Folk & Traditional / All styles

*2024 stock* "Tigrigna music" refers to music of Tigray and Eritrea. The majorities in each of these territories share the same language, Tigrigna. Tigrigna music, dominant in Tigray and Eritrea, is quite distinct, both rhythmically and melodically, from 'Ethiopian' music, though both share the pentatonic scale. However, the instrument and traditional musical practices are similar, while their names may vary. Aside from the Tigrean Bèzuayènè Zègèyè, most of the artists featured on this album are…

*2024 stock* For many years everything we knew about Mahmoud Ahmed (and Ethiopian music in general) was limited to the cult album Erè Mèla Mèla (Ethiopiques 7 CD 829802), recorded in 1975 but released for the first time in Europe in 1986. Mahmoud's first LP, Almas ("Almaz men eda nèw"), recorded two years before Erè Mèla Mèla, now bears new witness to the talent of one of the greatest Ethiopian artists of the past 35 years.

*2024 stock* In the 1960s there was a Swinging Addis just as there was a Swinging London. In Ethiopia, as in Europe bor the USA, the first generation born after the war made their noisy, colourful breakthrough onto the scene. A veritable cultural revolution rather than a simple generational conflict. With music as its detonator and its common denominator. This volume aims to collect the clearest examples of soul, R'n'B and even twist in the recordings of the Ethiopian 'sixties'. The quintessence…

*2024 stock* The Alèmayèhu songs already presented in Ethiopiques 3 and 8 have given a foretaste of this outstanding stylist of Ethiopian pop, a singer as remarkable for his frenetic rock numbers as for his heartrending ballads. By dint of rampant Americanism, he earned himsef such nicknames as The Ethiopian James Brown or the Abyssinian Elvis. With his dazzling stage presence, nimble voicebox and wicked pompadour, he is a strutting show-off, straight out of American Graffiti or Saturday Night F…

*2024 stock* Emptiness, melancholy, nostalgia; doom and gloom, morbid musings; heartache or  homesickness: such is the stock in trade of the misery and mournful memories expressed by the song Tezeta - Ethiopia's majestic hymn to the blues. Etymologically, the word itself means memory, nostalgia, and several Ethiopian authors have used Tezeta as the title for their memoirs. For Ethiopians, it is the Tezeta genre that seems to capture the essence of the blues.

*2024 stock* Probably the most revered veteran of Ethiopian saxophone, Gétatchèw Mèkurya is the 'inventor' of an extremely distinctive musical style. Amongst Ethiopia's numerous vocal genres, there exists a form of singing that is purely warlik: epic and declamatory, harsh and hoarse-voiced, it is known as 'shellela'. This bellicose thunderbolt, quite strictly vocal, was improvised before each attack. Gétatchèw Mèkurya had the brilliant idea of transposing the genre to his saxophone, and here we…

*2024 stock* «Asguèbba!» is the Azmari’s cry urging listeners to enter into the dance, an invitation carrying the same sexual innuendo as Latino’s ¡Va dentro! The recordings on this CD are intended as a continuation of those in Tètchawèt! (Ethiopiques 2) and feature most of the artists from the first edition.The songs are accompanied on the mèessenqo (one string fiddle), the krar lyre, the kebero drum and the accordion.

*2024 stock* «An authentic legend in Ethiopia, Mahmoud Ahmed has laid down the basis of a music style which is resolutely original in the way it synthesizes the most diverse influences into a language both typical and universal. With his haunting, serpentine voice, at the same time raucous and velvety, Mahmoud Ahmed has invented a world of uncertain borders, an improbable mix of Eastern-African rhythmic lines, mysterious laments with refined ornamentation and melodies of unexpected Indian modula…

*2024 stock* Russ Gershon and his Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra have included many Ethiopian pieces into their repertoire in recent years. In January 2004, the Boston big band travelled to Addis for a dream-come-true concert featuring prestigious Ethiopian guests, among them Mulatu Astatqè (Ethiopiques 4, «Broken Flowers») and Gétatchèw Mekurya (Ethiopiques 14). This recording perfectly renders the energy and emotion of this gathering, with beautiful arrangements remarkably performed by exce…

*2024 stock* Alèmayèhu Eshèté is no less than one of the great voices of the heyday of modern Ethiopian music -- the Swinging Sixties which, in Ethiopia, went on until the fall of the Emperor Haile Sellassie I in 1974. On a par with Tlahoun Gèssèssè, Bzunèsh Bèqèlè or Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu is a star at the top of the constellation that once lit up the wild nights in the capital city Addis Ababa. The singer, as remarkable for his frenetic rock numbers as for his heart-rending ballads, has, by …

*2024 stock* As was the case with Ethiopiques 1 and 3, this 24th CD in the Ethiopiques collection presents a selection of powerful pieces from the historical Amha Records catalogue. We meet again with such artists as Ayaléw Mèsfin, Gétatchèw Kassa and Sèyfou Yohannes, and are introduced to other artists as yet unreleased or hardly known in the West, among them Menelik Wèsnatchèw, Seyoum Gèbrèyès, Tamrat Molla and Wubshèt Fisseha. Bonus tracks: Two pieces by the young Mulatu Astatqé, recorded in …

*2024 stock* For a long time downplayed and deprived of any recognition whatsoever, oromo music is one of the liveliest Ethiopian musical traditions. This 28th volume of Ethiopique pays tribute to Ali Birra, the man in whom Oromo music has irrepressibly affirmed itself since the 1960s. A very unusual groove, very different from gouragué, amhara and tigrignarhythms, a relentless quest for identity and, on top of that, a guitar style that would stand out anywhere. (Most of the pieces presented her…

*2024 stock* Kassa (1927-1973) belongs to the long tradition of melancholy raconteurs with a decided gift of gab. The unique embrace of his deep voice heightens the emotion generated by the hum of his lyrics. For Ethiopians he is, along with such other great post-war voices as Assèfa Abatè, Fréw Haylou, Asnaqètch Wèrqu or Kètèma Mèkonnen, a perfect example of the culture of the word: poetry and freedom of expression, wit and impressive verve that hits the mark, quiet vehemence and merciless loqu…

The return of the Zanzibara series: a Deep Taarab masterpiece from legendary singer Zuhura Swaleh, recorded in Nairobi in 1981. Zuhura Swaleh & Party rose to fame on the Mombasa scene in the 1970s with a new fast-paced taarab style based on local ngoma rhythms and its melodies. The group sound was lead by an electrically amplified tashkota (actually a Japanese instrument correctly spelled as taishokoto), its shape best rendered as being a kind of “typewriter banjo”—a trio of strings shorted…

*2024 stock* Taarab is a genre of music popular in Tanzania and Kenya. It is influenced by the musical traditions of the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. In the 1970s, a new taarab emerged in the coastal towns of Mombasa and Tanga: in Mombasa, Matano Juma's Morning Star replaced strings with distorted organ sounds, amplified violin or clarinet; and Zuhura Swaleh made the electrified tashkota the dominant instrument in his orchestra, while drawing in…

"It is not only an album, but also a complete documentary of an event. We combine cassette and CD into one album so that one may review the unusual art project from different aspects. It also includes a precious booklet about everything said on the talks. Each track in the album is heard for the first time. For the project, Lao Dan and Mamer created brand new works. Mamer even began a new band named Mask. One remarkable song that didn’t be recorded is Water Flows sang by Wu Tiao Ren’s Mao Tao in…

*2023 stock* These are live recordings of Nikhil Banerjee at KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California, on the 9th of July, 1967. It is for the first time they are made into vinyl record and published in China. The original recordings were on two reel-to-reel tapes. In 1988, American record label Raga Records released the recordings on both CD and cassette. Until a few years ago, it was by chance that producer Tu Fei got hold of these reel-to-reel tapes and decided to release this vinyl version, hoping…

"This album has its genesis in a precious reel-to-reel tape recording which we discovered in a radio station. It is unfortunate that the tape itself does not contain information on the date of recording, which we roughly speculate to be around the late-1980s to the early-1990s.  The recording in this album has two parts. The first is Daulet Halek’s interpretation of folk tunes from other ethnic minority groups, including the Tatars, the Mongols, the Sibe, and the Kyrgyz. The second part document…

Màiri Morrison and Alasdair Roberts collaborate with Canadian bassist/musical arranger Pete Johnston on a set of traditional songs with Scottish roots collected in Maritime Canada by folklorist Helen Creighton (1899-1989). Recording in Nova Scotia with Pete and a group of Canadian players, Màiri and Alasdair sing these far-travelled Scots ballads and Gaelic lyrical songs with poignancy yet playfulness, the gravity of exile ever alive in their hearts.

Funky Kromong Vol. 2 continues the legacy of Vol.1 by featuring unbeatable songs. At this time's release, Lamunai Records re-selected some of the songs by legendary musician Benyamin Suaeb who showed his excellence in combining traditional Betawi elements with innovative funk and groovy rhythms. Each track in this compilation brings listeners a unique musical journey, blending Benjamin's distinctive humor with a nuance of sound. Vol. 2 not only maintains the eccentric spirit and intelligent sati…

LaMunai Records is a record label from Jakarta that pays full attention to archiving Indonesian music. This time, there are proud to announce the release of an exclusive vinyl compilation from the legendary music group One Dee Group, led by the versatile musician, Wandi Kuswandi. The name "one dee" itself is a play on his name, "Wandi". This vinyl is a tribute to the musical journey of Wandi Kuswandi, a musician, singer, band leader and songwriter who is widely known for his extraordinary talent…

2011 release ** "Gifted with great vocal skills and above all with an extraordinary interpretative ability, Shujaat Husain Khan has concentrated his abilities in the study and deepening of gayaki-ang (a singing style in which the instrument tends to reproduce the modalities of the voice) of which his latest work Dil is an excellent demonstration. The first piece, Raga Gujri Todi, in two parts Alap (introduction, free exposition) and Gat (compositions) is a raga that Vilayat Khan, Shujaat's fathe…

Aside from spending the last couple summers teaching music on a remote New England island, David Alexander Shapiro has spent the rest of his time playing with various New Haven heads such as Headroom and Center, as well as accompanying the legendary Kath Bloom at local and various regional tours. To showcase his unique style on a variety of stringed instruments, David presents here, a side of banjo tracks, and a side of mandolin tracks. Continuing on his long tradition of untitled, or barely tit…

"This album marks the beginning of an ongoing and fruitful relationship between Tunisian oud master/composer Anouar Brahem and the ECM label. From the exhilarating solo “Raf Raf,” we know we are in the presence of someone whose sense of touch, rhythm, melody, and atmosphere speaks straight to the heart from the mind of a visionary. This first track puts us into a time and place where only melody speaks, and the sands of time flow like blood in an infinitely chambered heart. The title track intro…

2025 stock From the late 1950s onwards a music scene developed around Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, inspired by the prevalence of imported early rock & pop records arriving in the country from US & UK and also chanson and bolero records from France & Latin America. This collection documents some of these early home-grown slow rock, pop & rnb 45 recordings from the early 60s, prior to the further embrace of US psych & garage rock-orientated sounds in the mid 60s and into the Vietnam war era.

2025 stock A second volume of late 50s and early 60s Cambodian slow rock, pop and R&B tracks - following the first volume's featuring as compilation of the week on Lauren Laverne's BBC 6Music show. From the late 1950s onwards a music scene developed around Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, inspired by the prevalence of imported rock & pop records arriving in the country from US & UK and also chanson and bolero records from France & Latin America. This collection documents some of these early home-g…

Live recording of the final show of SANAM's debut European 2023 tour at London's home for experiemntal music, Cafe Oto.

Cosmic Circus Music from Goettingen played some extremely long spacey improvisations in the manner of the early Ash Ra Tempel. Despite never releasing anything officially, Cosmic Circus Music were a truly great krautrock band, arguably up there with the masters. (Though I do wish they had called themselves Kosmische Zirkus Musik for added gravitas.)  The band's misfortune, relatively speaking, was that they were three years behind the times.  CCM's lysergic soundscapes, which are closest in styl…

**From the master tapes, with fifteen bonus tracks in top sound quality** Langsyne from Barmen (Bergisches Land region) played a subtle kind of psych-folk with a wide range of partly unusual, exotic and medieval instruments: sitar, psaltery, koto, glockenspiel, flute, etc. Especially remarkable is the instinctive assurance with which the three musicians, who understood each other without words, played their music to…

*2024 stock. 300 coipes limited edition* "If there was ever an outsider folk record that truly had it all, here it is! This LP from 1974 is impossible to compare with any other LP, but at the same time, can be compared to some of the most visionary folk LPs ever! Picture a combination of early Bob Dylan, Skip Spence, the first Gordon Bok LP, Tim Buckley, Lou Reed, Peter Grudzien, Ernest Stoneman, Daniel Johnson, Richard & Mimi Farina, Chris Smither, and Phil Ochs. But is a record all its own, wi…

2025 Repress Every song on this album taps into raw, rich veins of sound that are simultaneously dense but easy to enjoy; vintage and modern; new yet timeless. The album kicks off with a monster track entitled "Stratton-Eustis" - one of those complex yet flowing tunes that makes you think overdubs were involved or the player has grown an extra set of limbs. Then there's "Kenduskeag,” a raga-esque group recording in an abandoned New England Conservatory building with Ethan WL and the long standin…

Offering some of her first original compositions, ‘The Time Has Come’ was a break from tradition in more ways than one for Anne Briggs. Where previous recordings displayed the unaccompanied melodies of her voice, this album - originally released by CBS in 1971 - brings additional instrumentation in the form of guitar and bouzouki. The result is that her vocals are not submerged but heightened - the plucked strings providing the perfect foil for her crystalline inflection.   ‘The Time Has Come’ i…

The Italian composer Riccardo Komesar take his place in the vast panorama of instrumental guitar music with this debut album released by Torto Editions and Ramble Records: divided in three mid long tracks, “Tre storie per chitarra” is a condensed of contemporary lyricism and emotional soundscape: the mellow and distinctive fingerpicking is the drive of the journey, waving in circular patterns and evolving in the whole structure. His personal playing style is developed on a nine strings guitar, w…

*2024 stock. Deluxe packaging* Fascinating and highly attractive project which returns the music of Gurdjieff (c. 1866 – 1949) to its ethnic inspirational sources. To date Gurdjieff’s compositions have largely been studied, in the West, via the piano transcriptions of Thomas de Hartmann. Armenian composer Levon Eskenian now goes beyond the printed notes to look at the musical traditions that Gurdjieff encountered during his travels, and rearranges the compositions from this perspective. Eskenian…

**Black vinyl edition. Old-school tip-on jacket with metallic silver foil stamping along with a 12-page booklet featuring extensive liner notes from scholar and pianist Thomas Feng.** From beloved composer Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, a revelatory new album of vocal pieces. The first vocal album by beloved Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - profound and deeply moving home cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil. These are songs of wisdom, loss, …

*85 copies limited edition* Rooted deeply in traditional Sakha music Aldana Duoraan creates a meditational state of mind using an instrument called “khomus” and her voice. The second album of Prague based musician born in Sakha republic is a two-sided EP called “sɯrdɯk / qaraŋa” which means “lightness / darkness”. The name is inspired by the duality of the universe, light and dark sides of a person, ever changing reality. The name of the album is written in the first Sakha alphabet created by Sa…

2023 restock. Subtitled: Live at the Kulturforum, Bonn, Germany, November 24, 1980. Another in the Wooden Weavil series, this time an unreleased live Robbie Basho recording from Germany in 1980. Robbie Basho was one of the great pioneers of the acoustic steel string guitar in the U.S., along with Leo Kottke and John Fahey in the 1960s. This program appears to have been recorded in one go. Robbie scatters his Americana numbers throughout, beginning with "Redwood Ramble," and ending with "Californ…

Robbie Basho (1940-86), who died young after a stroke, never got his due in the culture at large, but steel-string guitar enthusiasts have known for decades that he was one of the greats of "American Primitivism". Technically adept and compositionally imaginative, fusing the music of many cultures into a mesmerizing solo style, he has been an inspiration for many; his music has generated a surge of interest in recent years. This 1982 concert was part of a four-show Italian tour. It took place at…

Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms was created in the heart of hippy country, LA’s Topanga Canyon, by a dental hygienist who was inspired by nature and by the cultural revolution going on around her. When Parallelograms was finished, it sounded like a masterpiece, but the label had pressed it so poorly, sales were non-existent. Obscurity beckoned. But in the internet age obscurity can be discreetly transformed into a kind of niche immortality. By 2003, Parallelograms had become a cult album. Slowly, …

2005 release **  Dark folk in the style of the Death In June albums "The world that summer" and "Wall of sacrifice".