I’ll be taking a day off for health reasons, but I thought I would leave you this pleasant Sunday with some music of the Lepcha people of India (also represented in Nepal). The band, Sofiyum, have a very pleasant, joyful sound, reminding me, curiously, of Celtic music. May it carry Continue Reading
Ethnic Music
Nurbek Serkebaev – White Swans Fly: Kyrgyz Music from Bishkek
Nurbek Serkebaev is a well known Kyrgyz folk musician who plays virtually all Kyrgyz traditional music instruments. The venerabl Antonovka Records have released yet another fine album of traditional music.
Various Artists – Lèspri Ka : New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010
This compilation released by Time Capsule Records is going to be stunningly good. From the release’s Bandcamp site: The innovative, radical soul of Guadeloupe explored across thirty years of contemporary gwoka music, released by Time Capsule and Séance Centre. As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner Continue Reading
Zhang Si’an (Djang San 张思安) – Hutong Jazz – 胡同爵士
Jean-Sébastien Héry is a French ex-pat musician living in China. He has a very impressive body of work covering over 50 albums of music ranging from electro music to rock performed on traditional Chinese instruments like the zhonguran and pipa. His work is singular, as there doesn’t seem to be Continue Reading
Razam / Iva Marešová – Harpyje U Pramene
On Friday night, my beloved friends, Helenka and Tomáš, suggested I go out to a club called Stará Pekárna, a club where Tomáš works. The owner of this fine establishment is a heavy blues aficionado who happens to book very impressive bands. Imagine my surprise when I walk into the Continue Reading
Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian – Songs of Horaman
Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian is a Kurdish tanburist who hails from Kermanshah, in the Iranian region of Horaman. His playing reminds me of a lot of the instrumental music coming out of the Sahel, blended, naturally, with Kurdish rhythms and adding a psychedelic haze to the music. Though I’m not keen Continue Reading
Kgwanyape Band – Mephato Ya Maloba
I’ve read over the years about Botswana having a very interesting metal scene, but I knew nothing about the local music. This might not be the purest form of regional music, but this disc by Duncan Senyatso (may his memory be eternal) and the Kgwanyape Band is pretty catchy and Continue Reading
LeiLuo Studio (磊落声音艺术) – An Ancient Tune of Shanha
LeiLuo Studio is a small record label based in my former home of Beijing, China. The track reviewed today is a fusion of musics from Zhejiang from the She ethnic group. The label/band’s Bandcamp site explains further below: This is a piece of new fusion single composed and arranged by Continue Reading
Alèmayèhu Eshèté – Alteleyeshegnem
Another day, another great loss to music. The legendary Alèmayèhu Eshèté, known lovingly as the “Ethiopian Elvis,” passed away yesterday at the age of around 80. I came across his work on this particular album, Éthiopiques 10: Tezeta – Ethiopian Blues & Ballads, and though I didn’t hear much Elvis (despite some physical Continue Reading
Various Artists: Habibi Funk 015: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World, Part 2
Our friends at Habibi Funk are becoming legendary as their roster grows. What impresses me the most about the folks who run the label is their absolute passion for music from the Maghreb which has been criminally underrepresented throughout the world for decades. It’s shameful that the labels in the Continue Reading