Glitterbeat Records is the label which should be thanked for publishing The Abatwa, a collection of Pygmy artists from Rwanda. Here are some notes by album producer Ian Brennan, courtesy of Forced Exposure: “The Abatwa (“pygmy”) tribe is identified as one of the most marginalized, voiceless and endangered populations in Continue Reading
World Music
Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin – Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin
Simply gorgeous and resonating music here, courtesy from a French-Conoglese project called Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin. The project is described as “…a unique encounter between Bantu lullabies from the Congo, electronic music and hip-hop.”
Jack Mayesh – You Carry My Hope: Judeo-Spanish Songs in Los Angeles, Sept. 1942 – Feb. 1943
Canary Records is at it again. As a Los Angelino, I have to say I didn’t know there was much of a Judeo-Spanish community here, though it does make sense, as many Spanish and Mexican families may very well have Sephardic roots hidden from the Catholic majority. The recordings are Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
Various Artists – Azerbaijani Love Songs
Music from Azerbaijan comes in many forms, but one of the genres not well-covered on disc outside of the country is its rich tradition of love songs. Caucaso Records, a Baku-based record label, has begun the process to fix this issue.
Various Artists – Longing for the Past: The 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia
Atlanta-based record label Dust-to-Digital have rescued 90 tracks in this collection from obscurity. Featured on this disc are recordings from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, for starters.