masterdrummer Sabu Toyozomi. The interaction between the two is quite remarkable. really making a research together…. trying some low dynamic areas out and BURSTING out in extreme BOMBS and POPS.

spectacular music! The music is really allowed to take its time to develop… and that makes it so killingly great! Takagis bass clarinet is as piercing as his tenor used to be, but at the same time very open and warm…

This must be one of the most creative duos in this genre ever… and it is as rare as the music is good. u dig?

B -side is a larger ensemble led by Masabumi Kikuchi with ao Takagi, Toyozumi and Masahiko Sato —  also making resarch.. and it is very, very good and also allowing for the individual voices to come through. extremely interesting ensemble interaction ( with the help of the instant conducting ? )

and very well recorded as well…. a dream of a record…. an alltime favorite for DC!

Mototeru Takagi – bass clarinet

Yoshisaburo (Sabu) Toyozumi – drums

+

Masabumi Kikuchi – conductor and composition

Takeru Muraoka – ten sax

Hisahide Kato – sop sax

Mototeru Takagi – bass clar

Masahiro Suzuki – el piano

Masahiko Sato – piano

Kunimitsu Inaba – bass

Yasuo Arakawa – bass

Yoshisaburo Toyozumi – drums

Otsuka George – drums

17 internationales amateur jazz festival Zürich 1967, Ex Libris GC 400,  33 1/3 rpm (SUI), 1967

very  rare swiss anthology LP

This record consists of a variety of international amateur jazz tracks, some good some bad… but with ONE killer track….. with the legendary Lars Lystedt Unit… including the Swedish maestros Berndt Egerbladh on piano, Sten Öberg on drums and the ”Warewolf” from Saxnäs on alto sax : Lars Göran Ulander! Playing a Charles Lloyd composition in a super swingin and loose and warm take… amazing!!!

Lystedt is keeping the ship upside and moving and Ulander is taking off like a frenetic Lappish mosquito, finding his piercing lines of beauty, while Öberg is swinging madly.

The balance in this group is quite unique, free and open but always keeping it together.

This Umeå based group was way ahead musically early on… under the leadership of trombone player Lars Lystedt (that is still kickin butts in Umeå , way up north in Scandinavia) – drawing a lot of inspiration form the early groups of Charlie Mingus.

Egerbladh later made a career at the Televison and writing an amazing number of tunes and working in different context. Ulander is one of the best hidden secrets of European jazz and that goes for Öberg as well… in the Lystedt group everything came together.

Amazing super fluent and transparent solo by Ulander!!!!!

Lars Lystedt – trombone

Lars Göran Ulander – alto sax

Berndt Egerbladh – piano

Ray Carlsson – bass ?

Sten Öberg – drums

NB  — the rating is only for the lystedt track:

CYBERNETIC SERENDEPITY MUSIC, ICA 33 1/3 rpm, (UK) 1968

Extremely rare LP, 99 copies?

here it is… not many people have even seen it : CYBERNETIC SERENDEPITY MUSIC!

Music recorded at a gathering of computer based music at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 1968, Music composed with the assistance of Computers.

A variety of composers trying to use the computer as a tool for creating contemporary music,with  various levels of success. But all in all its VERY interesting document of a historical past with an amazing level of positive research.

The one track that draws the most attention is without doubt the track where  master improvisor  Derek Bailey is teaming up with master improvisor Evan Parker on record, for the first time (?). Also joined by the great Gavin Bryars (member of the mysterious and classic Joseph Holbrooke Trio with Bailey and with some very interesting  compositional sucess later on). Composer Herbert Brun, that Bryars got in touch with in the US prior to this recording, set up a composed piece with an alternative system of notation based on quarter tone tunings and extended rhythmic formulae.

The Music is spectacular!

Killin cover and  just an amazing overall feel to this rare piece of vinyl!

Herbert Brun – composition

Evan Parker  – soprano sax

Derek Bailey – guitar

Richard Howe- french horn

Gavin Bryars – bass

Bernard Rands – czimbalum

THE SME – Challange, Eyemark EMPL 1002, 33 1/3 rpm (UK), 1966

Very very rare UK LP

Another holy grail of british free music — the very first Spontaneuos Music Ensemble  (SME) record. And what a debut record! This is music that is in search of something… and it does find it. A music trying to define the rules, to define the music…. But always exploring and making research.

Few records has this amazing collision / conflict  of two different genres. On one hand it is free jazz,  inspired by their US collegues Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor… on the other hand this is the very starting point of something very new.

There is only a handful records made from this time that reflects this ”conflict” and this might be the most important one.

This ensemble was put together by the icon of british free improvised music, the teacher of them all:  drummer and improvisor John Stevens. Forming his first version of the SME . An ensemble that in such a remarkable way rewrote the whole history of music in the 60´s and 70´s.

But this rare piece of vinyl, with its remearkable constructive cover, is really one of the most important starting points of what to come.

And it SWINGS!

A very young Kenny Wheeler is playing phrases that can cut canadian timber down and the mighty Trevor Watts is delivering something very very unique and totally mesmerazing – his alto is yet piercing, yet warmer then british bitters –  on top of that we have a young Paul Rutherford (who later formed ISKRA together with Barry Guy and Derek Bailey) blowing  like no one else.

This is not just a document. This is another British CLASSIC!

John Stevens – drums

Kenny Wheeler – flugel horn

Paul Rutherford – trombone

Trevor Watts – alto and soprano sax

Bruce Cale – bass

Jeff Clyne – bass

DEREK BAILEY – ONE MUSIC ENSEMBLE , Nondo DPLP 002, (GB), 1974

Exteremely rare UK LP, 99 copies

This is one of the holy grails of European improvised music! And especially in the extensive Derek Bailey Discography, the others three being Cybernetic Serendepity Music, Basil Kirchin´s Worlds within worlds and of course the Incus Taps, The reel –to – reel tapes that was made on demand for a very short period by Derek himself.

The Nondo LP was made in only 99 copies in 1974 with solo music by Derek Bailey , recorded in 1973 , and with the label owner David Panton on the B – side, playing a variety of instruments.

It was quite common in the UK that records on smaller label were pressed in 99 copies only. This is because of the PRS regulations, the rules of the british copyright bureau, in order to avoid paying copyrights and taxes for the record, it was made in a run below 100 copies!

This music is something else! Very different form Bailey´s other productions from this time,  with his extreme  use of feedback… and the way he controls the feedback, how he makes music with every twist of the angle of his electric (!) guitar. This LP is woooooooorth looking for! It came in a variety of covers… always the yellow paper with it paper flip construction, but with different prints on top. We are showing two different versions here.

A CLASSIC!

Derek Bailey – guitar

—-

David Panton – piano, alto sax, perc, radio, oboe etc

ARCHIE SHEPP Quintet –  demo, 33 1/3 rpm, (USA), 1960/61 ?

One demo copy pressed on vinyl!!!

This is nothing else then a SENSATION! And rarer then…everything….

Free jazz at its absolute peak with a line up of Archie Shepp in best possible form on tenor sax, Steve Lacy (!) on a very very  creative soprano sax,  Roswell Rudd on trombone,  the mighty Dennis Charles on drums and Arthur Harper on bass —- what a line up!!!! Classic early free jazz!

Recorded in New York at the Bell Studios in early 60´s, judging the way the musicians play and the overall sound of the recording.

The music starts off a bit tentatively for a few seconds but then you are tossed straight back to the best of the 60´s free jazz scene. This is simply as good as it can get and it is very sad that it was never released officially. It is without a doubt Shepp´s date but with great support from Lacy and Rudd.  This recording which most certainly exists in only one copy……. Steve Lacy was contacted years ago about this session, but unfortunately he had no memories of the session.

A lost historical recording…. With KICK ASS music with a mindblowing version of Sophisticated Lady… they way it shold be played…

The  period before free jazz were established as a “music form”…. its all about research… and improvising…

What more is there to say ??? How would a cover have looked like to such an insane object?

our guess: pretty fuckin GOOD!!!!

Archie Shepp – tenor sax

Steve Lacy – soprano sax

Roswell Rudd – trombone

Arthur Harper – bass

Dennis Charles – drums

from the Björn Thorstensson Collection