All things must come to an end.

After 10 years and over 40 releases, Crouton will be closing. There are many people who without their help, none of this would have been possible. Even those simply reading these messages took part in something that consumed a big part of my life, and for that, I thank you. Those that supported the label by buying releases, I can’t thank you enough, and hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as I have.

Very special thanks also to Chris Rosenau, Scott Kawczynski, Jim Schoenecker, Andrew McKenzie, Hal Rammel, Dan Warburton,
Tom Wincek, Jason Kahn, Bhob Rainey, Patrick Monaghan, Evangelinos Evangelos, Frans de Waard, Jochen Schwartz, Jerome Noetinger, Jimmy Johnson, and all the artists I’ve been able to work with over the years. These people helped in many ways to make the label possible, and the relationships were truly a pleasure.

Croutonmusic.com will remain active into 2009, and orders placed through the site will be filled with the same promptness as usual. However, no new titles will be produced. At an undetermined time, the site will be closed, and the remaining releases will no longer be available.

Thanks again to everyone who’s supported the label and the music.

Alessandro Bosetti offers a segment from a Mask Mirror session, where language is processed to reveal different things about the complexity of communication.

Recorded during their 2008 tour:

Charlottesville, VA:

Atlanta, GA:

More info on this duo’s recent Topography CD in the Shop.

A variety of other items (vinyl, cd, dvd) can be found in the Crouton Shoppe at eBay. More items will continue to be added so continue to check the site for updates.

Crouton and UW-M present:

JAMES PLOTKIN

Thursday, September 11
Milwaukee, WI
All ages

James Plotkin (guitar & electronics) has been making music for over half his life, serving as an integral part of groups including Scorn, Old, Khanate, and Atomsmasher (now Phantomsmasher) . In over 100 releases across a variety of formats he has explored different and sometimes uncharted avenues of sound and composition.

Concert begins at 7:30 pm
Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall
2400 East Kenwood Boulevard
on the UWM campus

$10 general/$7 reduced
Reduced prices are available to students, seniors and UWM alumni, faculty & staff with ID
On sale now!
Call (414) 229-4308

New release from piano minimalist and early drum and bass innovator Robert Haigh now available in the Shop. As the sound sample there shows, this is introspective stuff. But what you’ll hear further on the record, is the rhythm of notes, and the slow merging of clusters that create spacious counter rhythms while maintaining a strong sense of repetitive melody. See the page for more info on the record, and Haigh’s insight into making it.

In 1999, Telecognac recorded a piece that was to be one side of a split 12″ with Swans member Jarboe, which never was released. Now, this rare piece is available exclusively as part of the ON MUSIC Series.

Experimental guitarist Morgan Craft offers text analyzing the current state of black involvement in innovative music. Check it out.

“Not the first collaboration between Mueller and Kahn, their 2007 tour was based on adapting the sounds of the instruments (percussion, cassette tapes and analog synthesizer) to the various places they touched in those days. An itinerant installation in a way, the sonic perspectives changing from night to night, the physical reaction of both room and occupiers depending on how the performance developed. That said, the CD documenting these evenings is made of five tracks where the variations on a basic theme are reduced to a minimum. The instantly recognizable nervous roar of the snare characterizing many of Mueller’s recent works is always there, its presence felt in proportion to the synthetic corpulence that Kahn brings out together with his customary percussive subtleties, here often overwhelmed by a thick crust of interference and grittiness (tapes are still very useful when one wants to apply layers of blurry lacquer to a composition). There are neither concessions to typical aesthetic levigations nor equivocal winks to easy affordability, this being symbolized by my incapability of decoding the small print in this record prior to finally sitting down - headphones on - and giving full attention to the subplots that each selection presents. That’s right, it took several listens to realize what really happens in the dark corners of this stuff which - if used as wallpaper audio - only amounts to five pieces of burly noise without apparent finesse. The diamonds are to be found in the mud, though, and the hands must get real dirty to retrieve them. Uncompromising material, perfectly coherent with the seriousness of these artists’ incessant research on the disguised aspects of seemingly normal things.” - Massimo Ricci

An interview with Robert Haigh can now be found in the Read section. Look for his new CD, “Written on Water” by August.