Folk & Traditional / All styles

“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…

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…

Sunbeam Records present a remastered reissue of Mark Fry's Dreaming With Alice, originally released in 1972. Dreaming With Alice was already an obscurity by the time of its release. Recorded by a 19 year old Mark Fry for an Italian sub label of RCA, it presented a beautifully naive kind of psychedelic folk similar to what the Incredible String Band laid down at the same time just a bit more straight forwarded. Young Mark enchants his listeners with dreamy vocal melodies of utter beauty which cre…

*2022 stock* Oregon's fathers of freak-folk/folk psych pioneers The Tree People have, incredibly, made another album once again. Responsible for two awesome works in the late '70s and early '80s, here they are now with a new album and they sound exactly as they did 30 years ago. This could be their best work ever. Mellow, tender freak-folk with acoustic guitar, double bass, recorder, flute and percussion. Eleven new tracks, plus a new version of "Space Heater" from their 1979 debut. Includes a b…

*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…

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.

Underground musician Carioca left behind his electrical past in Progressive Rock in order to search for new expressions in Brazilian music. His first album is a fully acoustic, instrospective voyage into the world’s greatest Rainforest, featuring 12-string guitar, mandolin, zither, tabla, flute and self-made percussion instruments. Carioca is the term used to describe those who originate from Rio de Janeiro. But, in fact, there’s only one Carioca in the music scene in Brazil: Ronaldo Leite de Fr…

Harvey Mandel is among the most innovative guitarists to emerge from the Chicago blues scene of the late 1960s. His career began at Twist City and other local hotspots, sharing stages with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy. He came up in that scene alongside Charlie Musselwhite, Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg and Steve Miller, leading to an invitation from Bill Graham to open for Cream at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in August 1967.Mandel was a member of Canned Heat, appeari…

Release Date on May 5th. By the time Rosemary Lane was released in 1971, Bert Jansch had covered a great deal of territory on numerous albums as a solo artist, collaborations with John Renbourn and records by the band in which he and Renbourn sang and played guitar, Pentangle. Returning to the intimate economy of his self-titled debut LP from a half-dozen or so years earlier, Rosemary Lane was recorded on portable equipment by engineer/producer Bill Leader and featured Jansch with no accompani…

Jack Orion, Bert Jansch's third album, may have surprised some fans upon its 1966 release, as it features no original compositions by Jansch. While nearly all of the eight tracks (four of which include guitarist John Renbourn) are interpretations of traditional folk songs, Jansch's experimental approach breathes new life into this repertoire through his exploratory use of open tunings and passionate, gritty vocals.According to Melody Maker, "his interpretations illuminate the songs from a comple…

* 2023 stock * LP version. "Davy Graham is recognized as an early influential figure on the 1960s British folk scene, where he inspired many famous practitioners of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar such as Bert Jansch, Paul Simon, John Martyn and indeed Jimmy Page. Not one to be categorised Graham could be seen as a true world music artist covering the genres of folk, blues and jazz. He also popularized DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by many acoustic guitarists. Midnight Man was Davy's 2nd s…

*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…

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.

First ever vinyl edition. Cut by Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering. Single LP with printed inner containing sleevenotes. Peerlessly evocative and painfully sad material from Armenian duduk maestro Djivan Gasparyan, originally released on Brian Eno's All Saints imprint in 1993 and now finally remastered. Huge recommendation.   This is the one! Djivan Gasparyan's second album was produced by Brian Eno collaborator Michael Brook, who struck up a lengthy creative partnership with the duduk legend that…

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…

Stoned To Death delivers what might just be one of the most unexpected and beautiful records of the year, Šimanský Niesner's "Všechno Dobré". Created by the Czech Republic based acoustic guitar duo of Jakub Šimanský and Tomáše Niesner, within cascades of tonality emerges a profound meditation on place and time, binding elements traditional folk and drone, with American primitive guitar playing and thrilling attitudes toward experimentalism. It's a stunning thing to behold.

Tip! A poet, soothsayer, bicycle race tipster, actor, prolific drinker, self-taught guitarist, and living legend of Japanese sound, Kazuki Tomokawa catapulted into Tokyo’s avant-folk scene in the mid-1970s, forging a sound and sensibility marked by throat-wrenching vocals and searing ennui. Among his musical peers in postwar Japan, Tomokawa distinguished himself  as a pioneer of radical individualism. He had “the personality of a hydrogen bomb”—as the notorious ultraleft band the Brain Police on…

Multi-instrumentalist Umut Çağlar (Konstrukt, Karkhana), former Baba Zula drummer Fahrettin Aykut and the Finnish saxophone player/shakuhachi specialist Jone Takamäki join forces in a stunning improvised live set that blends free jazz with East-Asian Zen-sounds. The idea for Myth Of The Drum. Urban Transformation dates from an art exhibition in Istanbul 2017 where Fahrettin Aykut exhibited an installation called "Urvban Transformation" that combined painting and music, dealing with the relation …

**Comes with 8-panel fold-out liner notes with rare photos and English translation. Housed in reverse-board-printed jacket** Archival 1982 recordings from the "agricultural industrial" celebration, complete with dense drum rhythms, chanted vocals and handcrafted bamboo flutes, plus 2017 versions of the same pieces by Sugai Ken. EM Records is proud to present, following “Yumi Kagura”, the second edition of the Japanese folklore music series, directed by Riyo Mountains. Japan has a long tradition …

Red Favorite, a cycle of compositions for guitars, electronics and voices created by Jeremy Pisani was first released as a limited edition CD on Spirit of Orr and is now offered, as it was originally conceived to appear, on an LP. He moved closer and looked through the peephole. And he saw: the world stretched out before him, a quiet and gentle space with a broad expanse of grass that practically glistened in its greenness. A sparkling brook ran through the meadow in the middle distance, and now…

A series of live performances, broadcast and BBC session for one the most influential british folk bands. The high profile names of John Renbourn and Bert Jansch remain coveted enough to warrant excitement at any retrospective release, but combined with the talent of bass player Danny Thompson, vocalist Jacqui McShee and drummer extraordinaire Terry Cox be sure to have a delightful insight. Pentangle's legacy lies in an abundance of fragile, acoustic wonder spanning six albums with Transatlantic…

"Manufactured Recordings reissues Three Sitar Pieces by trained instrumentalist Pandit Kanwar Sain Trikha, originally released on Vic Keary's underground label, Mushroom Records, in the early '70s. While Vic Keary's background was in reggae, Mushroom Records dabbled in recording a bit of everything. Mostly known for hyper-rare psych, prog and acid folk, Pandit Kanwar Sain Trikha's LP fits in perfectly with their British psych and prog label mates like Simon Finn, Magic Carpet, and Chillum. Pandi…

Formed in 1971, Nass El Ghiwane's five members first performed in the avant-garde of Morocco's underground theater scene. Following their debut performance as a band in Rabat at Tayeb Seddiki's Mohammed V Theatre, their songs became the 1970s anthems of Moroccan youth -- nationalist, rebellious, experimental, and bygone all at once. They are Morocco's most enduring musical legacy. They modernized the way music was transmitted to the disenchanted and rebellious youth of their country. Their conce…

* 2022 stock * "Here's an expanded vinylization of a boss live show from Snock and his Vermont roustabouts, recorded at Folk City on July 17, 1976. Most of it was first issued back in '88, as side two of the Land of Lo Fi/Redbirds cassette on Bellemeade Phonics. But some new masters showed up subsequently, so there's an extra song and a half available for your listening pleasure. And pure pleasure is what it is. I always believed I had seen Hurley play somewhere in NYC before this. I thought may…

The second and last chapter of Dr Miller's journey between cultures and its uses, which began with "The Far East", dissected and looked into the root of the sound of distant Asia, continues with this new chapter dedicated instead to the countries bathed by the Mediterranean and contiguous to Central European history. From Spain to Arabic sounds, a new compendium that takes us back to other places and times, Dr Miller is once again able to dissect andencapsulate sounds and spices from distant pla…

2018 repress. Ambrose Campbell was acclaimed by Fela Kuti's generation -- by Fela himself -- as the founder of modern Nigerian music. Several of his recordings lit up London Is the Place for Me 2 (HJR 016LP, 2006), and Volume Three is devoted to his music, drawing on the 78s he cut in London over ten years from 1949. Nearly all the tracks assembled here come from recordings made for the Melodisc label and originally released as 10" 78 rpm singles. People who bought these records at the time can …

That Alexandre Manuel Thiago de Mello (aka Manduka), born in Petrópolis, a city in the south-east Brazil, isn’t a bigger name in the annals of Brazilian music is surely largely down to the unforgiving vagaries of politics rather than talent. This debut album, originally released in 1972, is up there with anything recorded contemporaneously by the big name post-tropicalistas. In figuring out its relative obscurity you have to factor in the unusual and febrile context in which it was composed, ami…

A classic album by contemporary psychic blues visionaries MV & EE. The duo spent 40 days and 40 nights under the twisted trees and endless sky of the Mojave desert via a Vermont homestead, freedom and unity. That's where these songs were unformed in dreams, floating off to mingle with the collective unconscious of coyotes and rattlesnakes, before they were re-birthed as smoke signals channeled through shaky hands, an old tele, germanium transistors and a bucket brigade. One of the purest distill…

Includes two full-sized inserts: Includes download code; Edition of 300. "After a concert of Kenyan singer Ogoya Nengo in Berlin in 2015 in a pleasant conversation Guillermo Lares told me about his father, Oswaldo Lares, a studied architect who, parallel with his professional activity, began to make field recordings of the traditional and indigenous Venezuelan music from the early 1960s onwards up until today. His search and fascination for finding the musical roots of his country led Oswaldo La…

There are few instruments more uniquely suited to capturing the beauty and ennui of the rural American midwest than the acoustic steel-string guitar. In the hands of a master, the range of evocable emotion and experience is truly limitless. Daniel Hecht is one such master. His 1973 self-released debut album, simply titled Guitar, is an indispensable piece of the endless puzzle that is instrumental Guitar Soli music.  Guitar was written and recorded while Hecht was living and working on a commune…

*2022 stock* 'This Shel Talmy-produced album is as sprawling and unwieldy as its title. Always a determined eclectic, Harper tries to cover a lot of ground here, and his effort is impressive. The influences of Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, Donovan, and maybe even early Al Stewart hover over most of this folk-rock. Harper tries to cram too many musical and (especially) lyrical ideas together here, and several of his heart-on-the-sleeve narrative folktales ramble on for too long, with an obscurity that …

The 'Prince' & the Marquis (Mick Turner of DIRTY THREE) unfurled the scroll together, with Tren Brother Jim White (DIRTY THREE, CAT POWER) rumbling & banging things & playing drums, & the Bonny gang crew of Van Campbell, Emmett Kelly & Angel Olsen added invaluable dimensions to the moments herein.

Following the reissue of the self-titled debut by Tülay German & François Rabbath in 2021, we‘re presenting the 2nd and final part of our Tülay German reissues: "Homage to Nazım Hikmet" (1982). Once again in a duo setting with François Rabbath, Tülay German pays tribute to one of Turkey's greatest poets of the 20th century: Nazım Hikmet (1902-1963).

Carl Erdmann’s Bizzarrophytes was recorded in Roswell, New Mexico, during the final years of the 70’s. A desert-fried haze of buzzing sitar raga, shimmering guitar soli, and lonesome instrumental psych. Erdmann had been galvanized several years prior by witnessing an intimate performance by Ravi Shankar at Austin’s University of Texas. Erdmann spent the next several years with a sitar in the back of his pickup truck - teaching himself the instrument between stints working on an oil field as a ge…