LP
since March 2001

the fearless label for the eclectic listener (or vice versa)



QBICO 49

STEVE MACKAY AND THE RADON ENSEMBLE- Tunnel diner (QBICO 49) yellow & orange vinyl, cover by Ed Wilcox

rec. in four different sessions:

*Jersey City, NJ @ WFMU on Brian Turner Show l.l0.04 w/Ed Wilcox, Vincent Paternostro, Kamilsky, Jason LaFarge
**Hickory, NC @ Undeground 2.4.06 w/ Sam Lohman, Noah Mickens, Scott Nydegger, Giovanni Donadini, John Sharp, Ed Cooper
***Jersey City, NJ @ WFMU on Acapulco Rodriguez show 6.4.06 w/Sam Lohman, Noah Mickens, Scott Nydegger, Giovanni Donadini, John Sharp, Ed Wilcox
****Marseille, France @ L'Embobineuse l5.4.06 w/Kamilsky, Nyko Esterle, Yann Geoffriaud, Scott Nydegger, John Sharp, Nico "Saxidriver"

side A
Brooklyn, North Carolina **
Bohunk Lane ****
Sans frontiers *
Patrick's brain aneurysm ***
Mixed martial language **

side B
Canal Street ***
200,000 sax players in Nashville **
Tunnel diner ***
Tu croire c'est gratuit ??? *
Voyage to Arcturus ****



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

see Steve's interview from the Dec. 2006 issue of The Wire mag



"... On the Voyage to Arcturus piece from Qbico label's Tunnel Diner LP (a compilation of live rec. made with The Radon Ensemble in America and Europe), Mackay's mix of traditional jazz instrumentation and cosmic electronics especially beging to sound like nothing else on the planet. Rec. at L'Embobineuse, Marseille, France, the adrenalin rush of his sax playing gets caught up in a tight mesh of electronic grind and haunted, looping squall that makes it sound as though he has been beamed onstage at a Wolf Eyes gig. Edited by Radon comrade Scott Nydegger, Tunnel Diner is a meticulously crafed sampling of Mackay's new direction in jazz and beyond..." Edwin Pouncey

"brother Vinnie 1st mentioned Steve... then i got in touch with Scott and with worked on this together. i think Ed did a wonderful job for the cover, in really 50's/David Stone Martin style... probably Steve is not the greatest sax virtuoso in the world but i think he got his original voice and that's what matter at qbico." qbico



26 copies only on yellow vinyl and with hand-made cover by Ed Wilcox, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 48

MURUGA & THE GLOBAL VILLAGE CEREMONIAL BAND (QBICO 48) pink & black vinyl, cover by Muruga

Muruga Booker- drums, percussion
Ken Kozara- synth, trumpet, zen drum, flute
Ralph Koziarski- flute, percussion, punji
Aaron Vittala Bookvich- percussion
Peter Madcat Ruth- harmonica
Richard Smith- bass
Rob Koritz- drums
Shakti- vocals

special guests:

Sikiru Adepoju- talking drum, djembe
Prem Das- water drum
Belita Woods- vocals
Badal Roy- tabla

side A
Out of nothing
Ascension
Nelson Ledges

side B
Shaman drum, Nada drum
Starwood spirit drum
May the funk be with you



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"Just look at the cover and try to imagine what music will come out of it…The man Muruga has explored music inside out for a few decades now. From playing drums at the original Woodstock to his collaborations with Dave Brubeck, George Clinton and Weather Report and via jamming with Jimi Hendrix, he has dedicated his life to the rhythm. Experimenting with different drums and percussion, and sailing from jazz to funk to ethnic has given Muruga the skills and experience required to form this new project, The Global Village Ceremonial Band, to whom freedom is the basis. Freed of barriers, the band explores jazz through African rhythms to produce this session that combines hypnotic grooves with spirituality. Out of nothing and May the funk be with you respectively open and close the album on this beautifully atmospheric and spiritual mood that inhabits the Global Village. The track Ascension (written by Olatunji) wouldn’t have been out of place on the Strata-East label. Nelson Ledge is a (heavy) drum trio workout, recorded live, while Shaman Drum, Nada Drum comprises Muruga on his very own nada drum, accompanied solely by Prem Das (who used to be a colleague of Timothy Leary, there you go) on the water drum. This is hypnotic percussive trance music that would set (adventurous) dance-floors alight. Starwood spirit drum continues the spiritual journey through African sprits with haunting vocals by none other than Muruga’s wife, Shakti. As usual, this dream of a label, Qbico, has done things in style, with amazing artwork and colored vinyl for all the collectors out there. If you’re into ethnic and freeform jazz, or simply into music, go check their back catalogue for some fantastic treasures ! Treat yourself." C.W. from Voices Collective

"Muruga is qbico's spiritual father: an eclectic, ORIGINAL, far out, highly spiritual Orthodox Priest (with roots in Serbia). impossible to forget the 1st time we met at big D airport: we hug each other for i don't know, maybe three minutes, moving fast in circles... all people watching us... finished circling he watched straight into my eyes, i felt so much energy and liked being hypnotised... in fact i forgot to go to pick up my bag, once at the lost bag office they said that it was not on that plane... Muruga said don't worry, you'll get it soon... 5 minutes after the lady called me saying that i'd pick it up with the next plane ?! he jammed with Hendrix at the Village, played Woodstock with Richie Havens, electric jazz with Weather Report, funk with Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, jazz with Perry Robinson, wold music back then with Olatunji, Badal Roy, Sikiru, Prem Das, Big Black, ect... his art, along with BeauSoleil's one, is the most representative of the qbico style: VISIONARY. waiting for his hand-made covers was ALWAYS a thrill !" qbico



26 copies only with hand-made cover by Muruga (front & back; all different/unique bits), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 47

AMANCIO D'SILVA- Konkan dance (QBICO 47) bordeaux vinyl, cover by qbico

Amancio- acoustic & electric guitar, voice
Don Rendell- sax, flute
Alan Branscombe- vibes
Stan Tracey- piano
Clem Alford- sitar
Mick Ripshar- tabla
Tony Campo- bass
Dick Wright- drums

rec. 1972 @ Lansdowne Studios, London

side A
A street in Bombay
What Maria sees

side B
Song for Francesca
Konkan dance



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"This was supposed to be India-born, British-based jazz guitar great, Amancio D'Silva 5th and final album produced by Denis Preston, but it was never released until now. 'Konkan Dance' was recorded in 1974 and features Amancio on acoustic & electric guitars, Don Rendell on soprano & tenor sax, Stan Tracey on piano, Alan Branscombe on flute, vibes & electric piano, Clem Alford on sitar, Toni Campo on electric bass and Mick Ripshar or Keshav Sathe on tablas. This recording shows how Amcancio has evolved from the progressive British jazz of 'Integration' and blended his Indian influences into four long raga-like pieces. The tabla player(s) and bassist play this great sly groove on "A Street in Bombay" while Rendell plays sumptuous sax and Amancio takes an incredible slow, bluesy sitar-like solo that builds hypnotically. "What Maria Sees" features what sounds like electric bass and sitar laying down another sly groove as Branscombe's electric piano and Amancio's guitar weaves their lines magically together. Legendary British sitarist Clem Alford also takes a fine solo on this piece. Amancio plays some superb acoustic guitar on "A Song for Francesca" (his daughter), an exquisite piece with haunting flute, mystical vibes, sinuous soprano sax, both dreamy and quietly mesmerizing. The title piece closes this grand disc with some rather psychedelic fuzz-tone guitar, an unexpected yet winning jazz/rock tune. Both Don Rendell on tenor, Stan Tracey on piano and Amancio on electric guitar (his one & only heavy solo) all take great solos here. Amancio D'Silva's 'Konkan Dance' is a long lost treasure that has finally seen the light of day and it is about time !"BLG

"for sure one of qbico's most precious treasure, so proud of this record ! i dig jazz music in general since 1988 and only recently i discovered Amancio fascinating music, a totally unsung genius. Integration, Hum Dono and Cosmic Eye are masterpieces of Brithis jazz with an Indian influence. his guitar style is unique, so warm and passionate, which you'd easily recognize. i heard A street in Bombay somewhere and i feel in love with that music after THREE NOTES ! so i found Amancio web site, run by his son... wrote him, find a deal and here we go, another gem for you. as background on the cover i used an image i found of an old Indian carpet, while for the ltd ed i used for the 1st time the silk-screen technique, even if it came out kind of strange, not really silk-screened but with embossed letters ?! SO bad he didn't recorded much more music, this is stuff that goes directly to yr heart and bring you there (in Bombay for example)..." qbico



26 copies only on b&w silk-screened cover with insert an unissued Amancio's photo (as postcard), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 46

RAKHIM (QBICO 46) one-sided marbled white vinyl, cover by Tom Backström

Jussi Lehtisalo- vocals
Janne Tuomi- percussions

rec. somewhere, sometimes in Finland

side A
untitled



REMINISCENCES:

"how it happened ?! i probably asked Jussi if he would have liked to release any Circle on qbico... pretty sure that he replied that he had something more particular, mysterious and tribal for me... that's Rakhim with Janne on perc. their live set at the unite in Turku was simply AMAZING ! as special guest Irmler from Faust (see qbico 67)... this, along the unite V rocket, are their only vinyl release; after that they did a CD which is absolutly over the top ! wish i'll do more Rakhim in the future... really like their cover art too." qbico





QBICO 45

LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT- The most pollo (QBICO 45) black vinyl, cover by Jaakko Tolvi

Antti & Jaakko Tolvi with special guest Lau Nau on side A

rec. March 2006 in Kiila, Finland

side A
untitled #1
untitled #2
untitled #3
untitled #4
untitled #5

side B
untitled #6



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

see QBICO 44 review

"two brothers at play... unique stuff ! their live set at the 2nd unite at Cinema Nove was magical (that's why they used carpets...); you'd easily hear that they spent much time in the forest in their youth... nature remedies." qbico





QBICO 44

CLUSTER DUO- Dances (QBICO 44) 24-carat gold vinyl, cover by shlkr

Walter Swanljung- keyboards
Ville Sahlakari- drums

rec. Winter 2004/2005 in Helsinki, Finland

side A
Ensimainen rundi
Selvin pain

side B
Ei hoppua
Yksinainen mies



WORDS:

The Wire, issue 270, August 2006: "And still they keep coming, these Finnish Improv shamans creating a brand of rough magic that intoxicates with its guileless charm and fearless recourse to instinct over deliberation. These two Qbico releases are naive and a little kooky, but never gratingly so. Both raise smiles and lift spirits, and while they could well be dismissed as formless, sloppy freakouts, they're a lot of fun. Both Cluster and Lauhkeat Lampaat (the name translates as Meek Sheep) are affiliated with the free/folk jazz group Rauhan Orkesteri (Cluster got no connections with RO, LL yes). The span of the collective's musical interests is well represented here, with Dances veering into jazzier territory and The most pollo displaying a more mystical avant folk sensibility. Both share an enchanting warmth and appetite for adventure. Walter Swanljung and Ville Sahlakari are pictured play-fighting on the sleeve of Dances, a perfect representation of their approach. Swanljung's lo-fi keyboard work is clearly inspired by Sun Ra but more immediatly recalls the red-hot organ splinters thrown out by Gareth Williams with This Heat. Sahlakari's feral drumming, meanwhile, sounds like an attempt to smoother all the sound his partner contributes under a blanket of undisciplined rumble and clatter. It's a mess- but that's a recommendation. Brothers Jasu (real name is Jaakko) and Antti Tolvi are the backbone of LL, with occasional input from winsome free folk scenester Lau Nau. The most pollo is a collection of impish improvisations based around percussion doodles, string scrapings and muted feedback experiments. The short vignettes on the 1st side are like trial runs for the more confident piece on the 2nd, in which the duo beaver away with the euphoric focus of children at play." Keith Moliné







QBICO 44/45/46
limited edition
Finland

26 copies only, numbered from A to Z in a specially yuta bag with: stamped letters, a photo by Antti Tolvi and raphia



QBICO 43

QBICO U-NITE III, BRUXELLES (QBICO 43) rotten green vinyl, cover by qbico

rec. April 19, 2005 @ Cinema Nova

side A
Family Underground

side B
Family Underground and Rauhan Orkesteri



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire, issue 270, August 2006: "The latest instalment in a series documenting the U-nite events intermittently arranged by label Qbico (free jazz and psychedelic enthusiasts with a fetish for colourfully splattered vinyl). The previous U-nite release featured Alan Silva, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Chris Corsano with Paul Flaherty, illustrating the rich dialogue between drone and free music. Volume three continues in this vein, bringing together Danish droners stalwarts Family Underground and Finnish free stalwarts Rauhan Orkesteri. FU take the first side, and immediatly kick into a suffocating one note chug from a guitar so gnarled with distortion that its middle -and high-end are pure white noise. A chromatic line of synth quavers uneasily like drunken birdsong around this centring pulse, while a chorale of more muted tones hides in the background. The monomania of this groove eventually dissipates into a more open space, with tambourine and tail-chasing delays predominating. There's much use of the delay to produce sqealing feedback, coiling in and out upon itself like fractal geometry. RO join in on the second side. After a tentative opening, the intensity gathers as the collective theme defines itself and players take the plunge. The sprayed sax of RO never gets swamped, and the denser textures of FU's sound benefit from the Finn's loose-limbed drumming and stabursts of glockenspiel." Sam Davies

"the wierdest unite (along with the one in Lisbon), lots of strange vibes around... before going to Bruxelles i went to Paris where i got a disease after eating raw fishes ?! while there my friendship with Fabrizio declined a bit as he was upset that i'll not have done an Henri Chopin LP, as he wished for (sound quaility was too bad and the music not particulary intriguing). i was nervous 'cos i didn't know what i caught in Paris, so before leaving i argued also with Brunella and Roberto (1st and only time)... that's why a snake/venom on the cover... positive side was seeing the Peaceful Orchestra car arrive all the way from Finland and the final set with FU was BAAAD !" qbico



26 copies only with: stickers, spray paint, three unissued photos of the concert, flyer of the gig and plumb-colored vinyl, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 42

BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL- Lucifer Rising sessions (QBICO 42) picture disk, design by qbico

side A
w/The Magick Powerhouse of Oz

side B
w/The Freedom Orchestra



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire, issue 267, May 2006: "Previously released as an impressively packaged and exhaustive double CD set, former Charles Manson associate Bobby BeauSoleil's legendary Lucifer Rising Sessions for cult film maker Kenneth Anger have now resurfaced as a pic disk (Qbico LP). While this release has no new material, Qbico's editing of the recordings to two sides of an LP curiously seems to open up the sound of BeauSoleil's music and give it room to breathe. Split betw a late 1960s recording of his Magick Powerhouse of Oz group at the Straight Theatre in San Francisco and a 70s jail recording of his Freedom Orchestra, the album drifts from freedom cosmic jazz and psychedelic rock patterns to untamed, caged guitar improvisations. It is the Magick Powerhouse of Oz side, however, that shows the true potential of BeauSoleil's wizardry, an acid-fuelled and drone-infected amplified scouring of the senses that could, with eyes wide shut, convince the newcomer they're listening to an Earth bootleg" Edwin Pouncey

"3 pic disks, qbico 40/41/42, issued together for an even stronger impact (they hit well) and to celebrate qbico fifth year birthday. Bobby was particulary happy about my psychedelic version of his photos. mv pic disk took me days to clean it (mv was happy too with the final result), while Zug was fun." qbico





QBICO 41

CONRAD SCHNITZLER- Zug (QBICO 41) picture disk, design by qbico

rec. 1973

side A
Spur

side B
Rhythmus



WORDS

The Wire (issue 267, May 2006): superb article on Conrad Schnitzler by David Keenan with marvellous photos by Andy Rumball. some excerpts:
"Schnitzler recent profile has been given considerable heft by Qbico label ongoing programme of deluxe archival releases of his early 70s material. Their latest is Zug, a reissue of the ltd ed Red Cassette from 1974 as a pic disk LP featuring Schnitzler in full Kiss-style berserker face paint. In its prescient combination of coded ring-modulation and cold metronomic steel, it looks forward to the death of disco of Throbbing Gristle as well as the allusive logic of Spiral Insana-era Nurse With Wound, both of whom have cited Schnitzler as an influence.... But it's his 1972 solo rec. on the Synthi A, a revolutionary 'suitcase' synth launched by EMS in 1971, that function as the fulcrum of his entire back catalogue. Released by Qbico as Con 72 part one & two, Schnitzler talks of the set as if it were a stereo demostration record, an aleatoric dialling through of the instrument's most basic- and resolutely non-musical -properties. But in its absolute refusal of anything approaching common musical tongue, in its insistence on foregrounding the more electronic, as opposed to the traditionally mimetic, aspects of the instrument, it stands as one of the most defiantly personal statement to come out of the German experimental rock scene of the 70's..."

The Wire (issue 268, June 2006): "Originally released on cassette in 1974, the music on Zug is markedly different from the rock meltdown of Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditation and the fogbound soundscapes of Kluster's Zwei-Osterei, the two 1970 album on which Schnitzler's input on electronics and cello had been decisive: The album, here released as picture disk with a photograph of Schnitzler in Mephisto-meets-Gene Simmons face paint, sees him stripping away the dense textures that characterised his previous work and creating skeletal, motorik proto-techno. Predating Kraftwerk's electro-simulations of click-clacking train rhythms by three years, the album's two long - and virtually identical - tracks are hypnotic studies in perpetaul motion. An echoing drum machine, trated with ring modulation to create a monotone drone, is occasionally overlaid with growling synth and subtle filter effects. And that's about it; Schnitzler clearly has no interest in piling on textures in the manner of Tangerine Dream's Journey through a burning grain, or exploring Industrial inner space Kluster-style. Zug is cold, clinical and transfixing in its sparse, endless motion. Kraftwerk might have used similar methods to create rhythm on Ralf and Florian, but the results sound flabby and ungainly next to the stripped back classicism of Zug. Thought Schnitzler is often invoked as a key figure on the more outlandish fringes of Krautrock, his work here is distinguished by a disciplined aviodance of Kosmische slop. Three decades on, it still sounds like the future" Keith Moliné





QBICO 40

MATT VALENTINE/ERIKA ELDER/ALEX NEILSON/MOSES JIGGS (QBICO 40) picture disk, artworks by mv, design by qbico

rec. 2005

side A

Pulsations
Poor old interstellar
Raga turasatana

side B

Goose grease rag
Crystal blues



WORDS:

Brainwashed "As well as being one of the best looking pieces of picture disc vinyl I think I’ve ever seen this is a record thick with atmosphere. Matt 'MV' Valentine and his collaborators melt distinct moods into strands for a journey that goes from hash den to wasteland. This is the best thing Valentine and his regular collaborator Erika Elder have ever put their names to. I’m going to run with the idea that all the songs on this LP were created from a combination of free playing and written melodies / parts. Things seem too loose to be played from scores and it’s far too consistently and conventionally melodic to be fully free. There’s equal room given to both rarefied journeying movements and hooks that shanghai the brain. Each song loosely wraps up a little universe that leaks a little as passages burrow their way inwards. Despite the many different paths taken the overall mood is that of relaxed harmony. This collective’s eponymous release avoids the hippy clichés of most psychedelic blues derived expansions. “Raga Turasatana” is made up of some familiar elements but it instantly begins to develop into a gorgeously warm bed of music. Its delicate finger chimes glint off the sides of the crooked sitar notes creating a canopy of streaking angular patterned comets. “Poor Old Interstellar” might begin with some fairly traditional lost guitar soloing, but it soon drifts off leaving a slough of firefly sounds. This more familiar playing isn’t bad or annoying but can’t match the song’s underside droning spin. This is where the magic is on this collaborative effort, hidden deeper within the song. The same is true for “Goose Grease Rag”, the only piece to features vocals. The infrequent chants build throughout this investigative piece gathering purpose like a rolling wave. These movements stretch like a pouring out of slow energy, revealing a high acoustic guitar strum and short-wave radio scanning. Sounds are glimpsed meaning it takes many subsequent listens to get zoned into the sounds place in the full picture of the song. The only song that draws anything from darkness is “Pulsations.” Its ring of menace aura drips raga stylings from under a bank of heavy pressure air, the slow low beat and jangling percussion creating trebly layers. It perfectly captures the feel of a Middle Eastern western that will never be scripted or filmed. Hopefully Matt Valentine will convene another session to see where they go next." Scott Mckeating

The Wire (issue 268, June 2006): "A sublimely textured magic carpet ride of a record that rises up the second the neddle drops and whisks you away to some unknown realm of sonic pleasure. Here the ever reliable Matt Valentine and Erika Elder combo are joined by vocalist Mosos Jiggs and Jandek's favourite drummer Alex Neilson. Together they boil up a series of morning and midnight ragas that skilfully mingle Valentine's rolling blues guitar style with elements of classical Indian music and muffled freeform poetry. Neilson is particularly impressive here, coaxing his kit to splutter out sounds that initially appear primitevely paced and accidental, but on deeper listening trun out to be as complex and intricately patterned as the mandala design whci decorates this beautiful pic disk LP." Edwin Pouncey

Foxy Digitalis "More glowing limited vinyl action, this time in the glorious picture disk format from Matt Valentine ‘M.V.’, Alex Neilson, Erika Elder ‘E.E.’ and Moses Jiggs on the lovely Qbico label. Something of a companion to the recently issued and highly recommended “Mother of Thousands” 2LP/2CD on Time-Lag, this magnificent creation sees our beloved M.V. and E.E. performing as a quartet with the aid of Masters Jiggs and Neilson in extra-mind-melting instrumental capacity. Opener “Pulsations” instantly engulfs the listener in a blazing alien drone with see-sawing tones and distorted fuzz swells swirling in and out of one another across nine minutes of, well, pulsating, mutating sound space. There is so much going on in this track, from various effects and fuzzy blurred reverb, flutes and crashing industrial percussion to mysterious scraped sounds of indeterminable origin. It all works incredibly well, touching on so many inspiring moments in transcendent sound history, from Sun Ra at his most incorporeal to the dawn of industrial noise and right on up through the golden era of psychedelia, which has no real definable time or place yet exists always, waiting for the right voyagers to tap into the cosmic mainline. Altogether, this makes for a memorable voyage through one fully charged electric mind. 8/10" Lee Jackson (31 July, 2006)






QBICO 40/41/42
limited edition
5th year anniversary

26 copies only, numbered from A to Z in a clear plexi-glass box with luminous orange borders

on front: Eye of the Infinite artwork by Bobby Beausoleil (LP size)
on back: pyramid of all qbico artists until now, design by qbico (LP size/signed)
inside: qbico 40/41/42 pic disks + Con unique photo from 1997 + The Equinox of the Gods poster (repro)
+ MV/Nemo artwork silk-screened and hand-painted (every one is different) + MV postcard



QBICO 39

MIKE COOPER- Tu fuego (QBICO 39) dark blue vinyl (few light blue), cover design by Mike Cooper

Jeff Henderson- alto sax
Mike Cooper- lap steel, electronics
Tom Callwood- bass
Anthony Donaldson- drums

rec. February 2005 live @ Happy, Wellington, New Zealand

side A
Tu fuego part I

side B
Tu fuego part II



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"A live session from Feb 2005 in New Zealand, it starts off in a bottleneck blues slide delta. Like Chadbourne’s take on Albert Ayler’s “Ghosts” the tunefulness of some of the finer free jazz pillars cannot be overestimated. Cuts to the soul. Jeff Henderson on alto gets squiggly and shoots a lot of flame on this album. How well he matches with Cooper’s strings and wires is the challenge here. At times, they feel like they’re on different continents, but that friction provides energy. And then other moments, they are right there. Like on the leader on Side B, Henderson chases a Sonny Sharrock rainbow with Cooper bending the colors, then keeping the steel in agitation. At times the power of the sax is just so much stronger than Cooper’s lap steel, and the mix eats some of it up too. Beating out breathing room is often Anthony Donaldson on drums (flatly mic’d, but hotly flay’d). When Cooper turns to the knobs and waves, as on an extended slice of side A, it’s a nice whirlwind of sound. On the b-side similar section is much more subdued, and quick flicking of not-even-scales. Spritzy! The blues of this fine Qbico freeko are a lot richer than the stringy blues upbringing for Cooper. He’s had an amazing series of improv collabs since wayback, and here’s another nice one." Thurston Hunger KFJC on-line reviews

"Mike probably sent me some music to choose from... we hit along really well and do his records was super easy, another lovely guy. for the cover we used one of his photo, while regarding the music i think it's an original composition and unique in his way, i liked it immediatly." qbico




26 copies only with photocollage covers done by Mike Cooper (with insert), signed and numbered from A to Z





QBICO 38

LOOSERS- Bully bones of Belgie (QBICO 38) dark green vinyl, cover artworks by Tiago, design by Qbico

side A
Sufi loop
Bone loop
Untitled loop
Bully loop

side B
Live loop
Golden teeth loop
Walk thru the path loop
Belgie loop



REMINISCENCES:

"not sure but probably Tiago got in touch, sending me his 1st two albums or i wrote him after hearing them, can't remember exactly ?! anyway, i saw them live a couple of times when i did the unite in Portugal, and i had been quite impressed by them (varied sets), out rock like few bands can do, powerful... unfortunatly it seems that they don't play much these days ?! too bad. strange enough, DJ Tiago was in Tokyo just few days before i did the unite over there... he's a famous DJ now, a nice fella. i used for the cover and label one of the ltd ed hand-made copies Tiago sent me, they were beautiful and with a particular sinister vibe, which goes along perfectly with the music." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers done by Tiago and white vinyl with green "smoke", numbered from A to Z





QBICO 37

FARUQ Z. BEY with NORTHWOODS IMPROVISERS- Rwanda (QBICO 37) clear red vinyl (few with black), cover by Mark Rudolph

Faruq Z. Bey- tenor & alto sax, flute, zola phone
Mike Carey- flute, bass clarinet
Skeeter Shelton- tenor sax
Mike Gilmore- vibes, marimba, bone guitar
Mike Johnston- bass, shenhai, percussion
Nick Ashton- drums

live studio rec. from June 2005

side A
Rwanda

side B
Mamaka II
Himalayan foothpath



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"There are lions and oribi roaming through the savannah during the opening mystery of this song. Dark birds of prey follow their movements. Mike Gilmore, Nick Ashton and Mike Johnston create a percussive landscape filled with shadow and flashes of light. The flutes of Faruq Z. Bey and Mike Carey begin the journey like winds over the tall grasses and rolling hills, heading toward the volatile waters of Lake Kivu. When the bass of Johnston thunders into being, you are moving across the surface of the lake, feeling each crest and trough of the blue-black waves of Kivu. The flutes are now calling the barefoot fishermen to dance, dreaming of barbel, catfish and tilapia. The Tenor Sax of Bey first, and then Skeeter Shelton, pull you into two worlds: you’re still on that deep and dangerous African lake, but at the same time, you are now viewing the streets of Detroit from the backseat of a slow-moving Buick. It’s late summer and the windows are rolled down. The tires hiss and the streetlights flash across your face. Gilmore’s marimba solo brings you back to that Rwandan plain. Though now you are the lion, stalking the oribi. The saxes come back in, this time with Carey joining the drive and leading the expedition. Finally, your are returned to the opening mystery. The bass and percussion dissolve the water and land into ethereal winds, and those dark raptors rise in widening circles until they disappear into the silence" Three-mile Spiral blog

"Gorgeous, earthy, unhurried Mother Africa jazz here, deep and dark, mysterious yet reassuring. Sax/flute master Bey leads a superb group of like-minded story-tellers; together they bring forth a kind of ancient knowledge I can’t begin to understand. Long journeys unfold before us… our guides are bass, drums, saxes, flutes, bass clarinet, and vibraphone/marimba. Along the way we meet shenhai, zola phone, and bone guitar. Night comes in and spirits visit and we are at peace" Max Level (KFJC Radio)

Poll Winners of 2005 honorable mention WEMU Radio

"enter Faruq... through my old friend Mike Johnston who used to bid and win in my old jazz auctions... another pillar of qbico records and a unique voice. love their music (such a warm and African sound), their compositions (never get tired of hearing them), their artworks (Mike ltd hand-made covers are among the best on qbico). i finally met Faruq (and of course Mike and the rest of the band) in Detroit for the unite, no words, just shake hands AND looks... Mike told me some deep stories about him from the 60's... a kind of legendary figure, especially in the Detroit area.. in fact they played mostly there for a long time, but fortunatly recently they played Issue Project Room in NYC, thanks to an invitation from my friend Lawrence. Faruq got some health problems, that's why they can't move much... anyway, i did three rockets by Faruq (plus one-sided by the Northwoods), so i really hope the message'll be spread loud and clear, beyond Det." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers done by Mike Johnston (with flyer and insert on parchment paper), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 36

Z-FUNK (QBICO 36) red vinyl with clear blue effects, labels & model photo by qbico

Flaviooo- alto & tenor sax, flute
Basetta- guitar
Tony- keyboard
Steve- bass
Marsel- drums

rec. @ Mu Rec. Studio, Milan 2005

side A
Purple Gang
Monkey

side B
Get in
Put your lips



REMINISCENCES:

"for few years, the Z-Funk and DJ Qbico, were pretty active in the city so exciting music scene... we had some fun... but for a city where the color grey dominate, we couldn't have lasted much or mucho tiempo... anyway, that's how it started my passion for photography (the one for women was innate) and especially for the energy flow which there'd be betw a photographer and a model. i said to myself: jewel shop use models for their jewels, why i'd not use them also for my records (originally i thought about a qbico's calendar/catalog with naked ladies holding my rockets, which i thought to do once i'd have arrived at #50) ?! so Jessica ended up being my 1st model... i book the usual rec. studio and Zeta Funk hit it off with NO reharshal or 2nd take of any kind, kind of live set with few friends. here we go: four raw & dirty instrumentals numbers totally improvised on the spot = 100% pure Ital-Funk. Basetta took care of the ltd ed which is SO funky ! groova !"


26 copies only on real leather covers with crocodile's skin motifs (red or green), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 35

FREE FUNK (QBICO 35) yellow vinyl with pink effects, artwork by Muruga

Perry Robinson- clarinet
Muruga- drums, percussions
Belita Woods- vocals
Ken Kozara- synth
Richard Smith- bass
Owen B- electric violin
George Kerby- guitar
Ralph Koziarski- sax
Peter Madcat Ruth- harmonica
Louie Kababbi- rap
Trey Lewd- guitar
Aaron Vittala Bookvich- samples
Shakti- vocals

mix mastered by Bob Dennis who used to work for Motown

rec. 2003/05

side A
Jah freed the funk
Free Funk
A tonal romance

side B
Sunshine of your love
Bread & Butter
Light
Rock the planet



REMINISCENCES:

"it was prior to the 1st unite in NYC, so it'd have been end of 2003. i heard the news that Perry was in town with Henry Grimes... throught a girlfriend of mine i discover where he was staying, so i gave it a try... Perry is such a kool cat with a long history in jazz music starting from 1962 (he also said to me that played with Albert Ayler in Spain early 60's and went to Ibiza Island back then ?!)... he said come over for a drink, we did... well, to make it short, at his room a saw a CD-R which radiate light... Perry told me that i'd hook up with Muruga, a long time buddy of his... that how it started... Muruga recorded this music especially for this new project which he aptly called Free Funk, the freedom of jazz/the rhythm of funk. Northern soul, super sexy foxy Belita Woods joined in, along with other members of the Parliament-Funkadelic Thang. Funk enter the qbico catalog, my 1st love, which i gew up with." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers done by Muruga, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 34

BAROQUE BORDELLO- Abnormal songs (QBICO 34) light blue clear vinyl with yellow effects, artworks by Jose Carrillo Morales (modern Huicholes paint/vision)

Kawabata Makoto : Guitar. Bass. Synth. Percussion Keyboard. Voice.
Kawagishi Tetsushi : Guitar. Bass. Keyboard. Percussion.
Iwaki Yasuo : Percussion. Keyboard. Synth. Guitar. Bass. Organ. Trumpet
(Guest) Hirashima : Guitar. Bass
.
recorded at R.E.P. studio, Horyuji sound house 1980

side A
Alice in naked land
Darkness and thousand twinkle

side B
Brilliant encounter
Vuluvulu
Maltepa
Plunderer
We are the angel

originally issued on cassette on the R.E.P. label in the 80's in very limited quantities,
then re-issued on a 10 CD-R box set entitled "Makoto Kawabata early works 1978-1981" (ltd. ed. 100 copies only)



WORDS:

"This is a music that i originally composed for a play called Alice in Nakedland. The play was some erotic expressionist nonsense, sort of like Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Caligari's Crime added together then divided by two. My script was used, but my music was rejected by the other staff members" M. Kawabata



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 33

ARTHUR DOYLE- No more crazy women (QBICO 33) one sided yellow vinyl, four cut corners: octagonal cover with silver or yellow or black borders, artwork by Cindy Sherman, cover by qbico

trio: Arthur Doyle- tenor sax, flute/Wilber Morris- bass/Rashid Sinan- drums (unissued pieces rec. in 1989)*
solos remixed by Dave Cross- samples & Tim Poland- sonic reducer (rec. in 2004)

side A
Red bird
Funk breaks*
Jackie millionairie
The boost*
DMA

dedicated to the late Wilber Morris



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-December 2005 issue 262: "Altough saxophone player Arthur Doyle is usually associated with free jazz, his latest offering on QBICO shows yet another side to this extraordinary artist. The two tracks he recorded in 1989 included on this eccentrically packaged, one sided LP feature him blowing some supreme tenor sax and flute over the steady pulse playing of bass man Wilber Morris, and drummer Rashid Sinan. On Funk Breaks he sounds possessed, his rambling vocal breaking into strange rhythmic rappings that resemble the magical utterances of some tranced out shaman. This is jazz, of a sort, but broken down to its most primitive form. The rest of the record was recorded in 2004 with Coffee's Dave Cross and Tim Poland sampling and electronically altering Doyle's voice. The result is a remarkable and haunting experience, in which the duo seem to make contact with the vocalist's inner demons and create a gateway for them to spew back their wildest ectoplasmic incantations. They have stripped the sound down to the bone to allow the full spiritual mania of Doyle's cracked vocals to become as one wth the electronics. No more crazy women is yet another oddity in Arthur Doyle's slim and curious discography, but one that showcases both sides of his creative personality -warts and all." Edwin Pouncey

"Roberto helped me to use one of his favourite artist piece for the cover of this crazy one-sided (was quite easy and Cindy seemed very relaxed). i had in mind to start cutting four corners, then three, two, one and finally make a last Doyle full LP without no cut corners... i had that planned and the music ready, but things changes in the meantime... long work to cut all that corners by hand, one by one... the ltd ed i think is one of the hippest i ever did, heavy stuff ! i took some metal plates from the pressing plant which they use to cool off vinyls... a friend of mine landed me an utensil to scrap metal which i enjoyed doing BUT i did without using protective glasses, so after a while some pain was felt and i had to visit doc..." qbico



26 copies only with octagonal metal covers (with hand-made "effects" using a special machine), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 32

ERUPTION (QBICO 32) clear red vinyl with pink effect

music by:

Conrad Schnitzler
Wolfgang Seidel
Klaus Freudigmann

rec. 1970, Studio Freudigmann, Berlin

side A
Eruption part I

side B
Eruption part II



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-November 2005 issue 261: "Eruption was a multidisciplinary freeform ensemble put together by cellist, violinist and early electronic improvisors Conrad Schnitzler in 1970 as an adjunct to his work with Kraut bahamoths Tangerine Dream and Kluster. They seem to have functioned more as a thinktank for the then explosive Krautrock scene than a straightforward gigging group, with a revolving memebership that at points included members of Embryo, Ash Ra Tempel and Agitation Free. Details of Eruption's Berlin actions have appeared in most comprehensive German rock overviews, but up until now there has been no audio documentation, making Qbico's archival unearthing of a 1970 live performance from Studio Freudigmann, Berlin all the more significant. Although the picture on the back features footage of a big band show with members of Amon Dulul and Ash Ra Tempel, the LP documents a trio set from Schnitzler, Wolfgang Seidel and Klaus Freudigmann that is much more punk than the group's links to such centres of kosmische boatfloat might suggest. The music starts out fairly fragmented, with sustained violin drones caught in a flux of scattershot percussion, short passages of silence and wowing effects. Although it feels a little tentative at first, this slightly more deliberate approach is borne of a hard-thinking improvisatory ethos, based more on exploring aspects of interactive dialogue than free rock gush. But after the parameters of the exchange have been fully established, the trio start to move the music out, with tracks based around oscillating analogue tones, feral violin and distorted improvised vocals that sound uncannily like the freeform punk of Dylan Nyoukis's Blood Stereo and Decaer Pinga. Side two feels a little more of its time -a good thing- with fuzz-wah, organ and drums generating circular hymns to nada that are as ferociously monosyllabic as anything by Klaus Dinger's La Dusseldorf. The inspired combination of rock dynamics, freely improvised dialogue and manhandled electronics makes this another one of those historically upending releases that captures a moment of conceptual precognition decades before it would be fully assimilated. But all the jawdropping formal considerations aside, Eruption makes for a thrilling stand-alone ride." David Keenan

"another mythical record from the qbico catalog. Eruption, along with Kluster pawed to way for many groups to come... they broke every rule and successfully mixed free, electronic, experimental and proto-industrial music; using classical acoustic instruments and self-made ones. this one, along with the other Eruption 3-sided LP and the Kluster box, still sounds fresh and ahead of his time after forty (40) years ! timeless." qbico



26 copies only with completly different labels, numbered from A to Z







QBICO 31

RHODRI DAVIES/INGAR ZACH- Ieirll (QBICO 31) purple vinyl

Rhodri Davies- harp
Ingar Zach- percussion

rec. november 2002 in London

side A
Llaer
Still point
And light flashes from the moment

side B
Moon in norveg
Wound response
Jarlens vugge
More salt then water



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "Beautiful duo set from these two European improvisors which is a deal more removed from any established notions of intuitive post-SME thought than you might initially suspect. Davies plays harp throughout, but right from the first track he steers away from both the scrabbly string attack favoured by most post-Derek Bailey strategists and the Heavy Metal assault of instrumental pioneers like Zeena Parkins, opting instead for a slow blur of droning notes that flare like fizzing electric currents into foggy, almost medieval-sounding constructs. Zach - one of Derek Bailey's most invigorating duo partners - stays away from the bulk of the kit, preferring to focus on mechanical contraptions and what sounds like electronically stimulated prayer bowls in order to illuminate Davies's dilated consructs, and there are points where the constellations of slow, zoning tones bring to mind percussionist Frank Perry's devotional solo work. Over on the b side, things are slightly more tangible, with Davies handling the harp a little more aggressively and invoking the kind of taut, intuitive exchange that favours timbral clout over textural or melodic subtlety." David Keenan

"I've played the Ignar Zach LP last night. I wanted to hear that one as we put on a gig with him in Leeds a few years ago and he was great. Its a superb LP - I like the fact that he uses drone sounds in free improv" Phil Todd (Ashtray Navigations)

"don't remember exactly how it happened ?! probably i was on the look out for some Norwegian musician so that i'd complete my Scandinavia wooden box idea for the ltd ed ?! or Rhodri or Ingar sent me some stuff ?! well never mind.. i think the music here is really one-of-a-kind, as Phil Todd noted above... sounds electronic but played with acoustic instruments. i remember that i had to re-do that vinyl, since 1st pressing came out bad, difficult with those frequencies... somebody said that that color didn't bring much luck ?! anyway, in the end it came out successfully and i was happier then ever ! yeah, when you have to suffer a bit for something, the rewards are even more enjoyed... or not ?!" qbico





QBICO 30

GUSH- Electric eels (QBICO 30) clear vinyl with white effects

Mats Gustafsson- fluteophone, flute, sopranino, soprano, tenor and baritone sax
Sten Sandell- elektroniks, piano, harmonium and voice
Raymond Strid- guitar, percussion, amplified and processed instruments and objects

recorded Nov. 6th, 1996 at Fylkingen, Stockholm

side A
El

side B
Al part I & II



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "Gush is the trio of powerhouse Swedish improvisor Mats Gustafsson on fluteophone, flute, sopranino, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, Sten Sandell on elektroniks, piano, harmonium and voice and Raymond Strid on guitar, percussion, objects, amplified and processed instruments. Recorded on 6 November 1996 at Stockholm's renowed Fylkingen studios, Electric Eel touches on a host of operating bases, from the slightest of semi-silent codes through moments of evocative Industrial drone and convulsive throat dialogues. While Sandell's melodic, Schlippenbach-styled piano work provides a vague anchor to the known jazz world, there are moments of bent electronic prankery here that sound closer to the kind of subversive infantilism of LAFMS groups like Doo-Dooettes and Airway, albeit blown to pieces by Gustafsson's eviscerating horn work." David Keenan

"Mats ! another dear and easy going old friend. i think he bought records from me before qbico happened and for sure he was in touch with Roberto since a long time (always for that sick habit: jazz records). i used to enjoy much Gush early releases (this being their only full proper vinyl release) and i was lucky enough to see them live at Vasteras when Mats invited the qbico gang years ago at his organized Festival... probably the vinyl is one of the coolest i did, thought it was not easy... i like the title (perfect for the kind of music) and the pic too." qbico





QBICO 29

FAMILY UNDERGROUND- Ancient shadows (QBICO 29) picture disk, artworks by Sara Czerny and Emmy Nielsen

rec. 2004 in Denmark

side A
Ancient shadows part I

side B
Ancient shadows part II



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "The latest offering from art label Qbico is this beautifully simple black and white picture disc from Danish Improv drone orchestra Family Underground. A companion piece to Double Leopards' Urban Concussion pic disk, also on Qbico, Ancient Shadows is equally thrilling and addictive, softly luring you into a pit of undulating drone, electric guitar flutter, scraped percussion and phantom vocalising. Family Underground create a whirling wall of sound, continually pulled down and rebuilt as their improvisations become more confident and detailed. Threaded though with feedback interludes, guitars furiously grind away or scrabble around like mice in an attic as the all-powerful drone anchors the swaying composition, keeping it from drifting off into deep space." Edwin Pouncey

"Family Underground give the gift of heavy on a beautiful picture LP. By bending and twisting waves of monochromatic noise into beautiful music Family Undergound has created some of the most pleasing and beautiful drone music ever etched into such a pretty piece of wax while at the same time still managing to sound menacing and dark. It actually feels really strange and scary just to say this but this LP’s exterior gives a good approximation of what the sound is that lies therein, which is to say, beautiful psychedelic monochromatic disorientation. Family Underground’s scary and menacing oblique drones are with out a doubt the most beautiful and pleasing face melting that could have never been painted. I image this LP approximates the sound of an unfortunate black and white nightmare that may have occurred in the poor fevered head of some guest of the Manson Family, or maybe a Francis Bacon painting brought to life by Dario Argento. Either way, this picture disc gives a great approximation of the talents of these noise artists and the inherent possibilities and potential that lurks in between the waves of noise music currently bubbling up from the underground. The white side’s two work outs of rhythmic buzz and drone create an approximation of ambient noise UFO engine buzz, ultimately lulling you into the most beautiful haze of relaxing feedback. The leafy white side’s sounds further work this beautiful folk drone haze into your brain until you realize you’ve just heard somebody actually realize the sounds that they imagine in their own head. This is beautiful noise music." Nathan Young (18 July, 2005) -FOXY DIGITALIS

"also here, i wrote to Nicolas after having heard some of their earliest stuff... FU was great, loved their set at the u-nite III... if not the 1st this is probably their 2nd ever release on wax. i recently met Nicolas and Sara at the last unite in Cope, was good to see them again... and by chance, in a remote part of the town (Christiania :-), i saw also Jasper, he surely got style and was a killer at the guitar... but now unfortunatly quit FU..." qbico





QBICO 28

RAUHAN ORKESTERI/LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT- Sylissain oot (QBICO 28) pink vinyl, cover by Antti

Antti Tolvi- reeds, percussion, objects
Ville Jolanki- reeds
Tero Kemppainen- bass
Jaakko Tolvi- drums, percussion, objects

rec. 2004 in Finland

side A
Kevyt liikenne
Bile-Kalkkuna
Aurincotanssi
Kapykauppa
Mylviva ullakko
Paaskyjen valinta

side B
Juhlapitko
Villa rusetilla
Pierulogia ov180
Teppii

reissued on CD by
Ache Records



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "Rauhan Orkesteri's recent single on the Finnish POK label may be the greatest seven inches of gut-wrenching avant jazz intensity since Borbetomagus's brain-erasig Coelacanth back in 1993. This album - their second vinyl LP to date - continues in the loose, high-energy vein of the single with a clutch of instantly composed high-register hymnals and frayed bottom end blues. The first track here matches the legendary Center of the World group led by Frank Wright in terms of visceral tone-bending assault, with detonating Sunny Murray-style percussion working folk tattoos into muddy whorls of sophisticated grunt. Also scattered throughout the LP are duo tracks by Rauhan offshot Lauhkeat Lampaat that map a goofier arc than the mothership by combining hand percussion and assorted small instruments in miniature freakouts that sound somewhere between The Mothers of Invention, Han Bennink's solo work and The Godz. Comes on sick pink vinyl too." David Keenan

another nice review here from Ryan Brown

"The Peaceful Orchestra, the Finnish brotherhood ! i wrote Antti Tolvi, after i heard their 1st wonderful album... a nature boy (as all the Finnish folks) and talented young fella (untrained); that was the beginning of the exciting free folk music scene from Finland... don't know but always had an attraction from Finland and their natural beauty/easy going mentality... and Teroo what about that healthy saunas ! visited/toured many times, up to Lapland and have strong brothers/connections over there: Tero (Rauhan), Sami (Mohel) and Simo (Black Motor). this is the only qbico release which it had been reissued on CD by intrepid label Ache a while ago... cover image came from Antti pillow !? nice, also vinyl color i think perfectly match covers's colors..." qbico







QBICO 28/29/30/31
limited edition
Scandinavia

26 copies only, numbered from A to Z in an especially designed wood box, with:

on front: Scandinavia map + hand-carved letters (with a special "hot pen" which burn wood)
on back: picture of an old (17th century) Saami shaman's drum (native people of Scandinavia) + hand-carved letters
inside: QBICO 28 & 29 covers hand-made by the musicians + QBICO 30 clear vinyl with red, yellow and white effects & cover with an electric eel on front (different from regualer ed.) & photo insert of the musicians + QBICO 31 purple and white vinyl (different from regular ed which is just purple, same cover) + three strips with descriptions of the shaman drum, the electric eel and the word "ieirll".

box available in three versions:

yellow/orange Scandinavia map with a picture of an old artifact portraying an Amanita Muscaria mushroom (found in Sweden) + yellow eel
blue Scandinavia map with picture of the Saami flag + blue eel
violet Scandinavia map with a picture of a "wolf man" + violet eel



QBICO 26/27

QBICO U-NITE II, BRUXELLES (QBICO 26/27) DLP folder "primate" cover with wierd monkeys, 26: black vinyl with violet effects; 27: clear green vinyl with yellow effects. cover by Qbico with the original poster of the "Free jazz Great Black Music" Festival

side A:
Alan Silva (solo)
Lauhkeat Lampaat

side B & C:
Vibracathedral Orchestra
(Michael Flower/Bridget Hayden/Adam Davenport/Julian Bradley)

side D
final jam with Vibracathedral Orchestra, Lauhkeat Lampaat and Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty

rec. live @ Cinema Nova on April 8, 2004



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "....The Bruxelles disc explores the creative bleed of free jazz into European drone-rock Improv. It is sequenced perfectly, flowing like a single molten dream from a bass solo by Alan Silva, through a duo piece by Finns Lauhkeat Lampaat, and into a set by UK's third eye monsters Vibracathedral Orchestra that expands to feature the Finns and Americans Chris Corsano and Paul Flaherty. Silva's solo is a masterpiece of concision and control, his bowing and the natural resonances of wood and string seeming to float in a pool of sublime concentration. But the Vibracathedral set, taking up three sides of vinyl, is the real hightlight - a fully immersive, subliminally suggestive symphony of ebbing drones, soporific bass patterns and pattering percussion that lulls even the usually explosive Corsano and Flaherty into its narcotic dreamstate." Alan Cummings

"Bruxelles was simply GREAT ! Fabrizio, our man over there did an amazing job to set this up, as well all the rest of the Nova crew. Cinema Nova was AMAZING to say the least (an OLD 1920's disused Cinema with HIGH ceiling), LOTS of people showed up (300 united souls, in the name of creative music), at the qbico table there was the original qbico-team with Roberto and Brunella...the final jam was so special, remember my pleasure when from the back of the Cinema i saw coming in betw the crowd Chis and Paul with their stuff... such fond memories. i got along well with Alan Silva and we talked about a qbico unite in Paris to do later on... i remember we set things up: find a place to play in Paris AND we had in mind to do a kind of party at Alan's farm in the countryside with MANY light projectors BUT Doyle was involved and he couldn't make it from the US, so nothing materialized unfortunatly ! that'd have been something unique and psychedelic for sure ! Arthur was supposed to appear also at the II, III and IV unite..." qbico





QBICO 24/25

QBICO U-NITE I, NEW YORK CITY (QBICO 24/25) DLP folder "acquarium" cover with abyss fishes, 24: black vinyl with blue/red/white effect; 25: clear blue vinyl with yellow effects. photos by Peter Gannushkin, poem by Steve Dalachinsky, cover by Qbico

side A:
Steve Dalachinsky- Phenomena of interference (excerpt)
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters duo & trio with Daniel Carter

side B:
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters/Daniel Carter/Shanir-Ezra Blumenkranz/Perry Robinson 5et

side C
Arthur Doyle/Nuuj duo
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guests Daniel Carter and Perry Robinson

side D
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guest Daniel Carter
Arthur Doyle solo

rec. live @ Tonic on March 18, 2004



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-July 2005 issue 257: "With releases by outsider heroes like Sunburned Hand of the Man, Makoto Kawabata and Arthur Doyle under its belt, vinyl-only label Qbico clearly has pretensions to becoming a 21st century successor to such legendary underground imprints as ESP, Shandar, Saturn or Futura. The New York disc's first half showcases a clutch of the city's free blowing journeymen to proficient, if not entirely mindblowing effect. After an opening, beautifully tangled piece of vintage Beat verse by Steve Dalachinsky, Charles Waters and Andrew Barker spar tentatively with Barker's stabbing percussion jabs failing to raise much response from Waters's muted, introspective clarinet and slightly more fiery alto. The duo expand with the addition of multi-reedist Daniel Carter, clarinettist Perry Robinson and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass. Carter raises the bar considerably, his abraded tone on trumpet and tenor providing an emotional lodestone and direct clarity for the music. The second disc is more interesting, providing series of groupings for soul-fired tenor and vocals of Alabama wildman Arthur Doyle. The mumbling eccentricity of his phrasing and the still astonishing spit and heft of his tenor are not easy vioces to accomodate, but the collection of underground rock/Improv heads who make up his Electro-Acoustic Ensemble are on inspired form, cooking up a swirling vortex of buzzing and flailing LAFMS moves that jibe perfectly. The..." Alan Cummings

"Thunderously heavy two LP set from Qbico documenting a night in New York where some of the hardest working lungs still in the service of liberated fire - Arthur Doyle, Perry Robinson, Daniel Carter, Charles Waters, Shanir Ezra Blummenkranz and Andrew Barker - plotted various tactical formations with brains of a whole other order, including Ed Wilcox of Temple Of Bon Matin, Nuuj of Pengo/Asthmatic, Dave Cross Of Coffee, Leslie Q and Vinnie Paternostro. Freely-improvised avant-guerilla spurt in the spirit of the LAFMS/MEV and avant/rock coalitions like BAG. First time Doyle has played together with Robinson and Carter since the loft-scene days of the 1970s... Comes in absurd full-colour gatefold sleeve with poem from Steve Dalachinsky." DK

"the 1st U-NITE ! it just came to my mind, being a small label, to unite our forces to present our music around the world, as a tribe/family, so to be stronger in a way. i probably talked with Dave Cross and/or with Andrew about this, which let to Alan Licht who was running Tonic at the time... he was kind of familiar with qbico already, so we set this up easily... it was SOMETHING for me to present for the 1st time the music of my label in the Big Apple, a city which fascinated me since my childhood and which has a long music history... many musicians, so not much money to split at the end BUT the seed was planted... you know what ? in less then 10 years i organized 15 qbico u-nite all over the world, making to tour of it: starting in NYC, to end in Tokyo, San Francisco and finally back to Europe in Copenhagen AND NOT a single music mag in the whole world ever attended/documented a single qbico night ?! AND i don't think i presented totally unknown or young musicians !? that's how it goes, if you don't pay for publicity, you dig ?! that the 1st box i did, for the ltd ed, and it presented lots of exciting music and many artists; proud of it !" qbico







QBICO 24/25/26/27
limited edition
U-nite I & II

26 copies only, numbered from A to Z in an especially made box, with:

4 LP in clear plastic sleeves (pic disk covers) with stickers of abyss fishes and wierd monkeys + papers (with records general info) on both sides of the inside box + two cardboard on front and back of the box + as inserts 1) Steve Dalachinsky poem on large parchment paper 2) original poster of the "Free Jazz Great Black Music" Festival @ Cinema Nova 3) photos of NYC U-nite's musicians "in action" 4) "A Call" leaflet with a text by Robert Castelli 5) original flyers of both U-nites

box available in three versions: violet/red/yellow



QBICO 22/23

KAORU ABE/SABU TOYOZUMI OVERHANG PARTY- Senzei (QBICO 22/23) DLP heavy folder cover, 22: white vinyl with orange "effects", 23: dark blue vinyl with white "effects"/blue (few)/light blue (few)/light blue with red "effects"/light blue with white "effects"; cover design by Sabu (front) & Qbico (inside)

Kaoru Abe- alto sax
Sabu Toyozumi- drums, percussion

rec. February 25 and April 15 & 30, 1978 live at Gaya, Tokyo, Japan.

side A
February 25, 1978 (3rd set)

side B
April 15, 1978 (1st set)

side C
April 15, 1978 (2nd set)

side D
April 30, 1978 (1st set)



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

choosen by Sabu as his all time favourite jazz LP in the Japanese book: "The best of Jazz: the single favourite jazz record in the opinion of 101 persons (writers, poets, musicians, critics, owner of jazz clubs, etc...)" (page 162/163).

" just listenend to the totally Killer Abe/duo dblp- totally great !" John Olson (Wolf Eyes/Universal Indians/Dead Machine/American Tapes label )

"A real find: a clutch of unreleased duo performances from starcrossed free Japanese altoist Kaoru Abe recorded a few months prior to his death aged only 29 on September 9th 1978. Though he obviously owed plenty to Ayler's righteous whoops and shrieks, Abe's playing also had a distinctive, deeply lonely and melancholic air. Indeed, he was often most comfortable playing alone, when he could carve huge chunks of weighty black silence to construct his dynamic of tension and release, sometimes he'd remain motionless for long minutes on end before blasting through the static mess. As such he has been a major influence on contemporary sound-thinkers like Masayoshi Urabe and alongside guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi stands at the forefront of the first wave of Japanese avant garde musicians. This stunning double gatefold LP bundles four ferociously powerful sets where he’s accompanied by powerhouse drummer Sabu Toyozumi who has played with Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, Exias-J and Arthur Doyle. Side A is Feb 25th, 1978 (3rd set), B is April 15th, 1978 (1st set), C is April 15th, 1978 (2nd set) and D is April 30th, 1978 (1st set). Outer sleeve designed by Toyozumi himself, nice archival shots of the duo inside. Comes on psychedelic multi-coloured vinyl. A major historic event for sure." DK

"for sure one of the most legendary qbico release. Abe was a hero for me, i was a long time admirer of his music/unique, angry voice; so this was more then a pleasure and honour to put out. Sabu worked on the front cover, me on the inside and ltd ed. Sabu also found many original flyers of the 1st Memorial Concert dedicated to Kaoru Abe which we used for the collectors ed.. Sabu told me so many stories about Abe: how much fun they had together, how he assaulted Milford Graves screaming his sax in front of him, which let to the conclusion that Mr. Graves refused to play with him again (i'd have loved to see that scene), how poor he was at the end of his life..." qbico



26 copies only numbered from A to Z, on folder cardboard and clear plastic sleeve with very psychedelic inside cover (different from regular ed. which is straight blue color), available in three different colors: mixed yellow green (8), green (9) and yellow (9) + original flyers & tickets of the 1st Memorial Concert dedicated to Kaoru Abe from Janury 13, 1979 "Life is a fight for freedom, freedom need creation, creation is a result of our improvisation" by S. Toyozumi (dr), K. Umezu (as), H. Sato (tb), K. Midorikawa (cello), Onodera (dancer), H. Katayama (ts), Y. Fujikawa (as) and K. Inoue (as).





QBICO 21

MATT VALENTINE- Creek to creation (QBICO 21) clear "algae" vinyl with white and blue "effects" (most) or clear "algae" vinyl (very few)

Matt Valetine- 12 string guitar, yayli tambur, prophet 600, voice
Erika Elders- sruti box, tambura, electric jug, percussion, spoons, voice
Nemo- moog & vox repeat, percussion
Chris Corsano- drums, percussion
Dredd Foole- voice

rec. in MV Spectrasound, Winter 2004 at Maximum Arousal Farm, Guilford, VT

side A
Lunette
Meditations on out of nowhere

side B
Lunette #2
Ring of Yod
Moon Lotus



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"swimming in the creek, can totally dig the floating...came out really
nice, probably my best record in all totality. a really sweet high flying
vibe. both 'styles' of wax are over the moon. impeccable baby!" mv

see The Wire issue 252 for an exhaustive review by Tony Herrington of the "Creek to creation" LP, along two other mv's releases (page 50).

also dig Eric Weddle's fine article from Dusted Magazine: "Matt “MV” Valentine, along with Erika “EE” Elder, has slowly leaked out a constantly expanding body of work in recent years as Tower Recordings, The MV & EE Medicine Show and his own name. Together MV & EE have formulated a modern, psychedelic-blues shanty by giving shelter to releases of various mediums (chapbook, CD-R, DVD-R) and artists via their own Vermont-based Child of the Microtones imprint. Though perched in the New England woods, the COM missives are not always as easy to come by as this dandy LP from QBICO; a label specializing in wondrous cosmic gluttony (check out the fine A-Band or Conrad Schnitzler LPs) Creek to Creation is quite a smoky peak within Valentine’s vinyl output. Here the folk-form gives way to openness and the absorbent natural world more than other MV recordings these ears have heard before. Across the two sides, Valentine’s gauzy blues scriptures morph into miniature rhythms at a nodding pace that gently warps the time and space immediately around you. His deep aural sheen of prism tones has become the point of cohesion for his solo and Medicine Show recordings. Creek To Creation sculpts it perfectly. “Mediations On Out of Nowhere” spans nearly the entire A-side. Valentine’s banjo pulses more like a folk-based sax riff readying for lift off than string finger-spinning. The repetitive mode sings itself steady and rises to a holler near the end. The mind-swelling wordage he has belted out live and on Space Chanteys is absent here and throughout the album. Dredd Foole, Vermont’s free-folk poet laureate and COM labelmate, fills the space in epic style. Foole lets out some devastating vocal chant/warble that drifts effortlessly down the creek and alongside aqua-tone calls by the ever-present Erika Elder and Time-Lag Records’ operator Nemo Bidstrup. Chris Corsano also appears from below, tapping out distant jump beats that hint at his sense of nuance. In all, “Mediations On Out of Nowhere” is a grand tale of babble and illusion that could hold its own. The flipside brings the guitar tangles back along with the gooey smears of psychedelia. After the serene beauty of “Lunette #2,” the allegorical trilogy “Ring of Yod” begins. “The Tree of Life” is the 12-string portion with Indian modes peering around the corners. Bidstrup surfaces with some Saturnian Moog shape shifting while Elder joins in on an array of instruments from tambura, sutri box and the electric jug (see 13th Floor Elevators for full potential of this wallop) while melting into Pt. 2, “The Fall Into Time,” and finally “The Garden.” The distinct sound of each player fades into the timbers and expands into one force while the record eases toward close. As a whole, the Creek to Creation song-cycle glides across the celestial waterbed of sound and echoes backs like the tingly reflections your eye catches off ripples. This is the Valentine album to grab before it’s too late."

"got in touch with mv after hearing his 1st albums, which i really dug. nice fella which unfortunaly i had never the pleasure to met. i sincerely thing that the two slabs of vinyls that he cut for qbico are among the best things that he released and i don't say that 'cos it's my label... the pic disk is probably one of the best ever qbico releases: in term of art/sound/music. his spectrasound sound quality is unbeatable ! he recently proposed me a duo pic disk with Thurston Moore, but i was closing so i said that i was not interested at the moment; hope he and Thurston didn't get offended, as it was not my intention." qbico



26 copies only, numbered from A to Z, with hand-made covers done by the musician





QBICO 20

CONRAD SCHNITZLER- Con '72 part II (QBICO 20) black & white cover, black vinyl

Conrad Schnitzler- Synthie A

rec. live at the German Institute, London, Spring 1972.

side A
Con '72 part II a

side B
Con '72 part II b



REMINISCENCES:

"classic vintage Conrad, 2nd and final part of a memorable Synthie A concert. i remember Con said to me to pay him after i'll have sold all the records !? i tried something different for the ltd ed..." qbico





26 copies only, numbered from A to Z, in die-cut sleeve (front & back) with two colored inserts and hand-stamped letters





QBICO 19

VITAMIN B12- Other Worlds (QBICO 19) clear vinyl with violet & yellow effects, cover design by Alasdair Willis

side A
Hammond pickle

side B
Euphonious murmu blend



REMINISCENCES:

"an old friend, Andrea from Elica, who released a nice double 10" by the Vitamin, gave me his contact; that's how this one happened. it's probably one of the most accessible qbico record, i still like it, both the music and the art; it was fun to do that one. Vitamin B12 web site was way ahead and his ltd ed hand-made covers are still some of the best i had ever received !" qbico



26 copies only, hand-made by the musicians, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 18

STEVE BERESFORD duos with JOHN BUTCHER and RICHARD SANDERSON- I shall become a bat (QBICO 18)
black vinyl with red effects, cover artwork by Marcel Duchamp

Side A: Beresford- electronics & objects/Butcher- tenor and soprano saxophone (rec. April, 2003)
Side B: Beresford- electronics & objects/Sanderson- electronics & objects (rec. August, 2000)

side A
Egyptian fruit
Tent-making
Noctule
Mexican fruit

side B
I shall become a bat



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"Voted as one of the best record for 2004 in the Outer Limits section of the Dec. issue of The Wire mag (issue 251)"

"...I'm happy to report that I Shall Become A Bat is as instantly enjoyable (if not as immediately surprising – I've heard plenty of stuff weirder than this) as The Bath Of Surprise was 23 (gulp) years ago. It looks as good as it sounds too, adorned with one of Marcel Duchamp's Rotorelief pieces (a clear precursor of Op Art, back in 1935!). Though it might be tempting to perch above your turntable as it plays, spacing out to the groovy images man, you'd better watch out: the music is about as far from tune in turn up and trip out as you're likely to get. Side one features four duets recorded in April 2003 by Beresford (on "electronics and objects" and I think we'd better leave it at that.. an exhaustive inventory of the man's arsenal of toys and gadgets would probably end up longer than the rest of this review, and might even be more interesting) and John Butcher (on tenor and soprano saxes, of course) at Finsbury Park's "legendary" Red Rose. It's a classic slab of great British improv to file away with other notable recent excursions in the genre, fast moving, hilariously inventive and technically impressive. Butcher can, as we've seen above, take the time to explore the nuances of extended techniques while he goes the distance with the likes of Toshi Nakamura, but somehow he seems to be in his element here, as Beresford's constantly surprising changes of direction and instrumentation force him to use every ounce of musical intelligence.
Side B is taken up with an extended duo, the album's title track, recorded back (back!) in 2000, when Mark Wastell and Rhodri Davies organised and taped a whole series of improv concerts in St Michael and All Angels Church, West London, where on August 23rd that year, Beresford was joined by Richard Sanderson. The pace of the music might have slowed somewhat from speedy sax to leisurely laptop, but the invention level is just as high, and the ear just as acute. The range of sounds on offer is wide and fantastic, from gloomy drones (did someone give these guys the keys to All Angels' organ loft too?) to snatches of birdsong to toy guitar Metal licks to what sounds like those annoying grainy beeps you pick up in your Walkman when someone's trying to use a mobile phone next to you. Sanderson's work here, as in Ticklish with Phil Durrant and Kev Hopper, flirts deliciously with the fringes of soft techno in much the way that Beresford used to play fast and loose with doowop and dub reggae, but the overall sonority of the music remains firmly in the eai scheme of things. It's eai with a twinkle in the eye, though. The extraordinary freshness of Steve Beresford's music a quarter of a century on from when he first started scaring the shit out of the likes of Braxton and Leo Smith at Derek Bailey's Company Weeks is a joy to listen to. Unlike many big names in improv, including (arguably) Bailey himself, Beresford has not, to paraphrase Ned Rothenberg in this month's feature interview, "created an idiom out of what he's not going to do." Nor has his musical language ever atrophied into a goody bag of sure-fire "tricks", as Paul Lovens calls them. Any young improviser in the British capital will tell you how committed Beresford is in his support for the London scene, and that same infectious enthusiasm spills out into everything he does, from slopping the bathwater all over David Cunningham's Uher to hooting and squealing along with John Butcher in the Red Rose. Great stuff." DW Paris Transatlantic

The Wire-April 2005 issue 255: "... Butcher's raucous saxophone blasts are the perfect foil for Beresford's more aggressive electronics, which initially sound off like a broken fire alarm before easing into a more Ambient flow. Meanwhile Butcher continues to bombard with a series of inventive and brilliantly timed horn intrusions that bang and buzz like a trapped hornet against the fluid frame of noise loosely assembled by Beresford. When he teams up with Sanderson, howeveer, the mood changes dramatically. The title track is a masterfurl sidelong piece for objects and electronics, which hints at spectral compositions - a dark, droning glide into the unknown accompained with the night cries of imaginary creatures, birds, disembodied voices and the pulsating flittering of electronics bats' wings" Edwin Pouncey

"Steve got in touch when he wrote me to congratulate for the Evan Parker/Frank Perry release... he even helped me, very kindly, to get my bread from a London record shop who didn't wanted to honour their word (and they have two shops in the best area of London ?!)... John is an old friend, me and Ielasi invited him to play our city few times, back in 1997/98, he also played Fringes in duo with Phil Durrant... Robi took care of the cover artwork & ltd ed, using his art connections" qbico



26 copies only, hand-painted with a mauve color by renowed artist Bruna Aprea + stickers with letters





QBICO 17

COFFEE- Pissing contest (QBICO 17) piss or piss with blood veins vinyl, cover by Coffee

side A: "Pissing contest" rec. in Dec. 1996 by Tim Poland, Joe Sorriero and Dave Cross. R.Nuuja- audio restoration, arrangement, Dec. 2003
side B: "Space 1988" rec. Aug. 1988 by Tim Poland and Dave Cross (members of the A. Doyle Ensemble). R.Nuuja- audio restoration, Dec. 2003

side A
Pissing contest

side B
Space 1988



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-December 2004 issue 251: "Coffee are principally David Cross and Tim Poland, an improvising duo who have previously played alongside the likes of Arthur Doyle and Wolf Eyes' John Olson. On Pissing Contest they are joined by Joe Sorriero for an unadulterated squawk session in the tradition of late 60s and early 70s free jazz at its zenith. Recorded in 1996, this storming howl of liberated lung power is massive and impressive. The flip Space 1988 (a piece for electronics, rec. that year) is equally rewarding. Poland and Cross lock into a warbling synthesized duet, into which they float the sound of a treated trumpet to produce a musical hybrid that's part jazz, part Kosmique music" Edwin Pouncey

"that was the late Dave Cross and Tim Poland' project; i enjoyed much their previous two albums, this is their 3rd and last one. very different music on each sides, i remember Nuuja saying to me that he overlaid many times some of their best free and wild moments; while B side is more electronic/cosmic. i really like the title (Dave was good at that) and the cover image. unfortunatly Dave left us and his lovely family too early, fight for a while against various brain tumors... one of the strongest cat i ever met, keep it real bro." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 16

DOUBLE LEOPARDS- Urban Concussion (QBICO 16) picture disk, artwork by Graham Lambkin

side A
Urban concussion part I

side B
Urban concussion part II



WORDS:

voted as one of the best record for 2004 in the Outer Limits section of The Wire mag (issue 251, December)

The Wire-July 2004 issue 245: "Though their previous releases were impressively dense, last year's Halve Maen felt like Double Leopards' defining moment, a massive hole that swallowed every pebble of this Brooklyn quartet's gravelly drone. Urban Concussion, a beautifully titled pic disk on QBICO label, at fisrt seems smaller in scope. It's limited ed., 32 min. in length, and coated with a glowing Graham Lambkin artwork that's so eye-freezing it's tempting to hang the record on the wall without ever placing it under the needle. But once the stylus hits, Urban Concussion is as cavernous and gravitational as its predecessor. Side one begins with a warped hum and some intermittent claking, resembling Morse code from a distant star. Low spoken vocals echo in the background, combining with wavering feedback and busy ambience to create the feel of a hallucinatory train station. Live, DL' power rises with amplification and room size, but here they prove equally adept at limiting its dimensions, gaining speed so gradually it's like watching technicolor grass grow. 15 min. in , a hollow roar slides into a beam of treble, then decays into gitty rumble akin to a fuzzy needle stuck happily on a groove. Side two is more open and roomy, with distinct noises more prevalent than heavy drones. Ping-ponged bleeps, propellered whirrs and shards of abrasion all push and shove. While the range of sounds hardly varies throught the track's 14 min., the permutations are fascinatingly unpatterned, like a simple mathematical exercise that accidentally creates infinity inside a box. But DL can never stray too far from drone, and Urban Concussion ends by immersing the listener in a planet sized seashell that this stellar group seems to have patented." Marc Masters

another fine review here from Stylus Magazine by Stewart Voegtlin



26 copies only hand-made with "Sun flakes's" on clear sleeve, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 15

ARTHUR DOYLE/HAMID DRAKE- Your spirit is calling (QBICO 15) seven different vinyl colors: clear orange and clear orange with green motifs (most), clear yellow, clear green, clear green with green motifs, clear yellow with green motifs, maroon (very few); cover by Qbico

Arthur Doyle- tenor sax, flute, recorder, piano, voice
Hamid Drake- drums, percussion

recorded June 7th, 2003 at MU REC Studios

side A
Your spirit is calling
Noah Black Ark
Flute and drums
Swing low

side B
Ballad of Jericho
November 8th or 9th
Flute and conga



REMINISCENCES:

"this was a special studio date organized by me since when i knew, from a girlfriend of mine, that Hamid'll be in town free for a few days. Arthur arrived from Paris, where he was living in a rec. studio at the time... et voilà: a rare soul brothers meeting. see also his-story page. i enjoyed myself doing few color variations on this one... Arthur was a bit sick then, asthma and walking, his legs... was not easy to bring him back to the train for Paris... once on it, i asked him if he need something to drink or some food... 3 packets of sigarettes, was his reply ?! another story, which influenced me: Arthur was staying at my place and one night i saw inside his pocket a large gold coin with a crowned lion on top of it... i asked Arthur what is this and his reply was: that's becouse i'm THE KING of my world. i put that sentence on the qbico shirt." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers and insert (on parchment paper) with 18 unissued recording session photos, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 14

ANDREW BARKER/CHARLES WATERS- Dialogues in Now ! (QBICO 14) white vinyl and gold label, artwork Fritz Welch, poem by Steve Dalachinsky

Andrew Barker- drums, percussion, indian folk fiddle, wood flute
Charles Waters- alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion

recorded April 24th, 2000

side A
Fire in the Optic Theatre (for John Zorn)
Light tipped (for Ken Vandermark)
Dialogues in Now ! (for Daniel Carter)

side B
Blast past (for Roger Ruzow)
Sixth Street Sunrise (for William Parker)



REMINISCENCES:

"Andrew, for his 2nd release on qbico, with his old buddy from Atlanta... really enjoyed their 1st self-produced LP which came out few years prior to Dialogues... love Fritz art too, took me a while to color it and to do the label with gold background, but by this time i had little more confidence with Photoskiop (maybe, see the cactus i left on Hamid's back on the qbico 15 ?!)... the color combination for the ltd ed: white and blue, marvelled me.... same with the music which is very varied and you'd hear it again and again..." qbico



26 copies only with white vinyl & blue motifs, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 13

BAROQUE BORDELLO- Ultra Trip Cat (QBICO 13) black/yellow vinyl, cat's drawings by Louis Wain, cover by Qbico

Makoto Kawabata- gt, b, synth, , kb, perc, vo
Tetsushi Kawagishi- gt, synth, , kb, perc, vo
Yasuo Iwaki- perc, kg, synth

recorded at R.E.P. Studio, 1980

side A
Udu - Ja - Lau
Madness and Baptisma
Cardinal and Nun

side B
Where is heroine ?
Mao Train
Gewalt

originally issued on cassette on the R.E.P. label in the 80's in very limited quantities,
then re-issued on a 10 CD-R box set entitled "Makoto Kawabata early works 1978-1981" (ltd. ed. 100 copies only)



WORDS:

"Our first release with a normal instrumental line-up (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, ect...). However, since we still had no way of knowings musical theory or how to play our instruments in a normal way, we played in a style completly of our own. We played our 1st live gig around this time. We plugged straight into the amps that had been provided and proceeded to improvise at maximum volume for just under an hour. Finally the amps caught fire and the other bands were unable to play; needless to say that our reception from the audience and promoter was not the most favorable !" M. Kawabata



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 12

A BAND (QBICO 12) blue vinyl with red and yellow schizoid patterns, cover artworks by Neil Campbell and Jim Plaistow, design by Qbico

Stream Angel, Tim Barker, Neil Campbell, Jean-Emmanuel Dubois, Vince Earimal, Sticky Foster, Neil Lent, Niggle, Jim Plaistow, Barry Rothery, Isabel Scott-Plummer, Stewart Walden, Sharen Woodward, Richard Youngs plus several others unidentified friends attending...

recorded over two days in late Summer 1991 at the Canning Factory, Nottingham, England.

side A
part I

side B
part II



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

" Evidence of the UK avant orchestra A-Band’s brief guerrilla reign are pretty thin on the ground, with only a 7 inch and a Siltbreeze LP available at the time. Since then there’s been a self-released archival CD and now this, a nicely presented live retrospective drawn from a few nights of live activity centred around Nottingham’s Canning Factory in the summer of 1991. A-Band were a bunch of non-musicians, punks, avant-gardists, pranksters, provocateurs and rockers centred around Neil Campbell, now the leader of Vibracathedral Orchestra. The line-up documented here includes Campbell, Stream Angel, Tim Barker, Jean-Emmanuel Dubois, Vince Earimal, Sticky Foster, Neil Lent, Niggle, Jim Plaistow, Barry Rothery, Isabel Scott-Plummer, Stewart Walden, Sharen Woodward and Richard Youngs. Lots of droning strings, a clatter of percussion, heavy Velvets-style tonal railroading and plenty of baying at the moon. Also features a great version of Richard Youngs’ legendary “171 Used Train Tickets”. A key document of the UK free scene that should be filed somewhere between The People Band, Scratch Orchestra, Spontaneous Music Ensemble and AMM. Comes on totally sick, psychedelic coloured vinyl." DK

"don't remember exactly how i got into this one ?! i'm getting old... for sure i had their 1st album and since i really liked it, i probably tried to get in touch with Neil ?! well from him i got into the Vibracathedral folks, the 2nd unite together (without Neil unfortunatly) but i'd have met them before that in London, in a Festival with Sunburned too, nice fellas ! crazy album: vinyl and cover. ltd eds are the 1st ones done by the musicians themselves, pretty cool indeed (with extra music on CD-R) !" qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers done by A Band members and with an unissued CD-R 15 min. EP containing the piece of rare savage beauty "TV set for Winter", numbered from A to Z





QBICO 11

MAKOTO KAWABATA- Musique Cosmique Electro-Acoustique (QBICO 11) picture disk, mandala by Carla Sello

Makoto Kawabata: direct touching a resister.

recorded at Acid Mothers Temple Aug. 01 (2001) and Feb. 02 (2002)

side A
Space King Joe part I

side B
Space King Joe part II
Planet O



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"The album contains absolutely no synthesisers, all the electronic sounds instead being produced by direct physical interaction with the internal workings of effects units. Of the two tracks on this album, 'Space King Joe' is a re-recording of a piece originally released on the 'Private Tapes' 5 CD-R. The second track, 'Planet 0' is previously unreleased." M. Kawabata

"this one gave me LOTS of troubles, B side, a very very small cut, but audible... i remember hearing ALL and trash the loudest ones... kind of a nightmare. but the music gave me joy, it'll probably sounds fresh in the next couple hundreds years, kind of unique sound in electronic music. and the mandala/artwork fit perfectly, all colors are in tune..." qbico

26 copies only with nude girls stickers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 09/10

ARTHUR DOYLE/TAKASHI MIZUTANI/SABU TOYOZUMI- Live in Japan, 1997 (QBICO 09/10) DLP folder cover, 1st issue: black&red and black&yelloworange vinyls, liner notes by Ilya Monosov, cover artwork by Qbico, 2nd issue: on clear vinyls and psychedelic labels (original cover), 3rd issue: with paste on covers, hand-written letters and insert (clear vinyls), last issue: paste on covers, hand-written letters and insert (black vinyls)

Arthur Doyle- tenor sax, flute, voice
Takashi Mizutani- electric guitar
Sabu Toyozumi- drums

rec. live November 14, 1997 @ Manda-la2, Tokyo, Japan

side A
November 8th or 9th, i can't remember when

side B
Alabama and Mississippi reunited

side C
I pass, then resist
I'd live in her world, then without her in mine

side D
Love heal
Joy



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

Sunday Herald, Edinburgh, 01 June 2003: "As his revelatory performance at this year's Le Weekend festival in Stirling made clear, saxophonist, singer and pianist Arthur Doyle is at his most emotionally devastating when he's on his own and the pure flow of his spirit is unencumbered by any bullshit notions of musicianship. So the idea of hooking him up with a guitarist and drummer -- even if they are two of the most liberated players to come out of the ever-fertile Japanese underground -- is bound to raise pulses in well-stocked record rooms across Scotland. But the news is good. Although the three players rarely operate as an actual trio across the space of these two beautifully presented slabs of vinyl, the exchange of ideas is rapid and advanced and both Takashi Mizutani and Sabu Toyozumi peel back enough to give Doyle the kind of space he needs to really cut rug. A legendary recording, Live In Japan 1997, has been circulating as a cassette on the collector's scene for many moons. Doyle's visit to Japan that year brought many of his acolytes out of the woodwork and as well as the gig with Mizutani and Toyozumi, the saxophonist hooked up with both Japanese underground guitar god Keiji Haino and Boredoms guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto while he was there. Mizutani is a fantastic guitarist, although here he isn't quite as extended as he is with his own group, mythic psychedelic rockers Les Rallizes Denudes. Drummer Toyozumi puts in a particularly muscular performance, trading in the kind of spatial acrobatics and air-curdling techniques he used to temporally dislocate recordings by Peter Brotzmann and Masayuki Takayanagi in favour of a more stumpy, rock-based approach, a working method that more than compliments Doyle's spare folk melodies. As usual, Doyle weaves motifs from his major works throughout the set but it's that voice, so completely unguarded emotionally and so beautifully bent, that'll set your heart on end."
David Keenan

see also The Wire- June 2003 issue 232: review by Alan Cummings and
French mag revue&corrigee, Sept. 2003 issue, review by Michel Henritzi

"i was able to find Sabu's contact, i mailed him the news about the forthcoming release of this special double album... he only replied to me after it had been issued already, saying to me that he wants $3/$4K for his license ?! i remember few mails exchanges, some collaborative some not... in the end we find an agreement and now we are good friend, he visited me, i visited him; lots of respect, have a great heart, very humble person, many stories to tell: on Kaoru Abe, on the Japanese free music scene, how it all started, seeing Taj Mahal Travellers in all darkness, Trane, playing with Mingus, on Togashi... a real gentleman and my man in Japan. never heard of Mizutani ?! i remember i sold it out in 5 days... which was SOMETHING for me back then ! me and my old lover Brunella, worked together on the ltd ed (which were white plain folder covers), she really helped me out A LOT at the beginning, whole nights spended painting/creating/having fun... thank you lady." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 08

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN- Jaybird (QBICO 08) paste-on covers, artworks by Chad Cooper, green vinyl with psychedelic red/yellow/black design, with insert liner notes by Byron Coley and concert poster "A night for Naked Eardrums"

Critter, spirit vocals, shakes, rattles, hands drum. Chad Cooper, space voices, whistles, shakes, hands drum, the healing blades. Bobby Thomas, bass, the deep voice mic tapper. Tony Goddess, super synth sounds. Moloney, the festival hawker, drum set, whistles, shakes. Silk Pontius, phase guitar liner. Bo Hill, guitars, chant voice, percussions, whistles, horns, smoke effects. Rich Thomas, guitar, whistle, shakes, rattles. Phil Franklin, percussions. Marc Orleans, guitar man. Conrad Capistran, the white & blacks, dials and switches...

Side 1 tracks recorded one night in early 2001 at our loft in Charlestown.
Side 2 tracks recorded November 2000 at the Burren in Somerville, Massachusetts.

side A
Jaybird part I

side B
Jaybird part II

originally issued as a CD-R in 200 copies only



WORDS:

The Wire- August 2003 issue 234 as part of the fascinating "New wierd Amercia" article: "....On later sides like the classic Jaybird, reissued on LP by Qbico, they take great lollops towards sustained form with an approach to rhythm that's as tactile and relentlessly rolling as Funkadelic, while a hallelujah chorus broadcast beat satori through sense-destroying levels of FX, buckets of locomotive percussion and distressed, swamp funk keyboards." David Keenan

Voted as Album of the Month, December 2002, on Julian Cope's Head Heritage web site.

see also his-story page



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 07

ARTHUR DOYLE ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE- Conspiracy Nation (QBICO 07) clear light blue vinyl with yellow dots or clear fuchsia vinyl with yellow dots, cover artwork by Qbico

Arthur Doyle- tenor sax, voice, flute, recorder
Leslie Q- bass, guitar
Ed Wilcox- drums, percussion
Vinnie Paternostro- Roland 505
Tim Poland- Clavinova
Dave Cross- turntable, Ibanez DM 1100 sampler

side A rec. at Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY on January 24, 2002.
side B rec. at Analog Shock Club, Rochester, NY on January 26, 2002.

side A
Birdman
Ahead a pothead
Barbatri
Love ship

side B
Pull the string
Alabama and Mississippi reunaited
No title



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-January 2003 issue 227: "Since its debut last year on Ecstatic Yod, Arthur Doyle's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble has lost one bumper sticker, a letter 'C' and Jim O'Rourke's 'deep mud vibe' and it's all the better for it. With one half rec. in Buffalo (way back for cavernous reverb) and the other in Rochester (mixed tight, Black Flag style), both in upstate New York, the album is pressed on mottled blue vinyl, with Thierry Trombert's photo of Doyle staring mournfully out from the label. As to the music, Conspiracy Nation digs up Doyle's funky R&B roots and mashes them into the kind of potent hallucinogenic stew kids are warned to steer well clear of. You know you're in trouble from the first mouthful, as the ominous clangs and deliciously off-mic drums set the stage for Doyle's demented whooping and cackling. 'Ahead a pothead' (which also incorporates part of 'Milford Graves') lays down a bed of distent jungle drumming for Doyle's flute to stretch out on. If his all too brief stint with Sun Ra had ever been recorded, pressed and left to gather moss for 30 years, it might have sounded like this. 'Love Ship' slips into half-speed Dark Magus groove, with Doyle yelling over Brother Ah-style reverb and an inspired sample of Xenakis Concret Ph. Angus McLise's ghost beams down and jams along. The epithet 'American Primitive' was never more appropriate. The 'punk' B-side comes roaring out of a blast of ambient club noise, Doyle yodelling insanely over a Sly Stone nightmare clavinova before the Gothic horror organ of Vinnie Paternostro sends him to the tenor for some inspired preaching. It's as if everything you ever loved about the 1970's has been chewed up, spat out and fried in one of Rochester's legendary all-nite diners. Dave Cross, whose brillinat lo-fi sampladelica is more in evidence here than on its predecessor, describes the group as the Asia of US underground. Well, one might bemoan the lack of anyone willing to engage with Doyle on a purely motivic level, but when taking advantages of his cult wildman status to let fly in all directions sounds as great as this, who's to complain ?" Dan Warburton

"one of the jewels and most unique voices in all the qbico catalog: Arthur Doyle, bush man yoga... so many anedoctes/memories of him... one that really touched me was when he and Sunny Murray were taking a train to Paris, after having played Fringes Festival in 2000: on the moment of saying goodbye he gave me a strong/passionte hug that i'll never forget AND i'd have NEVER believed that after a couple of years we'd have done a rocket together !!! forces in motions... higher ones... heard also many stories from seasoned players like Daniel Carter on Arthr's hipness back in the 70's loft period, for the way he dress, act, walk, talk AND play... original style. never been able to get deeper in that bad story (for obvious reasons) but it all looks like a conspiracy... especially since when the two girls drop their accuses after Arthur's did time. see also qbico his-story page... man, i'd have found a better image of Arthur, without that guitar neck ?! also the writing'd have been more readable... sorry folks, i was learning/starting... fortunatly the cosmo image is not bad AND the vinyl KILLS ! :)" qbico

26 copies only on transparent/clear vinyl, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 06

CONRAD SCHNITZLER- Con '72 (QBICO 06) white vinyl with black "burn", black & white cover

Conrad Schnitzler- Synthie A

rec. live at the German Institute, London, Spring 1972.

side A
Con '72 part I a

side B
Con '72 part I b



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-October 2002 issue 224: "Schnitzler was one of the heaviest hitters in the early years of Krautrock. He played alongside Edgar Froese and Klaus Schulze on the 1st and most explosive Tangerine Dream album, before going on to form Kluster with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Kluster's freeform approach to monolithic electronics had a great bearing on the genesis of Industrial music. Since splitting from Kluster, he has certanly followed his own star, as his higly uneven back catalogue attests. Con '72 consists of freshly uncovered archive recordings from the Scene Berlin festival held in London in 1972. Here Schnitzler is all alone, choking the guts out of his then brand new Synthie A. It's tactile sound squeezes out splats of bleeping space junk that carry the impact of MEV or Sun Ra's solo keyboard. As an instrument, the Synthie A is resolutely non-musical. It sounds more like the FX chip from an early games console than a keyboard. But the patterned bursts Schnitzler draws from it makes it sound like the music of the future, or at least the way people might have conceived it midway throught the last century." David Keenan

"enter Con, one of the STRONGEST pillars of qbico. ALWAYS fond of his music, i think he's such a key figure in the music scene in general and in the electronic one in particular, that he hasn't received yet all the praise/respect he deserves... tried 1st to get in touch with him for the Fringes Festival in 2000... but nothing happened, being that concert cancelled (Norbert from Plate Lunch label'd have played his music, felt sick and left us unfotunatly; sad story)... i tried again, and fortunatly Con remembered me... one of the most easy going musician/genius i deal with, such a GREAT pleasure to have worked with him in all these years... hope one day i'd finally met him." qbico



26 copies only on black vinyl with white "burn/effect/design", numbered from A to Z





QBICO 05

BAROQUE BORDELLO- 1st Trip (QBICO 05) orange vinyl with mandala label, cover artwork by Qbico

Makoto Kawabata- PygmyG, CanB, Harpshtube, Kb, Vo
Tetsushi Kawagishi- PygmyG, CanB, Perc, E-g, Vo
Yasuo Iwaki- Perc, Harpshtube, Synth, Vo.

Recorded at R.E.P. Studio, 1979

side A
Die a Martyr
Branded as fool
Envoy from the darkness

side B
P-C2TG52-3KR32
Electric Shock

originally issued on cassette on the R.E.P. (Revolutionary Extrication Project) label in the 80's in very limited quantities,
then re-issued on a 10 CD-R box set entitled "Makoto Kawabata early works 1978-1981" (ltd. ed. 100 copies only)



REMINISCENCES:

"i remember designing the cover: i used an Huichol bag i got in Mexico, plus i cut words from an hippy book (The Farm ?!)... was quite happy with the results... the 1st real qbico's covers.." qbico

26 copies only with orange vinyl and schizoid blue effects, numbered from A to Z





QBICO 04

EVAN PARKER/FRANK PERRY- For the love of... (QBICO 04) artwork by Frank Perry, transparent vinyl with red & light blue motifs, insert of original 1972 concert flyer plus liner notes by Frank Perry

Evan Parker- soprano saxophone
Frank Perry- percussion
recorded live Feb. 11, 1972 at the Royal Commonwealth Society, London, UK

side A
Wedged into release
For the love of... part I

side B
For the love of... part II

.

WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

"Loved the Parker/Perry LP. Beautiful, passionate music. Well done!" Steve Beresford

"difficult one to press... i remember Ielasi helping me out with the design, in my embryo stage with photoshop... i think Evan's playing is quite different from the rest of the stuff released from that period... so, i find this duo quite unique and special." qbico

see also the his-story page...



26 copies only with light blue vinyl (NOT transparent), numbered from A to Z





QBICO 03

MAKOTO KAWABATA- Psychedelic Noise Freak (QBICO 03) multicolored vinyl, artworks by Jacques Kaszemacher, with insert

Makoto Kawabata- synth, voice

recorded at R.E.P. Studio, 1978

side A
Highway hipnosis
Divided pleasure

side B
Binary Bible Revolution
Resurrection of Johanna
Love Gun

originally issued on cassette on the R.E.P. (Revolutionary Extrication Project) label in the 80's in very limited quantities,
then re-issued on a 10 CD-R box set entitled "Makoto Kawabata early works 1978-1981" (ltd. ed. 100 copies only, numbered)

.

WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-April 2002 issue 218: "Culled from the Learning from the past: early works ten CD set, 1978's Psychedelic Noise Freak was Makoto Kawabata's first all-solo cassette release, recorded while he was still at school. Here his Stockhausen obsession manifests itself in a stuggering barrage of analogue sound that flows with the inexorable, sluggish force of lava, while infernally slowed vocals steak over the horizon. It's a world away from the Technicolor psychedelia of Acid Mothers Temple and looks more towards the Industrial tape explosion that was still a few years off. The highlight of the set is Kawabata's drugged bulldozing of Kiss's cock-rock anthem, "Love Gun", with which, he claimed, he attempted to bury the corpse of rock. Nice try. This is the second volume in QBICO's Kawabata reissue series, beautifully pressed in day-glo psychedelic vinyl and available in strictly limited numbers." David Keenan

"a KEY record for qbico: when at the pressing plant i noticed a multicolored vinyl, i saw the right path... a colorful, schizoid and (each piece) different one !!! also that silver cover is not bad... with NO info, just an insert. see a rare pic of the Baroque Bordello folks in the his-story page. i remember i pressed very few stones without labels..." qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z

QBICO 02

ANDREW BARKER/DANIEL CARTER- Common soldier (QBICO 02) red vinyl

Daniel Carter- alto & tenor saxophones, flute
Andrew Barker- dr, balaphone

rec. at Earthshaking Music by Jeff Rackley, Atlanta, GA, August 21, 2000.

side A
Common soldier 1

side B
Common soldier 2
Common soldier 3



WORDS/REMINISCENCES:

The Wire-February 2002 issue 216: "For more than three decades now, multi-reedist Daniel Carter has been connecting the dots between various high energy disciplines, chasing the fire through groups like guerrilla jazzers Test and William Parker's Other Dimensions In Music, and stepping outside for collaborations with members of Yo La Tengo and The No-Neck Blues Band. Very much a team player, it's rare to catch him naked as here, where he's silhouetted against Andrew Barker's thunderous drum kit. Barker, who is also in The Gold Sparkle Band and W. Parker Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, has stayed close with Carter over the years. Common Soldier is an insanely limitated pressing from the same Italian label that's been reissuing Makoto Kawabata's early solo works. Taking up side one, "Common Soldier 1" is a 21 min. face-off with Carter switching between tenor and alto sax. Although the duo take a while to heat up, ten minutes in, the degree of non-linear movement is choice. Making like Tony Williams circa Out to lunch, Barker fills infinitesimally small gaps with dexterous counter-rhythms, while Carter plays up and over the top with odd, lightning zigzags and sweet, honeyed cries. "Common Soldier 2" is even better, as Carter's birdsong melodies alternate with Barker's splashy cymbal work before he dives headfirst into the bowels of the kit for some tough rhythmic strutting. They hit the home straight with a throat-gurgling wail from Carter and some swooping, bold runs, accelerating with every pass and forcing Barker to grow a few more arms, before the reedist drops to a carefree "Girl from Ipanema" tempo. Side two ends with "Common Soldier 3", a slowly exhaled, meditative duet between flute and balafon. The recording's nice and unfussy, with the tonal and tubby drums sounding great throughtout; and you can follow Carter round the room with your ears as he dances restessly from speaker to speaker." David Keenan

"Andrew's a long time friend... he used to get rare jazz albums from my pre-qbico auction lists (which started in Sept. 1996)... he also played my city (probably 2001) when i organzied a very fine trio (cello/sax/drums) concert/party at a drummers' friend of mine basement. he rec. regularly for qbico: 4 albums in total (+ the unites), so gladly his presence/music is quite strong in the qbico catalog !" qbico



26 copies only with hand-made covers, numbered from A to Z

sorry, i can't find anymore the CD-R with the music ?!



QBICO 01

DARK REVOLUTION COLLECTIVE (QBICO 01) artworks: Carla Sello (mandala) and Gabriel Bautista (Huichol yarn painting), picture disk

Makoto Kawabata- hand-made percussion, synth
Tetsushi Kawagishi- hand-made percussion
Yasuo Iwaki- hand-made percussion.

recorded at the Dark Store Room, Nara, Japan, 1978

side A
Dark Revolution

side B
Madman Union

originally issued on cassette on the R.E.P. (Revolutionary Extrication Project) label in the 80's in very limited quantities,
then re-issued on a 10 CD-R box set entitled "Makoto Kawabata early works 1978-1981" (ltd. ed. 100 copies only, numbered)



WORDS:

The Wire-June 2001 issue 208: "For those who dismiss leader Makoto Kawabata's Duulian caravan of musical misfits as nothing more than an elaborate joke, here is the record to prove them wrong. Kawabata completists should also try to pick up a copy of QBICO Dark Revolution Collective picture disc, which plucks two live tracks from the 10 CD-R box set Early Works 1978-1981, performed by the percussion/synth trio of Kawabata, Tetsushi Kawagishi and Yasuo Iwaki. Hypnotic, deeply meditative and pulsatingly textural, these tracks show that the young Kawabata (who was only 13 at the time of recording) was already deeply immersed in the creation of radically experimental music." Edwin Pouncey

"A rare, very pre-Acid Mothers Temple (AND Floating Flower, Seventh Seal, Mainliner, Toho Sara and Musica Transonic) record for Kawabata. That this was done in 1978 when Makoto Kawabata was only 13 years old is mind-boggling. This is not so much the psychedelia of his later years as some completely other-world field recording of frantic percussion and galacto-whuzz . Phenomenal & highly recommended." Byron Coley

see also the qbico his-story page, on how it all started...



26 copies only in special handmade covers, numbered from A to Z