Antonovka Records, once based in Russia but now ensconced in Moldova, continues to release some of the most seminal music to ever come out of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and their reach seems to keep expanding. This album covers the work of traditional singer Cristina Godoroja, an ethnomusicologist Continue Reading
Folk
Allysen Callery & Mother Bear – Witch’s Hand
This massively heavy release by Allysen Callery collaborating with doom monsters Mother Bear is appropriate for Halloween. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “”Creep here with me, keep it close and you might see…the little things that glow…and they all have teeth…” Something spooky this way comes! Allysen Callery has joined Continue Reading
The Modern Jazz & Folk Ensemble – I’ve Got A Feeling (feat. Jacqui McShee)
Sean Khan has a sterling reputation working with jazz legends like Hermeto Pascoal, but the fact that he is pairing with Pentangle chanteuse Jacqui McShee makes this single from Acid Jazz Records crucial listening. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Earlier this year we announced The Modern Folk & Jazz Ensemble, Continue Reading
Jeff Gburek – The Dunning-Kruger Effects
Today is an auspicious occasion as this post will mark 1,000 consecutive days of posting music for my readers and friends. It’s most appropriate that number 1,000 would be someone who has appeared quite a few times on the blog, but Jeff Gburek offers an album that is as (primitive) Continue Reading
Plume Girl – In the End We Begin
A bliss-filled release from out mappa Records out of Slovakia from a new name, Plume Girl. I’ll let the label describe this rather ethereal bit of emo folk, which you can read in full at their Bandcamp release site: “Already in its title, Plume Girl’s debut thoroughly lets things go 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
Various Artists – GRAMMOFON-MISSIONEN – A Selection of Swedish Jesus Music 1967-1982
As a practicing Eastern Orthodox Christian, this Jesus music might be a subject I know a little something about, though my normal preference is more Byzantine, Arabic or Slavonic and dates back to at least the 5th Century rather than the 20th. Still, give mad respect to Subliminal Sounds for Continue Reading
Various Artists – Azerbaijani Love Songs
Music from Azerbaijan comes in many forms, but one of the genres not well-covered on disc outside of the country is its rich tradition of love songs. Caucaso Records, a Baku-based record label, has begun the process to fix this issue.
black (w)hole – something new, something old
This has to be one of the cooler psychedelic folk albums I’ve heard in a while. There’s something Balkan in black (w)hole’s music structure, where I can imagine the Incredible String Band jamming with old Greek or North Macedonian shepherds in the hills. Brilliant.
Brìghde Chaimbeul – Carry Them With Us
A big and hearty thanks goes out to my dear friend and brother in music, Hubert, for turning me on to this album. Brìghde Chaimbeul plays smallpipes, a wonderful instrument criminally neglected in comparison to its more famous cousin, the Highland pipes. These smallpipes have a more ethereal sound to Continue Reading