From the Sublime Frequencies Bandcamp site: “Mekong Shellac is an extremely rare collection of classical and popular styles of Khmer music from the 1930s to the 1950s. Restored from the few original remaining copies, this compilation reveals a remarkable world of early 20th-century Cambodian folk music.”
78rpm
Various Artists – Canary Records: Tarab Vocal Art in Khedival Cairo, vol. 2, ca. 1905 – 1914
Another gem from Canary Records, as they return to Egypt, as quoted on their Bandcamp site: “When disc recording technology arrived in Egypt in 1903, much of the Arab world around the Mediterranean had been experiencing a cultural, political, and social “awakening” (the “nadha”) that had been intrinsic to literary Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: What Heaven Has Against Me: Central & Southern Turkish Folk Music, ca. 1928-55
From the Canary Records Bandcamp site: “Armenian singers from the central, southern, and eastern regions of Turkey — Urfa, Diyarbekir, Malatya, Gaziantep, Harput, etc. — recorded prolifically in the U.S. from the mid-1910s through the ‘20s. Meanwhile, Darü-1 Elhan (Istanbul Conservatory) was founded in 1916. During the 1920s, academics there Continue Reading
The Resian Folk Group – Resia Valley: String-Band Music from Eastern Alpine Italian Villages ca. 1978
The Resian Folk Group were from the Resia Valley in the Italian Alps. What sets them apart from their countrymen are their folk traditions and language, which seem to have a strong Slovene influence. Canary Records does their usual outstanding job remastering this collection. It sounds absolutely gorgeous considering the Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: Hellenic Hinterlands: Independent Greek-American 78rpm Discs from Baltimore, Boston, and Cleveland ca. 1953-57
From the Canary Records Bandcamp site: “When middle-class Americans in the 1950s found that they could get access to a tape recorder and a microphone, it then became possible for them to make recordings that they could pay to have pressed into discs. One didn’t need to go to dedicated Continue Reading
Various Artists – Magnificent Sounds Records: A Chant About the Beauty of the Moon at Night: Hawaiian Steel Guitar Masters 1913-1921
Magnificent Sounds Records is a record label out of Buffalo, New York, and they specialize in rare archival recordings and remastering music from a century ago in a lot of cases. From this magnificent compilation of Hawaiian music, you can read the promo quote on the label’s Bandcamp site. “A Continue Reading
Various Artists – Thum Nyatiti: Recordings from Western Kenya, 1930-1970
This is another stunning collection from Dagoretti Records out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The collection features music from the 1930s until the 1970s with clearly remastered sound. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Nyatiti music’s infectious and hypnotic sounds are unforgettable. The driving beat of the nyatiti rings of far off Continue Reading
Jack Mayesh – You Carry My Hope: Judeo-Spanish Songs in Los Angeles, Sept. 1942 – Feb. 1943
Canary Records is at it again. As a Los Angelino, I have to say I didn’t know there was much of a Judeo-Spanish community here, though it does make sense, as many Spanish and Mexican families may very well have Sephardic roots hidden from the Catholic majority. The recordings are Continue Reading
Various Artists – Longing for the Past: The 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia
Atlanta-based record label Dust-to-Digital have rescued 90 tracks in this collection from obscurity. Featured on this disc are recordings from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, for starters.
George Macreyannes (Nesereos) – Blue Series | Mar 21
George Macreyannes (Γιώργος Μακρυγιάννης) was a violinist active during the early part of the 20th century. Some of these archival recordings are nearing 100 years old, so it is quite nice to get a glimpse of music that has such a remarkable history. Respect to 1tracktape for a job well Continue Reading