Folk /
The Music of Norma Lyon
A collection of 16 pieces privately released by Norma Lyon in the late 1960s. All are original compositions for piano and organ. Dark, moody and dramatic, each of these 'sketches' was inspired by a place Ms. Lyon has lived. The tone of the record is set by its fantastic titles, including 'Flight of the Spirit Geese,' 'Phantom Cathedral of the Sea' and 'Dirge of the Sea Gods.' The first side, 'Dune Sketches,' is based on a period when she lived amidst the dunes in southwest Oregon. The sec…
Love is Overtaking Me
"Compiled from over eight hours of material, Love Is Overtaking Me reaches back further to Russell's first compositions from the early `70s, the most rare and, at the same time, arguably the most accessible part comprising 21 demos and home recordings of unreleased pop, folk and country songs selected by Audika's Steve Knutson, Ernie Brooks and Russell's companion, Tom Lee. A number of the songs feature prominently in the film Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell."
"Four years ago, Aud…
Alpine Frequency
Matt Valentine and Erika Elder have been cutting new synaptic pathways through brainic underbrush since before most people became capable of breathing air. That said, their albums (many of which are CDR-only issues on their own Child of Microtones imprint) often have a specific delirious blueprint, designed to shift only a certain batch of molecules and/or air into forms that translate into music. Such is not the case with Alpine Frequency. This lazily explorative 2LP set was sewn into a w…
Ishq Ke Maare: Sufi Songs from Sindh and Punjab, Pakistan
A searing assemblage of Islamic Sufi spiritual music from the hinterlands of Sindh and Punjab, this compilation marks Sublime Frequencies' debut release of field recordings from Pakistan. Recorded and compiled by Arshia Fatima Haq, founder of Discostan - a collective of artists from an imagined federation of states from Beirut to Bangkok via Bombay - this is a rare, unfiltered collection of devotional music ranging from hypnotic solo instrumentals and vocal lamentations to euphoric ensemble qaww…
Where the Mountains Meet the Sky: Folk Music of Ladakh
Music from Ladakh recorded during the making of the film The Song Collector (2014) by director Erik Koto, with additional material recorded by Bill Kite in 1992. "Situated high in the Western Himalaya, Ladakh is one of the great cultural crossroads of Asia. For centuries, it sat at the hub of ancient trade routes that connected the Silk Road to India, Tibet, and Kashmir. Each year, once the winter snows had melted from the high passes surrounding Ladakh, its markets would buzz with merchants fro…
Jack Orion
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…
An Introduction To The Lush Indonesian Music Tradition Vol. 2
The second volume of Sounds From The Archipelago: An Introduction To The Lush Indonesian Music Tradition covers music from the vast island of Sumatra (West Indonesia), The Moluccas Islands, and the island of Bali. In the first sample from Sumatra ("Gondang Mula Mula"), recorded near the awesome Lake Toba, is a ceremonial overture played during weddings and special occasions. The band is comprised of four instruments: two "Ketchapis" (sort of a two-string ukulele), one "Serenar" (a wind inst…
An Introduction To The Lush Indonesian Music Tradition Vol. 1
The first volume of Sounds From The Archipelago: An Introduction To The Lush Indonesian Music Tradition gathers traditional music from different areas of the Indonesian archipelago, featuring music from Sulawesi, The Moluccas Islands (Spice Islands), and Central Java. In the first track from Sulawesi ("Gandrung Bulo"), the lead is taken by the percussion made of bamboo drums, later joined by two male voices in the second track. This is traditional entertainment music which is typically play…
Ornamentation
Yann Novak is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Ornamentation is Novak's first physical release on Touch and continues his investigations of presence, stillness and mindfulness through the construction of immersive spaces, both literal and figurative. On Ornamentation, Novak resists modernism's problematic relationship to race, class and labor, and attempts to decouple contemporary minimalist sound work from this historical precedent. The title refers to Adolf Loos's notoriou…
Bleecker & Mac Dougal
With a deeply resonant voice that exuded a hundred things at once—pain, joy, weariness and decades ofexperience—Fred Neil created a small body of work that covered the world like paint. No one from the vibrant early '60s Greenwich Village folk scene had more staying power than this legendary recluse. Fred Neil's 1964 debut, Bleecker And MacDougal, captures the great man at the apex of his talents. Exact repro on High-Definition Vinyl, from the original analog masters!"Given the late Fred N…
Mother Of All Saints (Puppet On A String)
The second twin in Unrock's sub-series of actively anti-western music is an ultra-heavyweight. In the worlds of contemporary global avant-art, composition and improvisation, it reaches new heights. Eyvind Kang (from "Ghost Ghat Tresspass/Sussmeier" Sun City Girls 330,003 Crossdressers From Beyond The Rig Veda among many other collaborations) employs a rarely-heard viola technique. Some may call it plucking art. The viola is played not with a bow, but plucked with the fingers of the right han…
La Traversee
Solo work of free-improvisation/immediate-composition on acoustic lapsteel, banjo, mandoline, acoustic guitar, 12 and 6 strings electric guitar. As David Keenan puts it "There is something of the late John Fahey's electrical guitar conceptions in the movement of Lacroux's playing, particularly his last recordings, where John Fahey's umbilical to country blues extended far enough to make of it a future wraith, the ghost of it's origin come back as a distant dream. (...) Guilhem Lacroux works…
Le Vaisseau Se Balance
Live selection from 2014 in Lyon. The duo are here heavily amplified, thus giving room to a very thick, dark and sonic manifestation of the band, perhaps the most stone-rock oriented set Faune have ever played. Rare and epic recordings!!!Cassingle, 100 copies. C-14, Riso printed cover with airbrushed and stamped labels. Released 2016
Recorded by Ernest Bergez. Mixed by Guilhem Lacroux. Artwork by Standard In-Fi. Printed by Papier Machine.
Ragas Of Morning & Night
At long last, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela reissue this seminal, hugely influential album on their Just Dream imprint, the legendary recording from 1968 India of Pandit Pran Nath titled 'Ragas Of Morning & Night'. The original studio session was produced in New Delhi, February 1968, by Jimi Hendrix associate Alan Douglas, it features recordings of "Raga Todi" and "Darbari", which showcase Pran Nath at his prime. Pran Nath's exquisite control between microscopically fine degrees of pitch ca…
Ida Con Snock
An album of new Hurley songs and older, classic compositions from the great American folk outsider, all arranged and performed beautifully at Levon Helm's Woodstock studio. Ida Con Snock has to rank as one of Michael Hurley's most slick sounding enterprises, but it's also a completely natural and untampered with vision of his songs, and there's a tremendous purity of intent resounding throughout pieces like the wonderful and poignant 'Wildegeeses' and the Appalachian fiddle-adorned 'Hog Of The F…
Music of the Bahnar People from the Central Highlands of Vietnam
Sublime Frequencies present a collection of music from the Bahnar people who live in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The Bahnar are famous for their rich musical culture and this is perhaps the first-ever release to introduce the full range of Bahnar musical instruments and styles, including gong ensemble, bamboo zither, bamboo xylophone, bamboo fiddle with mouth resonator, and folk songs. Melodic and hypnotic, this music was selected from recordings made in the Kon Tum province from 2006 to 2…
Chapter One
Re-mastered audio pressed on high quality vinyl, packaged in a gatefold with exact original artwork.
African rock pioneer, Blo’s debut album, ‘Chapter One,’ was originally released by EMI in 1973.
Blo is most known for being the first rock band to emerge from Africa. This trio includes Berkely ‘Ike’ Jones on guitar, Laolu ‘Akins’ Akintobi on drums and Mike ‘Gbenga’ Odumosu on bass. Each member has also worked in Ginger Baker’s band, Salt prior to their formation in 1972.
The band’s retro, af…
Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams
Dust-to-Digital's inaugural release, 2003's Goodbye, Babylon (DTD 001CD), included two recordings by a mysterious gospel musician from Texas named Washington Phillips, who died in 1954. After fielding inquiries about the hauntingly beautiful songs from listeners around the world, in 2013, Dust-to-Digital checked in with Michael Corcoran, the leading researcher on Phillips, to see if any new information had been uncovered. Indeed, Michael had some leads, but he would need a working budget t…
Live in Stockholm 1969
Raag Chandrakauns in a recording from a private concert in Stockholm 1969 with two of the real giants of Hindustani music, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar on rudra veena (been) and Pandit Taranath on pakhawaj.
In the spring of 1969 Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Pandit Taranath Rama Rao were returning from their first teaching trip to U.S. Z. M. Dagar had been at Wesleyan and Taranathji at Ravi Shankar’s school in L.A. if I remember right. Since I was learning from Taranathji and had stayed in t…
Tabla Jugalbandi For Ustad Samshuddin Khan
This recording from the Puniyatithi (memorial concert) for Ustad Shamsuddin Khan in 1968 is going to be one of the finest authentic and rare tabla jugalbandis (duets) you will ever hear. Shashi & Ravi were the first to introduce tabla Jugalbandi and Sawal Jawab (question and answer between the two artists). from a very young age in the early 1940’s they became two of the most sought after players of their time.
Apart from being a celebration of their great grand guru, the occasion was fur…