Sprout

Welcome to the Sprout website. Folks in this corner of the world are currently basking in the glories of Katt Hernandez and her solo violin music, which has been finally properly documented as the fifth release on Sprout, a special vinyl-only edition in accordance with Katt's firm belief that digital formats would fail to reproduce the rare and subtle acoustic phenomena that play a pivotal role in her aesthetic. This is truly one of the greatest moments in the history of recorded music!

The first four Sprout releases are still available. The prices are low and shipping is free anywhere in the world. All of these releases involve a lot of painstaking labor-of-love effort to share really incredible creative music, and when you buy one it makes a really big difference to a shoestring operation! Ordering is really easy. You can use Paypal to [sproutandflora@gmail.com]. If you don't have a Paypal account, you can pay with credit card by clicking one of the "buy now" buttons. If you have questions about how anything works or want to make a different arrangement, please write an email and I'll gladly help!

Please note that the name of the label is simply the single word "Sprout", not "Sprout Records", "Sprout Music", "Sprout and Flora", or anything else. "Flora" is the name of a sister label I originally hoped to launch, with a very specific design concept relating to wild edible plants. Because of some obstacles in the way of time/money resources, I don't have any plans to make any new releases.

Thanks for reading!

Mike Parker

It's Here! The slab of warm, honest vinyl that everyone's talking about!

A new chapter in the long and dense history of a small bowed string instrument popularized in Europe in recent centuries. Extended techniques, microtonal melodies, detail, detail, and more ecstatic detail. Unlike many musicians placing their familiar instruments under a microscope in recent years, this violin isn't just striking poses--it's dancing under that microscope! Katt Hernandez, a bow, and a violin. These sounds have never been touched by digital equipment! Fire up that needle and grab your fancy headphones! Caress the lovely chipboard jacket and gaze at the modestly surreal hand-printed cover artwork, a commissioned illustration by Hans Rickheit!

Sprout 5
Katt Hernandez
Unlovely
US$15

Dave Smolen is a fresh voice in the world of electroacoustic growls, whispers, and post-human sound trajectories. Malleable Laminates is his first major studio composition, a 20-minute epic crafted over many months. Listeners fond of precisely shaped and shaded dense and gritty soundfields would find many hours of rewarding immersion. Over the course of 76 minutes, Feedlines documents his diverse recent work as an improvisor and his rapid evolution into a powerhouse of the rapidly evolving Philadelphia creative music scene. In additon to solo pieces, Feedlines includes a raucous duo with John Heron (drumkitter of Make A Rising) and a post-lowercase trio with Paul Neidhardt and Andy Hayleck (singular idiophonists and members of Trockeneis).

Sprout 4
Dave Smolen
Malleable Laminates
US$7

Sprout 3
Dave Smolen
Feedlines
US$7

Get both Dave Smolen discs for only $12!!!

Jack Wright is one of the greatest improvisors in the history of music. Among his many long-term playing partnerships, each a context to pursue distinct aesthetic goals, two of the most soul-gripping and awe-inspiring are documented on Sprout. His duo with the mythical and woefully underdocumented Michael Johnsen (splitting his efforts between self-built analog electronic devices and bowed saw) is a zoological candy factory. The ferocious From Between trio with Michel Doneda (sort of his long-lost brother separated at birth) and Tatsuya Nakatani is intense and virtuosic enough to be life-changing, a music of fiery passion poured into very slow and long phrases, two saxophones bleeding rare timbres as they crawl across a volatile landscape of gongs, singing bowls, cymbals, and drums.

Sprout 2
Jack Wright & Michael Johnsen
Truant Runts
US$10

Sprout 1
From Between (Jack Wright, Michel Doneda, Tatsuya Nakatani)
No Stranger to Air
US$10

Get both Jack Wright discs for only $18!!!

As a special bargain, you can purchase all five releases for only US$43!