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 collection of rare original recordings, unheard for over a century, of captivating Hawaiian steel guitar music that influenced the first generation of Delta blues and country artists, changing the sound of music forever. Ghostly transmissions from paradise, beamed across time from a lost century, carefully remastered and restored with extensive…
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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.
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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 done in remastering and declicking these recordings.
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The ever-reliable Canary Records out of Baltimore, Maryland, have released a compilation of Balkan 78 rpm shellacs with a lot of the artists being unidentified, but whose music is most assuredly from my home away from home.
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I never thought I’d have the opportunity to hear Velvet Underground demos, but I suppose this new Lou Reed album will serve as a fine replacement until I find such a box set.
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Much respect to Mississippi Records out of Chicago, Illinois for releasing this magnificent artifact! The back story is explained in great detail on the label’s Bandcamp site: 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 her expressions of grief, exile, and tragic love, running the gamut of cafe aman, torch…
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Canary Records are the kings of shellac-era reissues, and this is one of their most fabulous. It’s a collection of female singers who were active in Turkey’s cultural capital, and Ian Nagoski, musicologist and venerable head of the company, has made these recordings sound as clear as possible, despite being around 90 years old. Yet another stunning peek into the past.
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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.