Jauno Jāņu Orķestris – Div’ Svecītes

The Jauno Jāņu Orķestris (The New Midsummer Orchestra) are a folk music band hailing from Latvia, an area we don’t get to cover terribly much here on this blog, which is a shame.  This is a one-track single of very well-done traditional music with, of course, updated production values and Continue Reading

Kimilia – Chants d’un temps, ანუ ადრინდელი სიმღერები

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 Continue Reading

叶尔波利 Yerboli – 哈萨克精神Kazakh Spirit

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 Continue Reading

Zacharivna Pisnya Ensemble – Petropavlovka: Songs of Ukrainians from Kyrgyzstan

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 Continue Reading

稷廬 / jì lú – 山與客聽 / Mountain, Traveler, Listener

The Sichuan, China-based Jì Lú (稷廬) are a new project that has connections with one of China’s most innovated bands, Raflum.  The instrumentation on this album is sparse, but it makes for good listening, as bamboo flute and guitar seem to blend pleasantly. Some notes regarding the release: When talking about landscapes in the traditional context, it’s mostly about reclusion.  Although true recluses are rare, the mountains and rivers are always there.  Ironically,  the real landscapes are actually “horrible nature” instead of some leisure place.  The traditional landscape paintings are a kind of “tame nature,” which were described as “To observe with meditation, and lie down to experience” and “Sitting in the forest and spring instead of go to banquet” by ancient Chinese poets.  It emerge at North and South Dynasty, then become a game of finding the essence during the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, and finally stuck in the static self-development after the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  The development of landscape paintings are just like how people detach with the nature and entering urban life.  This album is the continuation of this thesis.  In a time when the virtual reality are replacing urban life, we attempt to reinterpret this cliche with improvisation that based on the topic of “landscape.”  We also naming the songs by minutes and seconds instead of the traditional way of titling the songs, which is based on its imagery.  That creates interactive between the “teller” and listener, and reflects the beauties for individuals due to their own aesthetic experiences.  At this time, the distant, outmoded, cumbersome and vague image of landscape might leave a huge space for “starting again.” Instrumental Continue Reading

Albaluna – Heptad

Our friends at Tejo Milenario have introduced us to yet another one of their brilliant band and we are expecting to highlight quite a few more as the weeks pass by! Albaluna are a project from Portugal whose stage performances blend together music, poetry and dance, combining cultures of the Continue Reading

Gralitsa – Little Mosquitoes Are Sleeping This Night

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 Continue Reading

Ombra – Posidonian Poetry

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 Continue Reading