Folk /
Incredible String band
Beginning as a duo in Edinburg, Scotland, acoustic musicians Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer sought to stretch the boundaries of contemporary folk music from the start. Composing much of their own material rather than relying solely on the hidebound traditional repertoire, they were spotted by Elektra Records' Joe Boyd while playing in the Crown Bar and, duly impressed, he signed them to the label. After adding additional guitarist Mike Heron, they traveled to London's Sound Techniques Studio …
Antologia De Musica Atipica Portuguesa Vol. 2: Regioes
In 1959, Michel Giacometti moved to Portugal and dedicated the following thirty years of his life recording traditional music all over the country. In the present decade, Portuguese music has been thriving and finally travelling abroad, long gone are the days those hidden gems were kept in secret in this distant corner of Europe. The discovery of current Portuguese music sparked an interest to Portuguese music, past and present. With both of those ideas in mind, Giacometti and the interest in Po…
Salm: Gaelic Psalms from the Hebrides of Scotland, v. 2
Following a sold-out run of Salm, Vol. 1 (ALE 007LP, 2018) Arc Light Editions closes the year with a second volume of Gaelic psalm singing. The recordings documented here are from the same psalm singing sessions as the first, and both together represent a complete collection. This is music that is transcendent and together, about the individual and the earth, movingly spiritual with or without belief. The sound comes in great waves, swells of sound that break and roll around the space. The textu…
Japon (Japan)
Double LP-version. 180 gram vinyl; Gatefold sleeve; Includes booklet and download. Ambient/traditional flute music from Japanese shakuhachi Master, Teruhisa Fukuda. The shakuhachi is an end-blown bamboo flute with one dorsal and four frontal holes and a beveled notch as mouthpiece. There are two elements in the name of the instrument: shaku refers to an ancient measurement which is the equivalent of 30,3 cm; hachi means eight. Originally, shakuhachi thus refers to a flute that measures 1,8 shaku…
Oyiwane
Sweet and sublime recordings from Elementary school group in Northern Niger from the 1980s. All-girl group accompanied by their instructor on the acoustic guitar, recalling Guinean folk and early Ali Farka Touré. Troupe École Tudu takes their name from a small neighborhood of Agadez, Niger. In 1985, the city hosted a musical competition between various schools. École Tudu, lacking a choir, sought out a young Tuareg guitarist Kader “Barmo” Balla to create a new style of music. The guitar was new…
Niko Karlsson & Topias Tiheäsalo
After a long hibernation, Anoema Recordings is back with a fantastic
split LP of fresh Finnish music. This time we bring joy to the world via
six beautiful acoustic six string exercises by two Turku-based masters
of guitar: Niko Karlsson and Topias Tiheäsalo. Niko plays both guitar
and banjo and has a background in pop, folk and various types of
experimental music. He is probably best known for his 2017 solo album
Valosta valoon on American Feeding Tube Records. Topias has studied
classic…
A Scarlet Fail
Awash in color and texture, Arian Shafiee's debut album, A Scarlet Fail, brings to light a guitarist whose sound and mastery are in full bloom. Best known for his work in the East Coast dance/punk group Guerilla Toss, Shafiee has spent years warping the idea of what a guitar can sound like. In a group setting, Shafiee does what's best for the composition, often blending seamlessly into the electronics and rhythmic grooves of his peers. A Scarlet Fail gives him a revelatory solo spotlight in a se…
Torrent
Torrent is the first recording of Alex Mincek’s music since his 2011 self-titled debut on Carrier Records and launches Sound American’s Young Composer Portrait (YCP) series, which introduces emerging artists by releasing music from the span of their career alongside a series of interviews and essays that contextualize the ways in which their history, aesthetic, and sound thinking have informed their work to date. Torrent is being released as a deluxe art object meant to give the listener a m…
Take A Knife And Open My Heart
Sound Miracle Recordings presents a collection of thirteen ancient
pieces of primitive flamenco music from the 1930s onwards. Flamenco
music has been admired throughout the world for centuries. Fascinating
unique, esoteric and mysterious, alloy of fire and witchcraft. Flamenco
is much more than that. It has something of folk, something of sacred
music, something of "blues": it is a unique music in the world, born of
many factors and opposite and antagonistic elements, like its country of
…
Tizi Inzit
Recorded by Lucien in March 2018 in Tamlalt, Moroccan High Atlas, in the blue room at the Bibliotatlas collective. Lahcen perfroms his songs on a lothar, an instrument that he made himself, with a wooden handle, a palm soundboard and goatskin. He is accompanied by El Hussain Safir on bendir and vocals, Lahcen Bouri on bendir, Tarik Boughfyani on tamtam and vocals,Idir Ben Hakim on tamtam and vocals and El Houssain Oumaa on bendir, tamtam and vocals.
Voices of Mississippi
This watershed release represents the life's work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South. William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that …
The Early Films of William Ferris 1968-75
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist William Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the roots of the blues. This DVD features seven films made by Ferris between 1968 and 1975. In addition to being a groundbreaking documentarian of the American South, Ferris is Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of…
Venus in Cancer
Though frequently overshadowed by his contemporary and Takoma Records labelmate John Fahey, the compositions and performances of Daniel R. Robinson Jr., best known by the stage name Robbie Basho, were integral in the development of the American primitive guitar style. Along with Fahey, and songwriter/composers such as Max Ochs, Leo Kottke, and others, Basho helped bring to the masses the distinct form of guitar finger-picking, which blended folk and country-blues with neo-classical composition t…
Ajanma
Hariprasad became 80 the this year. A good moment for this unique solo album of the world legend bansuri master form India. Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian virtuoso flautist in the Hindustani tradition, born 1 July 1938 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. 'Ajanma' takes a unique place in the discography of the North Indian flute legend. The recording was captured in a small 16th century Church in Rhoon, Netherlands in June 2014, which is well known for the character and quality of it's acousti…
Music Of Indonesia
Originally released on Folkways Records, in 1959. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 13,000 islands including Java, the world's most populous island, and Bali, is as diverse as it is large. Having been a crucial stop on international trade routes since as early as the 7th century the influences on Indonesian musical traditions are deep and wide. Music Of Indonesia, recorded in 1950, is one of the earliest western documents of this rich tradition. Featuring sounds ranging from beautiful Bali…
The Return of The Sophisticated Beggar
180 gram audiophile vinyl. Re-issue of his debut folk rock album. Roy Harper's first solo album was originally released in 1966, The Sophisticated Beggar, and by 1970 he had met up with Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner and re-released his debut as Return Of The Sophisticated Beggar. Roy Harper's music can be best defined as progressive folk, but as his work is so varied there are many instances where his music transgressed these genre confinements. He worked alongside greats like Jimmy Page of …
The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier
Deluxe edition of two180g LP's stored within a glossy gatefold sleeve. Terry Callier conveys the promise and power in The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier. This capturing a young man in his element, his voice and soul, jazz and folk-infused songs timeless. This new version includes five previously unreleased alternate takes(“900 Miles,” “Promenade In Green,” “It’s About Time” and “Be My Woman”) along with two tracks making their vinyl debut (“Jack O’Diamonds” and “Golden Apples of the Sun”), as…
Pan & Regaliz
This is the album any record collector would have at the top of his wants list when visiting Spain. No matter if you are into prog rock, psychedelia, leftfield jazz, kraut or just looking for interesting breaks and beats, this is THE record you will need. But let’s face it, there are little chances of coming across an original copy of Pan y Regaliz’s only album; groundbreaking quality music did not sell well in early 70s Spain.Despite the late release date (1971), the album is often compared wit…
Snake Pit
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…
The Two Worlds
Power's self-titled debut, received wide praise from UNCUT (9/10, "Masterpiece"), MOJO (4 stars), The Guardian (4 stars), Irish Times (4 stars) and was featured on NPR World Cafe, as well as several BBC programs. 'The Two Worlds' was produced by Peter Broderick and recorded at Analogue Catalogue in County Down, Ireland.In Brigid Mae Power own words : Most of these songs were written in the last year in Ireland and they're all about the different feelings I had at the time. Last year I moved back…