Editing Erstwhile Records (section)

==History==
The first few Erstwhile releases were something of a mixed set in terms of the music, ranging from the melancholy avant-blues of [[Loren Connors]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Haunted House - Up in Flames|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/002.html|website=Erstwhile Records}}</ref> to the rather traditional free jazz of VHF.<ref>{{cite web|title=VHF - Extracts|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/001.html|website=Erstwhile Records}}</ref> With the release of ''Tom and Gerry'', however ― a double-disc duet between Lehn and drummer [[Gerry Hemingway]] ― the label's focus notably shifted. It was the first album containing electroacoustic improvisation techniques which Erstwhile has become known for, as well as the first to feature meticulous post-production.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Lehn / Gerry Hemingway - Tom and Gerry|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/004.html|website=Erstwhile Records}}</ref> The fifth Erstwhile release, ''World Turned Upside Down'', featured a trio of guitarists Keith Rowe, [[Taku Sugimoto]] and percussionist Günter Müller. Rowe and Müller would both become fixtures of the label, and are a generation older than many of their younger collaborators. The album's abstract, sparse sound resembles live releases by [[AMM (group)|AMM]] and [[M.I.M.E.O.|MIMEO]], Rowe's previous European improvisation groups.<ref>{{cite web|title=Keith Rowe / Günter Müller / Taku Sugimoto - The World Turned Upside Down|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/005.html|website=Erstwhile Records}}</ref>

Subsequent Erstwhile releases have largely focused on slow-moving, often quiet compositions played using non-standard computers and electronics (such as [[Sachiko M]]'s "empty sampler" or [[Toshimaru Nakamura]]'s "no-input mixing board"). These electronics often get paired with acoustic instruments, which are then played with amplification and [[extended techniques]]. The most prominent example of this modified instrumentation is [[Keith Rowe|Keith Rowe's]] tabletop guitar, which he uses to create textured soundscapes by incorporating household objects and sampled radio transmissions through the instrument's pickups. Another instance includes trumpeters Matt Davis and [[Axel Dörner]], who sometimes play their instruments by blowing through the valves rather than the mouthpiece.

Releases like guitarist [[Martin Siewert]] and drummer [[Martin Brandlmayr]]'s ''Too Beautiful to Burn'' or laptop artist [[Christof Kurzmann]] and guitarist [[Burkhard Stangl]]'s ''Schnee'' maintain some elements of melody and accessibility, resembling other alternative genres such as [[post-rock]] or [[ambient music]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Martin Siewert / Martin Brandlmayr Too Beautiful to Burn|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/031.html|website=Erstwhile Records}}</ref> Most Erstwhile albums however tend to showcase slow, quiet, unmoving textures of sound in a style similar to [[lowercase music]]. ''[[Good Morning Good Night]]'' by Sachiko M, Toshimaru Nakamura, and Otomo Yoshihide, for example, is 100 minutes of "vertical music" marked by piercing sine waves, bursts of static, feedback loops, and quiet vinyl crackle, demanding even for veteran listeners to avant-garde music.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sachiko M / Toshimaru Nakamura / Otomo Yoshihide - Good Morning Good Night|url=http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/042.html|website=Erstwhile Records|access-date=2019-11-27|archive-date=2019-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118223710/http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog/042.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The label's aesthetic has yet to find an agreed-upon name, though many categorize the music as [[electroacoustic improvisation]], or "EAI." Some critics argue that Erstwhile and the term EAI have become almost synonymous, with NYC musician [[Jeremiah Cymerman]] regarding them as "The Blue Note of lowercase music."<ref>{{cite news|title=Labeling the Future|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/the-out-door/9452-labelling-the-future/|website=Pitchfork}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Episode 125, Jon Abbey|url=http://www.5049records.com/podcast/jon-abbey|website=5049 Records}}</ref> "Laminal music," "granular music," "reductionism," "the new London silence," "[[Onkyokei]]," "Berlin minimalism," are additional terms which have been used to define the label.

The music packaging was the responsibility of designer Friederike Paetzold, whose works often entirely forgo details like artist's names, instrumentation and album titles. Album covers tend to be characterized by stark, minimalist artwork, often painted by guitarist Keith Rowe, or Paetzold's own photography. Critic John Eyles writes, "Just as such labels as [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]], [[ECM Records|ECM]], and [[Incus Records|Incus]] have captured and defined the ''[[zeitgeist]]'' at various points in the past, Erstwhile is now doing so. Like them, it has its own distinctive roster of players, its own sound and a distinctive visual style ...  No need to see the label to know it’s on Erstwhile."<ref>{{cite web|title=Four Gentlemen Of The Guitar: 4g: Cloud|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=22196|website=All About Jazz| date=21 June 2006 }}</ref> Currently, most of the label's designs are done by producer Yuko Zama.

Unusually, Erstwhile's releases have been issued without [[Universal Product Code|UPC]]s.