巴亚宛 Bayawan are heavy psychedelic muqam music from Xinjiang. From Old Heaven Books’ Bandcamp site: “”Bayawan” is the common name for Muqam music used by the Dolan people. Bayawan, or Dolan Muqam, is a unique form of folk music and one of the most important cultural heritages of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. Generally speaking, Muqam is a form of large-scale suites which include songs, dances, and instrumental sections, in which the development of music often features a significant degree of improvisation. The Muqam of the Uyghurs is characterized by its diversity of musical styles. Apart from the classical Twelve…
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This release honors the memory of Chinese Kazakh composer Daulet Halek who passed away in 2008. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Producer’s Note: This album has its genesis in a precious reel-to-reel tape recording which we discovered in a radio station. It is unfortunate that the tape itself does not contain information on the date of recording, which we roughly speculate to be around the late-1980s to the early-1990s. The recording in this album has two parts. The first is Daulet Halek’s interpretation of folk tunes from other ethnic minority groups, including the Tatars, the Mongols, the Sibe, and the Kyrgyz.…
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Kink Gong have done stellar work documenting ethnic music from around China. This release covers the work of dotar player Abdurehim Heyit, an artist mired in controversy whose death was falsely reported several years ago.
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I don’t know much about Kink Gong, though maybe they have some relations with the legendary Sublime Frequencies record label, but I do like that they’re busy releasing some amazing music from neglected parts of the world. This installment comes from Xinjang, in the news for all the wrong reasons, yet a fascinating culture worth delving into. The music shares much in common with fellow Central Asian Turkic groups like the Kazakhs or Uzbeks, but also carries some elements of Mongolian, Persian, and of course, Chinese music.
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The legendary Shenzhen-based Old Heaven Books released a powerful album from the Chinese-Kazakh band IZ Band. This is listed as folk music, yet the music is brutal, sounding like early 1980s post-punk or Industrial rock. Think of, maybe, a Kazakh Killing Joke or a Central Asian early-period Current 93.