Three new releases from Periplum Records:

Wayne Horvitz / Seattle Chamber Players: Otis Spann
(Periplum Records, CD)

"Commissioned by the Seattle Chamber Players, Otis Spann is composer/improviser Wayne Horvitz's tribute to the blues pianist who is best known as a member of Muddy Waters's band. Rather than approximate the sound of Otis Spann's music using the Seattle Chamber Players' classical instrumentation, Horvitz evokes the feelings he associates with listening to the masters of Chicago blues. In addition to the title piece performed by the whole ensemble, the CD contains works featuring each member as a soloist. Otis Spann is the first album produced of Horvitz's chamber music; it is also the first release by the Seattle Chamber Players."

Paul Taub (flutes), Laura DeLuca (clarinets), Mikhail Shmidt (violin), David Sabee (cello)

Paul Taub: Oo-ee
(Periplum Records, CD)

"Flutist Paul Taub commissioned a group of composers to create solo pieces to commemorate his first 20 years as an active member of the Northwest music community. The resulting collection, heard on his compact disc Oo-ee, brings together works by an extraordinarily wide range of composers with ties to the region, including Roger Briggs, Stuart Dempster, Janice Giteck, Bern Herbolsheimer, Robin Holcomb, Jim Knapp, Bun-Ching Lam, David Mahler, Roger Nelson, Vincent Plush, Jarrad Powell, and Julian Priester. The compositions span many different compositional styles and genres."

Byron Au Yong: Walking Stirring Weaving
(Periplum Records, CD)

"The compact disc Walking Stirring Weaving presents three cross-cultural works by composer Byron Au Yong combining Asian and Western instruments and performance practices. The disc includes an ensemble piece created for a production by the Northwest Asian American Theater; a long meditative ensemble work created under a grant from Jack Straw Foundation; and a solo composition for shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) that combines traditional Japanese and contemporary Western notation and performance techniques. Performers heard on the album include Hanz Araki, Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, David Crandall, David Goldman, Yukie Iotomi, Greg Ohme, Peter Joon Park, Frank Minoru Phillips, Aiko Shimada, and Dennis Staskowski."

All three Periplum releases are available in area record stores, by mail from Periplum (P.O. Box 9369, Fort Worth, TX 76147), or through mail order distributors Amazon, Anomalous Records, Electronic Music Foundation, Forced Exposure, and Wayside Music. For more information about Periplum's activities, please contact Herb Levy at herb@eskimo.com.

Two new releases from First World Music:

LAND: Road Movies
(First World Music FWD 0109, CD)

"The long-awaited third album from Jeff Greinke's mind-bending group project. LAND features the gorgeous trumpet lines of Lesli Dalaba, the searing guitar work of Dennis Rea, Seattle's favorite bassist Fred Chalenor, and the mighty Bill Rieflin on drums. Renowned sound sculptor Greinke lays down his otherworldly textures on keyboards. Together, the five musicians create a record of powerful rhythms driving a unique blend of jazz, rock, and ambient musics. At once intense, strange, and beautiful, Road Movies is sure to challenge, assuage, and ultimately delight the adventurous listener."

Stackpole: Stackpole
(First World Music FWD 0108, CD)

Stackpole is an incendiary free-jazz quartet featuring four formidable Seattle improvisers: guitarist Dennis Rea (LAND, Axolotl), alto saxophonist Wally Shoup (Project W, Thurston Moore), acoustic bassist Geoff Harper (Bebop & Destruction, Marriott Jazz Quintet), and Northwest drum legend Gregg Keplinger. Stackpole's totally improvised music-in-the-moment ranges from eerie, hovering sonorities to hurtling freebop to hurricane-force sonic gales ­ an invigorating and truly unclassifiable alloy of jazz energy, top-notch musicianship, and startling sounds."

"A signal event in Seattle jazz." ­ Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz

A Stackpole CD release concert will be held on March 29 at the OK Hotel in Seattle.

Both FWD releases available on February 13 in retail outlets through City Hall Distribution, and online now at www.firstworldmusic.com.

Two new Northwest artist releases from Tzadik:

David Mahler: Hearing Voices
(Tzadik, CD)

"One of the unsung heroes from the early days of minimalism, Seattle-based composer David Mahler has been making music since the early 1970s. A master of the tape recorder and the razor blade, his pieces are legendary and (as is often the case with experimental composers) underappreciated. David Mahler has champions in colleagues such as Larry Polansky, Peter Garland, and Guy Klucevsek, and thankfully his music is becoming more and more known. It is an honor for Tzadik to release this latest piece of the David Mahler puzzle: four digitally altered pieces based on the voices of dancer Sandy Silva, composer Thomas Peterson, novelist Matthew Stadler, and visual artist Sherry Markovitz."

Aiko Shimada: Blue Marble
(Tzadik, CD)

"Produced and arranged by enigmatic mystical traveller Eyvind Kang, Blue Marble is a CD of surreal folk songs by singer/songwriter Aiko Shimada. Born in Japan and now based in Seattle, Aiko's music is fresh, original, and heartfelt. For this latest release, Eyvind has brought in an unusual team of proto-hippies and music freaks keying off of Aiko's moody melodies and lyrics. From noise to string orchestra, drum machine to toy piano, Blue Marble is an unforgettable emotional ride through Aiko's exotic music forest. Special guest appearance by Bill Frisell."

For more information on these releases, see www.tzadik.com

Acclaimed Spanish electronic musician Francisco Lopez's new label, .absolute. , has established a branch in Seattle through Anomalous Records. The following two discs are the first releases in the .absolute.[seattle] series.

Francisco Lopez & Michael Northam: belle confusion 0247 (.absolute.[seattle] 001-00, CD)

"Five years ago an exchange began between Francisco Lopez and Michael Northam ­ elements shared from a similar perspective into the internal dynamics of sound as a possibility to refine perceptual awareness. Utilizing individual systems designed to articulate complex sound material, Lopez and Northam have always shared an important thread towards the creation of immersive sound spaces. Their contrasting routes towards realization ­ Lopez with his 'absolute' limitless exploration of sound as raw material, Northam with his fragile electro-acoustic-based sound organisms ­ creates a tension between abstraction and harmonically rich intensity enfolding in this, Lopez's first interpretation of this special sound."

Francisco Lopez & Amy Denio: belle confusion 00
(.absolute.[seattle] 002-00, CD)

"Amy Denio and Francisco Lopez are devoted sound explorers with extended roots in the underground experimental community. Over the years they have created, refined, and developed their personal sonic worlds. belle confusion 00 is the amazing confluence of these worlds. The basic sound material of the piece consists entirely of Amy Denio's voice, recorded in various places: the standing-wave-generating stairwell in her home, the massive empty underground water cistern at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, as well as in concert with Francisco Lopez in Boulder, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires. Unlike most voice-based works, belle confusion 00 explores the most essential sonic properties and nuances of the original material and turns it into a thrilling immersive trip complete with deafening silence, intense layerings, and out-of-this world harmonic excursions. A must for fans of these two worlds and for those of the new one."

Both releases available in editions of 350 for $11.99 each from www. anomalousrecords.com.

Climax Golden Twins: Dream Cut Short in the Mysterious Clouds (Meme, CD; Anomalous Records, LP)

"The first new studio material from Seattle's Climax Golden Twins in quite some time. Subtly manipulated tones, instruments, static, disembodied voices, lovely drones, field recordings, scratchy records, and five-second punk rock wipeouts ­ all edited, compressed, collaged, and distressed. The LP is pressed on audiophile white vinyl."

Released on CD by Meme: 19-5, Udagawacho, room 206, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0042 Japan, and on LP by Anomalous Records: PO Box 22195, Seattle WA 98122-0195, www.anomalousrecords.com.

Landfill: Assassins (CD) / Windham Hell (7") / Fulcrum (7")
(Order of the Death's Head)

Three new releases from Vancouver, Washington:

"Assassins is the long-awaited new release of Landfill material recorded between 1996-98. Nine tracks, 40 minutes of industrial, mechanized electronics display the band's more industrial guitar-oriented style, as well as the move toward a more electronic, industrial, experimental style. Windham Hell contains two previously unreleased tracks of dark, atmospheric, classical-inspired bliss ­ embrace the state of euphoric nothingness. Fulcrum is two tracks of dark electronics, dense guitar, and machinery drones, sampling, and dual vocals ­ a new dawn in power violence/power electronics."

Assassins $10 ppd, Windham Hell $5 ppd, Fulcrum $5 ppd; e-mail orderofdeathhead@yahoo.com for more information, or to reserve copies of these limited edition releases.

Mike Marlin: Banjoology
(Spiney Palm SP-001, CD)

"This debut solo CD from blind Seattle experimental banjoist Mike Marlin features 14 tracks of improvised raw and processed tenor and five-string banjo explorations, plus an 'exotic Dub' composition. The recording highlights Mike's unique approach to the banjo as a melodic, noise, and rhythm instrument, whether attacked or caressed with fingers or a kitchen sink of peculiar implements. Banjoology is available at a few select Seattle stores, in person from Mike, or by contacting swordfish@speakeasy.org. Watch T-mail and the Tentacle Web calendar for a CD release party announcement in the near future."

Structural Damage: Live at the Lux
(earsay, CD)

"Structural Damage is an explosive new ensemble dedicated to collaborative creation and live performance. Uniting hot technical chops with an exhilaratingly unique vision, the group took Vancouver by storm last spring in a stunning concert at the Western Front, captured on Structural Damage: Live at the Lux. The core duo of Andrew Czink (piano) and John Oliver (guitar, electronics) invited composer/DJ Giorgio Magnanensi and accordionist Douglas Schmidt to join them for intense creation/performance. The music sizzled!"

Visit earsay.com/Pages/soundshop/newrelease.html for concert and release details.

The Tentacle welcomes submissions of CD/tape release announcements (Northwest artists only, please).

Submission guidelines

Please include info on where and how to obtain your new releases. Off-line readers please send release announcements to our onshore address:

The Tentacle
PO Box 45655 Seattle, WA 98145-0655