Jon Mueller
Metals
2008

Table of the Elements
[Hassium] TOE-CD-108
Compact disc

Jon Mueller is internationally recognized as a percussionist, composer and free-improvisor; he is a founder of the band Collections of Colonies of Bees; he has performed with an array of artists, including Bon Iver, Rhys Chatham, members of Swans, Wilco, and more.

For the past several years, Mueller has worked with rhythms that come from gong frequencies, from vibrations of the bodies of bass drums, and the surprising sonorities that occur with the combination of these elements. Now he applies these techniques to his latest solo effort, to stunning effect: Metals is, as its name suggests, a bold, all-percussion foray into heavy metal.

No theatrical silliness here; just sheer exhilaration; the fundamental power of loud, organized, precise rhythms; ringing, heavy anti-melodies. It's this sound, in the many forms it has taken over the years, which continually inspires new philosophies, drives independent thinking, and causes hundreds of thousands of people to bang their heads. Jon Mueller takes it, shapes it and makes it his own.

“An impeccable focus and flow, a well balanced mix between acoustic and electronic instrumentation, and a learned sense of time and space.”
Brainwashed

“Minimalist percussion raises hypnotic palettes of solid color.”
All About Jazz

“A hoarse monster of droning majesty, reigning in deafening volume.”
Touching Extremes

“Mueller has found a way to go beyond his free jazz past and take the world of instrumental virtuosity into the 21st century.”
Paris Transatlantic

Jon Mueller
Physical Changes
2009

Radium/Table of the Elements
TOE-CD/LP/DVD-817
Compact disc, phono LP, DVD

Jon Mueller/Jason Kahn
Topography 
2008

Xeric
XER-CD-116
Compact disc, custom enclosure, letter-press debossing

Collections of Colonies of Bees
Birds
2008

Radium/Table of the Elements
TOE-CD-810
Compact disc

Collections of Colonies of Bees
Birds (Japan Tour Edition)
2009

 Radium/Table of the Elements
TOE-CD-818
Phono LP, color vinyl

Collections of Colonies of Bees
Six Guitars
Guitar Series Vol. III
2008

Table of the Elements
[Uranium] TOE-LP-92
Phono LP, laser-etching, clear/mottled vinyl
Illustration by Savage Pencil

 

 

A Conduit for History Exploding in the Present Moment

TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS is a curatorial network and interdisciplinary platform, live-event presenter, and fine-arts publisher of print, audio, and film, lauded by Pitchfork Media as “a national treasure.” Since its origin as a record label in 1993, TotE has been dedicated to preserving, promoting, and promulgating works by international creators of experimental audio, electroacoustics, free-improvised performance, sonic sculpture, microtonality, and modern composition. The label’s 150-plus releases are a vital contemporary chronicle, a survey of meaningful eruptions across a broad horizon of sound and vision.  Each project demonstrates how a publishing concern might romp wild, unbridled from the carousel of convention.

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"The supremacy of Table of the Elements as an unwavering outpost of ultra-experimental strains can be attributed to its concomitant adherence to valiance. Most of the Table of the Elements catalog has no broad commercial appeal, and many of its projects are risky ventures, even with respect to the experimental marketplace. Yet, this philosophy of risk works because everybody associated with the label feels like they're doing important work releasing important records, and they're willing to go for broke to make it happen.”

—Pitchfork

“The hallmarks of this New Archivism are beautiful and innovative packaging, elaborate and idiosyncratic liner notes, rare and obscure recordings ... Working with graphic designers such as the Grammy-winning Susan Archie, Jeff Hunt produced a collection that combines varied textures, lavish finishes, and period details with art from the era of the original source recordings. Their treatment of Robert Longo’s late 1970s photographs for Rhys Chatham’s releases could, for instance, measure up to what’s on view at most contemporary art centers. In addition to its archival endeavor, TotE also releases the new work of its avant-garde heroes and their devotees. TotE’s active support of the work of sonic pioneers ensures that theirs are living traditions — not ossified museum objects.”

—Thomas Peake, Art Papers

Tony Conrad: Completely In the Present
A Film by Tyler Hubby

"Hubby's film captures Conrad in all his facets ... broadly as a man determined to make 'abstract art funny, happy, energetic, joyful.' Conrad lived long enough to see his early recordings, barely or never released, get the reissue and the attention they deserve. ... [Completely In the Present] is a sharp, sweet, eloquent documentary about the merriest, most artistically expansive minimalist on record. His work and his life asserted the importance of listening for the sounds nobody else has heard."

—Chicago Tribune

“Joyous, exhilarating, and transformative, Tyler Hubby’s documentary is essential viewing for anyone involved in the history of music and visual art.”

—Artforum

"Conrad was 100 percent badass. Without Tyler Hubby’s documentary and Table of the Elements ... one of the great stories of American music and art might have gone underappreciated.”

—Henry Rollins

All contents ©1992–2025 Table of the Elements ®2025 Table of the Elements Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Related media from the Table of the Elements Archive published courtesy the estate of Tony Conrad.

Since 1993, Table of the Elements has staked its claim on a massive enterprise. It intends nothing less than to rewrite the history of American music in the second half of the 20th century -- and beyond. The label’s 150-plus releases are a vital contemporary chronicle, a survey of meaningful eruptions across a broad horizon of improvised, experimental, minimal and outsider sounds.

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