[89.2] TOUGH AS STEEL

Just in case you think NFE has gone soft in the head [see 89.1], I am delighted to be able to point out that The Wire's site has been relaunched and redesigned with new content (including a fabulous links section) and a new interface. A good place to take a musical cold shower. You could also go for a bath in Hyperreal, a definitive electronic music database, and swim your way through the exhaustive Herz-Lion yield on all things experimental, while you're about it.

Oh yes, IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), sans Boulez these days, have also re-done their site. It's much more user-friendly, while the output is as pleasingly uncompromising as ever.

On the avant jazz front, check out the Carbon-7 compilations on the Brussels-based independent label: "a leading international producer of distinctive, innovative, orginal and accessible music in a wide range of styles and at the frontiers of a number of different musical categories." They have reviews and sound samples.