Folk /
The Master Musicians Of India
Seminal recording (originally released in 1964) by the two men most responsible for opening the West to Indian music. Master of the sitar, Ravi Shankar (age 91) is, of course, famous for his legendary influence on the Beatles, but this recording was made for the American jazz label Prestige prior to their meeting. Perhaps lesser intertwined with the pop music world, Ali Akbar-Khan is nonetheless one of India’s greatest musicians, and the world’s best sarod player. Shankar and Khan play to…
Al Doum & The Faryds
**very last copies** Awesome private release LP, stunning overall quality, artwork by Troglosound "Equally stirring and equally necessary for mental health are those spectacular cave recordings contained within the grooved wares of Al Doum & the Faryds’ self-titled debut LP. Released on the Italian El Guscio Records (elguscio.it), this fucking righteously Out There declaration comes on like a lobotomized Xhol Caravan meets Shiva’s Tongue meets one of those low low grade reggae recording bands li…
Alone Together #1 – Obelisk / Tholos
A new 7" by Christina Carter which serves as the opening ceremony for our new 7" series of solo performances 'Alone Together'. A loan voice, the tangled bells, the caw of a crow, a plane passing overhead… A fortuitous overlapping of sound moments, trapped in amber by Christina for us to bear witness. Much like her early CDRs 'Hand & Mind' or 'Human As Guitar', 'Obelisk/Tholos' is an act of white witchcraft, a healing spell that defines time with the merest of tools: bells, voice, a microp…
Poisson
Work of this quality tends to be the product of a self-contained and selfconcsious tradition, even if a hermetic one. And in this case I fancy I can hear the flowering of a Northern/Midlands sensibilty that setms orignally from the A Band, Youngs and Wickham-Smith, and Ashtray Navigations. It is informed by ecstatic jazz but its roots are in pragmatic sonic experimentalism of a determindedly autochthonous kind. You can almost smell the witch trials in this, and I urge you all to catch a h…
Amaranthine
Every new Richard Youngs LP is in some way an event – his modus is so restless and yet his muse remains so distinctively personal that it’s always a thrill to see where he’s gonna dive in next. Amaranthine puts his vocals way up front for a series of four ecstatic bardic/future folk classics that ride in on wave after staggering wave of free form percussion, clanging household objects, shakuhachi and fuzz guitar. The vocals fall into the classic post-Summer Wanderer style of endlessly rep…
The Golden Undertow
The Golden Undertow opens with the gaunt “Dead Starâ€Â, a short and intense song with just few guitar notes and his voice. Both when singing accompaining himself with sparse guitar notes (“A Forest Journeyâ€Â, “My Shipâ€Â, “Fiveâ€Â) or creating gentle psichedelic epicness with the effort of friends on violin, drums and other instruments (â€ÂBonoboâ€Â, “Drugtime Familyâ€Â) Rella prove to have learned the lesson well with an inspired album that s…
Rainmaker
The day has come! We’re kicking off 2012 with a deluxe reissue of Michael Chapman’s debut Rainmaker. Originally released on Harvest Records in 1969, Rainmaker is a psychedelic-guitar-folk delight. Featuring some of Chapman’s best loved songs, “It Didn’t Work Out,” which features a stellar cast of legendary English musicians of the era; Guitarist “Clem” Clempson was in the prog-band Bakerloo (soon after playing with Chapman he’d join jazz-rockers Colosseum and then Humble Pie) Drummer Aynsley Dun…
Captain Wedderburn's Courtship / The Dowie Dens O Yarrow
A split single to be listened and heard (and more importantly, bought) with the compilation Whar the Pig Gaed on the Spree. Tradition-minded singers Alasdair Roberts, Karine Polwart, and Drew Wright do the honors. A-side: "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" performed by Alasdair Roberts and Karine Polwart B-side: "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow" performed by Drew Wright
Hallway Of Mirrors
VHF is releasing a bunch of solo guitar dudes over the next few weeks. Here's one of 'em! It's an album from New York's Alexander Turnquist called Hallway of Mirrors. It says that above so it's kinda pointless me saying that. Having said that the New York thing was a new bit of info so it's not all filler! I've not heard this chap before but I was rather taken with him on first listen. It's not a million miles away from the likes of James Blackshaw.... ie extreme 12 string fingerpluckery which i…
As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color
Second full length from NY based guitarist Turnquist, who defies expectations with a set of hypnotic epics that owe more to classic minimalism than current notions of solo guitar. Forgoing most of the extended techniques of his debut, Turnquist concentrates on laying down a thick blanket of 12 string that sets up persistent loop-like patterns in the music. Simple and lovely strings, piano, and percussion accompaniment provide the melody, carrying most of the movement in the pieces. The pa…
1978 Live At Audimax Hamburg
Shot live for TV by the legendary German music show "Rockpalast," this DVD represents the earliest example of a complete John Fahey concert performance, given on March 17, 1978. The multi-camera filming features detailed close-ups of Fahey's playing style, giving Fahey fans a rare insight into what Pete Townshend has called the William Burroughs of the guitar. Fahey's 1978 visit to Europe saw him in fine wild form, performing an 10-track set and, as an incredibly rare bonus, a short interv…
Doubles
"Doubles" is the first widely-available release by Irish guitarist Cian Nugent, a showcase of major talent in an audacious setting of two side-long epics. Clearly inspired by the Takoma-classics and the recent generation of greats (Rose, Jones, etc), Cian delivers two perfectly formed takes on the classic steel-string sound, one (mostly) unaccompanied, the other an expertly arranged full-band throwdown. "Peaks & Troughs" is a slow-building solo piece in the style of Fahey's "Fare Forward …
Guitars From Agadez Vol. 3 (Music Of Niger)
CD reissue of the instantly sold-out Volume 3 of the now-legendary Guitars From Agadez series. Group Inerane's sophomore LP is the latest missive from the now-sound of Niger's Tuareg guitar scene. Led by guitar hero Bibi Ahmed, this new incarnation introduces another legend on second guitar, one Koudede Maman. Koudede is considered to be a cornerstone of the second wave of the Tuareg guitar lineage, while Tinariwen and Abdulla Oumbadougo are the godfathers of the scene and Group Inerane and Bo…
Not For Nobody
Not For Nobody is the third solo album from Chicago's Scott Tuma. Originally released on CD in 2008 by the Digitalis label, Immune is happy to present a first time vinyl edition of this essential work featuring new artwork by Chris Koelle. Not For Nobody was greeted with critical acclaim upon it's release in 2008 and was the much needed follow up to Tuma's solo albums Hard Again (2001, Truckstop) and The River 1 2 3 4 (2003, Truckstop). Since the release of Not For Nobody, Tuma has released t…
Opika Pende: Africa At 78 RPM
Opika Pende: Africa At 78 RPM is a 4CD collection featuring 100 tracks taken from rare 78rpm recordings of African music (1909 to mid-1960s), none of which have ever been issued on CD until now. Pan-African in scope and wildly diverse, Opika Pende is a testament to the deep riches found in early recorded music across the continent. 112-page softcover book with 4 CDs in a separate portfolio -- all housed in a deluxe cloth slipcase. Jonathan Ward is a Los Angeles-based collector, researche…
Pau
After blowing everyone’s mind at the last Kraak Festival with an unbelievable (double) performance, and following the release of their first self titled lp, France come back with the definitive drone monument! There is still no better words to describe this unique sound, as the ones we used last year to introduce their debut cassette on 8mm last year:“Europe’s best kept secret comes from south of France, somewhere between the Rhone Alpes region and the Massif Central. Now, If you are wonde…
Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter
"I find this disc to be consistently superb and often sublime.
Cian writes contemplative, melodic and somewhat bluesy songs that
always ring true. The one cover, Baka Dance, has more of an older,
folky theme, but all of the songs have an organic, human quality that
feels just right. If this was released in the mid-70's, it would fit
perfectly in the Takoma catalogue with John Fahey and Leo Kottke.
Pretty great company for a young whippersnapper like Cian Nugent." Downtown musi…
Red Sugar
Restocked, reduced price 'winter family are the brooklyn based duo of ruth rosenthal and xavier klaine. alt.vinyl is proud to release this double vinyl ltd edition edition (300 copies only) of their latest intensely atmospheric work. artwork by franz vesolt, layout by fabien lehalle. audio mastering by patrick klem. review: a rare and unique audio worldview expressed by the singular approach of brooklyn based duo ruth rosenthal (spoken words) and xavier klaine (harmonium, organ etc..). fro…
Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You
Subtitled: The Fonotone Years 1958-1965. More than 10 years in the making, this box set features the earliest recordings and the first book ever written about one of the most influential guitarists from the 1960s and '70s, John Fahey. The five CDs feature 115 tracks, most of which are available on CD for the first time. The audio was remastered from Joe Bussard's reel-to-reel tapes to achieve pristine sound quality. As for the accompanying book, the list of scholars who contributed essays includ…
Staring Into The Sun
The latest from Sublime Frequencies is a massive cd/dvd/book set, compiled by photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt on a recent trip to Ethiopia, planned to coincide with a music festival - which the government abruptly cancelled for fear of the musicians being exploited. So instead, Wyatt travelled into the bush, to compile this sonic/visual travelogue of the music and musicians, the people and places of the various tribes of Ethiopia, and it's of course breathtaking. The music, heady and…