Folk & Traditional / All styles

"Back in 2011 when I was tentatively looking for a second release for my fledging record label Clay Pipe Music, I stumbled upon a mysterious MySpace page by a group called ‘Tyneham House’, the page was decorated with artwork by Rena Gardiner (who was unknown to me at that time) and the music was an otherworldly mix of field recordings, Mellotron and acoustic guitar. It turned out that Tyneham was promised to Glen Johnson’s Second Language label, so I offered to do the artwork, and in January 201…

*100 copies limited edition* Jem Finer  is an artist, musician and composer. Since studying computer science in the 1970s, he has worked in a variety of fields, including photography, film, experimental and popular music and installation. His 1000 year long musical composition, Longplayer, represents a convergence of many of his concerns, particularly those relating to systems, sustainability, long-durational processes and extremes of scale in both time and space. Recent music includes the relea…

Svitlana Okhrimenko (artist name: Svitlana Nianio) is a Ukrainian artist, musician, and signer. She is one of the most prominent representatives of the independent music scene of Kyiv in the late 1980s — early 90s. She has repeatedly recorded and performed in collaboration with other musicians and bands, such as Oleksandr Yurchenko, Sugar White Death (Cukor Bila Smert’), Ivanov Down, GeeNerve & Taran, and Blemish. Svitlana still performs and publishes new recordings today. “Transilvania Smile” i…

She is beautiful. And in a world where so much can easily be possessed on a whim or for a promise, she is not comparable. She has a clear, pure ring, a trueness, like an arrow that has hit an inner mark and can’t be wedged loose. Her voice and her manner, that stretch farther into the past than perhaps she realizes, may set the new style: an existential pop style that is as earthy as Mary Travers (Peter, Paul & Mary) yet more elegant, more isolated. Her name is Nico. I don’t know where she was b…

After "Afro Exotique - Adventures In The Leftfield, Africa 1972-88" was enthusiastically embraced by heads, collectors and core Africa Seven enthusiasts alike, we dived back down into the vaults, and hope we've come up with another volume of listenable esoterica from roughly the same period. "The Quest", courtesy of fleeting 1978 leftfield supergroup Afro Cult Foundation (featuring Joni Haastrup, Remi Kabaka and friends) sets the tone-bar high and sideways, with 4.50 mins of atmospheric, effecte…

First solo LP in a decade from long-time Pelt/Black Twigs/Eight Point Star leader, presenting a remarkable program of solo Hardanger and octave fiddle music. Evening Measures is a bold and unique statement, a direct and disarming individual expression of a musician’s inner thoughts and inspirations. Like some of Mike Gangloff’s work in other projects, this ricochets back and forth across the line between the most traditional and the most “out” music, blending drone, melody, and the pure tactile …

Special Limited Color Edition (So Long, Babe Blue Swirl). The record that forever put Nancy Sinatra over the top – thanks to the massive title hit "Boots Are Made For Walking" – and some impeccable Lee Hazlewood production that really found a way to make Nancy sound fantastic! The young Sinatra had been wanting to make her own records for awhile, and had definitely had a few shots before Boots – but Lee Hazlewood really finds a way to bring out the best in Nancy, often using the same kind of bas…

Legendary is a word too often used when writing about musicians. Takeshi Terauchi is no myth, more an elemental force and surely a nominee for the status of Living National Treasure – a first for a rock musician in Japan. While not exactly well known in the West, he has received praise over the years from artists as diverse as the Ventures and Jello BiafraYou don’t want to mess with Terry, as he is commonly known. An 8th Dan of the Wado school of Karate and a Zen master of the Zuiganji temple, h…

*Limited edition of 500 copies.* Here's Lantern Heights' personal tribute to the one and only Michael Chapman, a hero in his own right, a 'Fully Qualified Survivor' (just to mention one of his most successful creations). An unreleased live album on vinyl in the form of an astonishing trio." A live set recorded at Nottingham's Playhouse Theatre on July 23rd 1977 by Chapman and a power house rhythm section in Lindisfarne bassist Rod Clements and former John Mayall drummer Keef Hartley. Some of his…

Folk songs from Ukraine's Mykolaiv region, collected over the last decade by a young ethnographer: women's polyphonic songs of winter, weddings, war and work, passed between villages on cassette and never further.

Previously better known for his analogue electronic music productions as Automatic Tasty, Jonny Dillon’s debut acoustic LP ‘Songs For A One-String Guitar’ took the listening public by surprise and the critics by storm when it dropped out of the blue on All-City in 2019. It represented a departure for an artist who was renowned for having the Midas touch when it came to coaxing dance floor fire from all manner of hardware. But fortune favours the brave and temporarily setting the machinery aside …

This recording is a miraculous session produced by Makoto Kubota and is surely precious being their very first performance in Japan. “Tumai Takahashi” is often sung in a set with “Yatcya guwa” but in this recording it is performed as a stand-alone song, which makes it very rare. The coupling song “Uya nu Kukuru” is a classic piece by Teihan China, Misako Oshiro's mentor. Misako Oshiro sings with Kanako Horiuchi, her top pupil, in a relaxed and lustrous voice. Misako Ōshiro (or sometimes Misako O…

From the two towering pillars of the Arab World’s Tarab, Om Kalsoum & Mohamed Abdel Wahab, comes another cult classic of Wa Maret El Ayam. With an iconic prelude featuring one of Abdel-Wahab’s quintessential fusions, this time a Libyan folk melody, Souma records bring a long-awaited remastering of the original studio version. Entrancing, magnetic and transcendental all at once.

Egyptian King Baligh Hamdy and “The Lady” Om Kalsoum meet for the final time in her parting ode, Hakam Aleena El Hawa. With a hypnotic intro featuring the rhythmic fireworks of Hany Mehanna’s organ, Souma records bring a remastering of the original studio version for The Voice of Egypt to live on. Musing, beckoning and triumphant as always.

The much-awaited vinyl version of a musical piece which has garnered much attention over the recent years in Japan. The sound is eye-opening, profound, spiritual, and will leave you in awe. Absolutely mind-bending. This is beyond categories and beyond good! The highest possible recommendation!

Drop a needle on Psyché's debut double-sider and you'll see visions, or rather Mediterranean visions, be they of waves of heat shimmering above dunes of sand, or of women dancing around a bonfire on a rocky plain, or of bushy cliffs overlooking emerald-green and turquoise sea. The name Psyché is of course ancient Greek for 'soul' or 'mind', signifying the band's love of psychedelic funk, but also the wide range of Mediterranean influences – from Southern Europe to the Balkan Peninsula, and from …

The three years spent on MGM Records between 1966 and 1968 were golden ones for Lee Hazlewood. He spent them working with his muse, Suzi Jane Hokom, writing a still-unreleased book, The Quiet Revenge of Elmo Furback, competing with Phil Spector from their respective studios, and coming up with the formula for the "boy/girl” songs for which he’d become famous. In fact, the unflattering portrait on the cover of Something Special did little to hint at how hip this late-flowering talent (he was in h…

*250 copies limited edition* 'Latest Hana Stretton's album has an intimacy akin to Lynn Avery’s Carpet Cocoon, but with less clarity and more vagueness and elusion. Its warmth is shrouded in a thick layer of fuzz, with nods to ambient music allowing the music to creep in like a sunset. Despite its elusive nature, it refuses to keep a distance between the listener—it’s intriguing and thoughtful, subtle and moving. There’s something naturally magical about Soon—your reflection in the lake, the chi…

In his debut release with Constellation Tatsu, Andy Aquarius takes us on a journey from the forest to the sea. Aquarius was in the process of writing another album, the follow up to ‘Chapel’ (Hush Hush, 2021), when multiple voices emerged, each of them holding a distinct energetic signature. Those incantations became ‘La Force Aquarienne,’ a collection of intuitive prayers. The first track, ‘U Lisi’ (Ukrainian for ‘In The Forest’), represents the connective and grounding tissue of our shared dim…

Tip! "In ‘re-cycling’ I distilled a true story, into its component parts, and put it back together as the narrative of this album's music. Each track represents one of five elements: a fungus, a bacteria, rocks, water, a tree. These elements come together to create a forest of sound approaches created through sitar and tabla. The album's title – ‘re-cycling’ – works on several levels. It's a reference to the cycles of life and death, familiar cycles (the water cycle, the rock cycle) and unfamili…

*2023 stock* Recorded immediately following a group meditation, "in delicate balance" takes that spiritual energy and amplifies it back to listeners. The album's title refers to Raag Bhairavi where I interweave several themes "in a delicate balance" of inspiration and experience. "J.J Gregg’s depth of passion for his music and his attention to nuance on the sitar is masterful. His study and use of traditional ragas is beautifully filtered through his own touch and personal experiences in other g…

*2023 stock* J.J. Gregg’s 'opening up' draws listeners deep into a meditative state. Each raga provides a different mood while taking the listener on a journey unique to their state of mind. The first track, a lilting and bright rendition of Raag Rageshree, explores speed and sound in a most refreshing way. In track two, Raag Yaman offers a uniquely developed and comprehensive journey through the beauty of South Asian Classical music. In the concluding track on the album, Raag Chandrakauns, deep…

Drop a needle on Psyché's debut double-sider and you'll see visions, or rather Mediterranean visions, be they of waves of heat shimmering above dunes of sand, or of women dancing around a bonfire on a rocky plain, or of bushy cliffs overlooking emerald-green and turquoise sea. The name Psyché is of course ancient Greek for 'soul' or 'mind', signifying the band's love of psychedelic funk, but also the wide range of Mediterranean influences – from Southern Europe to the Balkan Peninsula, and from …

First, the music was obscured by history and now almost by the story behind it all.

* 200 copies limited edition * The first time I heard Wheatie’s music was at a basement show in Philadelphia, and I was entranced. I’ve felt similarly when watching videos of the French singer Barbara as she concentrates on a corner of the room, her eyes big warm coins, singing “La solitude” about a loneliness that “rolls around the hips” and demands that the door is opened. It’s Barbara’s self-possession that haunts me, her willingness to do publicly what I can only find alone. It’s not so much…

Unique recording by dhrupad singer Marianne Svašek, a former pupil of legendary Hindustani musicians Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Uday Bhawalkar, and Zia Fariduddin Dagar. The album consist of one track, a lengthy alap sung by Svašek––accompanied only by two tanpuras––in a complex and mysterious raga of twilight and sunset: Raga Marwa. Comes in a digisleeve featuring liner notes by Joep Bor, professor emeritus at Leiden University and author of The Raga Guide.

*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 studio album is recorded after Guo Yongzhang performing on the 5th Tomorrow Festival stage.

Dom Flemons presents Black Cowboys pays tribute to the music, culture, and the complex history of the golden era of the Wild West. In this single volume of music, the first of its kind, Flemons explores and re-analyzes this important part of our American identity. The songs and poems featured on the album take the listener on an illuminating journey from the trails to the rails of the Old West. This century-old story follows the footsteps of the thousands of African American pioneers who helped …

Lost recordings that defined the modern sound of the Sahara.This album contains the first recordings of modern music from the Sahara and mark the birth of the genre that is known in the West as "Desert Blues" or "Desert Rock". Ahl Nana changed the folk music of the Sahara to modern, cosmopolitan music by using Western instruments like the electric guitar. They paved the way for artists like Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Mdou Moctar or Bombino. Although the group is still active today, they only re…

“Let us unravel the ancient songs of Amami and Aynu and sew them together. Let us go adrift in the whirl of the sea as we row our squid fishing boat.” Amamiaynu is a project that was initiated by Ikue Asazaki, who has been on the frontlines of Amami music for decades. Members of this project include; Ikue Asazaki, Oki, a Tonkori player (a traditional stringed instrument developed by the native Ainu people), Rekpo, the vocalist and leader for the female vocal group Marewrew, Kapiw & Apappo, who a…

"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…

New album from Blod recorded during the second half of 2022 by Gustaf Dicksson. Där Ska Barnet Vara is a continuation of the themes explored on Pilgrimssånger and contains nine more songs dealing with faith in different forms, with a strong presence of death. Compared to Pilgrimssånger, the sound is slightly more lo-fi and fucked up and the approach is somewhat looser and more desperate, but here are some of the strongest and most fragile and heartfelt Blod songs to date. Additional players on t…

*Edition of 300* Shirk is the new AOR flavored free improvisation solo album by Sam Shalabi featuring Eric Chenaux and Nadah El-Shazly where Synth Pop and Sound Poetry fester. Sam Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian composer, improviser and guitarist living between Montreal and Cairo. Starting out during the late 70s punk era, his work has evolved into an experimental synthesis of modern Arabic Music that incorporates free improvisation, traditional Arabic music, noise, classical, text, and jazz. Ot…

Tip! *50th annyversary deluxe edition* Recorded over a six month period in 1970/71 at Bearsville, In My Own Time was Karen Dalton's only fully planned and realized studio album. The material was carefully selected and crafted for her by producer/musician Harvey Brooks, the Renaissance man of rock-jazz who played bass on Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Miles’ Bitches Brew. It features ten songs that reflected Dalton's incredible ability to break just about anybodys heart – from her spectral evoc…

This album is an intimate and historical dive into the work of Laurence Vanay. The titles on this album were carefully chosen by her daughter, Marine Thibault, in order to help us rediscover the sensitive repertoire of a little-known artist who was nevertheless at the forefront of her era.

Tip! Reissue of the oud / viola virtuoso Simon Shaheen’s interpretations of pieces by one of the Middle East`s most important 20th Century composers, Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Produced by Bil Laswell, remastered for vinyl at D&M Berlin. Mohamed Abdel Wahab (1902-1991) was „a giant in the world of Middle Eastern entertainment” (Al Jadid Magazine) - as singer, actor and composer – and is commonly considered “the father of modern Egyptian song”. After a visit to Paris, he revolutionized the film industr…

Tears are in the eyes of Xabiib Sharaabi, nicknamed the Somali King of Pop when he entered the stage of Berlin’s HKW. It is a mix of nostalghia, pain and joy. Like many Somalis he had been deprived overnight of both glamour and friends, the war in his homeland had sent him into exile. The glamorous discos and beachfront stages Mogadishu had once been famous for, had disappeared as the city was bombed to the ground. The King of Somali pop found himself stranded in Sweden, others like the members …

*In process of stocking. 300 copies limited edition* In his youth days, Gontran lived on the road. He describes himself as a member of the alternative hippie generation, not of those who claimed wanted to change the world, but of those who actually took an alternate way of living. He travelled, took any jobs available to make some money to live wherever he was, and wrote beautiful songs accompaining himself on guitar. From time to time, when the stars aligned, when there was the chance, he would…

Zehra is proud to present the debut album Istehlal by the Mohamad Zatari Trio, consisting of musicians from Syria, Iran and India. The trio merges traditional Middle Eastern sounds with contemporary vibes incl. interpretations of Hossein Alizadeh and Riad Al-Sunbati classics.