What a joyous release this is! Accordion-based music out of Finland is just what the doctor ordered for our chilly Beijing day. Johanna Juhola is one of many incredible artists on the Nordic Notes imprint who have blown my mind this year. Imagine a collection ranging from traditional music melded Continue Reading
World Music
Cristina Godoroja – Ciobănaș Cu Oile: Songs From Moldova and Romania
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
Airto & Flora – A Celebration: 60 Years – Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories
Those of you who know Brazilian jazz will need no introduction to this glorious pair, but for those who don’t, here’s a lovely introduction thanks to the good folks at Barely Breaking Even Records’ Bandcamp site: “Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, the legendary King and Queen of Brazilian Jazz, have Continue Reading
Earthtones & Etsegenet Mekonnen – Selam
This is a rather glorious single pairing American DJ Earthtones with Ethiopian singer Etsegenet Mekonnen. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Selam is a vision of peace. This collaboration between producer/DJ Earthtones and Ethiopian musician/vocalist Etsegenet Mekonnen features haunting vocals sung in Amharic. Analog & semi-modular synths combine with 909 drums Continue Reading
László Hortobágyi – Music from Fomal-Hoot al-Ganoubī 1994-2023 [Re-Mix Mastered Version Series Vol. 3]
![László Hortobágyi – Music from Fomal-Hoot al-Ganoubī 1994-2023 [Re-Mix Mastered Version Series Vol. 3]](https://musicyouneedtohear.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/a2505147816_16.jpg)
László Hortobágyi is perhaps the best known electronic/experimental music composer to ever come out of Hungary. Our dear brothers at áMARXE Records have released Music from Fomal-Hoot al-Ganoubī, a 1991 release, as a remastered edition. From the áMARXE Bandcamp site: “Fomal-hoot al-Ganoubī is a mythological Arabic constellation. It is the Continue Reading
Rüüt – Kiriküüt
Rüüt hail from Estonia and offer an incredible take on Estonian ethnic music, modernized for the 21st Century, taking in elements of jazz. The band describes their music this way: “The band is characterized by mystical atmosphere, intricate harmonic, melodic and rhythmic combinations, precision and a common feel. This is Continue Reading
Syriana – Hārim
Syriana are an interesting project released by Real World Records. Here’s the back story, courtesy of the label’s Bandcamp site: “In 2010 Syriana’s album The Road to Damascus presented a musical reflection by Nick Page & Bernard O’Neill of their take on the geopolitical landscape surrounding Syria at the time. Continue Reading
Hani from Yunnan China – Hani Polyphonic Singing in Yunnan China
From our friends at Sublime Frequencies: “Mystic choral beauty drifting far into the outer cosmos, this other worldly traditional music ensemble creates a contemporary-sounding avant-garde vocal fusion combined with strange instrumental accompaniment. The HANI are linguistically derived from the YI branch of the Tibeto-Burmese and number a million and a Continue Reading
Girma Yifrashewa – My Strong Will
Girma Yifrashewa is a graduate of the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa, and continued his studies at the Sofia State Conservatory of Music in Bulgaria. This new work of his combines Ethiopian instrumentation with classical music, and it blends together quite well.
Auļi – Ķekatās
Six pipes, three drummers, a bassist and a massive wall of sound are what Latvian band Auļi offer, and this album shows the band collaborating with a score of modern musicians updating a powerful ethnic sound. According to the Bandcamp site, “this album is dedicated to the Latvian masquerade traditions Continue Reading