Båul have managed to release an album which travels the world while residing in the beautiful state of Colorado. They mix Arabic, Russian, Hebrew and other music together into a cohesive, energetic album. Really fun listening.
-
-
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 as to the country’s medieval period. Stunning!
-
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 album, and they boast quite a healthy catalog of this kind of music. They are worth exploring.
-
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 ensembles throughout Russia and Central Asia, and they should be commended for maintaining such high quality throughout each release.
-
Some years ago I had the pleasure of coming across a Sakha (Yakutia)-based singer called UUTAi who left me a bit stunned and gobsmacked, as I had never seen such a wild performance with wailing and Jew’s harp. Going forward a few years, one of my dear colleagues and friends in Siberia, Daryana, presented this album to me, and it’s a more focused, restrained and quirky affair. I would think that a label like Real World would be quite interested in this, as it definitely presents Yakut music in a favorable light, but it supplemented with electronic music that actually…
-
Some time ago I had reviewed the work of an ethno-folk-jazz band from Kostroma, Russia called Gralitsa, and I found them favorable. I have to say that I find this album at least as favorable, but it sounds like a totally different band. This sound is far more affected by genres like trip-hop, downtempo music, and darkjazz (a touch, anyway). There’s also a slightly ‘free’ element to the music, though it never sounds disjointed. The track Echo Poor Heart is the cornerstone of the album, showcasing the vocals of Olga “Gralitsa” Rodionova layered on top of a dark, jazz noir…
-
Khara is an Old Slavonic word meaning “the smile of God.” Truly, God must have been smiling to allow such a weirdly joyful music to come together. Mandragora brings together a bardic style of rock & roll infused with traditional music from their native Khakassia, whose native inhabitants share a lot of cultural affinities with the Kyrgyz people. Other influences in this record include Tuvan throat-singing by Alexey Khovalyg, a talkbox expertly handled by band leader Alexander Medvedev, and Alexander Pakhtaev adding such as the morin khuur or horse-head fiddle common in this part of Russia and Central Asia. This…
-
This has to be one of the more elegant releases I’ve had the pleasure of spending my evenings with in a few weeks. Ombra are a quintent, as I understand it, based in Barcelona, Spain. This sumptuous release blends everything from jazz, a touch of waltz, Arabic and Balkan music with vocals sung in a myriad of languages including Ladino, spoken today in Israel and parts of the Balkans. This is true ethno-jazz, fusing together music, scales and traditions together seamlessly. For further information, consider visiting their promotional page at Tejo Milenario. Personnel: Andranik Muradyan — Klarinet Albert Pintor —…
-
Dead Can Dance singer and multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry is absolutely enamored with Greek culture, and it’s obvious because a lot of DCD’s work has an affinity towards it. Perry is especially appreciative of rebetiko, the local variant of the blues in Greek culture. This album is his paean to his adoration of rebetiko, and is perhaps the first time some of these ballads have been recorded in English. This disc is a labor of love.
-
It seems the one place in the world where the dreaded term “World Music” is doing well is Russia, though my friends at Xango Music Distribution do a stellar job of selling some amazing artifacts. This project, Staritsa, hail from Prokhorovka, near the dead center of the country. They, like other Russian bands I’ve had the pleasure of recommending, produce fine traditional folk which seems to be having a Renaissance of sorts. Between this, the incredible improvisational and classical music scenes and the wonderful Orthodox hymnody being produced these days, I’d say Russian music is in good hands. Kudos to…