La Cherga
fake no more
21st Century electro-roots music with a pan-Balkanic consciousness. La Cherga consist of six musicians, all from former Yugoslavia. Lead singer Irina Karamarkovic is a refugee from the Kosovo conflict while Nevenko Bucan, a Croat electronics wizard with a taste for dubbed out Balkan grooves, also fled the fiery nationalism that destroyed Tito's Yugoslavia. Other members come from Bosnia and Macedonia.
Chevan, Nizrahi and Afro-Semitic Experience
Yizkor: Music of memory
Composer and bassist David Chevan's Afro-Semitic Experience is joined by Jewish cantor Alberto Nizrahi for a contemporary look at Yizkor, a memorial service when sinners seek atonement, remember those who have passed before and contemplate the the transience of life. Carefully fusing modern American jazz, older American roots and ancient Hebrew traditions is no easy task, but Chevan and company prove more than up to the task on this 2008 exploration of modern American spiritually and musical experimentation.
Piccola Banda Ikona
Marea cu sarea
Here is a fascinating journey between the sounds and cultures of the Mediterranean sea in the research for a musical and lyrical language that unites its various populations. They write: "Once upon a time there was a tongue shared by the peoples of the Mediterranean. This was Sabir, a lingua franca which sailors, pirates, fishermen, merchants, ship-owners used in the ports to communicate with each other. From Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul, from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palermo, until the early decades of the twentieth century this kind of sea-faring 'Esperanto' developed little by little availing of terms from Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic. We like this language. We like to mix sounds and words. We play Sabir.We sing Sabir."
Zegar Zivi
Zegar Zivi (Zegar Lives)
Powerful acapella group vocals, often using the wild beating-against-drone technique of groktenje, diple playing, goat-calling and church-bell ringing from a group of amazingly resilient Serbian singers who've moved back to their village of Žegar in the rocky hill-country of Dalmatia in Croatia – a region war-shattered in the 1990s and still depopulated, but beautiful and now peaceful - to rebuild their homes and pick up the threads of their lives and rich musical traditions. The album's title, and the group's name, means Žegar Lives.Recorded in Žegar in May 2007, produced by Andrew Cronshaw in collaboration with Svetlana Spajić. The digipak contains a 60 page booklet with many photos and extensive notes including the background story to the recordings (in English). Listen
Various Zambian artists
Zambian Roadside
Zambia's Southern Province is vibrant with a large diversity of music - topical songs, unique guitar styles (often with home-made guitars), catchy tunes and rhythms, beautiful harmony singing, and interesting percussion. Field recorder Michael Baird calls it 'the roadside reality - the state of music as it is.'
|
Amadou Sodia
Ça va se savoir
Amadou Sodia is a central figure in the vibrant music-scene of modern Guinea. Son of a poet, Amadou was born in the town of Fadama, close to the centre of present-day Guinea. He was born Amadou Doumbouya and it was as a Doumbouya that he joined the Horoya-Band, one of the most popular groups in Guinea in the 70s and 80s. While in demand for his mastery of the bolon (a 4-string harp), it is as a singer and composer that he's really made his mark. And on this recording, you get a telented backing worthy of greatness: Kante Manfila and Ousmane Kouyate on guitar, Djeli Moussa Diawara on kora, and Kerfala Kante and Sekouba Bambino on additional vocals. With its multi-layered arrangements that sensitively balance the electric with the acoustic, it is the perfect vehicle for a singer who is rooted in the past, yet singing for the present while looking to the future. Highly recommended.
Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider
Silent City
Kayhan Kalhor has performed and recorded with Iran's greatest singers and instrumentalists and toured the world as a soloist. He co-founded the Dastan, Ghazal and Masters of Persian Music ensembles and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and others. In addition to his work as a performer, Kalhor's compositions have been used for various television and film projects. He is also is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and his works are heard on all of the Ensemble's albums. Three of his recordings, including his two previous World Village releases, Faryad and Without You, were nominated for Grammy® Awards. The innovative, genre-bending string quartet Brooklyn Rider (Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violins, Nicholas Cords, viola and Eric Jacobsen, cello), is named for the members' beloved New York borough and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) — a German expressionist movement that flourished during the early twentieth century. The quartet has been challenging and delighting audiences ever since its inception by dividing its time between exploring traditional classical repertoire, new music and fervently adventurous intercultural explorations. Aside from their affiliation with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Brooklyn Rider has worked with composers such as Chen Yi and Kayhan Kalhor and performers such as violinist Jenny Scheinman and visual artist Kevork Mourad.
Trio Yengibarjan
Tango Passion
An unexpected angle on the tango from this Hungarian trio of David Yengibarjan - accordion; József Barcza Horváth - bass and Gábor Judhasz - guitar. Three works by Piazzolla, the rest original compositions by Yengibarjan provide a unique view of the musical genre and some steps beyond it.
Hazmat Modine
Bahamut
On my list of quirkly originals, this crew just moved towards the top. Duel harmonicas, guitar, trumpet and a drum/tuba rhythm section back vocals of real originality, while guests add Romanian cimbalom, electric banjitar, contrabass sax, claviola and bass marimba, while a gang of genuine Tuvan throat singers round it all out. Totally unique.
|
Uxia
Eterno Navegar
The 2008 release by the remarkble Galician singer Uxía is rooted in her native Galicia's tradition, but pulls together the music of Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde and making them her own. Produced by Uxía and Paulo Borges, the Portuguese pianist and composer from Azores Islands, these tracks showcase Uxía's melodious and intimate voice in a perfect set of 15 settings. The Lusophone musicians who contribute to this exploration include Sara Tavares, Tito Paris, Jon Luz, Zeca Medeiros, Julio Pereira, João Afonso, Paulo de Carvalho and Ruben Santos, Anxo Quinto Pinto and Quim Farinha. Highly recommended.
Manuel Luna y Brena la Musica
Papeleria Rocio (objetos de escritorio)
Roc and iacute;o's Stationary Shop (writing materials) is sort of a reissue of Luna's Los galles de Londres, with re-mixed and remastered tracks from the original LP recording, plus many newly recorded versions of other songs made in 2004. Luna explores his childhood memories and does some musical experimentation on the traditions of Cantabria in Spain with an acoustic ensemble of gaita, panderadulzaina, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, percussion, bass, accordion and more, as well as an imaginative, light touch with electronics and recorded effects.
Sacha Silva
Anatomy of a Coup
An unusual ensemble mixes flamenco, Indian classical and modern music with heady questions of personal and political issues, music, as the band says, 'that reads the newspaper.' An original sound, adventurous but rooted in traditions from around the world, and not a hint of "world-beat' or 'world fusion.' Highly recommended
Enzo Favata Tentetto (featuring Tenores di Bitti)
The New Village
Sardinian musician and composer Favata has been roiling the roots-jazz of Italy for decades now, recording Cds and playing more than 2,000 concertsaround the world. He fuses tradition with a contemporary sense, forging a new music form folk, jazz and avant garde elements that are strictly original. He has studied classical and jazz saxophone, plays the soprano, sopranino and tenor sax, and the bass clarinet, as well as other ethnic wind instruments from Sardinia and elsewhere. Adding Latin, African and middle eastern influences, he has come up with a creative and original new sound that pays homage to the jazz greats while being beholden to no one. This recording features the incredible Tenores di Bitti, who offer not only their voices, but the inspiration of their melodies that are infused into the very core of Favata's new compositions.
Afrissippi
Alliance
The second round for this allianceof Senegalese roots and Mississippi blues, and every bit as solid as the first. Guelel Kumba - guitar, vocals, Eric Deaton - electric guitar, Kinney Kimbrough - drums, Justin Showah - bass, Papa Assane M'baye - percussion, Jeff Callaway - trombones Listen
|
These titles just in or coming soon
(Please note: not all titles have additional information yet.)
12 Postales - La Camorra
- 16.99
The Argentine group takes a step away from Piazzolla this time, with a set of their own compositions, that moves between the classic music of cámara, jazz and of course, the omnipresent tango.
SuperChameleon - Iva Bittova and Bang on a Can All-Stars
- 33.99
Bittova’s debut music DVD. As the title suggests, it reveals many sides of her ever-changing musical character. Includes a 90 minute concert, 5 'video collages' and and 60 minutes of TV performances (PAL format, European). As challenging as the musicians who made it.
Under Himmelens Fäste - Kraja
- 18.99
Swedish vocalists Linnea Nilsson, Eva Lestander, Lisa Lestander and Frida Johansson are from Umeå in Sweden. Their unique four part harmony song arrangements and repertoire comprise traditional Swedish folk songs, love songs, humorous songs, dance lilts and chorales, in addition to some material of their own. The word ‘Kraja’ is in the Sami language and means “the place you long for”. Critics and audiences have warmly embraced Kraja and the group has enjoyed performing for audiences all over Sweden, and in Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Ukraine and Estonia. For this 2008 recording the ensemble has chosen to focus on some of Sweden’s most cherished folksongs.
Frost - Groupa
- 18.99
Founded in 1980 during the dawn of the modern Nordic roots music revival, this ensemble has always been at the forefront in innovating and reinventing folk music in Sweden and Norway. Now a trio of Mats Edén - fiddles; Terje Isungset - percussion and Jonas Simonson - flutes, they continue to explore and expand in 11 strong instrumental compositions based on traditional but reaching well beyond it
Summer Night - Elise Einarsdotter, Olle Steimnholtz w/ Lena Willemark
- 18.99
Swedish pianist Einarsdottir, bassist Steimnholtz in near jazz settings of standards and originals, both instrumental pieces and with guest vocalist Willemark on 5 tracks. Einarsdottir is often (I think fairly) compared to Bill Evans, in both her fluid playing and her melodic sense.
Ça va se savoir - Amadou Sodia
- 18.99
Amadou Sodia is a central figure in the vibrant music-scene of modern Guinea. Son of a poet, Amadou was born in the town of Fadama, close to the centre of present-day Guinea. He was born Amadou Doumbouya and it was as a Doumbouya that he joined the Horoya-Band, one of the most popular groups in Guinea in the 70s and 80s. While in demand for his mastery of the bolon (a 4-string harp), it is as a singer and composer that he’s really made his mark. And on this recording, you get a telented backing worthy of greatness: Kante Manfila and Ousmane Kouyate on guitar, Djeli Moussa Diawara on kora, and Kerfala Kante and Sekouba Bambino on additional vocals. With its multi-layered arrangements that sensitively balance the electric with the acoustic, it is the perfect vehicle for a singer who is rooted in the past, yet singing for the present while looking to the future. Highly recommended.
fake no more - La Cherga
- 18.99
21st Century electro-roots music with a pan-Balkanic consciousness. La Cherga consist of six musicians, all from former Yugoslavia. Lead singer Irina Karamarkovic is a refugee from the Kosovo conflict while Nevenko Bucan, a Croat electronics wizard with a taste for dubbed out Balkan grooves, also fled the fiery nationalism that destroyed Tito's Yugoslavia. Other members come from Bosnia and Macedonia.
Eterno Navegar - Uxia
- 17.99
The 2008 release by the remarkble Galician singer Uxía is rooted in her native Galicia's tradition, but pulls together the music of Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde and making them her own. Produced by Uxía and Paulo Borges, the Portuguese pianist and composer from Azores Islands, these tracks showcase Uxía's melodious and intimate voice in a perfect set of 15 settings. The Lusophone musicians who contribute to this exploration include Sara Tavares, Tito Paris, Jon Luz, Zeca Medeiros, Julio Pereira, João Afonso, Paulo de Carvalho and Ruben Santos, Anxo Quinto Pinto and Quim Farinha. Highly recommended.
Río de los canasteros - Diego Amador
- 17.99
Flamenco-influenced jazz pianist Diego Amador's powerful yet fluid piano is heard in interplay with guitars and vocals, and percussion and palmas. Guests include guitarist Tomatito, legendary cantaora La Susi, guitarist Raimundo Amador, bassist Carles Benavent and Argentinean guitarist Luis Salinas, offering the atmosphere of a juerga, an informal jam session where anyone can join in and anything can happen. Each of the nine tracks creates an all-night urban back-room gathering, offering the Iberian musical bliss known as duende.
La Sardana - Cobla Sant Jordi Ciutat de Barcelona
- 17.99
The cobla is a traditional music ensemble of Catalonia. It is generally used to accompany the Sardana, a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle. In Barcelona, capital of Catalonia, in the summer time, one can often see cobla performances in open outdoor squares, with dozens of Catalonians mixed with tourists dancing the Sardana, their purses and backpacks placed on the ground within the circle. Cobla Sant Jordi Ciutat de Barcelona (the official cobla of the city) is one of the best Catalan groups that plays the traditional Catalan Sardana. The group was formed in 1983 and with this recording they are celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Home Sweet Home - Moussu T e lei jovents
- 18.99
Moussu T e lei jovents from La Ciotat return in 2008 with another slice of Occitan wit and wisdom. The band's third proper studio album continues in the same vein as their previous work - i.e., catchy, melodic, quirky, funny, dark, poignant, gritty. Singing as usual mainly in the Occitan language, the band again invoke the heat and intensity of Marseille and its neighbor, the band's hometown, La Ciotat.
Bucharest Tango - Oana Catalina Chitu
- 18.99
Bucharest Tango is a unique album, one that resurrects a lost music, the sound of Romanian Tango as played in Bucharest cafes and parks, restaurants and clubs, across the 1930s. Oana Catalina Chitu (pronounced Kitsu) and her musicians combine the lost tango songs of that era with the folk ballads of Maria Tanase (1913-1963; the Romanian Piaf). Until now, no other singer of the younger generation from Romania has been able to approach both the tangos à la romanesque and Tanase's ballads so authentically yet freely. Although Romania is a country with a rich musical tradition, a virus of cheap, electronic pop music has seized the nation post-revolution. Oana represents the cutting edge of a new generation of Romanians interested in the brilliant - now largely forgotten - musical traditions from a bygone age.
Gente Paseando por la calle - Finisterrae
- 16.99
A multi-culti band based in Spain features musicians from US, Chile, UK, Spain and Argentina in a rich mix of traditional Spanish/Latin music and modern jazz, folk and pop influences.
The Two Worlds - Foday Musa Suso
- 18.99
Foday Musa Suso is an internationally recognized musician and a Mandingo griot born in West Africa. Suso grew up in a society where griots function as walking libraries, singing their stories for the community while providing history, wisdom and entertainment. With this new album Suso displays virtuosic kora performances of his own compositions. Known also as a recording artist and collaborator, Suso has collaborated with artists like Philip Glass (whose own label released this CD) and the Kronos Quartet. This is a solo recording, just kora and occasionally voice.
Mir Basaraber - Klezmer Alliance
- 17.99
This band reflects the diversity of the European klezmer scene. Efim Chorny and his pianist Susan Ghergus, with Bernd Spehl, Thomas Fritze, Andreas Schmitges and Guy Schalom work to create a new dimension for Yiddish music.
Tango clásico y moderno - Anna Saeki
- 27.99
I was dubious, too. A Japanese tango singer.. surely a gimmick. But her 20 years of singing experience, and her wise selection of orchestras and small ensembles make these recordings a nice little addition ot a complete tango collection, an acknowledgement of the international influence that Argentine music has had. To be sure, she sings these classica nd modern songs like no one else, and there is a distinctive sound to it all, and perhaps that is why I was most attracted to it.
Mother-Earth! Father-Sky! - Huun-Huur-Tu w/ Sainkho
- 17.99
The 2008 release by this Tuvan ensemble features the powerful and unique vocals of Sainkho Namtchylak, adding a rich new layer of sound to this already fascinating ensemble of voices and instruments from the central Asian plains.
Ajotoro - Dikanda
- 17.99
Traditional songs, scored in an arrangement not bound by any style, but based on ideas selected from many different styles. This group from Poland has a passion for traditional music but they create their own style and original sound. Their acoustic songs have been inspired by Oriental culture, Balkan folklore - Macedonian and Romanian.
Waltz with Me - Annbjorg Lien
- 15.99
Norwegian hardanger fiddler and composer Annbjørg Lien was commissioned last year to compose new music for the prestigious Telemark Festival in Bø, Norway. She responded with an ensemble of Bruce Molsky on violin and vocals, Christine Hanson on cello and Mikael Marin on viola, then wrote a varied set of tradition-based tunes and songs that reflect an eclectic attitude. The strong chemistry shared by members of the group is apparent on each and every track on ths lovely recording of new Nordic music.
Cokekan - Javanese Chamber Music - Garasi Seni Benawa
- 17.99
The Javanese tradition is not only represented by the large gamelan ensembles. This CD shows a contemporary edge, in a performance is by an ensemble of four musicians (plus three guests), centred on the voice of Eni Suryani surrounded by percussions, gong, gender, rebab, suling and zither.
Puja - Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
- 17.99
Coming from Northern India, daughter of the renown tabla player Sankha Chatterjee, the singer presents in this new work two ragas in khayal style; the first is a late afternoon raga, Raga Puriya Dhanashree, inspired by the sunset and rendered through a singing which expresses joy and happiness; the second, Raga Lalita, is an evening raga, with some romantic overtones, taken at an incredible speed, which concretely proves SANGEETA's perfect vocal technique. Closing the program is an example of bhajan, a lyrical text of great emotional impact, which intends to portray the power and the greatness of Rama.
Alpha - Alpcologne
- 17.99
Probably a totally new concept to you, as it is to me: 3 alphorns and vocals. The concept of the band arises from its unusual instrumentation. The warm, rich sound of the 4-meter-long traditional instruments encounters the expressiveness and melodic flexibility of the voice. Like the explorers of past centuries, Alpcologne can experiment with its own sound - playing Folk, Ska, Tango, Mambo, Cajun, Bluegrass, and Oriental music; original compositions or reinterpretations. Unique, to say the least!
Qwade Wulf - Wolfgang Meyerings Malbrook
- 17.99
Meyering's second outing features a more coalesced band and a more cohesive sound. Songs about murder, jealousy and death. Strange children songs in polka style and a suite of schottische (Schotsken) played on mandola, mandolin, hurdy gurdy, German and Swedish bagpipe, Bohemian/German harp, flutes, fiddles, percussion, loops, sounds and more.
Nordisk Sjel - Kerstin Blodig
- 17.99
A collection of favorite songs from favorite live projects and their formerly released CDs: Kerstin solo, Kelpie and Talking Water, as well as newly recorded favourites and tracks from a new studio project with Scottish songwriter/ producer Bob Melrose
Manuscrit Susanne van Soldt: Danses, chansons and psaumes des Flandres, 1599 - Les Witches
- 18.99
The source of this music is Susan Van Soldt’s manuscript of the end of the 16th century, comprising dances, songs and psalms adapted to the virginal or the harpsichord. Aged 16 when she noted in this copy-book the pieces she probably enjoyed playing at home, Susan was a young protestant who had to leave Flanders for England with her family at this time of raging religious conflict between Christians. The majority of pieces in the manuscript are reductions for the keyboard. Contrary to what is usually the case, the Witches had therefore to imagine, on the basis of these reductions, the «original » versions for instrumental ensembles and hence recreate the tonal colours that we see in Brueghel’s country fairs, weddings and village feasts. Claire Michon : flute, Freddy Eichelberger : virginal and organ, Odile Edouard : violin, Pascale Boquet : lute, Sylvie Moquet : viola da gamba, Mickaël Cozien : virginal, Françoise Rivalland : percussion and rommelpot. Listen
Yizkor: Music of memory - Chevan, Nizrahi and Afro-Semitic Experience
- 12.99
Composer and bassist David Chevan's Afro-Semitic Experience is joined by Jewish cantor Alberto Nizrahi for a contemporary look at Yizkor, a memorial service when sinners seek atonement, remember those who have passed before and contemplate the the transience of life. Carefully fusing modern American jazz, older American roots and ancient Hebrew traditions is no easy task, but Chevan and company prove more than up to the task on this 2008 exploration of modern American spiritually and musical experimentation.
Silent City - Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider
- 16.99
Kayhan Kalhor has performed and recorded with Iran's greatest singers and instrumentalists and toured the world as a soloist. He co-founded the Dastan, Ghazal and Masters of Persian Music ensembles and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and others. In addition to his work as a performer, Kalhor's compositions have been used for various television and film projects. He is also is an original member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and his works are heard on all of the Ensemble's albums. Three of his recordings, including his two previous World Village releases, Faryad and Without You, were nominated for Grammy® Awards. The innovative, genre-bending string quartet Brooklyn Rider (Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violins, Nicholas Cords, viola and Eric Jacobsen, cello), is named for the members' beloved New York borough and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) — a German expressionist movement that flourished during the early twentieth century. The quartet has been challenging and delighting audiences ever since its inception by dividing its time between exploring traditional classical repertoire, new music and fervently adventurous intercultural explorations. Aside from their affiliation with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Brooklyn Rider has worked with composers such as Chen Yi and Kayhan Kalhor and performers such as violinist Jenny Scheinman and visual artist Kevork Mourad.
Thurayya - Pleiades - Habib Yammine
- 18.99
Percussionist and ethnomusicologist Habib Yammine was born and brought up in a family whose members loved zajal – a type of poetry written in a Lebanese dialect. He is the leader-conductor of the Al-Adwar Ensemble, created in 1991 together with singer Aïcha Redouane and specializing in the art of the middle-Eastern maqam. Their work has brought new life and inspiration to this great tradition, which they now pass on in turn through their students and through their concerts.
La Famiglia - Balli di Sardegna - Mondo Vercellino
- 19.99
Wonderful recordings by an old master of the Sardinian songs and dances for the organetto (diatonic accordion), long considered a pioneer and innovator of this unique folk music.
Marea cu sarea - Piccola Banda Ikona
- 18.99
Here is a fascinating journey between the sounds and cultures of the Mediterranean sea in the research for a musical and lyrical language that unites its various populations. They write: "Once upon a time there was a tongue shared by the peoples of the Mediterranean. This was Sabir, a lingua franca which sailors, pirates, fishermen, merchants, ship-owners used in the ports to communicate with each other. From Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul, from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palermo, until the early decades of the twentieth century this kind of sea-faring 'Esperanto' developed little by little availing of terms from Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic. We like this language. We like to mix sounds and words. We play Sabir.We sing Sabir."
Nia maro - Daniele Sepe
- 18.99
I know I say it almost every time he does a recording, but there really is no one like Sepe in the musical world, a composer and musician with a unique vision of his world, both musical and social, and an artist both global and local simultaneously. This recording is one of his more adventuous, and yet it is remarkably also one of his more 'rooted' although those roots spread all across the Mediteranean basin.
The New Village - Enzo Favata Tentetto (featuring Tenores di Bitti)
- 18.99
Sardinian musician and composer Favata has been roiling the roots-jazz of Italy for decades now, recording Cds and playing more than 2,000 concertsaround the world. He fuses tradition with a contemporary sense, forging a new music form folk, jazz and avant garde elements that are strictly original. He has studied classical and jazz saxophone, plays the soprano, sopranino and tenor sax, and the bass clarinet, as well as other ethnic wind instruments from Sardinia and elsewhere. Adding Latin, African and middle eastern influences, he has come up with a creative and original new sound that pays homage to the jazz greats while being beholden to no one. This recording features the incredible Tenores di Bitti, who offer not only their voices, but the inspiration of their melodies that are infused into the very core of Favata's new compositions.
Suite per bandoneon e orchestra - Daniele Bonaventura
- 19.99
The bandoneon master performs two new major compositions, a suite for bandoneon and orchestra, and Piccolo Requiem for Solo Bandoneon.
Voices of Alentejo - Ensemble Vidigueira
- 16.99
Rich traditional vocal music from Portugal, by an all male choir from this barren region between Lisbon and the Algarve coast. Deep polyphonic choir music that has much in common with the now more familiar southern Italian groups. Listen
Zegar Zivi (Zegar Lives) - Zegar Zivi
- 18.99
Powerful acapella group vocals, often using the wild beating-against-drone technique of groktenje, diple playing, goat-calling and church-bell ringing from a group of amazingly resilient Serbian singers who've moved back to their village of Žegar in the rocky hill-country of Dalmatia in Croatia – a region war-shattered in the 1990s and still depopulated, but beautiful and now peaceful - to rebuild their homes and pick up the threads of their lives and rich musical traditions. The album's title, and the group's name, means Žegar Lives.Recorded in Žegar in May 2007, produced by Andrew Cronshaw in collaboration with Svetlana Spajić. The digipak contains a 60 page booklet with many photos and extensive notes including the background story to the recordings (in English). Listen
Douga Mansa - Mamadou Diabate
- 17.99
His reputation as a kora virtuoso and tradition-based musical maverick is well known. In Diabate’s hands, the kora proves capable of infinite variation, encompassing delicately articulated structures, swirling eddies of glissandi, pounding, vertical rhythms and roaring cataracts of arpeggio. On the opening track, an astounding range of simultaneous yet syncopated melodies and rhythms join and separate in a complex clarity that amazes. The 12 selections that follow are all equal to that moment,, showing a rich tradition that lives on in the hands of a master.
Akh Issudar - Terakraft
- 17.99
Malian Touoareg ensemble's keening, scratchy singing veers off onto curvy, Islamic-flavored tangents and passages of “talking blues,” discursive chanting, and raucous call-and-response, punctuated by wailing, cries, ululations and even an underlying, buzzing drone. The multi-layered guitars fulfil the image with their rich, sensually tinny chords and lead riffs. They might evoke the Mississippi Delta at high noon, T Rex and the early Stones, and certainly the late Ali Farka Touré, but they are unique and stand apart. This is potent music of the 'desert blues' variety, and highly recommended.
Yderland - Carl Erik Lundgaard
- 16.99
Danish diatonic accordionist joined by a wide ranging ensemble of tradtional and modern musicians including Harald Haugaard, Mads Riishede, Christoffer S. Møller and many others. Yderland consists of primarily new material from accordionist Carl Erik Lundgaard, arranged and produced in cooperation with bassist Mads Riishede. The music is expressive, and has stories to tell, both serious and humorous.
Baltic Crossing - Baltic Crossing
- coming soon
Baltic Crossing use their strong affinity for old dance music and respect for each others traditions to bring a new youthful energy to the folk music of Europe. Wherever they meet, at least one has to cross the Baltic Sea. The ensemble is Kristian Bugge (DK) on violin; Antti Jarvela (FI) on acocustic bass, mandolin, banjo; Esko Jarvela (FI) on violin, viola; Andy May (UK) on Northumbrian and Uilleann pipes and piano and Ian Stephenson (UK) on guitar, melodeon.
See all recent releases
|
