Various Artists: Canary Records: The Dull Hatchet: Late 1940s Lemko Instrumentals in Brooklyn NY

Canary Records is one of the best independent labels specializing in archival recordings.  This batch comes from Lemko immigrants, who hail from the Carpathian Mountains, and it documents some of the tunes they brought with them to the United States.

Jeff Gburek – Three New Albums

We have the tremendous pleasure of announcing three new albums by composer Jeff Gburek. The first album is in collaboration with his partner Karolina Ossowska, who plays violin, ocarina and kalimba on this release.  Gburek performs on zither, mandolin, miniature bandura and something called a blue-sky instrument, something new to Continue Reading

Hozan Yamamoto 銀界 – Silver World (1971) (Full Album)

Though long out-of-print, this album screams for a proper reissue.  The album combines a fine jazz quartet with Yamamoto’s sublime shakuhachi playing. The personnel on this album were: Bass – Gary Peacock Drums – Hiroshi Murakami Piano – Masabumi Kikuchi Shakuhachi [Bamboo-Flute] – Hōzan Yamamoto

Coagulant – The Typhonian Experiments

Coagulant hail from Uruguay, a country not known for a deep experimental music scene.  This release, however, should attract attention to those who enjoyed those ritualistic post-Industrial music cassettes of the 1980s.  There’s a heavy B-movie soundtrack vibe to this release mixed with electroacoustic music. Quite enjoyable.

Hiiro Issiki – 1000 Plateaux

1000 Plateaux is the debut record by Hiiro Issiki, a Japanese composer.  I don’t find too much information on Issiki’s background, but this record is a musical chimera, sprouting patterns and shapes at will, yet maintaining cohesion, and in many parts, beauty.  What a stunning piece of work this is! Continue Reading

Emel – The Tunis Diaries

NPR does a great disservice comparing Tunisian singer Emel’s voice to Björk.  There’s absolutely no comparison, and I say this as someone who likes Björk’s work a lot.  Emel is simply a better singer. Her album, The Tunis Diaries, is something closer to the Portuguese band Madredeus, whose singer, Teresa Continue Reading