Audition Records

Audition Records is an independent music documentation and publication project associated with Berlin’s experimental-music community. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional commercial record label, it presents a series of digital documents, concert recordings, retrospective compilations and related editorial material devoted to improvisation and exploratory sound practices. Its scope includes free jazz, Echtzeitmusik, noise, electroacoustic composition, live electronics, sound installation, experimental performance and other forms of improvised music. The project began on 15 January 2010 in Barcelona through a collaboration between musician and curator Julian Bonequi and Edu Comelles, coordinator of the Spanish netlabel Audiotalaia. The immediate context was Audiotalaia’s publication of Bonequi’s work “Machinations of Joy,” but Audition Records was conceived as a distinct space concentrating on the international improvised-music scene rather than on a particular national, semantic or stylistic school. Its early purpose was to make recordings of performances and concerts available online while connecting artists, festivals, independent venues, radio projects and specialist labels across Europe. Although founded in Barcelona, Audition Records developed a strong operational identity in Berlin. Bonequi’s activity there brought the project into contact with artist-run initiatives such as NK Projekt, Salon Bruit and Altes Finanzamt, as well as with musicians and organizers working in the city’s experimental sound networks. The project also functioned as a mobile archive: recordings were collected in Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna, Istanbul, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Mexico and elsewhere, often through partnerships with local curators or organizations. This approach allowed Audition Records to document scenes that were geographically dispersed but connected by improvisational practice. Its catalogue includes single-performer documents, duos and ensembles, live sets, retrospective collections and promotional compilations assembled from the archives of partner organizations. Notable examples include a recording of Ensemble Progresivo from the Hurta Cordel festival, live material by Mat Pogo and Joke Lanz at NK, releases involving the Berlin Improvisers Orchestra, Chefa Alonso and Albert Kaul, and compilations connected to re:konstruKt, klingt.org, Salon Bruit and Umlaut Records. The project’s collaborations also extended to institutions and festivals such as Tempo Reale, Ars Electronica and Velak Gala. Audition Records’ value lies less in mass-market branding than in preservation, circulation and contextualization. Its releases combine audio documentation with information about performers, venues, festivals and curatorial networks, helping expose experimental work to listeners beyond the original event. The available reference material documents especially intensive activity from 2010 through 2011. The project is described as based in Berlin, but no current release schedule, corporate structure, ownership information or official website is identified in the available sources.

Audition Records emerged on 15 January 2010 from a Barcelona-based collaboration between Julian Bonequi and Edu Comelles. Comelles was associated with Audiotalaia, a Spanish netlabel concerned with experimental sound, ambient music and electronic composition, while Bonequi was a musician whose work had previously appeared through that network. Their new project was intended to serve a more specific purpose: documenting and circulating improvised music without restricting participation according to a particular theoretical school, national scene or stylistic label. The project adopted an e-magazine and netaudio model. Its principal materials were recordings of concerts, performances, installations and studio sessions, supplemented in some cases by interviews, articles and information about the participating artists. This format reflected the importance of live interaction in free jazz, noise, electroacoustic improvisation and Echtzeitmusik. Audition Records treated recordings as documents of performance and as routes into local scenes rather than simply as commercial albums. The first documented release was Ensemble Progresivo, a live performance recorded at the 2009 Hurta Cordel International Improvisation Festival at La Casa Encendida in Madrid and published in June 2010. Later in 2010 the project established links with Berlin’s NK Projekt, an artist-run, non-profit organization focused on sound arts. This relationship led to the publication of performances by Mat Pogo and Joke Lanz, followed by recordings and installations involving Rinus van Alebeek, Valentina Vukic, Iain McCurdy, IED8 and the Berlin Improvisers Orchestra. The year also included material by Chefa Alonso and Albert Kaul, Chris Jeffs, Sonia Paço-Rocchia and Bèstia Ferida. In early 2011 Audition Records widened its Berlin network through Altes Finanzamt, a venue for concerts, workshops and theatre. It also developed an Istanbul connection through re:konstruKt, resulting in “The Sun, the Moon & the Stars” and a large promotional compilation surveying the label’s catalogue. This demonstrated the project’s broader curatorial method: Audition Records did not merely issue individual artist releases but also assembled catalogues and scenes into accessible online documents. The project’s geographical reach expanded further during 2011. A move or operational extension toward Austria was associated with collaboration with klingt.org, an organization and archive linked to Vienna’s experimental-music community. Releases included recordings connected to Ars Electronica, klingt.org’s anniversary activities and musicians such as dieb13 and Billy Roisz. Other 2011 publications connected Audition Records with Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Mexico and international artist networks. Collaborators included Salon Bruit, Umlaut Records, Tempo Reale, Llorenç Barber, Fátima Miranda, Paul Hession and numerous improvising ensembles. By this stage Audition Records had become a mobile, transnational documentation project rooted in Berlin but dependent on partnerships with local venues, festivals, labels, radio initiatives and independent curators. Its catalogue covered both contemporary performances and retrospective material, including historical or career-spanning collections. The available sources provide substantial detail about activity through 2011 but do not establish a later release chronology, a formal corporate owner, financial structure or a current official website. The project is nevertheless described as based in Berlin and remains best understood as an independent experimental-music archive and publication brand.

1. 2011Istanbul catalogue collaboration

   A partnership with re:konstruKt produced recordings and a compilation surveying the Istanbul improvised-music label’s catalogue.

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2. 2011Expansion into Vienna networks

   The project announced collaborations with klingt.org and related Austrian experimental-music activities.

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3. 2010Project founded in Barcelona

   Julian Bonequi and Edu Comelles established Audition Records as an online project devoted to documenting and promoting improvised and experimental music.

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4. 2010First documented release

   The first release documented an Ensemble Progresivo performance from the Hurta Cordel International Improvisation Festival in Madrid.

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5. 2010Berlin collaboration with NK Projekt

   Audition Records began publishing selected performances associated with NK Projekt and Berlin’s independent sound-arts community.

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An independent, internationally oriented netaudio and documentation platform for improvised, electroacoustic and experimental music, emphasizing live recordings, archival access and collaboration with artist-run scenes.

• Audition Records digital documentsDigital music catalogue2010

  A numbered series of online audio documents covering live concerts, studio sessions, installations, interviews and retrospective material. The catalogue focuses on improvisation, free jazz, noise, electroacoustic practice and experimental performance, often preserving events that originated in independent venues or festivals.

• Istanbul Improvised Music LabelPromotional compilation2011

  A large compilation created through the relationship with re:konstruKt, presenting artists connected with Istanbul’s improvised-music network. It functions as both a release and a survey of the partner label’s catalogue.

• klingt.org 11th years of Experimental MusicArchival compilation2011

  A long-form compilation connected to klingt.org’s Vienna activities, collecting heterogeneous experimental performances and material associated with the organization’s anniversary period and wider Austrian scene.

• Salon Bruit Berlin Retrospective 2002–2011Retrospective compilation2011

  A compilation curated with Salon Bruit that surveys recordings associated with the Berlin organization and its international network of experimental artists over approximately a decade.

• Umlaut Records Transformation of Sound 2004–2011Promotional compilation2011

  A compilation developed with Umlaut Records, presenting selected works and performances from the label’s jazz and improvisation catalogue, including ensemble, duo and festival material.

• 2010Adopt an open, scene-oriented documentation modelStrategy

  The founders sought to create an online space for improvised music that was not limited by a single stylistic or semantic school.

  What changed. Audition Records combined netaudio publication with live recording, editorial documentation and partnerships across independent scenes.

  Aftermath. The model enabled the project to publish individual performances as well as multi-artist surveys of partner labels, venues and festivals.

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• 2010Build a mobile European collaboration networkStrategy

  Experimental-music activity was distributed among artist-run spaces, festivals, labels and radio initiatives in several countries.

  What changed. The project worked with organizations including NK Projekt, Tempo Reale, klingt.org, re:konstruKt, Salon Bruit and Umlaut Records.

  Aftermath. Audition Records developed a transnational catalogue rooted in Berlin but drawing on recordings from multiple European and international locations.

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• 2011Audition Records expands its European collaboration network

  During 2011 the project added or publicized collaborations involving re:konstruKt, klingt.org, Salon Bruit, Umlaut Records, Tempo Reale and other organizations.

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• 2010Audition Records launches as an improvised-music netaudio project

  The project was established in Barcelona and began developing an online space for recordings and promotion connected to improvised music.

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• 2010Audition Records begins collaboration with NK Projekt in Berlin

  The project announced a partnership with the Berlin sound-arts organization to publish selected concerts and performances with artists’ agreement.

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1. Audition Records