Today is a joyful day because I finally get to listen to an album I’ve been eagerly anticipating for months. The Ethiopian musical genius Mulatu Astatke has released a new album featuring 11 tracks, showcasing the distinctive instrumentation that defines his unique sound. From his Bandcamp site: “Mulatu Plays Mulatu realises Continue Reading
World Music
Various Artists – Canary Records: What Heaven Has Against Me: Central & Southern Turkish Folk Music, ca. 1928-55
From the Canary Records Bandcamp site: “Armenian singers from the central, southern, and eastern regions of Turkey — Urfa, Diyarbekir, Malatya, Gaziantep, Harput, etc. — recorded prolifically in the U.S. from the mid-1910s through the ‘20s. Meanwhile, Darü-1 Elhan (Istanbul Conservatory) was founded in 1916. During the 1920s, academics there Continue Reading
Oduchu – Nostalgia
From the band’s promo material: “Unlike many other Tuvan bands rooted strictly in tradition, ODUCHU embraces a broader musical landscape. “For us, melody is the heart of the music,” says Chingis, who not only composes and arranges most of their songs but is also a trained sound engineer and producer, Continue Reading
Various Artists – Analog Africa: Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980
“Roots Rocking Zimbabwe” is one of the many incredible compilations that Analog Africa has produced in recent years. If you’re not familiar with the label, I recommend visiting their Bandcamp site to explore the full story behind this release. Here’s a brief overview: “The 25 songs presented in this project Continue Reading
Amirhossein Nazemzade , Ehsan Shayanfard – Mourners Project
Here are two new names from the improvisational music scene in Tehran, Iran, worth keeping an eye on – Amirhossein Nazemzade and Ehsan Shayanfard. From their Bandcamp site: “Winter 2025 On a melancholic evening in a house in central Tehran, we performed an hour and fifteen minutes of improvisation with Continue Reading
努尔·泽赫拉·卡齐姆 Noor Zehra Kazim – 萨迦维纳琴之声 The Sound of Sagar Veena
From the venerable Shenzhen-based Old Heaven Books record label’s Bandcamp site: “About this album: The Sagavena is a stunning string instrument with a unique and beautiful design, reminiscent of the Vichitra Veena and Chitra Veena. This instrument has a wider range of sound than the traditional Indian Veena, and the Continue Reading
Various Artists – SWP Records: Forgotten Guitars From Mozambique
From the SWP Records Bandcamp site: “This selection of Hugh Tracey recordings from the 50s represent what later became known as marrabenta. In fact in the early 50s there were 3 centres of guitar music in central and southern Africa – the Zambian Copperbelt, the Katanga mines in Congo, and Continue Reading
Various Artists – Death Is Not The End: Making Records: Home Recordings c. 1890-1920
Death Is Not The End is a leading archival record label, but this release isn’t solely focused on music. It highlights people engaging in everyday activities, many of which involve music, while others showcase individuals taking the time to document their lives using what was then new technology.
Al Massrieen – Modern Music
One of Egypt’s greatest bands, Al Massrieen, gets the reissue treatment from the phenomenal Habibi Funk Records! From the label’s Bandcamp site: “We’re happy to present a reissue of “Modern Music”, the last album by the iconic Egyptian band Al Massrieen, originally released in 1984. This was the final installment Continue Reading
凌然LingSun -《黑龙江》
Even though my main focus is to discover something new every day, I still find that luck is on my side. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a Spanish poetry reading at the Beijing Chapter of the Instituto Cervantes. After finishing my workday at the school, I Continue Reading