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The third studio recording by the Danish duo is every bit as wonderful as the previous ones. Harald Haugaard's fiddle playing just gets better and Morten Alfred Høirup's guitar work is, as always, superb. The bonus on this release: Morton sings on a few tracks, his husky, heartfelt vocals adding another fine touch to the duo's work. 
Don Rooke - Atlas Travel - 16.99 The solo release by composer, guitarist and all around swell guy Don Rooke from The Henrys is an exercise in sonic spaciousness, aural elbow room and capricious experimentation.
Ostad Elahi - Dialogue with the Beloved - 17.99 Music for the tanbur by a master musician from Iran. This is one part of a three CD trilogy of works
Susana Seivane - Mares de Tempo - 17.99 The Galician piper and her ensemble return in 2004 with another contemporary interpretation of the roots music of Spain.
Ale Moller Band - Bodjal - 17.99 Ale Möller comes full circle. From the bouzoukispellman who learned Swedish folk music on a Greek instrument so many years ago comes a stunning new album of music that leans heavily on those Greek roots, and then explodes across the continents. With Maria Stellas and Mamadou Sene on vocals, a core band of Moller's strings, accordion, flutes and voice, Magnus Stinnerbom (fiddles, mandolin), Sebatian Dube (bass) and Rafael Sida Hulzar (percussion). I'll stick my neck out in March and say "Record of the Year 2004."
Chiat Askin - Ege'nin Türküsü (Song of Aegea) - 14.99 The Turkish violinist has a huge following in classical music circles, but this recording shows how deep the roots of Anatolian folk music run the in classical/traditional repetoire. Here Askin Chiat shares the stage with some of Turkey's most noted folk and contemporary artists, including guitarist Erkan Ogur and singer Hadass Pal-Yarden. A number of traditional songs are performed in a quartet of viloin with gourd fiddle, bagpipe and bouzouki.
Kristine Heebøll - Trio Mio - 16.99 A remarkable trio of Danish violinist Kristine Heeboll, Swedish guitarist and bouzouki player Jens Ulvsand (of the band Avada) and Danish pianist and accordionist Nikolaj Busk perform from but not in the tradition, using the roots to generate modern modes inspired by jazz and classical as much as folk. The results are both elegant and energetic.
Zulya - elusive - 17.99 Contemporary music from the steppes of Tatarstan. Zulya Kamalova creates and album of exquisite songs inspired by both the music of the world and by her own Tatar heritage. Accompanied by a sparse, ingenious ensemble (of everything from Tartar fiddle and jews arp to accordion and bass), this is an artful, beautiful recording.
Various artists - Lullabies From the Axis of Evil - 17.99 An extraordinary collaborative work by women from around the world, bringing a new sense to the Bushian phrase by making a statement of hope and peace in an age of chaos. The album contains 14 lullabies from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Cuba, presented in its original form by women from these countries including Rim Banna, Mahsha Vahdat, Sun Ju Lee, Jawahar Shofani and then in versions in English by artists including Nina Hagen (Germany), Eddi Reader (Scotland), Sarah Jane Morris (England), Lila Downs (USA/Mexico), Sevara Nazarkhan (Uzbekistan) and Mimi (USA), all within a musical landscape composed by Knut Reiersrud and a group of musicians from Norway and the world. Thus the record forms 14 small musical bridges between east and west.
Ivo Papasov - Fairground - 17.99 The 2003 model by the Bulgarian wedding music king of clarinet is all one would expect after ten years of music making. Deep roots, edgy jazz, warp speed virtuosity all come together in a mature, briliant vision of what contemporary Bulgarian roots should be. Bulgaria only release!
Various - Coimbra - April in Portugal - 17.99 A completely curious idea: take one of the most famous songs of Portugal and collect all the various versions of it together. Arists include Perez Prado, Louis Armstrong, Amália Rodrigues, Bing Crosby, Caetano Veloso, Eartha Kitt, Chet Atkins, Liberace, Bert Kaempfert, Enoch Light, Vic Damone, Xavier Cugat and many more. 24 versions as varied as the planet they came from, from jazz to swing, fado to folk, pop and even Trinidad steel band.
Tim Eriksen - Every Sound Below - 16.99 Eriksen is rapidly becoming one of America's most important folk singers (as opposed to songwriter-singers), a man with a real grasp of the language and nuance of rural sounds, yet with a personal and orignal delivery. This is a collection of traditional songs.
La Lionetta - Ballate 1978-1996 - 16.99 A compilation of early recordings by one of Italy's most interesting new-roots ensembles.
Karen and Helene - Solen - 16.99 Two great young, up and coming Danish singers, Karen Mose (from the band Phonix) and Helene Blum sing traditional Danish songs in new arrangements. Karen and Helene give the rich Danish song tradition a new and modern dimension. They are accompanied by an impressive group of Nordic musicians including Leo Svensson, Morten Alfred Høirup and Harald Haugaard, who also produced. Complex, subtle arrangements skirt all kinds of musical borders, enhancing but never obscuring the traditional source material.
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