RZR | RZRecords - An Extremely Independent Music Collective

An international non-profit, DIY oriented outlet, low-means maximum-exposure art collective, publishing unapologetically experimental music. RZRecords provides distribution, event booking, PR, branding, design-to-print services and other types of support required by artists. Ruining the world of noise and jazz since the early 00s. Hit us up for collaborations, a spot on our split series or to drop your tracks. We're always looking to expand our community.

RZRecords 6 WAY SPLIT, Vol.2

Hot on the heels of Vol.1 it's out extreme pleasure to present: RZRecords 6 WAY SPLIT, Vol.2 !!!

We were lucky enough to be presented with enough materials for two back to back releases.
This made the process a bit longer because we had to find the right concept for the releases to work in a harmonious way, but this is far from a complaint, it was a pleasure to be trusted with the participants' art, and to come up with a result we are very proud of.

As always, our goal is to find interesting collaboration, to do our tiny part in the promotion of artists you might have not heard of, and in the process to discover new music that excites us.

This is yet again a purely online release, which is spread across several streaming platforms.
Feel free to share it anywhere, and look for other instances it on other platforms that might pop up later.

The participants in Volume.1 are:

(in order of appearance)

Generically this is a very interesting release, so per our usual MO, there's a huge mash up of genres going on.

While as always, the color palette stays dark, this compilation travels between electronic subgenres such as techno, IDM and ambient, into a more nu-metal inspired side of electronics, followed by low end, dark ambient sound art, finishing with a string of highly creative and very interesting noise tracks.

We can only hope that you enjoy is as much as we did while compiling, and still having fun listening to it.

A huge thanks to participants, listeners, and all the RZRecords folks who worked on it and obviously their families for accepting the weirdos that we are, blasting noise in the middle of the night, running away to our computers to fix stuff, corresponding 24/7 on stuff that "normal" people don't care about.

RZRecords SIX WAY SPLIT, Vol.1

It brings us much joy to introduce the following release.

Rzrecords SIX WAY SPLIT, Vol.1 the first in the series of what hopefully will become many.
This is our way to bring artists together, spread the word, collaborate, and have fun.

This is a purely online release, successfully spread like a virus across several streaming platforms.
A streaming format seemed right to us for the initial releases, with the thought of physical releases becoming a reality perhaps at a later point in time.

We've already started conceptualizing the next releases in the series, so feel free to send in your materials!

The participants in Volume.1 are:

(in order of appearance)

As always, we love to keep things interesting, so there's a mash-up of genres going on.

While the color palette stays dark, the compilation travels between the industrial side of metal, free noise rock, noisy dark ambient sound art, dark avant-garde jazz, guitar jazz that's cut up with field recordings, and straight-up HNW.

The curation process for this first volume was driven by a desire to find common threads between seemingly disparate sonic worlds. While the genres represented range from structured jazz to the uncompromising textures of HNW, there is a shared DNA of experimentation that binds these tracks together. We wanted to create a sequence that feels like a deliberate journey, one that rewards the listener for staying through the transitions and embracing the friction between different styles.

Looking ahead, we view Six Way Split, Vol. 1 as a foundation rather than a one-off project. The energy generated by this collaboration has already sparked new ideas for how we can further bridge the gap between avant-garde jazz, noise rock fuckery and industrial soundscapes. We invite you to dive deep into these recordings, explore the individual catalogs of the participating artists, and stay tuned as we prepare to peel back the layers on the next chapter of this series.

We really had tons of fun working on this one, be it listening to all the wonderful materials we were gifted by these great artists, of the fun of stitching it all up into a coherent form.

Whether you are a long-time follower of RZRecords or discovering these sounds for the first time, we thank you for joining us on this sonic excursion and look forward to sharing the next evolution of the series with you very soon. Thank you for participating, caring, listening, reading this post or any interaction you may have with RZRecords!

Harsh Noise Wall Means Fight Back: Smash Gay Oppression

The fine people over at Delirium Psychosis Productions have released yet another wonderful compilation, and yet again, we were lucky enough to take part.

Here's a message from the DPP team:

54 years after the Stonewall Uprising inaugurated the gay rights movement, we find ourselves once again in the fight for our lives. Trans genocide must be resisted by any means necessary. We are undergoing a deep historic process in the fight for our liberation, one that has been met with the utmost cruelty at the hands of bourgeois counterrevolution. Stand up, fight back, smash gay oppression.

All proceeds donated to The Trevor Project.

This time, the contributions on our end were:

Special shoutout to MEZZUU, yet another participant, who's also starring on our upcoming split series.

Synth & Sax for the Elderly by Haggari Nakashe & gaop

Now here's a fun little treat!

A new collab album by Haggari Nakashe & gaop.

It's been on repeat at RZRHQ since we got the master files, happy days indeed.

This one is a bit of everything thrown into the lab, a tad of jazz, ambient, drone, beats, noise, a very good listen.

A word from the artists:

Synth & Sax for the Elderly, a collaboration between gaop and Haggari Nakashe, paying homage to our ancestors via noisy drones, sax abuse and a few beats. Inspired by life itself.

Psychic War Against Cop City: An Extreme Music Compilation

The kind folks over at Delirium Psychosis Productions released a 50 track compilation titled "Psychic War Against Cop City: An Extreme Music Compilation" with the profits going to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.

It's a good compilation with lots of interesting tracks and genres, and a very good cause.

Some of our artists participated, so if you're into the stuff we're doing, here's a great opportunity to contribute or just take a moment to learn about this important cause.

Here are the direct links to the tracks:

Haggari Nakashe's track is a synth drone gone noise. gaop & Nishma's track is multilayered noise, with drums and heavily distorted woodwinds. Paxit delivered straight up experimental doom metal.

'Topic to Topic #2' by gaop & Haggari Nakashe

The following release sparks much joy in our hears.

It's a collaboration between Haggari Nakashe and gaop that's both beautiful and intelligent.

The rich, dark, ambient sounds of this track, are haunting and lovely, blending piano with synths in a droning and slows manner, suitable for both active and passive listening.

Here are a few words from the artists:

'Topic to Topic #2' is a musical experiment that seeks to examine what would happen to a piano composition ripped out from the modern or post modern genres, into the realms of downtempo, electronic drone music, effect-heavy and synth-laden.

The result is this atmospheric, 34 minute track. Beeping, humming, dragging like doom metal, yet retaining its grace.

'In and Out of Town' by gaop

We're thrilled to present In and Out of Town by gaop. A wonderfully tiny EP that is as beautiful as it's ominous.

It's a fun gem that dives headfirst into Eastern European traditional folk music, breaking the mold to study the pieces and rebuild it in a new, inspired way.

'In and Out of Town' is an exploration of Slavic and Balkan folk motifs via via the prism of avantgarde jazz, film scores, and improvised free music.

In these six tracks, clocking just under seven and a half minutes, this EP utilizes traditional Ukrainian wooden flutes, clarinet, recorders and sax to paint a multitrack picture that's can be both familiar and distant.

The woodwind sounds of this release can be eerie at times, or even haunting, but not deep under the experimental nature of this release, lie the sounds of home.