A beautiful, otherworldly set from Greek violinist, improviser, sound artist and composer, Dimos Vryzas. Recorded at OTO in January 2023, Vryzas weaves a beguiling web of sonic textures from his violin, blurring the boundaries between the acoustic and electronic parts of his set-up from the off. Intimate in detail yet at times epic in scope, Vryzas's playing spans a head-swimmingly broad range, from pin-drop level finger movements to grand, sweepingly lyrical layers of strings. Never letting the listener get too comfortable before reconfiguring the landscape, Vryzas covers an impressive amount of ground from a deceptively minimal set-up, making it easy to forget the source material of the sounds produced in the tumbling clicks and scratches of the opening sections, before the more melodic side of his playing reasserts itself once again. By turns timorous and strident, unsettling and soaring, Vryzas crafts a yearning, string-drenched world to get lost in. -- Recorded by Rory SalterMixed and mastered by Oli Barrett

Thrilled to present a vital catharsis of a set from London-based Chinese duo, Oishi! The release follows hot on the heels of 'ale… plane' on nagrania records and ‘once upon a time there was a mountain’ on the Bezirk label, at whose label showcase night this set was recorded. Blurring the lines between analogue and digital, human and machine, the pair draw on a range of noise sources whose balance is seemingly always in flux. At times a caustic barrage of sound, at others pin-drop intimate, the set spans a dizzying range from dense noise-wall to tentative acapella vocalisations. Over the course of nearly half an hour Oishi walk a landscape all their own. From the start we’re out into unknown terrain but Oishi seem to proceed with their ears wide open and alert, with no sense of a specific destination to aim for or markers to hit, the duo instead manage to stay fully in the moment in a way which is thrillingly, vitally alive. You can hear each incremental decision being made; a pathway being carved out in real-time. In heavier hands this might end up being overly cautious or methodical, but there is a lightness of touch here which combines a genuinely experimental, experiential approach with just the right amount of humour and surreality thrown in. No po-faces here, just a joyful sonic lustration. -- Recorded by Luciano Maggiore Mixed and mastered by Oli Barrett Cover painting by Ren Shang

Phil Minton and Maggie Nicols have been performing together for close to half a century, with their first recorded collaboration being 1977's landmark "Voice" release on Ogun Records, which documented a 1976 London performance alongside Brian Eley and Julie Tippetts. Despite appearing together on numerous recordings since then however, this is remarkably their first ever duo release. This set, recorded at OTO in October 2022 on the first event of a three-day residency with Maggie, finds the duo in customary, playful, curious and generous form. Over 20 packed minutes, the pair craft a dizzying interplay whose seeming effortlessness belies the sheer amount of craft on display. Weaving astonishing virtuosity with an easy intimacy, this is an unmissable performance from two improvised music greats. "In describing how we can find meaning in unconventional vocal sounds, Nicols and Minton also criticize ideologies that dismiss these sounds as worthless or dangerous. Their devotion to these sounds, despite such pervasive denigration, should inspire us to do more to help make marginalized sounds, voices, and people heard." – Social Virtuosity and the Improvising Voice; Phil Minton & Maggie Nicols Interviewed by Chris Tonelli -- Recorded by Billy SteigerMixed and mastered by Oli BarrettCover photograph by Phil Minton

Wonderful, lyrical set from bass-clarinetist Yoni Silver, captured at OTO in January this year.  Packing more into under 20 minutes than many manage in twice that time, Silver deftly weaves a breathtaking range of techniques and textures on the instrument, spanning frenetic highs to lows of bracing physicality. From dizzying clusters of notes to multilayered melodicism, ethereal whispers to ragged, splintered breaths, Silver gives a visceral, bodily performance. The result is a restless, mercurial and wholly present solo set that doesn't let the focus slip for even a minute. -- Recorded by Luciano Maggiore Mixed and mastered by James Dunn Cover illustration by Emanuel Silver-Schendar and Yoni Silver

Thrilled to present a very special recording from the great Australian cellist and composer, Judith Hamann, whose work encompasses performance, improvisation, electro-acoustic composition, site specific generative work, and micro-tonal systems in their creative practice. For this set, recorded at OTO in December 2022, Judith draws from process-based materials to do with humming and shaking, and from the start there is an immediate symbiosis between voice and body, body and instrument, with the sense that the cello is not so much being played as acting as extension of the body itself. In the opening section, Judith seemingly crafts a one-person duet between voice and cello; a simultaneous call-and-response where the relationship between the caller and responder is ever fluid and shifting. There's a generosity here in the unselfconscious intimacy of the playing, inviting the audience to witness what at first seems to be as much personal ritual as public performance. The wordless vocalisations and bowed tones circle and weave around each other, as open and ethereal as gossamer threads in sunlight. These threads hold weight, however, and as the hummed notes fall away a greater density starts to build upon the strings; harmonics and overtones pulsing in unison as shifting long notes gradually curl and fret underneath, with clusters of notes emerging and submerging with a restless momentum. Judith dextrously combines a richly evocative, ever-evolving tonality with a lightness of touch that doesn't so much belie the impressive technique displayed across both hands, as render it moot; virtuosity is fully evident here but virtuosity is not the point. As the intricately woven tones gradually fragment and pull apart in the final few moments of the set, there is a palpable sense that the space of the room has subtly shifted, through a sound as weightless as the air, and as full of life. -- Recorded by Billy SteigerMixed and mastered by Oli BarrettCover illustration by Judith Hamann

OTO MEMBERS PLEASE USE THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD IN ORDER TO AVOID USING A DIGITAL CREDIT: - The Sprigs: OTO Chrimbo Mix (mp3)Wishing you a great festive period with a very special free mix from The Sprigs! Spanning the yuletide gamut from cosy logfire vibes, to frost-flowered folk and joyful solstice celebrations, with just the right amount of wintery ghost story unease thrown in. A total treat and available for free download!  TRACKLISTING: - Mole's Christmas- Those Lovely Hula Hands - Menevät Miehet- Bröselmaschine - Lassie- Nataliya Serbina - Scho to za predyvo (Christmas Carol)- Ewan MacColl - Droylsden Wakes- Kάλαντα Xριστουγεννων- Tart - Great Sadness In An Italian Restaurant- Kuupuu - Sateet- Ulla Katajavuori - Sä Kasvoit Neito Kaunoinen- Cop Tears - Harmony 5 (The Lord Descended - William Billings)- Ippei Matsui & Aki Tsuyuko - Fuku-san Water- Mole's Christmas- Nour Mobarak - Winter Warm-Up- Wędrowiec - Ptasie Wesele. Śmiercicha / Bird Wedding- Nick Hoffman - Gabriel's Message- Peter Brötzmann & Han Bennink - No.13- Charlie Parker - White Christmas- Hailu Mergia - Zengadyw Derekou- Af Ursin - Valkea Joulu- Graham Road

Beautiful, entrancing set from highland bagpiper, composer and improviser, Erwan Keravec. In seeking out the more unusual sounds, and ways of playing and listening to his instrument, far from its original cultural setting, Keravec explores improvised music, free and ‘noise’ jazz. With an interest in movement and in settings associated with reinvention, he also writes, plays and improvises for dance. In this performance, recorded in October 2022, Keravec lets the breath ebb and flow over 40 hypnotic minutes. Dense tones buzz and drone, woozily circling the room, occasionally breaking into brief peels of light before building up into rapturous hamonic clusters and almost-giddy uliulations. With a sound that seems to perfectly fill the room - and make full use of its own sonic idiosyncrasies - Keravec utilises a dizzying range of techniques that makes this solo instrumental set one to savour. -- Recorded by Billy SteigerMixed and mastered by James DunnCover photograph by Nicolas Godin

Something stark and wonderful for our first live release of 2023. [something’s happening] is the sound and text duo of poet and performer Iris Colomb and composer Daryl Worthington (Beachers), exploring textual and sonic permutation through improvisation. Iris Colomb conjures the evocative atmosphere of a dream half-recalled, voicing fragments of found text that subtly build and layer, repeating and circling back around before branching off into new images and meanings. Alongside her, Daryl Worthington utilises all manner of sound-making devices from guitar and bells to tapes, toothbrushes and other objects. But there is never any sense of overload, more of having the right palette for Colomb's hypnagogic word patterns; letting the sonic focus gradually shift with a light touch combined with audible attentiveness. This is a music that takes its time, letting each moment unfurl with care and space. In the wrong hands, such an approach could prove overly deliberate, keeping the listener at arm's length. Instead there's an unselfconscious intimacy that feels like eavesdropping onto a hidden little corner of the world that you previously had no idea existed. The current, ongoing process hinted at in the group's name is no accident; you get the sense that this soundworld was unfolding long before you got there and will continue long after you left. What a privilege to have captured this fleeting glimpse in the meantime. -- Iris Colomb / voice, effectsDaryl Worthington / guitar, electronics, bells, electric toothbrush, tape walkman and other objects -- Recorded by kyle acabMixed and mastered by Oli Barrett Cover photo by Peter Döpper Thanks to Anthony Chalmers and Em Lodge from Baba Yaga's Hut

Riding four to a single quad bike for the first and possibly last time, Steve Noble (drums), Otto Willberg (bass guitar), Alex Paxton (trombone), and Gabriel Wonck (trumpet) attempted a musical wheelie in celebration of the ending of the ever-terrible month of January. Recorded at a Monday night gig, the music captures the spirit of Saint Monday—the habit of extending weekend revelry to the detriment of work, a practice widespread well into the nineteenth century. The playful dissonance that results rails dangerously against the prevailing weather—a wheelie in a blizzard. -- Recored at Cafe OTO, 31st January 2022 by Shaun Crook Mixed by Otto Willberg Mastered by Oli Barrett

First ever meeting between two of the foremost purveyors of augmented guitar sounds working today, Oren Ambarchi and Julia Reidy. The set took place at OTO on the first night of a three-day event celebrating the life of Peter Rehberg, whose shocking and untimely death left such a hole in so many of the extended communities relating to OTO's programme. Such an emotionally charged atmosphere in the room could easily have proved overwhelming but Ambarchi and Reidy prove more than equal to the moment. Beginning with bright motes of sound that flicker and whirl around the space, the pair take their time, creating a slowly expanding sonic promontory, both bright-eyed and reflective. From this point they dive in, submerging the audience in increasingly dense chordal washes that inexorably build into a deep ocean swell of sound, dazzling on the surface but with monumental, shifting currents surging beneath. As the last fragments drift and dissipate, we are left with a clear, revitalised expanse, and a fitting epitaph to an incredibly influential figure. -- Mastered by Joe Talia

US guitarists, Eli Winter and Cameron Knowler have been playing and performing together since 2018 but there’s an easy, natural affinity in their playing and interactions that feels informed by a much older collaboration. This warm, joy-infused set, recorded at OTO in May 2022, combines cuts from their 2021 album, Anticipation, alongside solo tracks and an unexpected improvised group closer, where the two guitars of Winter and Knowler are ably joined by members of Shovel Dance Collective and Maxwell Sterling on bass. The back catalogues of both Winter and Knowler draw to varying degrees from the American folk tradition, and in this collaboration the bluegrass-tinged side of their work is unapologetically present. But the duo cast the net wide in their palette, not only in their references to the likes of Robbie Basho, Daniel Bachman, Jack Rose and the UK’s Michael Chapman et al (explicitly so, in the case of the latter two, with covers here of Chapman’s Caddo Lake and Rose’s Fishtown Flower), but also in the weaving through of jazz-inflected, improvised sections and intricate assemblages of shifting tonality, with nods to the 20th century American avant garde scene which at times approach the yearning dissonances of Harry Partch or the effervescent contrapuntal chord structures of Conlon Nancarrow. Hints, maybe, but more than enough to leave the listener in any doubt of the depth of the well these two are drawing from (and for those somehow still harbouring reservations over the extent to which Winter and Knowler are kicking against the hermetically sealed reverence that sometimes afflicts those working within the folk tradition, the title of the third song of the set should put these fears to rest). Ultimately, it’s the mixture of dexterity and space, weight and levity that ends up being so transfixing; conjuring a late summer pastoral haze, with Winter and Knowler’s eddies and whorls of notes carrying the listener effortlessly along like a spinning leaf on the brook. But the sweetness is never cloying, and the easy, seemingly effortless interplay between the two is never less than purposeful. There’s an unhurried focus to the duo’s playing, calm but deliberate in a way that slowly but surely draws the listener in. What leaves the deepest impression is the generosity of spirit in which these songs are offered up; something that the joyous reception that Winter and Knowler are given by an enraptured audience at the end of this set fully attests to. -- Eli Winter / guitarCameron Knowler / guitar -- Mix, master and cover design by Oli Barrett

A total trip from long-time collaborators, Australian drummer / percussionist, Will Guthrie, and Parisian artist, Jean-Luc Guionnet! Across 31 restless minutes Guionnet cranks the uneasiness with electronics that swell and stutter, whilst Guthrie's drums deftly probe and pierce, making tentative forays into the swirling tones and static before both ramp up the propulsive energy in a dizzying, cathartic barrage from which Guionnet's saxophone erupts. A second, shorter coda set brings back the introspection, letting the pieces fall and settle in a series of stop-start divinations before eventually drawing things to a close, though with no easy resolution.  -- Will Guthrie / drums & percussionJean-Luc Guionnet / organ & saxophone -- Mixed and mastered by James Dunn Cover design by Oli Barrett Echiums grown by Mary Woodfield

Thrilled to release a rare live recording from New York-based, Japanese artist, writer, theorist, and composer, Yasunao Tone. An original member of the Fluxus movement and Group Ongaku, and a pioneer since the early 60s in sound art and digital composition, Yasunao Tone, has worked with John Cage, Merce Cunnigham, Yoko Ono, Robert Ashley, and Florian Hecker to name just a few.  Invited to perform at Cafe OTO by Russell Haswell as part of his three-day residency here in November 2015, Tone gave a sublime performance, presenting two versions of a piece, mixing abrasive and meditative qualities to transcendent effect. The two parts of the performance act as disorientating reflection of the other; overlapping and reprising in places but allowing subtle shifts in tonality and dynamics to shift the emphases and take the listener to whole new places entirely. Overwhelming, coruscating, transportive, soothing, and enlightening - at times all at once - this is an essential document from a true visionary.  --- Recorded by Shaun Crook Mixed and mastered by Oli Barrett Cover design by Oli Barrett Thanks to Russell Haswell

Proud to present a full recording of the inaugural confluence of THAT, a new trio featuring Pat Thomas, Gwilly Edmondez and Otto Willberg, together handling responsibility of making some respectable music. Captured in one extended rush, this release captures the moment when various orbits finally collide head on, resulting in heady combustion or wet patter. At certain points sounding like a performance arguing with itself, at others sounding like nothing so much as Looney Tunes performing the collected works of Chopin simultaneously in the Garden of Earthly Delights, this is a recording at once beautifully unhinged, wide-ranging and deep. A true one of a kind. -- Recorded by Shaun Crook Mixed by James Dunn Mastered by Oli Barrett Cover art by Gustav Thomas

Twenty-two minutes of brain-frying, coruscating fuzz and feedback immersions with Sightings guitarist, Mark Morgan. Cranking the amp with enough distortion to sink an oil tanker, Morgan layers over a miasma of voices both demonic and angelic as if summoned up by the straining, sinuous guitar strings themselves.  “While pretty much every noise musician uses the guitar as a weapon of mass destruction, Mark Morgan of scuzz-worshippers Sightings uses his guitar for sheer negation. Playing in 50 shades of gray on found and borrowed pedals, the leader of this longtime Brooklyn noise band is quicker to sound like a vacuum humming, toilet flushing, or scrambled cable porn feed than Eric Clapton or even Thurston Moore; a unique sound that has all the emotion of punk, with none of its recognizable sounds. As he told the blog Thee Outernet: “Probably the biggest influences on my playing style is sheer f—king laziness and to a slightly lesser degree, a certain level of retardation in grasping basic guitar technique.” – Spin -- Recorded by Shaun Crook Mixed and mastered by James Dunn Cover by Oli Barrett

Thrilled to release this recording of a pairing which is truly one of a kind. Recorded at a Kammer Klang event at OTO in December 2017, the duo of Swedish singer and composer Sofia Jernberg and Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen give a performance of astonishing breadth and variety, which at times seems scarcely believable that it could have come from just two sets of lungs. Running the gamut from full throated euphoria to skittering, stuttering, delicate textures, the interplay between Rasmussen and Jernberg never settles for a moment; swooping and circling and briefly coalescing in long, ragged exhalations which blur the lines between saxophone and voice, before spinning off in different directions again. Clocking in at just over 23 minutes, the pair nevertheless leave nothing on the table, crafting the kind of intuitive, improvised reciprocity that seems as if it must have been honed over several years. Don't hesitate!  -- Mette Rasmussen / saxophone Sofia Jernberg / voice  -- Mastered by Oliver Barrett Cover photo by Dimitri Djuric

In December 2017, with support from the Japan Foundation, we were incredibly lucky to be able to host a rare UK performance from the pioneering experimental poet, Gozo Yoshimasu, alongside the hypnotic and genre-defying Japanese three-piece, Kukangendai. Considered one of the most representative figures of Japanese modern literature, Gozo Yoshimasu has cultivated a unique style of recitation in live performance, using rhythm and vocal modulation to the extent that one might consider it a form of incantation. His voice, at times gentle, at times feverish, lends itself to a fascinating meeting with music; in this case, a perfect pairing with Kukangendai’s mesmeric, polyrhythmic approach. Unfolding over 45 restless minutes, the group build a twitching, juddering foundation for Yoshimasu’s spasmodic, almost imploring vocalisations. Never settling, Kukangendai tantalisingly offer up a constantly evolving series of locked grooves, briefly hinting at resolution before switching up the emphasis and leaving the listener in a constant state of exhilarating uncertainty, akin to the disorientating sensation of stumbling up an unexpected step on a staircase. Truly unique and unmissable. -- Recorded and mixed by James Dunn Mastered by Oli Barrett Cover design by Oli Barrett

Sequel to Sean McCann's heavy reggae/dancehall mix of 2020 which bedded the late Jean-Marie Massou's cave recordings under the likes The Summertaires, Barrington Levy and Freddie McKay. Vol 2 marries Caetano Veloso's sound poetry with the Jack Ruby Soundsystem, Horace Andy and The Wailers. Very much what we need to drag us into 2022 - thanks Sean. Sean McCann is a Los Angeles-based composer, sound artist, curator, and audio engineer. He concurrently operates Recital, a label dedicated to sound poetry, new music, and Fluxus archival recordings. In 2022 Recital will celebrate it's 10 year anniversary - congrats to Sean and all the artists who make it such a special label. We should say that we initially wrote to Sean asking him to contribute to our festive mailout with a mix, and we were a little slow with the idea - Silk House shared a brilliant choral / sound poetry mix he made in December. Definitely worth checking out after this. --- Barrington Levy - Mine Yuh MouthWailing Souls - Old BroomAugusto de Campos & Caetano Veloso - Dias Dias DiasFreddie McGreggor - BanduloIcho Candy - Selassie IAugusto de Campos & Caetano Veloso - QuazarCornell Cambell - Broken Hearted GirlDon Carlos - Infra Red DubAugusto de Campos & Caetano Veloso - PulsarTenor Saw - Roll CallSugar Minott & John Wayne - Jamming In The StreetLenox Miller - Better Must ComeCarlton Livingston - 100 Weight of Collie WeedHorace Andy - ElementaryHubert Lee - Pressure & SlideAngus MacLise - Humming In The Night SkullThe Wailers - I Need YouToots & the Maytals - Oh YeahThe Martinis - Second That EmotionIcho Candy - Where Do They PlayNoel Ellis - Marcus GarveyBarry Brown & Brigadier Jerry - ChaliceJack Ruby Soundsystem