From Canary Records’ Bandcamp Site: “These recordings were released on Aris/Aristophone in the early ’60s on two LPs, tracks 1-8 from the album Magic Fingers Play Cleopatra’s Favorites and tracks 9-14 from an album divided between them and the Greek clarinettist George Mirros titled Hellenic Near East Gems. Both seem Continue Reading
Folk
Fred Elias with Buddy Sarkissian & his Mecca Four – Soul of the East: New England Near Eastern Dance Instrumentals ca. 1960
The story of Syro-Lebanese violinist Fred Elias reads almost like a movie script, and we have Ian Nagoski from Canary Records to thank for bringing his story to light. The music itself is energetic and percussion-heavy, with Elias skillfully playing his violin to a lively 9/8 rhythm. It’s the kind Continue Reading
穆拉特·謝力扎提 Murar Sherizat – Küy Guitar：三粒谷 Three Grains Valley
From the Modern Sky World Music Bandcamp site: “From 2008 to 2015, Murat served as the principal guitarist for the Philharmonic Orchestra in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Following this, he was invited to compose music in Xi’an, China. In October 2019, Murat recorded his classical guitar album titled “Küy Continue Reading
Zeresh – The End
Over the past few days, I’ve been organizing music I found on a hard drive to enjoy on the hi-fi stereo this weekend. Some of the files are 20 years old, which is hard to believe, and among them are many old 1970s acid-folk and proto-metal albums. Our beloved friends Continue Reading
Lao Dan (老丹) – 逐雲追夢 Going After Clouds and Dreams
Lao Dan is one of the most interesting improv artists operating in China at the moment. This release comes from Modern Sky World Music, based in my current home, Beijing. Going through their catalog, there is going to be more than a few releases getting featured on the blog soon Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: I’m Not Going: A Macedonian Band from Lorain, Ohio ca. 1954
Canary Records provides yet another stunning archive album, this time from the Macedonian community in Ohio. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Bob Nicoloff’s Macedonian band remained active for at least 20 years, playing for dances organized by the Macedonian Patriotic Organization, weddings, and restaurants. Like the two other mid-Western Macedonian Continue Reading
Mamer 马木尔 – Awlaⱪta / Afar 离
Mamer 马木尔 is perhaps my favorite underground artists operating in China today. His work fuses Kazakh folk music with avant-garde music, bordering on experimental, even though he has a pedigree in working with record labels like Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. It’s rare to see an authentic musician dig into Continue Reading
Various Artists – Ruptured Sessions Vol. 1: Live at Radio Lebanon
Ruptured Sessions has produced a compilation of Lebanese folk and blues. Considering the horror happening in the region, hearing mournful folk and blues music seems appropriate. May God save Lebanon from evil.
Conal Ó Gráda – Anú Abú
A happy St. Patrick’s Day to my friends and readers. I won’t post any cheesy folk-rock to spare your ears. Instead, I offer some proper traditional music from the Emerald Isle courtesy of a fine flautist, Conal Ó Gráda.
Áššu – Luoteniegut
Sadly, our dear friends at Nordic Notes are not offering downloads through Bandcamp, which is understandable as there is something nice about holding a CD or a piece of vinyl in your hands, but you can hear this magnificent recording of Sami music over at Apple Music. From the press Continue Reading