The now-legendary Antonovka Records have done astounding work documenting music from Russia’s myriad of ethnic communities. This one is from the so-called “Polish” Old Believers in the Altai region. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “The ancestors of the Altai “Polish” Old Believers were peasants of the Vetka-Starodub territory of the Continue Reading
Folk
Skáld – Huldufólk
Your browser does not support iframes. The French collective Skáld come as a revelation to me. These are Frenchmen who expertly perform Nordic music and imbue it with everything from folk music to metal. From the band’s press release: “As the heirs of the ancient poets known as skalds, Continue Reading
Richard Dawson – The Ruby Cord
Richard Dawson’s latest album is a fascinating listen. It mixes vocals that could fit in well with English folk, psychedelic rock, prog and AOR music, while being musically underpinned by something that could almost pass for freak folk at times, while falling back now and again on progressive rock structures. Continue Reading
Ayanga Ensemble – Erkhuu Khoto: Songs of Buryats from Irkutsk
Antonovka Records produced one of my favorite records of 2022, covering music from the region of Buryatia in Russia. From the label’s Bandcamp page: “”Erkhuu Khoto” is the Buryat name of the Irkutsk city, where “Khoto” means “City”. Buryats are the indigenous people of this area. The ensemble “Ayanga” (“Melody” Continue Reading
Various Artists – Wearing of the Green
The Sound Of Shellac is a record label out of Norway which refurbishes old 78rpm discs, brightens their sound and releases these tracks into well-curated compilations. What’s more, they’re offered as pay-as-you-like releases, so purchasing these comps helps show support for such a fine label. This particular disc features artists Continue Reading
Banat Tamburitza Orchestra – Serbian Dance Band in New Jersey, ca. 1949-50
Canary Records produces another excellent collection of archival music, this time from Serbia. From his Bandcamp site: “The Banat Tamburitza band are said to have been formed around 1912 or ’13 in Elizabeth, New Jersey by Serbian immigrants from the village of Sânpetru Mare (then-population about 2,000) in the Banat Continue Reading
Yggdrasil & Vera Kondratieva — Timint Areh
Yggdrasil are a Faroese project led by multi-instrumentalist Kristian Blak (whom I had the pleasure, many years ago, of meeting in Varna, Bulgaria) and a host of local musicians along with singer Vera Kondratieva from Siberia. You would expect to hear a melding of Scandinavian and traditional Siberian music on Continue Reading
Various Artists – Let’s Stamp: 1950s Folk Dance Recordings from Bulgarian and Yugoslavian 78rpm Discs
The ever-reliable Canary Records out of Baltimore, Maryland, have released a compilation of Balkan 78 rpm shellacs with a lot of the artists being unidentified, but whose music is most assuredly from my home away from home.
Wickerbird – The Sea Weaver
Though our friends at Lost Tribe Sound have chosen to release this album on November 22, 7 weeks away from today’s date, I thought it wise to hip you, my friends and readers, on an album you’ll surely find to be a treasure. From the label’s press release: Lost Tribe Continue Reading
Los Camperos de Valles – El ave de mi soñar: Mexican Sones Huastecos
Los Camperos de Valles are Huastecan musicians and are considered to be national treasures in their native Mexico. This album, released by Smithsonian-Folkways, serves as a great introduction to the sound of son huasteco.