From the venerable Shenzhen-based Old Heaven Books record label’s Bandcamp site: “About this album: The Sagavena is a stunning string instrument with a unique and beautiful design, reminiscent of the Vichitra Veena and Chitra Veena. This instrument has a wider range of sound than the traditional Indian Veena, and the Continue Reading
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald – Porgy and Bess
School is out for the summer. Let’s let Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald guide us into the vacation!
Tidiani Kone et le T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo – Tidiani Kone et le T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Over the past few years Acid Jazz has been the proud custodian of the legendary Albarika Store label, which produced some of the finest, deepest West African cuts of the last century. Based in Benin, the label was a melting point of local sounds and Continue Reading
Fletina – Environments & Mechanisms
The only information I can pass on about today’s band, Fletina, is that they recorded their album in Scotland. That’s it, folks. However, because I trust the taste of my friends at Mahorka Records, I gave the release a chance. The ‘music’ strikes a good balance between field recordings and Continue Reading
Loren Nerell – Aquaticus
Aquaticus is a forgotten-about work by composer Loren Nerell, which he has decided to make public for the first time. From his Bandcamp site: “Around 2010 I was asked to provide some music for a film that was being used for an art gallery benefit. Most of the music ended Continue Reading
Various Artists – SWP Records: Forgotten Guitars From Mozambique
From the SWP Records Bandcamp site: “This selection of Hugh Tracey recordings from the 50s represent what later became known as marrabenta. In fact in the early 50s there were 3 centres of guitar music in central and southern Africa – the Zambian Copperbelt, the Katanga mines in Congo, and Continue Reading
eardrops – nightfall over concrete
Listening to some of the early masters of electroacoustic music and musique-concrète, it seemed that the goal of the music was to imitate the real world, and certainly, the masters like Pierre Henry, Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle did so elegantly. Now, in 2025, we have incredibly good digital recording Continue Reading
Various Artists – Death Is Not The End: Making Records: Home Recordings c. 1890-1920
Death Is Not The End is a leading archival record label, but this release isn’t solely focused on music. It highlights people engaging in everyday activities, many of which involve music, while others showcase individuals taking the time to document their lives using what was then new technology.
Al Massrieen – Modern Music
One of Egypt’s greatest bands, Al Massrieen, gets the reissue treatment from the phenomenal Habibi Funk Records! From the label’s Bandcamp site: “We’re happy to present a reissue of “Modern Music”, the last album by the iconic Egyptian band Al Massrieen, originally released in 1984. This was the final installment Continue Reading
凌然LingSun -《黑龙江》
Even though my main focus is to discover something new every day, I still find that luck is on my side. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a Spanish poetry reading at the Beijing Chapter of the Instituto Cervantes. After finishing my workday at the school, I Continue Reading