For the Record: April 4, 2025.
Two new albums by improvising percussionist Tim Barnes and some heavy friends are coming in June, plus more new arrivals and future releases of interest.
For the Record is a weekly column that rounds up details about new and pending recordings of interest to the new-music community – contemporary classical music and jazz, electronic and electroacoustic music, and idioms for which no clever genre name has been coined – on CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital-only formats… you name it.
This list of release dates is culled from press releases, Amazon, Bandcamp, and other internet stores and sources, social-media posts, Â and online resources such as Discogs. Dates cited typically correspond to initial U.S. release, and are subject to change. (Links to Amazon, used when all else fails, do not imply endorsement.)
These listings are not comprehensive—nor could they be! If you’d like to submit a forthcoming recording for consideration, please email information to nightafternight@icloud.com. (Streams and downloads preferred.)
All opinions expressed herein are solely my own, and do not reflect the views of my employer.
Topspin.
Even if it weren’t for the extraordinary circumstances under which Noumena and Lost Words were made, they’d count among this year’s more remarkable releases. Tim Barnes, an improvising percussionist, label owner, and scene organizer, long occupied a prominent position in New York’s experimental-music scene, not least for his work running the Quakebasket label. Wider recognition came via collaborations with Jim O’Rourke, Jeph Jerman, Tony Conrad, Glenn Kotche, Dean Roberts, Mark Wastell, Beth Orton, Silver Jews, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, and Wilco, among others, while as a recording professional Barnes was involved with projects involving legendary figures like La Monte Young, Angus Maclise, and Henry Flynt.
On moving to Louisville in 2007, Barnes proceeded to raise a family and build a buzzing scene around himself, while retaining ties to comrades far and wide. But health concerns eventually led to a painful diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which would severely impact his cognitive functioning over a course of several years of struggles and continuous treatment. A vast community of supporters stepped up to help, while Tim’s wife, Erica Bricking, faithfully chronicled the family’s extraordinary journey on CaringBridge.
Evidence of that flood of support permeates Noumena and Lost Words, albums comprising recordings made after Barnes received his diagnosis. Created in collaboration with Tortoise, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol alumnus Ken Brown (a.k.a. Bundy K. Brown), the albums feature a personnel roster that shows the esteem in which Barnes is held: a partial list includes David Grubbs, Jim O’Rourke, Mike Watt, John Dieterich, Tara Jane O’Neil, Rob Mazurek, Oren Ambarchi, Joshua Abrams, and Ken Vandermark.
I’ve only listened to these two albums one time apiece now, so I’m not going to break down the minutiae; suffice it to say that both encompass a stylistic range as broad as Barnes’s resume. The music on each is diverse and alive, throbbing with creative energy, collaborative spirit, and palpable love.
Pre-order them now or bookmark them and come back on Bandcamp Friday—which is NOT today, but Friday, May 2. Whatever you do, don’t miss them.
New this week.
April 4.
Lea Bertucci + Olivia Block - I Know the Number of the Sand and the Measure of the Sea (Room40)
The Crossing - At Which Point - compositions by Wang Lu, Ayanna Woods, and Tawnie Olson (New Focus)
fraufraulein (Billy Gomberg & Andy Guthrie) - greater honeyguide (mappa)
Jordan Glenn’s BEAK - The Party (Queen Bee)
Michael Grigoni & Pan•American - New World, Lonely Ride (Kranky)
Hemphill Stringtet (Curtis Stewart. Sam Bardfeld, Stephanie Griffin, Tomeka Reid) - The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head)
HxH (Lester St. Louis & Chris Williams) - Stark Phenomena (OFNOT)
Martin Iddon - Hesperides - performances by Jack Adler-McKean and Quiet Music Ensemble (NMC Recordings)
David Longstreth - Song of the Earth - Dirty Projectors, s t a r g a z e (New Amsterdam/Nonesuch)
Anna McMichael & Clocked Out (Erik Griswold/Vanessa Tomlinson) - Peak Plastique (Unsounds)
Nicolás Melmann - Música Aperta (Umor Rex)
Matthew Muñeses & Riza Printup - Pag-ibig Ko, Vol. 1 (Irrabagast)
Sam Weinberg Trio - Of Peeling Passage: Live at Sisters (self-released)
Upcoming releases.
April 11.
Ash Fure - ANIMAL (Smalltown Supersound)
Alex Zethson/Johan Jutterström - It Could/If I (Astral Spirits/Thanatosis)
April 13.
FEN (Otomo Yoshihide, Ryu Hankil, Yuen Chee Wai, Yan Jun) - 4 x 4 (Meenna)
Seijiro Murayama/Attila Gyárfás - Red Queen Theory (Ftarri)
Quentin Tolimieri/Eric Wong - Erasures (Ftarri)
April 25.
Scott Fields & Elliott Sharp - réimsà géara (Relative Pitch)
Paul Flaherty - a willing passenger (Relative Pitch)
Fire & Flux - Duet and Trio Live at Dumb Records (Relative Pitch)
Masayo Koketsu, Nava Dunkelman, Tim Berne - Poiēsis (Relative Pitch)
D. Riley Nicholson - UP - Sarah Cahill & Regina Myers (self-released)
April 29.
Jules Reidy & Sam Dunscombe - Edge Games (Futura Resistenza)
May 5.
Ramon Lopez - 40 Springs in Paris (RogueArt)
May 9.
Esthesis Quartet - Sound & Fury (Sunnyside)
May 30.
Ellen Arkbro - Nightclouds (Blank Forms Editions)
The Beverage Station (Lainie Fefferman & Jascha Narveson) - Little Gray Cells (Gold Bolus)
Hanne Lippard, Ellen Arkbro, Hampus Lindwall - How do I know if my cat likes me? (Blank Forms Editions/La Becque Editions)
Qasim Naqvi - Endling (Erased Tapes)
June 6.
Andrew Schiller - Rumble Rubble Ripple (Endectomorph Music)
Dan Weiss Quartet - Unclassified Affections (Pi Recordings)
June 20.
Curtis J. Stewart - Seasons of Change (Bright Shiny Things)
June 27.
Tim Barnes - Lost Words (Quakebasket)
Tim Barnes - Noumena (Quakebasket)
Tropos - Switches (Endectomorph Music)
Find many more upcoming releases in For the Record: The Master List, here.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.