About
Iluso Records is an independent record label founded in 2013 by Michael Caratti and Álvaro Domene.
Our catalogue focuses on exploratory creative new music derived and informed by the fertile traditions of jazz, avant-garde metal, free-improvisation, western contemporary classical, and experimental electronic music.
We have featured works by artists who are dedicated to exploring the endless sonic possibilities that can be found within and beyond said genres:
Briggan Krauss, Colin Marston, Matthew Shipp, Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, Mike Pride, Álvaro Pérez, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Colin Fisher, Lotte Anker, Pat Thomas, Eliane Gazzard, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Frode Gjerstad, Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke, Harvey Valdés, Ståle Liavik Solberg, Max Kutner, Terry Day, Sam Newsome, John Butcher, Dane Johnson, John Russell, Tom Rainey, Killick Hinds, Josh Sinton, Jason Ajemian, Chad Taylor, Rachel Musson, Chris Hoffman, Steve Beresford, Eli Wallace, Devin Gray, Brandon López, Aaron Quinn, Jason Nazary, Dominic Lash, Alex Ward, Ricardo Tejero, Javier Carmona, Rick Parker, Jeremy Carlstedt, Luke Barlow, Roberto Sassi, Santiago Horro, Sergio Mena, and Andrew Bassett.
Contact
For all enquiries including artist bookings and purchase requests please contact the team at info@ilusorecords.com.
Socials
Harvey Valdes & Álvaro DomeneNueva Guitarra
"I heard of Álvaro Domene sometime in 2015. I loved his intense, surprising, in-your-face sound and the depth of his musicality. I knew I had to get together with this dude and do some playing!
A session soon happened, and we instantly hit it off with our love of both heavy music and free improv. Over the years, we played a few more sessions and would make an effort to catch each other’s shows. Then, Álvaro invited me to play solo for his Singularity series in Kingston (New York). We’d always find ourselves saying, “Man, we gotta record something one day!” Fast forward to January 16, 2020 when our schedules finally aligned.
Álvaro initiated our creative collaboration by sharing a few of his compositions of two measure cells. They were contrapuntal, atonal, and really interesting. I was excited to dig in, to say the least!
I have been getting into photography for a couple of years, and I thought some of my photos would be fun to use as graphic scores. I shoot abstract, environmental images and the impulse to capture them is similar to improvisation in music - like excavating and capturing an intangible idea.
So, with Álvaro’s compositions, my photos, and some free playing, we have a record: duo, two headless guitars, two loud amps, an army of effects, and audio wizard engineer, Dane Johnson behind the board. I’m thrilled to release this record into the world, enjoyed making it with my badass friend, and look forward to our next musical meeting. Play it loud and enjoy!" - Harvey Valdes, April 2020.
“I am mesmerized by the remarkable depth existing in Harvey’s music. His approach to solo guitar is superb, and I find myself constantly inspired by his focused sound and the ingenious intricacies and elegance of his harmonic choices and counterpoint lines. On his solo work, he has managed to synthesise and reconfigure the vast traditions of jazz and classical guitar to generate a unique and inventive new path by which, I am sure, numerous guitarists will be influenced in the future.
I’m delighted and grateful that we got the chance to work on this album together and feel proud of the results. We both have similar backgrounds and aesthetic preferences, and I truly believe that the coalescence of these sonorities that we both love (from contemporary composition, through modern jazz, to the dark and intense atmospheres of metal music) was indeed successful.
I invite you to grab a download, crank it up, and enjoy the mind-altering sonic landscape that we captured on Nueva Guitarra.” - Álvaro Domene, April 2020.