It’s one thing when you’re the impresario of a record label who consistently delivers astoundingly good quality. It’s quite something else when you make music yourself that is as solid as any of the releases you so lovingly curate. RHaD (Research for Historical Audio Documents) is a side project of Continue Reading
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Kimilia – Chants d’un temps, ანუ ადრინდელი სიმღერები
I can’t imagine there being traditional music more pleasant to the ear than that of Georgian polyphony. Whether it is in an ecclesiastical setting or around the dinner table, the Georgians are incredible singers, and this particular band, Kimilia, do a phenomenal job interpreting songs that go as far back Continue Reading
Ikuro Takahashi – しりえないものとずっと
An’archives, a French experimental music record label, has released しりえないものとずっと (Forever With The Incomprehensible) by legendary drummer and percussionist Ikuro Takahashi. Takahashi has worked with the likes of Keiji Haino’s power-trio Fushitsusha, Seishokki, High Rise, Ché-Shizu, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Kousokuya, LSD March and Nagisa Ni Te. This kind of Continue Reading
叶尔波利 Yerboli – 哈萨克精神Kazakh Spirit
China has 55 legally recognized minorities, each contributing to the mosaic of the country. This particular project, Yerboli, comes from the Kazakh community, but it is not ethnic music per sé. This is folk music, but with a slightly more mystical element to it. Shenzhen-based Old Heaven Books released this Continue Reading
Star Band de Dakar – Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal
Cuba has a long, storied history of sharing a strong bond with many countries in Africa. From the horrifying slave trade to the Cuban Communist “revolution,” culture and music have flowed back and forth between the island nation and most of the richly cultured continent. This release from the now-legendary Continue Reading
Ferran Fages – Llum Moll
I’ve had the pleasure of reading about Farren Fages‘ work for at least 20 years now, but I never had a chance to fully explore his work. I’m happy to say that I regret not diving into his catalogue earlier. It’s impressive, to say the least. This particular album, Llum Continue Reading
Yat-Kha – We Will Never Die
Albert Kuvezin (Альберт Кувезин) is a legend in the ethno-rock and World Music community. He was one of the founders of the band Huun-Huur-Tu, which brought throat singing into prominence. He went on to form his own band, Yat-Kha, who I came across in 1993. He was managed to meld Continue Reading
The Utopia Strong – The Utopia Strong
The Utopia Strong are a band out of the United Kingdom which blew me away. Praise to Chris Morley for alerting me to the band’s existence. It sounds something like Krautrock or psychedelic rock which goes funky. It’s almost as if you can dance to some of this material. The Continue Reading
Gadi Sassoon – Multiverse
Gadi Sassoon is an Italian sound designer and composer whose latest release comes from the venerable Los Angeles-based record label A Strangely Isolated Place. I had only heard one track of his work before, this coming from ASIP’s 2020 Compilation. Though impressive, it didn’t prepare me for one of the Continue Reading
Zacharivna Pisnya Ensemble – Petropavlovka: Songs of Ukrainians from Kyrgyzstan
The Zacharivna Pisnya Ensemble are made up of ethnic Ukrainians who reside in the republic of Kyrgyzstan, and have existed as a group since 1902. Though some of their names have been Russified, they maintain their cultural ties to Ukraine via song. Antonovka Records have done astounding work documenting such Continue Reading