★Sublime Frequencies
Music for Shape-Shifters: Field Recordings from the Amazonian Lowlands, 1981-1985
In the early 80s, an anthropologist left his recording equipment and tapes behind in a remote Wakuénai (Curripaco) village along the Upper Río Negro in Venezuela. When he returned almost a year later, he discovered that the village headman and his sons had used the equipment to record 12 hours of tape documenting a bewildering array of local narrative and musical genres – sacred chants, place-names, spirit languages, and, as featured here, the astonishing and mesmerizing sounds of trumpet and fl…
Zayna Jumma
Group Doueh's latest record is here and the plot continues to thicken! From the gorgeously cracked yet all-embracing opening drum roll of Zayna Jumma (the title track), it's evident this band is hell bent on redefining the sound of its influences and in turn, shape the future sound of its surroundings. It's musical alchemy in its purest, most remarkable form, pushing at the boundaries of geographical divergence while simultaneously speaking to the shared resonances between Western rock rhythms a…
The Handover
Tip! "There is, and has been, a prevailing orthodoxy permeating the Egyptian musical hierarchy that would render this spectacular piece as scandalous. But let us remember that over the past 100 years, Said Darwish, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Halim El Dabh, Ahmad Adaweya, and the modern Mahraganat movement have all experienced their fair share of scandal and opposition. Music must always be pushed forward – it may not always succeed as revelatory, but in this particular case, it does. Much like the ven…
Hani Polyphonic Singing in Yunnan China
Tip! Mystic choral beauty drifting far into the outer cosmos, this other worldly ensemble creates a contemporary avant-garde vocal fusion combined with strange instrumental accompaniment. The Hani are linguistically derived from the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burmese and number a million and a half in the southern part of Yunnan province in China above Laos (Phongsaly) and Vietnam (Dien Bien) where smaller Hani communities also live. As with many other ethnic groups of the area, an original traditi…
Meçhul: Singles & Rarities
Erkin Koray and Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present this collection of rare tracks and lesser-heard singles. All tracks were recorded and released in Turkey between 1970 – 1977 and culled from Koray's personal vinyl collection. Includes exclusive photos and remastered audio. What more is there to say about Erkin Koray? An iconic guitar and songwriting genius. A voice of gold – Having founded the country’s first ever rock and roll group in 1957, he is regarded worldwide as the father of T…
Madhuvanti Pal - The Holy Mother (Plays The Rudra Veena)
Tip! This is the first Vinyl LP ever released featuring a woman playing the Rudra Veena. Madhuvanti Pal is from Kolkata India, teaches the Rudra Veena and builds her own instruments. The name Rudra Veena derives from two Sanskrit roots: Rudra, which is a name for Shiva, and veena, which means "instrument." The first historical accounts of the instrument are given in the Vedas, and then the Puranas. According to Hindu mythology, the Rudra Veena has a unique origin. It is said that Shiva saw his b…
Magical Nights – Saigon Surf, Twist & Soul (1964-1966)
Tip! *In process of restocking* In 2010, Sublime Frequencies released Saigon Rock and Soul, a compilation of wartime rock ‘n’ roll tracks from Vietnamese groups with distinctly American influences. Included among them was “Đêm Huyền Diệu (Magical Night)”, a slinky, horn-packed song attributed to a young singer known as Phương Tâm, though it later turned out to be artist Connie Kim’s rendition.Magical Nights: Saigon Surf Twist & Soul makes up for this error and then some, putting Tâm’s powerful v…
Guitars From Agadez Vol. 2
Led by the guitar virtuoso Omara Mochtar (Bombino), the group's debut LP -- volume two in the Guitars From Agadez series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, and Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of the country. The only road that connects this legendary city with the rest of the country is littered with land mines and the only escorts are the military. This …
Modal Instrumental Pop of 1970s Egypt
2LP tip-on gatefold jacket with rare photos and extensive liner notes by Hisham Mayet. Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes its essential compilation from 1970s Egypt, produced and compiled by Hisham Mayet. Modal instrumental tracks from Baligh Hamdi -- one of the most important Arabic composers of the 20th Century (writing for legends Umm Kalthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah, Warda, and many others). Features his legendary group the Diamond Orchestra with Omar Khorshid on guitar, Magdi al-Hussein…
Dagara - Gyil Music of Ghana's Upper West Region
** Limited edition LP release includes a four panel insert of notes and photos from the recording session ** Field recordings of Lobi traditional xylophone (gyil) music recorded by Hisham Mayet on location in Ghana's Upper West Region, West Africa in 2019. Featuring Aaron Bebe Sukura, considered one of the gyil's master musicians from this area. Long form trance music with acoustic instruments sounding like several minimalist orchestras getting to maximalist sonic peaks. The gyil music of the …
Canon Singing in China, Vietnam, Laos
** Limited edition LP comes with a two sided insert of photos and liner notes with extended track descriptions by Laurent Jeanneau ** Other-worldly Canon singing from Mien (Yao) hill tribes in China, Vietnam, and Laos. Raw, ethereal, and cosmic – for fans of Bulgarian choir and Javanese Court Gamelan & Sundanese styles of vocal ascension. Although their name comes from a pejorative Chinese expression that means “dog” or “savage" – stemming from a legend that they were founded by a dog who saved …
Manbarani
** Limited edition vinyl LP with insert containing lyrics in English and Arabic ** Unique contemporary Arabic folk music sounding unfrozen & released from another time, Natik Awayez has created a pure, expressive sound breaking free like a bundle of torn, faded oracles spreading far and wide across the empty spaces. Rhythmic percussive arrangements by Khaled Yassine are the foundation for oud, violin, buzuq, and Awayez’ lush voice, which floats atop the instrumentation like a series of prayers b…
Sound Storing Machines
** Limited edition LP with two sided insert of liner notes by Robert Millis ** The first commercial recordings from Asia were made in Japan in 1903 by Fred Gaisberg, the legendary producer and recording engineer who traveled the world making recordings for the Gramophone Company (later His Masters Voice). The recording industry barely existed at this time. Man’s ability to record and reproduce sound had only existed since 1877 (with the invention of Edison’s cylinder phonograph) and flat disc re…
Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road
Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. Highly influential, it would not be too bold a stretch to say that his work shaped how we listen to the world: he produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos, and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1953 until his death in 2001. Never before published, Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert …
To Catch a Ghost: Field Recordings from Madagascar
This is Sublime Frequencies' second volume of transcendent musical field recordings from central and southern Madagascar, produced by Charles Brooks. Like the grand beauty and wonder of its flora and fauna, Madagascar's music is completely unique. Whether the tempos are fast with polyrhythmic precision or slow in the form of a Kabosy ballad, once one gets familiar with its sound, it can never be mistaken again. Charles Brooks has been traveling to Madagascar and living with these spectacular art…
Sujud
Senyawa stir primordial spirits in the cosmically heavy doom and psych explorations of ‘Sujud’, the Indonesian duo’s stellar debut with Sublime Frequencies. Since arriving to global underground acclaim in 2015 with the ‘Menjadi’ LP on Rabih Beaini’s Morphine Records, Senyawa have established themselves among the most beguiling acts in circulation right now by meshing traditional Indonesian music with elements of doom metal and free improvisation to realise a sound truly without precedent. Senyaw…
Sira Ba Kele
Baba Commandant And The Mandingo Band return with their second LP, Sira Ba Kele. After the Afro-beat fury of their first album Juguya (2015), the band has now distilled a potent mix of traditional and modern Burkinabe funk with a reverent take on the iconic Mandingue guitar music of the 1970's. Mamadou Sanou (Baba Commandant) leads the band with a confidence earned from years of toiling in the DIY underground of the West African music scene. His riveting growl and main instrument, the doso n'gon…
Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna
For centuries, the Jemaa El Fna (Rendezvous of the Dead) has remained the stage for one of the most spectacular social forums on the planet. By day, this central square in the city of Marrakesh, one of Morocco's great imperial cities, fosters a kaleidoscope of entertainment for its local inhabitants; storytellers, acrobats, magicians and snake charmers all create intriguing displays of bewitching spectacle. As the sun sets, the evening grows frantic with the pulse of the crowd; it is then that t…
Singapore A-Go-Go
Sublime Frequencies works its way down to the tip of the Malaysian peninsula with this superb collection of Singaporean '60s beat, pop, and "off-beat cha-cha" classics from original vinyl 45s. These 22 supercharged beat-a-go-go tracks defy a common held belief that the Chinese couldn't rock, groove, or swing back in the 1960s. The vocals are sung in the dialects of Mandarin and Hokkien and they soar with catchy hooks atop groovy, clever beats. There's plenty of electric guitar, organ, and…
Guitars From Agadez (Music Of Niger)
Group Inerane is the now sound of the Tuareg Guitar Revolution sweeping across the Sahara Desert and inspired by the rebel musicians that started this music as a political weapon used to communicate from the Libyan Refugee camps in the 1980s and 1990s. Spearheaded by the enigmatic guitar hero Bibi Ahmed, Group Inerane has been together for several years and carries the rich tradition of Tamachek guitar songs for another generation. These ten tracks are a combination of amplified roots rock, blue…