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
Canary Records
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
Entjar Tjarmedi, Enip Sukanda, et al – Gamelan Degung Klasik ca. 1972
Canary Records have released yet another treasure. This gem features a collection of tracks performed on gamelan by Entjar Tjarmedi, Enip Sukanda and others. The music is gentle and otherworldly, one worth spending a day sipping coffee to.
Various Artists – Canary Records: The Heart of a Mangas: Intersections of Popular Greek Theater & Rebetiko in Chicago & New York, 1923-29
The ever-brilliant Canary Records graces us with more Greek theater music and rebetiko. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “The word “mangas” for instance is untranslatable into English but has remained central to the notion of rebetika. It is a word that indicates a man who does not aspire to middle-class Continue Reading
Hakki Obadia – Master Musician Plays Middle East Classics: Iraqi-American Violinist & Composer, 1958-72
Hakki Obadia was a New York-based violinist of Iraqi Jewish extraction. The ever-wonderful Canary Records presents a 25-track collection of wonderfully remastered tracks Obadia did for various labels. The music is a reminder of what Baghdad must have been like a century ago.
Various Artists – Canary Records: To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916-30
Ian Nagoski’s stunningly and consistently impressive Canary Records releases a giant collection of songs from immigrants of the, by then, collapsing Ottoman Empire. These songs span the time period between the First World War and the Great Depression, and are lovingly transferred and curated by Nagoski, whom you can hear Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: Let’s Add Raki to Wine: Women in Istanbul ca. 1931-46
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 Continue Reading
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.