Folk & Traditional / Traditional

Ten years in the making, The Music of Islam series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar represents the most comprehensive sound documentation available to Westerners today, of a world religion dating back to 1/622. Although governed by strict rules for fourteen centuries, contact with other cultures has radically affected Islamic music throughout history. As the world enters the XV/21st century the timing of this collection serves an even larger…

*2022 stock.* The award-winning 2-CD album features contemporary classical compositions and arrangements with traditional Irani instruments. The spiritual intensity and traditional musicianship was deemed worthy for Celestial Harmonies records. The musicians are the Dastan Ensemble, which is a collective who change membership over the decades. For this 2008 live concert recording, the Ensemble consists of Hossein Behroozinia (barbat, the Irani oud), Hamid Motebassem (the long-neck tar), Said Far…

Chinese classical music is a much larger field than Western classical music. It covers a huge geographical area as well as a time frame of thousands of years. Although some of China's musical instruments have changed very little in hundreds of years, others were adapted to Western standards under the influence of Russian musicians during the middle of the last century. In some cases, frets were added to non-chromatic instruments and tonalities standardized. The liner notes of The Hugo Masters co…

*2022 stock.* Celestial Harmonies' Music of Cambodia box set collects three volumes of traditional Cambodian songs as performed by indigenous orchestras and musicians. The Pinpeat Orchestra's "Sathouka," the Trot Orchestra's "Somplov," Taam Ming's "Klang Chanat," and the Mahori Orchestra's "Trorpean Piey" are some of the collection's highlights, all capturing the mysterious, hypnotic sounds of Cambodia.

*2022 stock. In process of stocking* The Ongaku Masters: An Anthology of Japanese Classical Music, a five-CD edition presented in a black linen box, spans 1,000 years of Japanese classical/traditional music, from early Buddhist Shomyo chant to late 20th century Takemitsu. It touches on every relevant stage in the development of Japanese music from the distant origins on the Asian mainland to contemporary expressions. Leading scholars from universities on three continents contributed to extensive…

The Music of Bali is produced by the highly acclaimed New Zealand composer/musician/producer David Parsons. Much like the other traditional/lost arts replications he has produced, The Music of Cambodia (19902), The Music of Vietnam (19903) and The Music of Armenia (19909), this collection is an opened time capsule of music from the isles of paradise. Jegog as heard on The Music of Bali, Volume One: Jegog (13136) is played predominantly for entertainment although it occasionally accompanies relig…

*2022 stock. In process of stocking* A country shaped by struggles with Chinese, French, Japanese and American invasions. That is how Vietnam stands in the minds of many, while its culture most people actually know little about. It is a rich culture, whose musical heritage has developed over a thousand years' time. Celestial Harmonies, early in 1994, released the first two volumes of The Music of Vietnam series in order to bring this beautiful, fascinating music to the world at large. It is unde…

All-time arabic music classic recorded in 1971 by egyptian music titan Abdel Halim Hafez. Composed by Baligh Hamdi and featuring Omar Khorshid, the album is reissued on vinyl for the first time in decades, with remastered audio.

Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Farid el Atrache's cult album 'Nagham Fi Hayati' another cornerstone of Arabic Music released in 1974 and the soundtrack of the eponymous film starring El Atrache and Mervat Amin. Nicknamed the King of Oud, El Atrache is one of the giants of Egyptian music with Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez and Warda. Composed of four tracks showcasing El Atrache's versatility, the album which contains the monster groove 'Hebina Hebina' happens to be one of Brian Eno's favo…

Recorded in Australia, Brasil, Italy, Japan, Turkey and America on his 2015/16 world tour, these excellent recordings offer an astonishing range of styles and sounds – all somehow emanating from Angeli’s fingers and feet – and his highly modified, prepared, extended and amplified giant Sardinian guitar which – like Angeli himself – is routinely able do several very different things at once. You have to keep reminding yourself as you listen that this is just one person with one instrument, workin…

The Diva Faïrouz. Her real name Nouhad Haddad, she was born in the Zokak el Blat district of Beirut. The eldest of a modest Maronite family, she developed a passion for singing very early on. Her parents are too poor to afford the luxury of a radio, so she spends most of her time listening, her ear glued to the wall, to the neighbors. Nouhad quickly memorizes the songs she hears and gives a few samples at parties organized by her school. It was there that she seduced her comrades with her vocal …

This recording is a miraculous session produced by Makoto Kubota and is surely precious being their very first performance in Japan. “Tumai Takahashi” is often sung in a set with “Yatcya guwa” but in this recording it is performed as a stand-alone song, which makes it very rare. The coupling song “Uya nu Kukuru” is a classic piece by Teihan China, Misako Oshiro's mentor. Misako Oshiro sings with Kanako Horiuchi, her top pupil, in a relaxed and lustrous voice. Misako Ōshiro (or sometimes Misako O…

The much-awaited vinyl version of a musical piece which has garnered much attention over the recent years in Japan. The sound is eye-opening, profound, spiritual, and will leave you in awe. Absolutely mind-bending. This is beyond categories and beyond good! The highest possible recommendation!

“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…

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…

Tip! Padang Moonrise is the story of modern Indonesian music that emerged underneath the volcanoes of Java and Sumatra. Java, the most populous island in the archipelago of over 17,000 islands and 1300 distinct ethnic groups, and its capital city Jakarta, was where most of the post-colonial national identity, politics, administration and music production was centred. Traditional songs from Java, Sumatra, Bali and beyond were re-imagined by a small group of state-sponsored musicians that also com…

Death is Not the End follow up 'The Sun is Setting on the World' with another set of Greek rebetika from the 1930s to the late 1950s.

William Farley’s 1986 documentary portrait of the Indian classical figure, who considered by many to be the godfather of drone. Featuring interviews with Terry Riley, Mariam Zazeela and La Monte Young.

** 2021 Stock. Includes a 12 page color booklet with rare photographs, full lyrics, and extensive notes ** Marika "Politissa" Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, reknowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by some of the best musicians of the era on lyra, violin, oud, kanonaki and guitar, Marika’s repertoire and techniques drew from Byzantine and Ottoman musical traditions. She possessed an ability to devastate her audience through…

Hiski Salomaa began his life in 1891 in Kangasniemi in the Southern Savonia region of Finland, emigrating to the USA after the death of his mother in 1909 - travelling via Hanko, to Hull, Liverpool, Ellis Island, Manhattan, and finally to a Finnish American community in the South Range of Michigan. After taking to writing and performing songs as a young boy, Salomaa saw a demand amongst the growing Finnish immigrant set for music performed in their own language, and indeed in the Finnglish diale…

Dal:um is a musical duo based in Seoul, who challenges the sonic possibilities of Korea's most well-known traditional string instruments: the gayageum and geomungo. Ethereal and otherworldly, Dal:um create a compelling soundworld that treasures subtle dynamics and the space between the notes. Two musicians. Two weighty acoustic stringed instruments. A dialogue between traditional and experimental practices. Dal:um was founded in 2018 by Ha Suyean (gayageum) and Hwang Hyeyoung (geomungo). Suyean …

** 2021 Stock ** Post-Materialization Music presents From India To Siberia. Traditional songs from Siberia and India. Split tape made from old shellac records found at Russian flea markets. Limited edition cassette with riso printed j-card.

“Singer-songwriter” is a frustratingly confining term; to truly understand exactly just how confining, look no further than the recorded works of Simon Joyner, an artist whose work consistently transcends the narrow parameters of genre classifications and record shop bin cards. Though his music has always honored, reckoned with—wrestled with—the tradition set forth by his songwriting forebears (Cohen, Van Zandt, Ochs, Dylan, Reed to name a few), Joyner can always be counted on to defy expectatio…

* Edition of 300 * Alasdair Roberts is one of our more beloved folk singers of recent years (though he hates the term folk singer apparently). The Scottish musician here supplies another document of his fascinating interpretations of wild and rare traditional songs he's sourced from various parts of Scotland. Comes on a single sided 12". I am indebted to my piping friend Donald Lindsay for The Blythsome Bridal, The Braes of Tulliemet and The Smith’s a Gallant Fireman, while Chief O’Neill’s Favou…

**New vinyl reissue remastered from the original 1970s master tapes, packaged in classic Folkways-style tip-on jackets with original liner notes.** The hypnotic, delicate sound of the kora, the harp-like instrument strung on a halved gourd, has been a trademark of West African music for centuries. Gambian Griot Kora Duets (1979), featuring the master player Alhaji Bai Konte and his equally influential son Dembo Konte and Ma Lamini Jobate, is a remarkable recording that documents an evolution in …

Compilation of early gospel recordings spanning from 1927 - 1955. Sanctified blues by the Two Gospel Keys, Mother McCollum, Blind Rosevelt Graves, Lottie Bracey, Sister O.M Terrell & Rev. IB Ware. Beautiful slow country gospel by the Anglin Brothers & Delmore Brothers, Intense vocal performances by the New Gospel Keys, Elder Richard Briant & the Silent Grove Baptist Church Congregation, & much more! All killer no filler compilation that rocks hard & gets deep & sad too. Old school 'tip on' cover…

From 1926 to 1930 one of the most popular rural string bands on record was Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers. Through their 78 RPM discs and their various performances, Charlie Poole was second only to Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole's uniquely syncopated three finger banjo picking style coupled with his Piedmont vocal inflections eventually colored and defined much of what we consider "old-time" music. The classic configuration of banjo, fiddle and guitar with vocals was enc…

**300 copies** For one week in every five years, two thousand singers, dancers and musicians along with fifty thousand spectators make their way to the small town of Gjirokastra in southern Albania for the Festivali Folkloric Kombelar. In the great castle overlooking the town, they participate in the incredible National Folk Festival of Albania, hoping to attain the highest level of interpretation and win one of the many awards available at the festival… the banner, even. Considering the compara…

Kasenian réak is a genre of performative art from the Priangan area of west Java, organized during hajatans (life-cycle celebrations) and nowadays primarily held during weddings and circumcisions. The style, known as a seni lungsuran, is part of the greater family of Javanese horse dances, originally known in their most famous forms of jathilan and kuda lumping. Javanese horse dances, which could be as old as animistic Java, may already have been practiced before the eight century, travelling th…

Tip! Gagaku is the oldest of the Japanese performing arts, with a history more than a thousand years old. The term refers to Japanese classical music and dance, traditionally performed by families of musicians linked to the ancient Imperial court, and later passed down in Buddhist temple ceremonies and Shinto shrines. Shiba Sukeyasu, founder and director of the Reigakusha ensemble, descends from the Koma clan, whose origins date back to the end of the 10th century. The recordings partly reflect …

The Civil War, one of the most deeply felt episodes in America's history, has left a heritage of music that reflects those feelings in the most vivid way. Indeed, this music was so intimately involved with events of the time that it became part of those events. These songs were sung in homes, North and South, at rallies, political gatherings and mass meetings, and on the very battlefields. This selection comprises several of the most popular songs of the era. First recordings from original editi…

Originally released in 1983 in former Yugoslavia, this album is a truly undiscovered gem of ethereal folk music. Pesmi combines the old traditional melodies of Eastern Europe and the Balkan States area with the lush and enchanting instrumentation of late '60s and early '70s folk with elements of progressive folk and singer/songwriter music from England and the USA. This results in a highly-mystifying and still easily folksy piece of exclusively acoustically instrumented music with haunting femal…

Recording is the Trip - The Karen Dalton Archives is a three-LP, three-CD box set, including a download card and a shirt. Three LPs: Includes for the first-time ever on clear vinyl, limited edition the 1962 double live album Cotton Eyed Joe remastered, the 1963 home recordings album Green Rocky Road remastered. The three CDs are the same albums as the LPs. Includes one download card of 13 unreleased home recordings including a mesmerizing take on "God Bless The Child". 56-page book with scans of…

First volume of African Acid Is The Future's Ambiance series: live Berlin recordings by Kenyan dodo singer Ogoya Nengo and Zimbabwean mbira player Stella Chiweshe, plus remixes by Dauwd and Wolfonacid.

Music of the Hamar of southern Ethiopia, recorded between 1970 and 1976 by the ethnologist Ivo Strecker: musical bow, flute, lyre, dance and war songs, speech and ritual, with a 94-page book.

Carimbó dance music from Pará, Brazil, by Verequete (Augusto Gomes Rodrigues) and Grupo Uirapuru, recorded live in the studio in Belém on 29 and 30 January 2000.

Tài tử music from southern Vietnam played by Vũy Chỗ, Ba Tu, Phạm Văn Môn and Đoạn Văn Dũng on zithers, lutes, guitar, flute and violin, recorded on 26 May 1999 at Sender Freies Berlin.

Tunisian singer and oud player Lotfi Bouchnak in concert in Berlin on 18 April 1998, with classical Arabic songs and a few popular titles.

Tarabu songs by Malika (Asha Abdo), the Swahili singer from the Kenyan coast, with dharabouka, organ and bass guitar. Ten songs, issued by Wergo with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

The nadhaswaram master Sheik Chinna Moulana with S. Kasim and S. Babu (nadhaswaram) and S. Subramanian (thavil), in four Carnatic pieces including a long alap in raga Subha Pantuvarali.