The Henry Girls – A Time To Grow

More wonderful news from friends!  CPL-Music will be releasing a folk album of Irish Americana by The Henry Girls.  From the label’s press release: “The three McLaughlin sisters, Karen, Lorna, and Joleen, once again prove on their seventh studio album “A Time To Grow” that they belong to the leading Continue Reading

Johanna Juhola – A Brighter Future

What a joyous release this is!  Accordion-based music out of Finland is just what the doctor ordered for our chilly Beijing day.  Johanna Juhola is one of many incredible artists on the Nordic Notes imprint who have blown my mind this year.  Imagine a collection ranging from traditional music melded Continue Reading

Baklava – From Skopje With Love

Our friends over at the indomitable CPL-Music have released a charming disc of traditional music from my second homeland of Skopje, Macedonia!  Baklava, the subject of today’s listening, work with folk music and does sterling work reinterpreting it for a more modern, updated sound.  Speaking of that sound, the band Continue Reading

Shono – Kolkhozoy Traktor

Our dear friends at CPL-Music will be releasing some solid music from Buryatia in Eastern Russia.  From the bio sheet: “Unheard sounds from Buryatia: Shono revive the ancient rituals of the vast Eurasian grasslands. The autonomous Russian Republic of Buryatia is located in the far east of the country, bordering Continue Reading

Various Artists – Nordic Notes – CPL​-​Music 2022

Our friends at CPL Music and Nordic Notes had another banner years for releases in the genre of World Music.  The sampler includes tracks from the Balkans, Scandinavia and Asia among other locales, and it’s a great way to taste what the label has to offer.

Bube Dame König – Winterländlein

Our dear friends at CPL-Musik released quite a gem of an album from 2016 that I am only now digging into.  Bube Dame König is a German folk group which was founded in 2013. The band mixes German-language folk songs with traditional Irish and Swedish music as well as their Continue Reading

Merema – Kezeren Koiht (Ancient Custom)

Out beloved friends at CPL-Music have released another fascinating album of Russian folk music! Merema hail from Saransk, which is the capital of Russia’s autonomous Republic of Mordovia.  The music is beautifully documented by CPL Records and the documentary work of professor Ekaterina Modina.  The tones of the voices are Continue Reading

Saucejas – Dabā

Our dear friends at CPL-Music have done it again!  This 60-track album by Saucejas is an ethnographer’s dream if you’re into Latvian music, and there is an organic feeling to this album.  Nothing too terribly processed, nothing added that didn’t need to be there.  The album is appropriately titled, as Continue Reading

ShooDja-ChoDja – Shooldyrak

Our beloved comrade in World Music, Christian Pliefke, releases another gem on his label CPL Music.  This new release by the band ShooDja-ChoDja from comes from the region of Udmurtia, populated by people of Finno-Ugric stock, and having traditions far different from their fellow Russian citizens. The music is played on Continue Reading

Vedan Kolod – Gorodische

Vedan Kolod are a troupe based in Moscow, Russia, who do sterling work interpreting medieval Russian folkloric music, especially Siberian tunes, with a modern twist.  The label, CPL, is run by my friend and colleague, Christian Pliefke, whose taste in artists is impeccable, and every release he’s curated for his Continue Reading