Metaphoric, historical but also just as easily enjoyed without any context at all, Laura Cannell's approach to fiddle and recorder has echoes of medieval tradition with a folk vernacular. Recorded on the first night of her series ‘Modern Ritual’, her set framed an evening which evoked both real and fictional landscapes and explored ideas of ritual through music and words. Singling out tracks from her first and third records (Quick Sparrows Over The Black Earth and Simultaneous Flight Movement respectively), Cannell draws a chapter from her work based on ritual - both natural and supernatural. Overbowing the fiddle and dual blowing recorder, she blurs fiction with history and conjures a new kind of Black Hour - a melodic two tone drone which is both tame and wild, and the image of a Sacristan drowned in his own font. --- Laura Cannell / fiddle, recorders --- Tracklisting: 1. Simultaneous Flight Movement - 1:48 2. Winter Saltings - 3:09 3. A New Theory of Eclipse - 3:52 4. The Happiness of Both Worldes Part 1 - 2:58 5. The Drowned Sacristan - 3:10 --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on Friday 17th March 2017. Mixed by James Dunn & Laura Cannell. Mstered by James Dunn. Lino print by Laura Cannell. 

Last November we were delighted to welcome back one of the most important musicians of the Japanese underground/avant-garde - Otomo Yoshihide - for his first show here since 2013. Joined by Japanese drummer Hiroshi Yamazaki (who has Kaoru Abe among his extensive list of past collaborators, and was also a member of Masayuki Takayanagi’s pioneering New Directions group) and legendary saxophonist Evan Parker, the two duos and extended trio mark the first time these three have collaborated. Yoshihide's guitar scrawl knots up Yamazaki's wide angled percussion and when Parker comes in for the trio it's not long before his familiar lines warp up into Yoshihide's strung out, high freq reverb for a dark, light and deep level wig-out. It's truly special when a trio works first time like this, and we hope they'll be back together before long.  --- Otomo Yoshihide / guitar Hiroshi Yamazaki / percussion Evan Parker / saxophone ---  Tracklisting: 1. One - 15:32 (Yoshihide / Yamazaki) 2. Two - 20:52 (Yamazaki / Parker) 3. Three - 46:37 (Yoshihide / Yamazaki / Parker) --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on Monday the 14th Novemeber, 2016. Mixed and mastered by the ever talented James Dunn. Photo by Dawid Laskowski. 

Guthrie's all acoustic set morphs expertly from a single pulsing bass drum to thundering metallic decay with no relaxation of structural rigour, stamina or precision. At ease behind a shimmering wall of pedals and gongs, 10.5.16 is looser, lighter yet more complex than Sacrée Obsession, as Guthrie creates and navigates space with Shamen-esque focus. ---  Will Guthrie / drums, percussion --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Tuesday May 10th by Simon Holliday. Mixed by Will Guthrie. Mastered by James Dunn. 

75 minutes of psychedelic excess, molten electronics and DIY ritual from the totemic ensemble of contemporary British outsider music. Vibracathedral Orchestra's chimerical DNA spans from beatific Labour-club raga to full-on face-flaying West Riding Kraut-out, whilst the core membership and elastic supporting cast that has realised this wayward vision is an unrivalled who’s who of the UK audio underground - this time Julian Bradley, Neil Campbell, Adam Davenport, Michael Flower and Bridget Hayden. Recorded by Mark Jasper at Cafe OTO on 10 April 2015. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin.

Rare performance from drummer/percussionist Toshi Tsuchitori - joined by Seymour Wright and Ute Kanngiesser for a special late matinee. Anyone who's enjoyed Tsuchitori's sought after solo records will know his playing is intuitive, performative and totally hardcore. Matched with the huge vocabulary of Wright and Kanngiesser, the trio perfectly balance tension, detail and spiral-armed joy.  -- Toshi Tsuchitori / percussion, vocals Ute Kanngiesser / cello Seymour Wright / saxophone --- Tracklisting: 1. 14.2.16 - (40.36)  --- Recorded by Shaun Crook at Cafe OTO on Sunday 14th February 2016. Mixed by Paul Abbott. Mastered by James Dunn. Photo by Dawid Laskowski. 

Abstracting traditional Indonesian music with a strung-up bamboo spear and unique, tremor-inducing vocals, Senyawa strike a thunderbolt between their avant-garde influences and a strong connection to their cultural heritage. Playing live at OTO on a Monday night, their humid intensity made techno heads and metal fans alike weep for their mamas. Will bend your week right out of shape.  --- Rully Shabara / vocals Wukir Suryadi / bamboowukir --- Tracklisting:  (1hr 15 min) 1. Bala/Air Medley 2. Pada Siag Hari 3. Sisa 4. Pasca 5. Di Pudarnya Senja --- Recorded by Shaun Crook on Monday 7th September 2015. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by James Dunn. Original photograph by Dawid Laskowski. 

Selvhenter draw their influence from everywhere they've been - free jazz, noise, punk, heavy metal, field recordings from the local recycling centre - it's all there to see. Their live performance at OTO sloshes in New Age and drone jazz in too, creating hypnotic rhythms you don't even realise you've started dancing to. In your face and a bit bonkey-tonks, make sure to turn this one up.  --- Anja Jacobsen / drums Jaleh Negari / drums, vocals Maria Bertel / trombone Maria Diekmann / violin Sonja Labianca / saxophone --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Friday 12th June 2015 by James Dunn. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Rupert Clervaux. 

Despite being absurdly technically demanding, Sax Ruins' live set doesn't let up for a minute. Structures rise an fall in seconds as multi-tracked brass swirls to meet four Sunny Murray's behind the kit. Dense, intense and disorientating.  --- Ono Ryoko / alto and baritone saxophone Tatsuya Yoshida / drums --- Tracklisting: 1. PALLASCHTOM - 1.53 2. NIVAFTOPOFTS - 1.09 3. BUPPHAIRODAZZ -  3.38 4. KORROMDA PEIMM - 3:48 5. ZWORRISDEH - 1:35 6. DJUBATCZEGROMM - 2:15 7. WARRIDO - 5:32  8. improvisation / JALLAMJIKKO 2:36 9. KOMNIGRISS - 2:42 10. ZNOHJMO - 2:56 11. VRRESTO - 8:44 --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Simon Holliday on 16th August 2016. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by James Dunn. 

Deploying singular sinewaves and crackles from 'non-samplers', Sachiko M's sound is unforgiving and utterly radical. Paired with Prevost, the duo's sensitivity and conviction offers a hard-line approach to shifting our perceptions of sound.   --- Sachiko M / sinewaves Eddie Prevost / percussion --- Recorded on Monday 17th February 2014 by James Dunn, and mixed and mastered by James Dunn. Photograph by Dawid Laskowski. 

A whirring, monastic prayer from ex Overhang Party members Sachiko and Rinji Fukuoka. The two meet at a blurry horizon of strings, electronics and rich vocals, and slowly pull apart their sound in glitchy, dissonant chunks.  --- Sachiko / vocals, electronics Rinji Fukuoka / cello, piano --- Tracklist 1. 26.3.11 - 47.50 --- Recorded by John Chantler on Saturday 26rd March, 2011. Mixed by by John Chantler. Mastered by James Dunn. 

Ghanaian sculptor, inventor, and avant-garde multi-instrumentalist Nii Noi Nortey performs solo and in trio with Mark Sanders and David Panton. Nii Noi’s solo soundscapes a vivid journey through West Africa using traditional instruments, before adding his own adaptions and afrifon inventions in the trio. Although this is the first time Nii Noi and David have improvised with Mark the trio immediately find an unerring natural groove that moves effortlessly through free-improvisation, free-jazz, world music and African inspired melodic and percussive patterns.   ---Nii Noi Nortey / nu waterpipe, atenteben flute, gonje fiddle, algaita oboe, ngoni harp/lute, afrifon reedsDavid Panton /  piano (keyboard & strings), soprano saxophone, bagpipe (without drones)Mark Sanders / drums, percussion---Recorded on Sunday 3rd January 2016 by Shaun Crook. Mixed and mastered by James Dunn.An edited version of a separate recording made by Panton Music of this performance is scheduled for release in June 2016 on disc as PM3116 Nii Noi Nortey with David Panton & Mark Sanders. See details on the Panton Music website http://pantonmusic.com

Bumper pack of mind-frying, fuzzed out psychedelics from three masters of the medium, with Neil Campbell (Vibracathedral Orchestra), Noel Meek (End of the Alphabet) and Alexander Tucker (Grumbling Fur) performing solo and in a very special trio set.  --- Tracklisting: 1. Alexander Tucker Solo - 18:58 2. Neil Campbell Solo - 14.41 3. Noel Meek Solo - 21:56 4. Trio - 29.34 --- Recorded on Sunday 24th April 2016 by Shaun Crook. Mixed by James Dunn, Abby Thomas & Noel Meek. Mastered by James Dunn. 

Nearly two hours of kolongo grooves from Ghanian superstar King Ayisoba recorded in September 2014 at Cafe OTO on Ayisoba's second visit here - this time joined by Zea (Arnold De Boer of The Ex) on the song Akolbire, Lion on percussion and Wanlov the Kubolor who adds vocals and percussion to a couple of the songs.  Recorded Friday 26 September 2014 at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx. Photo by Dawid Laskowski.

Keith Fullerton Whitman presents a special Cafe OTO version of his latest project 'Redactions'. In his own words, Redactions "is an ongoing exploration of ideas surrounding the extraction of "peaks," or "transients" from geographically & thematically relevant audio materials given a particular realization or performance.' Intense poly-rhythmic chaos and nightmarish guitar build to breaking point, only to slowly release with the sort of luminous melodies that shone through his earlier Generator. A real trip, but you're in good hands with Keith.  --- Keith Fullerton Whitman / electronics --- Recorded by Shaun Crook on Sunday 5th July 2015. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Fabio Lugaro.  --- Tracklisting: 1. OTO Redactions A (18.25) 2. OTO Redactions B (19.42)

This trio came about when the DOEK festival in Amsterdam invited the American saxophonist (and Dutch resident) to form a new group for the festival. Dikeman went straight for one of the greatest rhythm sections of the last 30 years - asking William Parker and Hamid Drake to join him in a trio. This recording includes both of the sets they performed at Cafe OTO on 7 May 2014 to a sold out house. William Parker and Hamid Drake first came together as part of Peter Brötzmann’s legendary Die Like A Dog Quartet with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. They’ve gone on to form a sympatico partnership, working as a duo (see Piercing the Veil on AUM Fidelity) and together on many of William Parker’s larger group projects. From rural Wyoming to Amsterdam via Egypt, Dikeman’s playing runs the gamut of improvised music with an open attitude to collaboration that tears down any notion of genre. His own groups include the no-wave noise jazz of Cactus Truck, and Universal Indians - a tightly wound trio (with Jon Rune Strom on bass and Tollef Ostvang on drums) seen regularly with special guest Joe McPhee.Recorded by James Dunn at Cafe OTO on Wednesday 7 May 2014. Mixed by Rupert Clervaux at Grays Inn Road, London. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Dawid Laskowski.

Norwegian percussionist Ingar Zach first came to wider attention for the two duo recordings on Incus with the late, great Derek Bailey. He’s since become one of the north’s most prolific musicians, working in a variety of contexts including the groups Huntsville, Mural and the ensemble Dans les arbres. This solo recording from October 2014 is characterised by a sustained engagement with the resonant properties of Zach’s assembled percussion instruments - including a massive 34” concert bass drum - for a slow moving and beautifully focussed forty minute expanse of held tones and shifting pulses.

NYC based saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, London pianist Veryan Weston and cellist Hannah Marshall come together to mutate chamber music with fluent virtuosity. At once expansive and fleeting, the trio interweave and interject each other at a dizzying pace, with Weston matched at every turn by the two younger players.  Ingrid Laubrock / saxophone Veryan Weston / piano Hannah Marshall / cello Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Thursday 9th October by Mark Jasper. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. 

High energy dose from truly singular Japanese producer 食品まつり a.k.a foodman a.k.a Takahide Higuchi. Whilst drawing from juke, house, techno and elements of ambient and pop, Foodman only sounds like himself. Silence and sine waves feature as much as live drum work and his unhinged, beatless moments feel techinically radical but always joyous. For an encore, Bo Ningan's Taigen Kwabe got up on the table for a nutty vocal freestyle. Japan's underground continues to move in its own ways.  --- Foodman - electronics, sampler Taigen Kawabe - vocals --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on Wednesday 19th October 2016. Mixed by Abby Thomas. Mastered by James Dunn.