Bruno Meillier & Dan Warburton - Cho (2002)

Some French improv of the busier variety, today, by Bruno Meillier (electronics only here) and Dan Warburton (violin & (prepared) piano). Sounds a bit old-fashioned with its prickly dark ambient backdrop and hyper-active scrabbling and string torture on top, but definitely enjoyable.
Meillier is really a sax player, he was co-founder of Les i in 1979, and played on 'Les Sillons de la Terre' (1984), the fifth album of French avant-rock band Etron Fou Leloublan. Later he was in other bands such as Zeropop, Le Vaste Océan, Bruniferd and Ni Trêve, Ni Relâche, recorded duo albums with Toshimaru Nakamura (中村としまる) and Noël Akchoté, and a bunch of solo albums. Warburton meanwhile is a British expat in France and the man behind Paris Transatlantic webzine. He has written a lot of 'modern composition' pieces (won some prizes with those, too) and has recorded in the company of everyone from Tomas Korber to Nikos Veliotis (on his more abstract works), and from Arthur Doyle to his own band Return of the New Thing (on the jazzier end of the spectrum). These last few years he has been on stage a lot with Aki Onda (恩田晃) and Jac Berrocal. There was only one album by their duo project Cho (as in 蝶, 'butterfly'?). It was released on Meillier's SMI label (that stands for 'Saxophone & Musiques Innovatrices') in 2001 or perhaps rather 2002, not sure. Enjoy.
320kbps.
PS. My copy is a bit scarred on the cover by a price tag, so... so is your scan.

V/A - Re: Martin Arnold 'Alone, Life Wastes Andy Hardy' (2001)

Martin Arnold is an Austrian film artist working with found footage. His short film 'Alone: Life Wastes Andy Hardy' (1998) consists of scenes from the Andy Hardy film series, a series of films released between 1937-1958 (from 'A Family Affair' to the failed revival attempt 'Andy Hardy Comes Home') and starring Mickey Rooney as the title character. By stretching and looping carefully selected fragments that originally lasted mere seconds, Arnold is trying to highlight hidden Freudian elements in these sentimental, slightly silly works. 'Alone' can be viewed here.
In 2001, the New York-based Apestaartje label (run by the people behind Mountains, Aero and Anderegg, but now defunct) curated a compilation album based on this short film; participating artists were to create tracks with material sourced from its soundtrack. The packaging contains an actual fragment of film (see scans). The tracklist is as follows:
1. Fennesz - Green
2. Anderegg - Fewer Than Six
3. Akira Rabelais - Quyat (whoosht)
4. N/A - Prop Elh Er Con Struct
5. A Silent Partner - Vluv
6. Pimmon - Moment Under the Moment
7. Steve Roden - Maa.lwah
I'm not sure whehter N/A is an actual band/project's name here, or just stands for 'non applicable' - I think the former, since the name also appears on another Apestaartje compilation (with a similarly mutilated track title). Probably, just like A Silent Partner, yet another pseudonym for one of the people behind the label. The rest of the artists featured probably need no introduction.
320kbps.
Here.

Coil - Astral Disaster (1999)

Hardly an obscure band, of course, but this album (in dire need of a reissue) deserves more attention. It was originally released in 1999 as a ridiculously limited vinyl LP on Prescription, Gary Ramon (Sun Dial)'s label (all of their LPs came out in runs of 99 copies). At one point a vinyl reissue on Threshold House sold for 550$ on Discogs. There was also a CD reissue (with extra track and this new cover artwork) in January 2000, but even that is long gone.
Chronologically this album fits between the EPs that were later collected as 'Moon's Milk in Four Phases' and the 'Musick to Play in the Dark' albums that formed the pinnacle of their career (to me at least). Contains their smash hit 'I Don't Want to Be the One'.
With the death of Sleazy (R.I.P.) I don't know what's going to happen to their catalogue. You can wait forever for a reissue or get it here.
320kbps.