Various Artists – Mailbox Records: Music for Another Sky

This collection of ambient music is curated by British record label Mailbox Records.  From their Bandcamp site: About this release: This compilation has been put together in order to raise awareness and/or raise money for the UK charity, Refuge. This means 100% of proceeds from all sales will go to Continue Reading

Seirios Savvaidis – Moly (μώλυ)

Seirios Savvaidis is a Greek singer and songwriter who brings a raw, ancient sound to his brand of folk music.  One can hear not only his acoustic guitar, but also bagpipes, bouzouki, percussions, electric guitar, accordion, synths, and polyphonic ensembles.  The music is dense, rich, and harkens back to a 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.

Jeff Gburek – Three New Albums

We have the tremendous pleasure of announcing three new albums by composer Jeff Gburek. The first album is in collaboration with his partner Karolina Ossowska, who plays violin, ocarina and kalimba on this release.  Gburek performs on zither, mandolin, miniature bandura and something called a blue-sky instrument, something new to Continue Reading

Coagulant – The Typhonian Experiments

Coagulant hail from Uruguay, a country not known for a deep experimental music scene.  This release, however, should attract attention to those who enjoyed those ritualistic post-Industrial music cassettes of the 1980s.  There’s a heavy B-movie soundtrack vibe to this release mixed with electroacoustic music. Quite enjoyable.

Hiiro Issiki – 1000 Plateaux

1000 Plateaux is the debut record by Hiiro Issiki, a Japanese composer.  I don’t find too much information on Issiki’s background, but this record is a musical chimera, sprouting patterns and shapes at will, yet maintaining cohesion, and in many parts, beauty.  What a stunning piece of work this is! Continue Reading

Emel – The Tunis Diaries

NPR does a great disservice comparing Tunisian singer Emel’s voice to Björk.  There’s absolutely no comparison, and I say this as someone who likes Björk’s work a lot.  Emel is simply a better singer. Her album, The Tunis Diaries, is something closer to the Portuguese band Madredeus, whose singer, Teresa Continue Reading