• Music

    Badieh – Badieh

    March 6, 2023 - By 

    This is quite a pairing.  Badieh consist of Spaniard Michel Gasco, who plays oud and rebab, pairs with Iranian musician Mohammed Miragharzadeh on tar and setar. From Badieh’s Bandcamp site: “Worlds Within Worlds is proud to announce the release of Badieh’s self-titled debut album – a collection of mystifying folk pieces from the Greater Khorasan region of Iran and Afghanistan. A collaboration between two masters of their craft, Badieh is the project of Michel Gasco and Mohammad Miraghazadeh. A step past Gasco’s previous Orontes project, these delicate reinterpretations of traditional Khorasani folk track takes his instrumentation to new heights. Each…

  • Music

    Dur-Dur Band Int. – The Berlin Session

    March 4, 2023 - By 

    Somalia’s Dur-Dur Band have released fresh material, so if you’re interested in Somali music, Afrobeat, funk or soul, you might want to pick this up quickly. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “The Berlin Session travels far beyond the gems collected from dusty cassettes. It is a bridge between the sorrow of all that has been and the delight of a magic which survived, a shining pearl rescued alive from the Atlantean fate of forever drowning in the Indian Ocean.”

  • Music

    Kimi Djabaté – Dindin

    February 25, 2023 - By 

    Cumbancha Records usually put out world-class music, but this one stood out rather brightly.  From Kimi Djabaté’s Bandcamp site: “Hailing from the country of Guinea-Bissau, gifted guitarist, percussionist and balafón (African xylophone) player Kimi Djabaté is one of Africa’s most exceptional talents. Now based in Lisbon, Djabaté has collaborated with Mory Kanté, Waldemar Bastos and Netos de Gumbé, and, most recently, the pop star Madonna on her single “Ciao Bella.” On Djabaté’s exceptional new album “Dindin,” the multitalented musician carries on the customs of his griot heritage, singing entrancingly about the complexity of life in modern Africa for a broad,…

  • Music

    Hermeto Pascoal – Hermeto

    February 11, 2023 - By 

    Our dear friends at Far Our Recordings deliver the first solo album of Brazilian jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Far Out Recordings proudly presents Hermeto Pascoal’s remarkable self-titled debut album. Recorded in 1970 at A&R studios in New York, the album features certified North American titans including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrel and Googie Coppola, and Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim (who also produced the album). While it was Hermeto’s first album released under his own name, he had spent the decade or so prior making a name for himself in Brazil and…

  • Music

    Boutaiba S’Ghir – Fidak Elyoum

    January 31, 2023 - By 

    MCPE Records is a French label who seem to specialize in great North African music.  This release featured what looks to have been a cassette by Algerian Raï singer Boutaiba S’Ghir, and it’s as joyous and synthy as one would expect from the genre.

  • Music

    Youmna Saba – Arb’een (40)

    January 22, 2023 - By 

    Lebanese singer and oudist Youmna Saba offers up 40, an album of experimental music, but not in the way you think. From her Bandcamp site: “”Arb‘een (40)” is a solo experiment in songwriting, challenging narrative structures and proposing alternative readings of time and continuity. It is rendered by use of oud and guitar, and vocals inspired by the circularity of the project’s recurrent themes. It borrows elements from the Arabic music tradition, and blends them with electronic treatments, sonic textures and loops.”

  • Music

    Awalom Gebremariam – Desdes

    January 4, 2023 - By 

    Awalom Gebremariam was a singer from Eritrea who completed this gem of a record in 2007 in the United States.  From his Bandcamp site: “Awalom completed Desdes in 2007, not long before he departed Eritrea. Because Awalom left after the recording he never received any money for cassette and CD sales. But he also didn’t get to find out how much of an impact the songs have had locally. His songs appear to focus on love, but Awalom isn’t speaking about romantic love per se. Love of country and pride in the struggle for independence are what helps makes songs…