James Corrigan had spent his many years in NYC composing, recording, and performing a wide range of music, from free jazz and electronic improvisational explorations to generative minimalist pieces as well as art rock. In the summer of 2018, he sought to make Drum Circle, a record that would joyfully and without prejudice, engage the many musical interests he had explored over a lifetime. The record is inclusive and yet idiosyncratic. Wanting Drum Circle to feel intuitive and natural, Corrigan gave himself a single month to complete the recording process. Drum Circle is a personal take on many different times, places, cultures, and traditions. However, The title Drum Circle, also pokes fun at itself. Drum Circles have the reputation of being performative approximations or even misunderstandings of music and their contexts. They are real and yet they are flawed. With Corrigan’s limited musical resources and instruments, he was gathering his own Drum Circle of one, an imperfect but hopefully engaging homage to the worlds that most fascinate him. Drum Circle belongs to a tradition of genre-less, personal, art music that can be found in the 70’s and 80’s in Europe (Fred Frith, Early Michael Nyman, Anthony Moore, John Surman, Roedelius/Moebius, Eno) as well as in NY (Peter Zummo, Arnold Dreyblatt, Craig Leon, Steve Reich, Julius Eastman, Meredith Monk, Arthur Russell). Corrigan also discovered a road map when he picked up his first Made To Measure Volume , a series from Crammed Discs that he cherishes and views as a Utopia...
LP $17.50
04/16/2021
Cimiotti began when Paul Collins walked out of his local synth store with a copy of Light in the Attic’s box set, “I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music in America 1950-1990”. The collection maps out a musical history of American new age music that he had previously overlooked. Central to this movement was the idea that music production itself was a form of meditation. The music glowed. It left him feeling deeply rooted and calm. Paul purchased a Tascam four track, and he got to work on a series of recordings that combined his love for Kosmiche, new age, experimental, and ambient music, as well as the minimalist guitar work of Loren Connors. The result was “Research Vol.1”, released in the winter of 2014 on Cimiotti Recordings as an edition of ten tapes--three were sold. Cimiotti has been making small run cassettes ever since, utilizing the limited scale to make music that is deeply personal, and free from genre restraints. “Va Piano” is Cimiotti’s first long player, as well as the label’s first vinyl pressing. Recorded in Southern Italy, and Jackson Heights, NY, “Va Piano” showcases a variety of musical approaches. From solo electric guitar work, to immersive synthesizer tapestries, to narcotic ballads. It’s a grounded and sometimes brooding listen. For fans of The Durutti Column, Roedelius, and Townes Van Zandt.
LP $17.50
03/27/2020