Hakki Obadia was a New York-based violinist of Iraqi Jewish extraction. The ever-wonderful Canary Records presents a 25-track collection of wonderfully remastered tracks Obadia did for various labels. The music is a reminder of what Baghdad must have been like a century ago.
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…
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.
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.”
Our friends at CPL Music and Nordic Notes had another banner years for releases in the genre of World Music. The sampler includes tracks from the Balkans, Scandinavia and Asia among other locales, and it’s a great way to taste what the label has to offer.
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…
Turkish-American composer Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol directs Schola Cantorum, Ensemble Trinitas, The New England Mehterhane and five different DÜNYA ensembles in a sumptuous history of Istanbul/Constantinople via music from the Byzantine and Ottoman periods.
Uruguayan vocalist and musician Mariana Ingold has a storied reputation for her albums of children’s songs, environmental work and collaborations with the indigenous communities of her native country, but in 1986, she started recording some rather fine pop music as well. She mixed candombe music with synthesizers to make a fusion which caught on in the country’s capital, Montevideo. She is still quite active as a performer, but it’s quite a treat to see some of these recordings see the light of day after several decades of being out-of-print.
Indeed, He did, yet as I’m new to the Fra Fra scene in Ghana, if Linda Ayupuka is a good example of what kind of music the genre produces, I think I’m going to like digging into it. The music is a combo of tinny beats, lo-fi disco, and a joyous authenticity to the vocals. African music even with the massive reach it has had over the past few years, needs to continue to branch out into the world consciousness, and this is yet another gem to share with the world.
What a wild and heavy album out of Haiti! From Chouk Bwa’s Bandcamp site: “Following on from the first edition released earlier this year, we’re please to announce ‘Ayiti Kongo Dub EP#2‘ by Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers. As Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms meet bass-weight dub electronics, the two part EP has documented the group experimenting with a stripped back form which focuses on the dimension of trance. Opening with a cermonial chant and designed to enduce dancefloor delirium, the first track taken from the EP is the raw, high-octane, primordial techno of ‘Zemedo’.” Wild, dubby listening.