VA - 2013 - Drop On Down In Florida 2xCD

 Sinecure Books ‎– 5100

Based on four years of fieldwork throughout the state, the florida folk life program released the two-album, 27-track lp “drop on down in florida” in 1981. the album was intended to highlight african american music traditions for a statewide public audience, blues and sacred traditions in particular. in recent years, the folklife program sought the opportunity to produce an expanded reissue of the album that would include previously unissued fieldwork recordings and photos. drawing upon extensive fieldwork materials now housed in the state archives of florida, the expanded reissue includes nearly 80 previously-unreleased minutes of music on 28 new tracks, plus numerous photos documenting the musicians and communities that perpetuated these traditions
notable among the previously unreleased tracks are additional musical selections and personal narratives from one-string musician moses williams, four-shape-note sacred harp singing from an african american community in the florida panhandle, and recordings from the richard williams family in the blues and gospel-blues traditions. the reissue also includes new track notes from respected music scholars david evans and doris j. dyen; reflective essays from past and present folklorists with the florida folklife program, including peggy a. bulger, dwight devane, doris j. dyen, and blaine waide; and an extensive essay on african american one-string instrument traditions by david evans
the 2012 edition of “drop on down in florida: field recordings of african american traditional music 1977–1980,” highlights the significance of the previously unreleased material. in addition, it calls attention to the importance of the original lp and makes its contents available once again, this time to a larger audience

Disc 1: 

1. Robert Dennis – Early One Foggy Morning2. Robert Dennis – Boogie3. Robert Dennis – Questionnaire Blues4. Robert Dennis – Mean Mistreater Blues5. Richard Williams – Tain't But The One Thing That Grieves My Mind6. Richard Williams – Baby Please Don't Go7. Richard Williams – Old Forty8. Ella Mae Wilson & Richard Williams – Careless Love9. Ella Mae Wilson & Richard Williams – Polk County Blues10. Willie Gillard – Polk County Blues11. Emmett Murray – Old-Time Rounders12. Emmett Murray – She's A Fool, She Ain't Got No Sense13. Emmett Murray – Mobile Blues14. Emmett Murray – I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole15. Emmett Murray – I'll Find My Way16. Emmett Murray – Drinkin' Bad Bad Whiskey17. Moses Williams – I'm From Itta Bena, Mississippi18. Moses Williams – Rolling And Tumbling19. Moses Williams – Sitting On Top Of The World20. Moses Williams – Mama Got More Out Of Me Away From Home21. Moses Williams – I Was Natalie Roberta's Son22. Moses Williams – Harmonica Solo23. Moses Williams – Harmonica "Hustle"24. Moses Williams – The Train25. Moses Williams – Catfish Blues26. Moses Williams – Come Back Baby27. Moses Williams – Apple Farm Blues28. Moses Williams – I3 Highway29. Moses Williams – Which Way Did My Baby Go?
Disc 2: 

1. Johnny Brown – That's All Right2. Johnny Brown – Precious Lord, Take My Hand3. Johnny Brown – Will The Circle Be Unbroken4. Johnny Brown – He Got The Whole World In His Hand5. Johnny Brown – I Don't Know What I'd Do Without The Lord6. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – Motherless Children7. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – Do, Lord, Remember Me8. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – Trial In Judgement9. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – When The Saints Go Marching In (When The Moon Go Down In Blood)10. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – You Got To Move11. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – I Knew It Was The Blood12. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – In The Morning13. Ella Mae Wilson, Lillie B. Williams & Richard Williams – He's A Battle Axe14. Testerina Primitive Baptist Church – I Don't Know What I'd Do Without The Lord / Did Christ O'er Sinners Weep? (The Weeping Savior)15. Miccosukee Church Of God And Prophecy – Altar Call / Prayer / He Set Me Free16. Florida - Alabama Progressive Seven-Shape Note Singing Convention – God's Gonna Set The World On Fire17. Florida - Alabama Progressive Seven-Shape Note Singing Convention – Inside The Pearly Gates18. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – The Old Ship Of Zion19. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Florida Storm20. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Service Of The Lord21. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Sweet Morning22. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed23. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Pisgah24. Southeast Alabama And Florida Union Sacred Harp Singing Convention – Parting Hand

VA - 2009 - Anatolia Rocks: A Musical Trip Through Turkey 1963-1983

 Worldwild Production ‎– 001

VA - 2015 - The Sigh of Silver Strings from Suvannabhumi LP

 Little Axe Records ‎– 013 

During the 1800s, various Western stringed instruments came to Burma by means of traders, explorers, and colonizers. These instruments - the acoustic slide guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, and zither - were quickly and ingeniously adapted to the intricacies of Burmese music. The music draws from Burma’s rich vocal tradition, and the centuries-old royal repertoire of the Burmese harp and xylophone. Recorded and produced by Rick Heizman.

Track Listing
----------------
[01/10] Wunna Paba (Brave Princess) (Unknown) (5:11) 320 kbps 13.08 MB
[02/10] Aung Mingalar (Aim for Success) (Unknown) (5:53) 320 kbps 14.70 MB
[03/10] Mingalar Byo Nyunt (Auspicious Beginnings) (Unknown) (4:45) 320 kbps 12.10 MB
[04/10] Moe Thet Lay Hnin (Rain and Wind) (Unknown) (3:36) 320 kbps 9.47 MB
[05/10] Mya Man Giri (Palace at Mandalay Hill) (Unknown) (2:17) 320 kbps 6.44 MB
[06/10] Pa Day Thar (Variety is the Spice of Life) (Unknown) (3:42) 320 kbps 9.67 MB
[07/10] Chit Hnin Mhon Mhon (Lovely Snows) (Unknown) (4:31) 320 kbps 11.56 MB
[08/10] Tha Phyan (Poem) (Unknown) (5:25) 320 kbps 13.63 MB
[09/10] De Saung Hayman (A Gloomy Winter) (U Ohn Lwin, U Kyi & U Tin) (4:03) 320 kbps 10.50 MB
[10/10] Mann Taung Let Yar (Lore of Mandalay Hill) (U Sein Khin Lay) (6:55) 320 kbps 17.05 MB

Total number of files: 10
Total size of files: 118.26 MB
Total playing time: 46:18

Ulaan Passerine - 2016 - The Great Unwinding 2xCS

 Worstward Recordings ‎– none

Ulaan Passerine is a psychedelic folk / drone project of San Francisco based musician Steven R. Smith (also known for Ulaan Khol, Ulaan Markhor, Hala Strana and Mirza).

VA - 2008 - The George Mitchell Collection Vol. 1-45 7xCD

  Fat Possum Records ‎– none

Originally issued last winter as a voluminous limited edition vinyl set, a big chunk of the material collected by country blues-zealot George Mitchell now is available as a 6-CD package (with a fat, fact-packed booklet), along with an added seventh bonus disc.

Catching the blues bug early and inspired by Sam Charter’s groundbreaking The Country Blues book, a teenage Mitchell spent his Christmas school break in Memphis in 1961 and, beginning with Memphis Jug Band leader Will Shade, began a 20-year odyssey recording and photographing a treasure trove of one-time stars, local legends and retired heroes of the strictly acoustic and vividly elemental idiom. It’s a hypnotic and constantly spellbinding music, especially in the hands of such exemplars of the genre as Buddy Moss, Big Joe Williams, Sleepy John Estes, Fred McDowell and Furry Lewis, to cite only a few of the more well known musicians represented here. Some of Mitchell’s discoveries, such as Jessie Mae Hemphill, RL Burnside and Othar Turner, even went on to have successful careers. It goes without saying that it’s priceless to have these great-sounding recordings in circulation rather than gathering dust in some curator’s catalogue. The music is that extraordinary.

Tarawangsawelas - 2017 - Wanci

Morphine Records ‎– 032

 Tarawangsawelas is a musical duo from Bandung, performing mainly a modern and contemporary version of Tarawangsa, the sacred music from Sundanese West Java, ultimately joined by their teacher and maestro Pak Pupung Supena together with Pak Jaja on Sekalipon. Wanci is a minimalist, cosmic album composed with a careful contemporary interpretation of one of the most mystical and spiritual genres in Indonesia.
Composed and performed by Tarawangsawelas, except Sekalipun (Traditional) featuring Tarawangsa Sunda Lugina. Produced, Mixed and Arranged by Rabih Beaini. Mastered by Neel, Rome.

VA - 2018 - Music From Yemen Arabia: Sanaani, Laheji, Adeni CD

 Sub Rosa – none

Sub Rosa present Music From Yemen Arabia: Sanaani, Laheji, Adeni And Samar a reissue of both Music From Yemen Arabia: Samar and Music From Yemen Arabia: Sanaani, Laheji, Adeni, recorded by Ragnar Johnson and Jessica Mayer in 1973. These songs originate from the city of Sanaa, the sheikdom of Lahej and the port of Aden. Samar is the delicious, luxury time when people gather for relaxation, refreshment, and music. This record contains oudh playing, percussion, and singing from Yemen. The three Kawkabani brothers sing traditional poems and play oudh (lute), double drums, tambourine, and, occasionally, the kanoun (zither). The oudh player Hassan al Zabeede and his double drum playing brother sing songs in the Lahej style and were recorded in Taez.

Tracklisting
---------------------------------------------------------------------

1. (00:22:43) Abdul, Mohammed And Saad Kawkaban - A'Zaffer Sanaa Wedding Song
2. (00:05:15) Hassan Al Zabeede - Ana Mush Areemak
3. (00:07:46) Hassan Al Zabeede - Tabal Samar
4. (00:05:37) Hassan Zubeede - Leish Teguib
5. (00:11:17) Hassan Zubeede - Keef Faiah
6. (00:12:38) Kawkabani Brothers - You Said That You Would Forget Me
7. (00:06:53) Kawkabani Brothers - Wa Seed Ana Lak Min Al Khodan
8. (00:10:32) Saad Al Kawkabani - Ya Sabooh Al Enab
9. (00:06:02) The Kawkabanis - Wa Mogarred Bi Wadi Aldoore
10. (00:07:01) The Three Kawkabani Brothers - Al Sabah

Playing Time.........: 01:35:44
Total Size...........: 175.97 MB

Mdou Moctar - 2017 - Sousoume Tamachek

Sahel Sounds ‎– 043 

Music for desert picnics. Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar delves into his more sensitive side with a minimal studio recording of dreamy ballads. Thumping calabash, droning guitars, and vocal overdubs evoke an imagined desert soundscape. All instruments and vocals performed by Mdou only, creating a very personal and auteur sessions. Emotive and introspective, exploring themes of religion, spirituality, and matters of the heart.

After his underground success on the pirate mp3 networks of West Africa with his first release, the psychedelic autotuned “Anar,” (2008) he was featured on the Sahel Sounds compilation “Music from Saharan Cellphones” (2011) and launched a successful touring career. In 2012, Mdou relocated from his village to Agadez, the center of Niger’s guitar scene, and formed his band. Over the past years, he has become well known on the international circuit, playing high energy electrified music in festivals and clubs across Europe and North America. In 2013, he released his first international album, “Afelan,” rocking and raw sessions recorded live in Niger. In 2015, he starred in the first ever Tuareg language film, “Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red In It,” a Nigerien remake of “Purple Rain.”

In the past years, Tuareg rock music, particularly that of Niger, has gotten faster. There is a preference for this new sound - both in the raucous weddings of Agadez and in Berlin rock clubs. The wavering guitar solos, rapid fire drums and heavy distortion has become characteristic of the contemporary sound. For Mdou, this was not always the case. Self taught in a religious region that eschewed the guitar, Mdou was forced to learn music in secret. And when he did begin to play, there were no weddings or festivities. His early oeuvre was developed to play at informal private sessions with his friends. In these “takits” or picnics, Mdou and his friends would pass the lazy days together sitting under a tree, drinking tea, laughing, and singing songs.

For his new record, Mdou revisits this “music for desert picnics,” taking his compositions from his youth, and bringing them to the studio (his repertoire of “takit” songs were never recorded and only exist on warbly cassette recordings compressed into low quality mp3s). From love ballads (“Nikali Talit”), religious praise (“Ilmouloud”), to life counsel (“Amidini”), the songs are intensely personal, both in content and in structure. Constructed around the guitar, Mdou plays everything on the album in lush layered overdubs, singing both call and response vocals, playing rhythm guitar, and drumming on the calabash. Produced in collaboration with Christopher Kirkley (Sahel Sounds) and longtime associate Jesse Johnson (Boomarm Nation), the light touch pays respect to the origin of these ballads. The result is a very different side of Mdou Moctar, that of quiet introspection, lifted out of memory for one last time.

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja & The Electronic Pop Sound Of Kollywood - 2011 - Solla Solla CD

Finders Keepers Records ‎– 041

Tell me it's not a surprise to flip from the yahooing wildman on the front cover of this album to a current photograph of the composer, a mild-looking, traditionally-dressed, balding gentleman, respected composer of devotional music and soundtracks for Tamil movies. "Give me half an hour," he once said, "and I can finish a film." Finders Keepers/B-Music has boiled six years of his career down to a single 16-track playlist, describing their selection as "heav[y] dancefloor friendly electronic pop", so his quieter side is downplayed, and instead we have something closer to the nutty and energetic idea of filmi music that turned up in the opening credits of Ghost World -- a daggy and inventive go-for-broke landscape, stuffed with drama and orchestras, extravagant as opera, peopled with come-hither men and female vamps who trill high like Asha Bhosle. "Oh dohling!" croons one of them. "Don't tickle me!"

VA - 2015 - Shirley Inspired 3xCD

 Earth ‎– 003 

An album of Shirley Collins covers featuring contributions from Graham Coxon, Lee Ranaldo, Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas (Bonnie Prince Billy), Stewart Lee, Eric Chenaux, Josephine Foster, Johnny Flynn, Stuart Estell, Trembling Bells and many more..
“Her music did kick off for me a whole sort of… renewed passion or interest or love of my own country’s music. Thank you Shirley!” – Graham Coxon
“Shirley has kept us in the loops of unexpired lyric power, sibling collaboration, and musical continuance and heritage. And what a smile.” – Will Oldham
“Even though I am a folk fan, I like lots of different music and Shirley’s in the top ten of all artists for me, irrespective of what they’re supposed to be classified as.”- Stewart Lee
“Shirley is deserving of every accolade that’s thrown at her… she’s the best.” – Linda Thompson
“There are these unique voices, these unique songs that would not have survived if it were not for Shirley… she has kept that entire tradition alive.” – Alan Moore
Earth Recordings are extremely proud to announce the release of ‘Shirley Inspired’. July 2015 will see Shirley Collins celebrate her 80th year – an age that would seem frankly ridiculous for a woman as spritely as her, had it not been for all she’s achieved. From her seminal field-recording trip to America to her lauded musical career; from her role as historian and protector of the folk tradition, to the very fact that this record can exist – more than half a century after her career began – all of these things are testament to the breadth of her influence.And so we arrive at ‘Shirley Inspired’. It would be almost lazy to the talk about the resurgence of folk music or the ‘new folk’ sound – the recordings found here are so much more than that. This is the very essence of folk – songs handed down from person to person, interpreted by modern musicians – as a way of keeping these songs alive.
Make no mistake these are modern versions; we’ve the soulful dirge of Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas’ ‘Pretty Saro’; the rabble-rousing minimalism of Stewart Lee (yes him) and Stuart Estell’s ‘Polly On The Shore’; the prism-like vocals of Ela Stiles’ ‘Murder of Maria Marten’… even Graham Coxon’s traditional affair evokes something altogether more rebellious, his clawing, feral style is much in evidence here. This compilation was an inheritance of sorts: borne to us from the kickstarter appeal that funded ‘The Ballad of Shirley Collins’ – a film that is currently being made about the First Lady of Folk Music’s life. We here at Earth now have the privilege of giving these songs a tangible existence in the shape of this special recording.
The woman herself had this to say: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of the singers and musicians who responded to the invitation to be part of the Shirley Inspired collection. Their choice of songs is fascinating, the interpretations of them fresh and various, beautiful and sometimes challenging! Listening to these recreations shows me again that English folk music has timeless power and significance.”

Track Listing
----------------
[01/45] Pretty Saro (Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas) (4:29) 320 kbps 10.41 MB
[02/45] Richie's Story (Trembling Bells) (3:46) 320 kbps 8.78 MB
[03/45] Polly On The Shore (Stewart Lee & Stuart Estell) (4:10) 320 kbps 9.68 MB
[04/45] Rambleaway (Johnny Flynn) (4:03) 320 kbps 9.41 MB
[05/45] The Plains Of Waterloo (Lee Ranaldo) (8:16) 320 kbps 19.06 MB
[06/45] A Blacksmith Courted Me (Alasdair Roberts and David McGuinness) (3:33) 320 kbps 8.29 MB
[07/45] Cruel Mother (Graham Coxon) (7:01) 320 kbps 16.20 MB
[08/45] Locks and Bolts (Meg Baird) (3:20) 320 kbps 7.78 MB
[09/45] The Blacksmith (Angel Olsen) (4:33) 320 kbps 10.55 MB
[10/45] The Murder of Maria Marten (Ela Stiles) (5:48) 320 kbps 13.43 MB
[11/45] Just As The Tide Was Flowing (Stuart Estell) (7:02) 320 kbps 16.26 MB
[12/45] Hares On The Mountain (Bonnie Dobson and The Lords of Thyme) (2:57) 320 kbps 6.91 MB
[13/45] Polly Vaughan (Rachael Dadd) (3:17) 320 kbps 7.65 MB
[14/45] Love Is Pleasing (Josephine Foster) (4:10) 320 kbps 9.68 MB
[15/45] Edi Beo (The Owl Service and Laura Cannell) (3:35) 320 kbps 8.37 MB
[16/45] Banks of The Bann (Jackie Oates) (3:12) 320 kbps 7.46 MB
[17/45] Shepherd's Arise (Crying Lion) (3:10) 320 kbps 7.39 MB
[18/45] The Blacksmith (Ned Oldham) (4:08) 320 kbps 9.63 MB
[19/45] Poor Murdered Woman (Ulver) (4:45) 320 kbps 11.04 MB
[20/45] Go From My Window (Sally Timms With The Mini Mekons) (2:56) 320 kbps 6.87 MB
[21/45] It Was Pleasant and Delightful (Chris Joynes) (2:58) 320 kbps 6.93 MB
[22/45] Gilderoy (Heart's Delight) (Sharron Kraus) (4:07) 320 kbps 9.57 MB
[23/45] Adieu To All Judges And Juries (Joe Murphy) (2:43) 320 kbps 6.37 MB
[24/45] Proud Maisrie (Slate Islands) (3:10) 320 kbps 7.41 MB
[25/45] Charlie (Sophie Williams) (2:13) 320 kbps 5.24 MB
[26/45] Long Years Ago (Rozi Plain) (3:41) 320 kbps 8.58 MB
[27/45] Geordie (Paul Smith) (4:36) 320 kbps 10.68 MB
[28/45] Oxford Girl (Olivia Chaney) (3:51) 320 kbps 8.98 MB
[29/45] My False True Love (Orlando and Tom Furse) (5:43) 320 kbps 13.23 MB
[30/45] Dearest Dear (Barbarossa) (3:42) 320 kbps 8.60 MB
[31/45] Cambridgeshire May Carol (Belbury Poly) (2:41) 320 kbps 6.31 MB
[32/45] Just As The Tide Was Flowing (Eric Chenaux) (3:43) 320 kbps 8.66 MB
[33/45] Never Again (Tunng and Farao) (3:40) 320 kbps 8.54 MB
[34/45] Just As The Tide Was Flowing (Findlay Brown) (3:05) 320 kbps 7.20 MB
[35/45] Adieu to Old England (Jack Sharp) (3:13) 320 kbps 7.52 MB
[36/45] My Bonnie Boy (Miz Stafani) (3:51) 320 kbps 8.98 MB
[37/45] Turpin Hero (Marco Pirroni and Jen Vix) (2:53) 320 kbps 6.75 MB
[38/45] The Unquiet Grave (Rosemary Lippard) (4:14) 320 kbps 9.83 MB
[39/45] Greenwood Laddie (Sam Gleaves) (3:59) 320 kbps 9.27 MB
[40/45] The Murder Of Allen Bain (Elle Osbourne) (6:19) 320 kbps 14.60 MB
[41/45] Bad Girl (Ruby) (5:26) 320 kbps 12.60 MB
[42/45] The Bold Fisherman (Rob St John) (6:23) 320 kbps 14.76 MB
[43/45] T- Devil (MV & EE) (8:45) 320 kbps 20.18 MB
[44/45] Barbara Allen / Idumea (Susan Stenger) (7:12) 320 kbps 16.63 MB
[45/45] Adieu To Old England (Paul Armfield) (4:02) 320 kbps 9.38 MB

Total number of files: 45
Total size of files: 451.90 MB
Total playing time: 194:21 

Saz’iso - 2017 - At Least Wave Your Handkerchief At Me: The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song

Glitterbeat ‎– 053 

“Why not give yourself a break from the unending cavalcade of modern high-speed insanity, and rest up with this album of deep soul from Southern Albania.”
– Ry Cooder

Brazilian Samba, Bosnian Sevdah, New Orleans Jazz, Cuban son – and Albanian Saze! The turn of the last century saw mass migrations to the world’s cities with rural people bringing their music with them, adapting their traditions to new circumstances and modern instruments. Of all these great musical forms, the mesmerizing arabesques, joyful dances and heart-breaking laments of Saze are among the least recorded, and they remain largely unknown outside Albania.

Glitterbeat is proud to announce the release of “At Least Wave Your Handkerchief At Me: The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song” by Saz’iso, a group of virtuoso musicians and legendary singers assembled by veteran producer Joe Boyd (Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Cubanismo, Songhai) and his co-producers, Edit Pula and Andrea Goertler, and recorded by Grammy-winning engineer Jerry Boys (Buena Vista Social Club, Ali Farka Touré, Orchestra Baobab).

“I had long been intrigued by Albanian music. In 1988, I saw a smuggled video of that year’s Gjirokastër Folklore Festival, but good recordings were hard to find. When I finally went in 2014, I was captivated by the country and its mesmerizing music; the germ of a plan to make a record took hold.”
– Joe Boyd

The key that opened the Albanian door for Joe Boyd was a collaboration between ethnomusicologist/music producer Lucy Durán and Albanian artist Edit Pula in 2011 for a three-part series of broadcasts on Albanian music for BBC Radio 3’s “World Routes” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016kdcj). In 2014, Joe joined Lucy, his old friend and collaborator, for a celebration in Albania. There he met Edit Pula and her friend Andrea Goertler, both passionate advocates of traditional music, and the idea for a recording project was born. Dream was transformed into reality by a Kickstarter campaign supported by friends and strangers, musicians and fans from around the world. The producers then assembled a group of star musicians, many of whom had been part of the World Routes recording.

“The best moment in my remarkable musical journey to Albania in 2011 for the BBC was my encounter with Saze. The gorgeous voice of Donika, so expressive, full of pathos and joy, moved me to tears instantly. Listening to this album takes me right back to the beautiful wild landscape of southern Albania and evokes its turbulent history.”
– Lucy Durán

Singers Donika Pecallari and Adrianna Thanou are from Përmet, one of the cradles of Saze. They were discovered as teenagers and both performed with Saze clarinet legend Laver Bariu, becoming stars at festivals and in competitions. Donika has an agile and powerful voice while Adrianna’s is warm with subtle tones. Both left Albania during the turbulent 90’s following the fall of the Communist government and found work and a new life in Athens. Donika was fiercely determined to stay connected to her home country’s music scene, even hiking over mountain trails, carrying her young child, to take part in festivals while avoiding Greek border controls. For almost two decades, Adrianna did not sing at all, but has, in recent years, begun performing again for the diaspora community in Greece.

The differing timbres of their voices create thrilling harmonies as each in turn provides a second ‘cutter’ voice to the other’s lead ‘taker’. On other songs, the second voice is provided by Robert Tralo, another wonderful Përmet singer, who appeared with Adrianna in a legendary performance at the 1983 National Folklore Festival in Gjirokastër. Taking advantage of the new freedoms after the end of communism, Robert turned his back on a music career to follow his calling to become an Orthodox priest. He now looks after a number of village churches in the region, while allowing himself the occasional performance with a saze ensemble – but only when outside the boundaries of his parish.

The music of Southern Albania is iso-polyphonic, which means that it combines at least two melodic vocal lines, a lead (marrës – the ‘taker’) and a second (prerës – the ‘cutter’) with a multi-voiced drone or iso. When manufactured ‘tempered’ instruments arrived in the region in the late 19th century, singing, which had previously been performed a cappella, began being accompanied. This was the moment when saze ensembles were born; clarinets and violins took on the roles of the lead and second voices while lutes carried the iso. The sazes took Southern towns and cities by storm, performing at weddings, funerals and celebrations of all kinds, and still do to this day. As Vasil S. Tole, Albania’s leading expert on iso-polyphony – and an inspiring advisor to this project – puts it: “Saze remains to this day the musical language of the cities of Southern Albania, where East and West embraced when European instruments collided with the magic of a cappella iso-polyphony, and where life and death still coexist in a sound that is truly unique.”

Saz’iso’s instrumentalists are from the other great city of Saze: Korçë. Violinist Aurel Qirjo graduated as a conductor from the High Institute of Arts in Tirana and, despite having lived abroad for many years, he remains one of the most distinguished violinists of Southern Albania, where he returns frequently to perform. Aurel now lives in London, recording and performing as a member of the Greek group Kourelou as well as playing in Turkish and Albanian ensembles. Clarinettist Telando Feto has remained in Korçë, where he teaches music in a school. He is famous for the tone and musicality of his playing, which is in high demand by Albanian popular artists. Llautë (lute) master and instrument maker Agron Murat and dajre (frame drum) artist Agron Nasi are veteran performers, who were part of Korçë’s legendary Lulushi saze and have toured abroad widely with Albanian groups. Pëllumb Meta is a Tirana-based multi-instrumentalist and member of the Tirana Ensemble; a virtuoso on all manner of flutes and pipes with an extraordinarily wide repertoire of songs and tunes from all Albanian regions.

The songs on this album tell of joy and sorrow, love and loss, heroism and tragedy. “Tana” is an ancient song about a shepherd whose flock is stolen by bandits that grant his wish to play his flute for the last time before they kill him. The plaintive melody conveys his terrible fate to his beloved in the valley below. A line from the beautiful “Penxherenë e zotrisë sate” gives the album its title; a boy yearns for the girl next door, pleading, “You keep going in and out of your gate. O poor me, outside! At least wave your handkerchief at me.” Other songs are about partisans struggling against foreign invaders and men forced to depart in search of work, leaving behind grieving wives and families, a recurring theme in Albanian music to the present day.

The instrumental dances have deep roots in the region’s history. “Valle e Osman Takës” originated with a captured rebel leader dancing his way to freedom and is now a spectacular male dance that constitutes a test that only the most skilled attempt. The delicate “Valle Postenançe”, on the other hand, is a widely popular women’s dance.

Of all the region’s instrumental forms none has the resonance and emotive power of kaba. According to legend, the form originated when a dying wife told her husband not to cry, but to let his clarinet weep over her coffin instead. The album includes both, a clarinet and a violin kaba as well as a rare, freely improvised avaz. The melancholic improvisational lines of the clarinet or violin give it a mood often referred to as the ‘Albanian blues’. Kaba’s “melodies, ornamented with swoops, glides and growls of an almost vocal quality, sound both fresh and ancient at the same time”, observes author and musician Kim Burton, “and exemplify the combination of passion with restraint that is the hallmark of Albanian culture.”

“This recording is a landmark in the history of Saze music. These performers are following in the footsteps of the great masters that have preceded them, while the careful and thorough production and wonderful sound quality allow us to experience recorded Saze as never before.”
– Vasil S. Tole

“We set out to record these virtuoso singers and musicians like a Blue Note jazz session or a Deutsche Grammophon string quartet. Saze is, after all, a classical form, its essential elements unaltered over the decades. With its ancient roots, the intensity of this world-class music has the power to entrance any listener.”
– Joe Boyd

“At Least Wave Your Handkerchief At Me” was recorded in the last three days of October 2016 at the Marubi Film Academy in Tirana. Joe Boyd’s long-time colleague and friend, the Grammy-winning engineer Jerry Boys, converted the school’s screening room into a warm, bright studio. Everything was done live, with no overdubs.

“Recording Saz’iso was a wonderful experience, especially as the musicians were so obviously thrilled to be part of the project. They are all brilliant performers and we rarely needed more than two takes to get a master.”
– Jerry Boys

VA - 2015 - Rough Guide to Psychedelic India CD

 Music Rough Guides ‎– 1332

Indian music was hugely influential on Western psychedelia and the feeling was mutual. On this mind-expanding Rough Guide, hallucinatory sounds drift in and out of drones and ragas, ranging from the lysergic sitar of Ananda Shankar and trippy Bollywood vibes of the 1970s to more recent concoctions by Sunday Driver and The Bombay Royale.

Track Listing
----------------
[01/12] Dance Music (Instrumental) (Kalyanji) (2:10) 320 kbps 5.09 MB
[02/12] Dancing Drums (Ananda Shankar) (5:22) 320 kbps 12.43 MB
[03/12] Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Sunday Driver) (6:52) 320 kbps 15.86 MB
[04/12] Bombay Twist (The Bombay Royale) (3:02) 320 kbps 7.07 MB
[05/12] Rakshasa (Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti) (6:33) 320 kbps 15.14 MB
[06/12] Brishtir Pani (Tiger Blossom) (2:24) 320 kbps 5.65 MB
[07/12] Dum Maro Dum (Asha Bhosle) (3:38) 320 kbps 8.47 MB
[08/12] Kaliya (Paban Das Baul) (3:12) 320 kbps 7.48 MB
[09/12] Chamber of Dreams (Jazz Thali) (4:59) 320 kbps 11.54 MB
[10/12] Thillana (Jyotsna srikanth) (4:27) 320 kbps 10.32 MB
[11/12] Moksha (Ray Spiegel Ensemble) (8:36) 320 kbps 19.82 MB
[12/12] A Mystical Morning (John McLaughlin) (16:03) 320 kbps 36.87 MB

Total number of files: 12
Total size of files: 155.78 MB
Total playing time: 67:18

VA - 2011 - Rangarang (Pre-revolutionary Iranian Pop) 2xCD

  Vampi Soul ‎– 138

It may seem hard to believe now, with the Islamic Republic of Iran swathed in controversial breaches of human rights and nonsensical nuclear issues, but a little over 30 years ago it was all glitz and glamour, rock and roll. The shah of Iran promoted modernization to the detriment of Persian culture and most Iranians loathed the stoic king by the end of his reign. Centuries of monarchist rule gave way to a staunch Islamist regime during the populist Iranian Revolution of 1979.
The new Iranian government sought to eradicate any remnants of the imperialist monarchy and 'having fun' was banned entirely. Music's controversial status within Islam meant that the Persian pop industry was incongruous with Iran's new and heavy-handed rulers. All of Iran's record labels were forcibly shut down, the entire broadcasting industry was Islamicized, and a fearful population burned their records, buried their books and complied, at least on the surface, with the Islamic regime's new (and very boring) rules and regulations."Rangarang" is a compilation of forgotten jewels from pre-revolutionary Iran.
These songs tell the stories of an artisan community that flourished during the 1960s and 1970s before vanishing into oblivion. The pop stars who stayed in Iran were summonsed to the revolutionary court and forced to sign a declaration promising to abandon their careers and never perform again. By the time an exilic music industry had been established in Los Angeles, where many musicians settled after fleeing the chaotic disarray of post-revolutionary war-torn Iran, the beats and melodies of the monarchist era had given way to the synthesizers of the 1980s and Iranian pop music would never be the same again.The range of the tracks included on "Rangarang" is astonishing, from funky workouts and soulful pop to jazzy grooves and yearning ballads, all wonderfully and imaginatively produced and arranged, giving shape to truly popular music.

Neutral Milk Hotel - (2011) NMH Vinyl Box Set

NMH Records ‎– 001 

If you were around when Neutral Milk Hotel were a working band, it would have been difficult to predict the stature they'd later acquire in the independent rock sphere. That they were great, and special, was clear to a lot of people following indie rock, but they didn't necessarily seem like the kind of group that would develop into something amounting to a "legend." For one thing, they were visible during the mid and late 1990s, doing exactly the same kinds of things other indie rock bands were doing. They were on Merge, putting out albums, EPs, and singles, touring the same venues as young bands like Modest Mouse and Helium. They weren't under-appreciated and were by no means obscure; and the fact that they were part of a "scene" that made for such great copy-- the Elephant 6 Recording Company-- meant they got their share of attention in the indie music press.

But then they went away. Jeff Mangum, the project's creative force, stopped releasing new music and quit playing shows. Yet unlike the followers of many bands from that time who moved on, his fans didn't trickle away. Instead, in place of a working band with a growing catalog, Neutral Milk Hotel became an absent band with a growing cult. People were rediscovering this music, and the median age of the Neutral Milk Hotel obsessive has continued to hover in the early twenties. Since Mangum's return to performing, first as part of the Elephant 6 reunion in 2008 and then with a slate of shows last year, Neutral Milk Hotel started to seem like something that existed in the present tense again. Possibly serving as a sort of tribute to this moment, Mangum has released this limited vinyl-only box set, which collects almost all of the material released under the Neutral Milk Hotel name and adds 15 additional rare and unreleased tracks.

I've met people who adore In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and didn't know that Neutral Milk Hotel had ever released anything else, so it's temping to view everything Mangum released with an eye to the part it played in the Aeroplane story. And while it's a settled matter that Aereoplane is the high-water mark for the band (as well as being one of the best indie rock records of the last two decades), I can tell you that at the time there were plenty of people who felt that its predecessor, 1996's On Avery Island, was nearly its equal. Certainly, Avery has a comparatively muffled sound and doesn't always seem to understand how to best showcase Mangum's gifts (his voice is often double-tracked and lower in the mix and hence less distinctive), but on a song-by-song basis it has almost as many great moments. The opening "Song Against Sex" is one of them, a fuzz rocker with a hypnotically catchy and repetitive melody and lyrics that hint at the awkwardness and alienation that draws people toward Mangum's work. NMH's world is a place where sex is fumbling, a reliably imperfect expression of an emotion that dreamers want to see perfected. And in "Song Against Sex", drugs and porn and staged representations of lust are so repellent that the narrator wants to leave the world altogether. It's the kind of sentiment that teenagers who feel assaulted by their surroundings will continue to discover, and its wide-eyed and wounded view of the world goes a long way toward explaining why they keep returning to this songwriter.

Despite its vague and decidedly lo-fi profile, Avery also has its share of experimentation, and it's well integrated into the songs themselves. The album was produced by Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo, whose house-producer role in the E6 sphere you might compare to Conny Plank's in the German experimental rock underground. I believe that's Schneider's voice talking excitedly as "Song Against Sex" opens, encouraging Mangum and describing his performance as "perfect," and Mangum has spoken repeatedly about how important his enthusiasm and belief was to the NMH project. The way Schneider and Mangum structured Avery, it feels like a suite, tunes bunched together with interludes and repeating motifs and details that fade away and then return a few songs later. The lurching "Marching Theme" may not have the memorable arrangement of the following record's instrumental "The Fool", but the surging fuzz guitar and odd, snaking keyboard melody form a superb bridge between the acoustic "Baby for Pree" and the electric variation on the same gorgeous melody that follows, "Where You'll Find Me Now". The simple horn and organ duet "Avery Island/April 1st" connects that to the comparatively fierce "Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone", and "Naomi" is another key Mangum track, not least for its strangely wandering melody. The closing "Pree-Sisters Swallowing a Donkey's Eye", 13 minutes on CD but 10 minutes shorter on vinyl, is a throbbing drone piece that sometimes touches on noise music, putting it in league with similar experiments by NMH's sister band, Olivia Tremor Control.

If Avery could reasonably be compared to other music going on in the Elephant 6 sphere in the mid and late 1990s, Aeroplane is where Mangum created something with no easy reference points. Mixing Salvation Army band pomp, hushed folk, roaring power pop, and almost unbearably intense guitar and voice songs that are difficult to classify, Aeroplane still feels like one of a kind, 14 years and countless inspired bands later. It's never not been a part of the conversation in indie rock since it was reissued in 2005, and suffice to say that it has lost none of its power. It's always been mastered loud and with a mix that puts Mangum's voice right in your face, and the remaster here is just a hair softer and rounder but otherwise wisely does little to alter its forceful sonic character. Aeroplane is the sound of an artist fully in tune with his creativity putting himself out there with an almost painful sense of vulnerability, and the reverberations from that statement are still being felt after a decade and a half. I wrote at length about the record when it was reissued in 2005 and don't have much to add here, except that the packaging and sound of this reissue are first rate. As an addendum, the gorgeous picture disc/poster sleeve 7" of "Holland 1945", backed by a live version of "Engine", first released in 1998, is nice to have in circulation.

Beyond the two proper albums, the box offers a mix of revelations and welcome artifacts. Early song "Everything Is" has been been released in various configurations over the years, as both a two-song 7" and as a proper EP, and it's included here in expanded EP form as a 10". Originally released in 1994, it finds Mangum in a much different place in terms of both songwriting and performance. This is where he felt most Elephant 6, enamored with the pop of the 1960s and doing his best to sing sweetly, in a higher and smoother register, to make his voice palatable. The title track and "Tuesday Moon" (once identified on a comp as "Love You on a Tuesday") are basically solid, down-the-middle guitar pop songs recorded crudely but with a hint of the spark that would lead to so much more. "Ruby Bulbs", the first song Mangum ever officially released, is raw and noisy and shouty and reflects Mangum's interest in aggro punk, an influence that didn't otherwise surface on his records. All in all, the Everything Is EP feels gestational and enjoyable but ultimately unexceptional; had things ended here, Neutral Milk Hotel might be as well remembered as E6 compatriots the Gerbils.

The Ferris Wheel on Fire 10" EP, on the other hand, is the real treasure of the set. Hearing Mangum in acoustic mode (there are seven demos here and a recording from an in-store), it's striking how much these recordings from 1992 to 1996 sound so much more like his later style compared to what was issued on Everything Is. "Oh Sister", from 1995 perfectly captures that moment of the growing boldness of his songwriting; the strums and vocals seem very "Two Headed Boy", and it has some melodic and lyrical motifs from that song. "My Dream Girl Don't Exist", possibly the most well-known unreleased Mangum song, feels like a dry run for Aeroplane, with strummed chords reminiscent of "The King of Carrot Flowers", lyrics about a dead girl in the ground, and a closing "now she knows she'll never be afraid" that was later used on "Ghost". The studio version of "Engine" is quite close to the version released on the B-side of the "Holland 1945" single, and other songs ("A Baby for Pree/Glow Into You", "April 8th") found their way to On Avery Island. Hearing acoustic songs and demos from the early days of Neutral Milk Hotel and marveling at how fully realized they sound, Ferris Wheel on Fire reminds me most of Time of No Reply, the posthumous collection of Nick Drake rarities and outtakes that evokes the sound of Pink Moon more than either of his two other properly released records. It's certainly a fans-only collection, but it also stands well on its own, with a unified sound and mood.

One 7" included on the record serves more as an extension of Ferris Wheel, with versions of songs released elsewhere. "You've Passed" and "Where You'll Find Me Now" both made it onto Avery. The first is not terribly different, it sounds like the basic arrangement and sound had been determined, but the fuzz guitar has more roar in the riff. The second is a welcome change-up: much slower, more downcast, less desperate, less naked. The other 7" has two versions of "Little Birds"-- one recorded at home, one with Robert Schneider-- which happens to be the one song here that was written after the release of Aeroplane. It's a harrowing composition that is dedicated to Matthew Shepard, who was murdered two months before the song was composed in December 1998, and its lyrics, "Another boy in town at night he took him for his lover/ And deep in sin they held each other/ So I took a hammer and nearly beat his little brains in/ Knowing God in heaven could have, never could forgive him," seem to reference the incident.

It's clear in spending time with this set and listening to it in varying sequences that Mangum the songwriter liked to tinker. On this evidence he was not prolific, but he also didn't waste ideas. Parts of songs pop up in other tracks, variations get turned into extended sequences, songs are divided into parts. The seven-or-so-year songwriting arc represented here yielded only about two-dozen completely distinct songs, and a clutch more that are variations on some of those themes.

An overlooked element of Neutral Milk Hotel's enduring appeal is that Mangum stopped making new music at the precise moment that music was about to become "an internet thing." A year after Aeroplane came Napster, and pretty soon the way we hear and experience music would never be the same. But Neutral Milk Hotel remain, as if preserved in amber, in that moment when independent music was bought in stores and spread by word of mouth that came from actual mouths. A moment when people had to hold something physical in their hands to be able to experience the music, whether tape, vinyl, or CD. And it's fitting that this box set has been assembled with care and high-quality materials that seem bound to last well into the time when the next generation discovers this music. "There are some lives you live and some you leave behind," Mangum sings in "Leave Me Alone", and it's such a perfect line for this guy. He left the music-making life behind for years, and now, maybe, he's inching back toward it. Even if he never gets there, whether by choice or because forces of whatever kind conspire against him, there's the music contained here, rich and beautiful enough to fill a career.

Tenniscoats - (2015) Music Exists Disc 1

Majikick Records ‎– 038 

Tenniscoats (テニスコーツ) is a group from from Tokyo, Japan featuring Saya and Takashi Ueno, often helped by other musicians and non-musicians. They, in turn, have performed in, or collaborated with a large number of underground bands and musicians like Maher Shalal Hash Baz (with Tori and Reiko Kudo), Cacoy (with DJ Klock of Clockwise Records), Puka Puka Brians and other artists on Tenniscoats very own Majikick label.
Both Saya and Ueno also perform and release solo works. Their record label's name 'Majikick' is a combination of the Japanese word for 'serious' and the English word 'kick'. The name 'Tenniscoats' comes from the way 'Tennis courts' sounds when rendered in Japanese.
In Tenniscoats, Saya sings beautiful original melodies in a delicate falsetto and mainly plays keyboards, piano, and synths. Ueno accompanies mostly with guitar, saxophone, and occasional vocals. A lot of other instruments are also used to create their fragile pop and experimental songs.

Marvin Pontiac - 2017 - The Asylum Tapes

 Strange & Beautiful Music ‎– none 

Maher Shalal Hash Baz - 1996 - Return Visit To Rock Mass 3xCD

Org Records ‎– 008

In contrast to Kind Of Blue, this is this incredibly short, focussed Maher Shalal Hash Baz record [it’s an 86-track compilation box set]. The band is the work of Tori Kudo who somehow managed to persuade his friend Shinji Shibayama to release on his label, Org, on the condition that Tori would only agree to the record if Shibayama would release every single song that Tori had at the time. Tori comes up with a song a day – or more – so the project could have almost never finished. I think Shibayama must have called it off at some point or various musicians stopped coming to sessions.

It starts out with a really beautiful song called ‘Unknown Happiness’ that is probably one of their most recognisable songs. It has a really beautiful melody, weird instrumentation with a euphonium and a surf guitar style. There is a mixture of really fantastic musicians and absolute beginners and that’s what Tori likes – he wants a rough edge to what he does.

Tori is a really incredible pianist – a child prodigy who could play really complicated classical pieces from the age of five – and absolutely knows music inside out. He has no interest in playing with people who are as good as he is. He is looking for an amateur spirit and is a self-declared ‘king of error’. He started out in Japan making quite punky records and then did some no wave-type stuff, with his wife Reiko who would wail over the music, and then eventually formed Maher Shalal Hash Baz, which was this strange instrumental mix of euphonium as the main instrument – sometimes with a really good drummer of at other times with a beginner on drums. Tori was almost always on guitar and doing vocals.

When I heard their music, it was my friend David Keenan who discovered them for The Wire. Katrina and I were visiting David in London together and David said that he had found this group that he thought we would absolutely love. When Katrina and I heard it we were floored from the first notes of ‘Unknown Happiness’. It had all these elements that I love in music – great melody, a certain roughness, joy and sadness, intensity and a quiet power. It had vision.

Tori and Reiko were living in London at the time and after David did his piece and it was published in The Wire, they left a note in the Rough Trade shop for David as they had heard he also lived in London. They wanted to meet him and thank him for the review. David was moving back to Glasgow around that time so we decided to do a Maher Shalal Hash Baz concert. We put them on and it was about then that Domino had been saying that if we ever wanted to do our own label that they would support us and give us money to do it. So, we went in and said to [Domino founder] Laurence [Bell] that Maher Shalal Hash Baz was what we wanted to do and that our label would be based around them. He thought it was a bit wild, but his favourite group is something like Royal Trux, so even though he has released all these big records he loves wilder stuff and was up for doing it. So, the first release on Geographic was a Maher retrospective and we subsequently made a new Maher record in Scotland called Blues De Jour. They embody everything I love in music and I will absolutely love this group until the day I die.

Maher Shalal Hash Baz - 2000 - From A Summer To Another Summer (An Egypt To Another Egypt)

 Geographic ‎– 001

Maher Shalal Hash Baz are incredible; the self proclaimed 'kings of error', their music is unselfconciously skewed and triumphantly melodic. This lovingly compiled retrospective traces their roots from the early 80s Japanese underground through to their historic Glasgow show in 1999. MSHB make you feel like you're hearing music for the first time.

Lola V. Stain - 1992 - Mansarda / Ikona CD

Blind Dog Records ‎– 002 

Lola V. Stain was the band from Skopje, Macedonia, YUGOSLAVIA, formed in 1987 by musician Zlatko Oridjanski . The name of this band has been taken after one of the Margaret Dirass’s novel. The music of Lola V. Stain could be described as electroacoustic ambient music with mixture of traditional macedonian ethno music played by various guest musicians. They’ve released two antology albums Ikona (1990) and Mansarda (1992) on Croatian label Blind Dog Records. Zlatko Oridjanski shortly joined group Anastasia and reached worldwide success with their soundtrack for the Oscar nominated movie „Before the Rain“

Laurence Vanay - 1974 - Galaxies LP

SFP ‎– 024

Laurence Vanay is the pseudonym for Jacqueline Thibault, wife of music producer and musician Laurent Thibault (ex-MAGMA). Here is her debut album entitled "Galaxies", a very rare item indeed and a Holy Grail for most collectors of 70ies underground French progressive
*Galaxies* opens in a progressive instrumental mood, a style elegantly dominating the entire record. The powerful swirling organ, with a sound that owes to early CATHARSIS, sets an atmosphere of acid hallucinatory mellowness which prevails throughout the whole recording. The sublime folk twists add an aura of quiet and restrained melancholy, soft and seductive yet in perfect emulation with the dreamy flute play. Refined sonorities are interwoven with troubled twists of anguish, to faint in an aetherial vaporous climate reminding delicate second Cressida or early Gracious. An album of inconspicuous, sincere beauty and a masterwork of the french progressive folk scene.

Kurt Vile - 2013 - Wakin On A Pretty Daze CD

Matador ‎– 998

Kurt Vile is slowly, quietly becoming one of the great American guitarists and songwriters, of our time. This 69-minute double album is comprised of sweeping, expansive songs that are both very intimate and conversational. Wakin On A Pretty Daze is a timeless record that would have sounded great 30 years ago, sounds great today, and will still sound great in another 30 years’ from now.
Beautifully produced by John Agnello, the record is filled with hazy, swooning guitar lines and dreamy, beatific, and occasionally sardonic vocals. It is summed up by the staggeringly gorgeous 9-minute opener, Wakin On A Pretty Day. The song is also the first video, directed by Jonathan Demme in the spirit of his landmark Springsteen video “Streets OfPhiladelphia.”
The record has other connections to Kurt’s home town. Steve Powers (ESPO), the renowned Philly street artist, painted the cover mural on an abandoned building near the Northern Liberties. The album is being announced via a mini-doc of Powers creating the mural with Kurt’s commentary, and the two of them talking about Philadelphian music and visual arts. The mural will be re-created in London, Los Angeles and New York.

Kelompok Kampungan - 1980 - Mencari Tuhan

 Strawberry Rain ‎– 007

 One of the true gems of the Indonesian scene, this album stands to be one of the best, and also one of the most unique albums to come from the region. Banned by the Shuko government soon after release, it remains somewhat obscure to most collectors up until now. An album created by Bram Makahekum (who had no musical experience or training at all) Kelompok Kumpangan had multiple members by trying to recreate the sounds of nature, even using original handmade instruments invented by the band themselves. The end result is nothing short of brilliant, one of our personal favourites from the region. There isn’t much to compare this to, maybe the Indonesian equivalent of a Paebiru or Genesis from Columbia at times, but it’s very unique and stands on its own. Wonderful progressive folk of the highest caliber interweaving flutes, violins, acoustic guitars, Indonesian percussion and other instrumentation. We can’t stand behind this one enough, it’s truly brilliant. 700 copies housed in paste on covers, includes insert with photos and history written by Indonesian music journalist Denny Sakrie. One time limited edition, CD limited to 1000 copies and has 4 songs not on the LP version that were never released on vinyl before

John Fahey - 2011 - Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You (The Fonotone Years 1958-1965) 5xCD

 Dust-to-Digital ‎– 021

As with all histories, context and an appreciation for the times are essential. In 1958, when the earliest of these recordings were made there were probably no more than a handful of reissues of pre-war country blues 78s available on record in the United States. The long-playing 33 1/3 record was, itself, only a recent invention. Today, with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pre-war blues and hillbilly reissues available and in print, when it’s possible to walk into any halfway decent record store (to the extent record stores, halfway decent or otherwise, still exist) and find the complete recordings of Charley Patton or Blind Willie Johnson, it may be difficult to comprehend just how obscure and how otherworldly this music once was. — Glenn Jones, from the Introduction to Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You