US guitarist, composer and Wire contributor Alan Licht's A Symphony Strikes The Moment You Arrive is one of two releases to kickstart Room40's new cassette series, originally destined to appear last year to celebrate the Australian label's 20th anniversary. Released alongside Sydney based musician Alexandra Spence's A Necessary Softness, Licht's cassette houses two live recordings: the title track is a short wave radio set, which he performed at a Major Stars concert at PA's Lounge, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2008; the guitar piece “Room For Storms” was originally conceived in 2012 to accompany the artist Birgit Rathsmann’s visuals of satellite images of hurricanes.

The cassette also includes a printed interview between Licht and Room40's founder Lawrence English, discussing Licht's decades-long experience and personal connection with improvisation and minimalism.

Alan Licht's A Symphony Strikes The Moment You Arrive and Alexandra Spence's A Necessary Softness are released on 16 April.

Wire subscribers can read: AC Lee's 1998 interview with Alan Licht in The Wire 177; Marc Master's 2004 interview with Licht and Lee Ranaldo in The Wire 247; and Licht's Epiphanies essay in The Wire 187. All via the digital archive.