• Music

    Yunchi Ensemble – Aleksandrovka, Milyanfan: Dungan Music from Kyrgyzstan

    Yet another amazing collection has been released by Antonovka Records, now based in Moldova.  This collection features a Chinese Muslim ethnic group called the Dungan who live in the passes between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and surprisingly, they don’t write in Chinese, but in Cyrillic! From Antonovka’s Bandcamp site: “Most of the members of the ensemble Yunchi (“Happiness”) live in two Dungan villages in the Chuy region of Kyrgyzstan – Aleksandrovka and Milyanfan. Aleksandrovka is located in the Moskva district to the west of Bishkek. The village was named after the Emperor Alexander II of Russia, during whose reign the Dungans…

  • Music

    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 develop it with a wealth of instruments, including ancient local ones like the tambura, the kaval and the daf, as well as bagpipes, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, accordion and (the very much non-Macedonian) ukulele.  The music is upbeat, fun, and shines a good light on the wonders of (North) Macedonian music.

  • Music

    Charif Megarbane – Marzipan

    Habibi Funk presents the latest release of Beirut, Lebanon’s most prolific producer, Charif Megarbane.  Though there are only two tracks available to listen to on Bandcamp, you can surely find more tracks to hear on quality sites like Qobuz or Deezer to check out the album in its entirety.  From the Habibi Funk Bandcamp release site: “Following his previous release of EP “Tayara Warak” in 2022, “Marzipan” is a sonic journey that seeks to capture the full scope of Charif Megarbane’s habitus in 17 tracks. As a composer and producer, Megarbane touts hugely versatile, sometimes volatile musicianship—his 100+ catalogue of…

  • Music

    Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens 1987

    It’s incredibly nice to see Peter Gabriel release the bulk of his solo material on Bandcamp.  He even offers a subscription for rare tracks and remixes, most of which are perfectly okay.  This release was a pleasant surprise, as it was, I believe, once released as part of the So box set, but it sounds fine as a standalone disc.  The recording is during the peak of his creative powers, and the musicians working behind him in this tour (David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, David Sancious on keyboards and Manu Katché on drums) are as tight as…

  • Music

    Kit Sebastian – L’addio / Hayat

    A brilliant single from the always-impressive Mr. Bongo Records by London-based Kit Sebastian.  From the band’s Bandcamp site: “‘L’addio’ saw the band perfecting their production and orchestration, with strings, horns and double bass, and an Italian synth found in a French dump. The music was greatly influenced by Italian soundtracks and Italian female singers, such as Mina or Rita Pavone. The track announces itself with a break that is guaranteed to get samplers twitching. The tone of the melody and lyrics is heartfelt and aching. It has a beautiful, intimate sadness like the closing scenes to a love affair, and…

  • Music

    Nasim Khushnawaz – Songs From The Pearl of Khorasan

    Worlds Within Worlds in an Australian record label releasing music from Iran, Afghanistan and India.  This album features rubab (or rebab) player Nasim Khushnawaz.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “As a master of the Afghan rubab, Nasim Kushnawaz hails from one of the most important musical lineages in Afghanistan. The son of Herati rubab maestro Ustad Rahim Khuhsnawaz, Nasim resides in exile in Iran, wherein he continues a four-generation tradition of performing exemplary Afghan, Khorasani and Herati playing techniques. Listeners will easily notice his keen ear for tempo and feeling as he sets up unexpected twists and turns throughout his…

  • Music

    Shono – Kolkhozoy Traktor

    Our dear friends at CPL-Music will be releasing some solid music from Buryatia in Eastern Russia.  From the bio sheet: “Unheard sounds from Buryatia: Shono revive the ancient rituals of the vast Eurasian grasslands. The autonomous Russian Republic of Buryatia is located in the far east of the country, bordering Mongolia and encompassing the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Today, less than one million ethnic Buryats live in the republic. Under Stalin’s rule, many Buryats were persecuted and murdered. Shono (translated as wolf, by the way!) was founded by Alexander Arkhincheev in 2014. The Buryat musician lives in Irkutsk, is…

  • Music

    Lounès Matoub – Lettre Ouverte Aux​.​.​. (25th Anniversary)

    Lounès Matoub was the controversial voice of a generation of Algerian Kabyle people.  He was brutally assassinated on June 25, 1998, but his work lives on.  From Elmir Records’ Bandcamp site: “In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of his assassination, Elmir offers the very first vinyl edition of the reference album Lettre ouverte aux…; enriched with a 28-page booklet including biographical elements, the transcription of the poems and their analysis, as well as archival photos and facsimiles that suggest to the listener a complete immersion in one of the poet’s masterpieces. An emblematic album that testifies to the immense talent…