MUSIC

Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. Highly influential, it would not be too bold a stretch to say that his work shaped how we listen to the world: he produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos, and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1953 until his death in 2001. Never before published, Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road features over four hours of music and is Deben's impressionistic account of a 1955 journey overland, in a converted milk delivery van, from France to India collecting and exploring music along the Desert Road from Europe into India. With four CDs of recordings, photographs, Deben's original recording notes, musical transcriptions, and more. An amazing glimpse into a time long gone and essential listening for anyone interested in folk and world music traditions. Produced and edited by Robert Millis (Indian Talking Machine (2015) and Victrola Favorites (DTD 011CD, 2009). "Actually, I think my playing is probably more derived from the folk music records that I heard; Middle Eastern music, Indian music... for years I had something called Music On The Desert Road, which was an album with all kinds of different ethnic music. I used to listen to that all the time." --Frank Zappa, 1993 (from an interview in Guitarist Magazine, talking about an LP released by Deben in 1956 using a few edited versions of the music included on this compilation.) 160 pages, cloth bound cover with four CDs: 45 pages of photographs and 50 pages of detailed recording notes. Introductions by Jharna Bose Bhattacharya, Robert Millis and WG Archer.

Includes recordings of: Students of the Salonica Quaker Girl's School Dance of Jerissos,Saban Akdao, Hasan Sayin, Reza Argin, Jumma Ali, Vakkas Kaplan, Feizi Kaplan, Hüseyin Eroğlu, Raif Karsligil, Imam and congregation of the mosque at Kilis, Dervish worshippers in the house of Sheikh Saud Mawlawi, Nour Hanbali, Antone Noweh, Doureid Laham, Bashraf Sama'i Taatyus, Andalusi Muwashshah, Hazim, Suleiman and friends, Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad, Shu'aib Ibrahim, Abdul-KArim Al Azawi, Shu'aib Ibrahim, Khalil Akrawi, Ostad Zareen Panje Bel, Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef, Ostad Abol-Hassan Saba, Sher Khoda, Darioosh Sefvat, Hamedanian, Shapoore Delshadi, Eskandare Ebrahimi and Orchestra, Eskandare Ebrahimi , Muhammad Hussein, Dost Muhammad, Abdul Kader, Saroj Narang, Jyotish CH. Choudhury, Kalipada Das, Bhona, Mangal Mukerjee, and Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu.

Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes it’s ESSENTIAL compilation from 1970’s Egypt. Modal instrumental tracks from Baligh Hamdi - one of the most important Arabic composers of the 20th Century (writing for legends Umm Kalthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah, Warda, and many others). Features his legendary group the “Diamond Orchestra” with Omar Khorshid on guitar, Magdi al-Husseini on organ, Samir Sourour on saxophone, and Faruq Salama on accordion. All of these musicians were discovered and recruited by Hamdi to interpret his vision of a modernized, hybrid Arabic music. Under Hamdi’s direction, this orchestra charted a new melodic direction and created a new musical language. This compilation is culled from a specific era of Hamdi’s long career, a decade where he fully realized an international music which incorporated beat driven Eastern tinged jazz, theremin draped orchestral noir, tracks that feature searing guitar solos from none other than Omar Khorshid, and a selection of buzzing, sitar driven, Indo-Arabic tracks establishing a meeting of mid-east and eastern psychedelic exotica, and a vision that created some of the hippest music coming out of the Middle East from the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s.

What is this ~~! One recommendation ... Wau Wau Collectif, an acoustic / cosmic West African / Senegal music group that is as beautiful as it can be. From the famous place that cuts into unknown music south of the Sahara Desert, something amazing beyond imagination appears again! Challenging and hybrid fantasy folk music inspired by West African traditions, Sufi hymns, spiritual jazz and dub rhythms that transcend national borders and music scenes. It seems that the theme of this work is "education", and it contains songs that directly address the social issues and immigration issues facing modern Senegal. However, it's calm and truly idyllic music, with call-and-response chants and children's voices, hypnotic percussion, cosmic pad synths, and even the alien saxophone with a Fourth World flavor. Full of. This is highly recommended for a wide range of listeners!

Classic tracks from the early years of highlife in Ghana – a time when the guitar-based styles and lively rhythms of the genre were first coming into play, and mixed with some of the more jazz-based styles of years before! The mix here is almost a West African equivalent to the rise of western swing in the US at the end of the 30s – a way of mixing older instrumental ensemble styles with some more contemporary, more regional elements – sounding wonderful her in some key examples of the style! The package features a full side of work from Ramblers International – titles that include "Odansanyi", "Ahomka Won", "Woman Wanko", "Akokonini Abankwa", and "Wgya Saman" – plus other tracks that include "School Girl" and "You Call Me Roko" by ET Mensah & The Tempos, "Son Of Africa" by Kwamalah Quaey Sextetto Africana, "Obaa Amponsa Pandogo" by The Black Star Band, and "Fancy Baby" by John Santos Martins.

"Amassakoul", the follow-up to "The Radio Tisdas Sessions", has been remastered and reissued with additional previously unreleased material. Featuring bouncy rhythms, desert rumblings, and of course electric guitars, four guitars growl and groove in the vast desert. The riffs are more diverse and the musical maturity is evident on this masterpiece! The first pressing will be on Indigo vinyl and will include a 24-bit WAV download card.

Limited cassette edition with 6 additional tracks not included on the vinyl. Brother Theotis Taylor is a 92-year-old spiritual singer and piano player known throughout South Georgia and beyond for his powerful voice and heavenly falsetto. His music took him from his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the stage with Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, to Harlem’s Apollo, and even to Carnegie Hall.

Though his releases are limited to six stunning and rare singles on the Pitch label and a single small-press LP, his recorded archive is vast. For much of his life, Brother Taylor kept a reel-to-reel recorder atop his piano at home.

“The music just comes down on you,” Brother Taylor told us late last year. “You always have your machine where you can catch everything. ‘Cause what you can catch today you can’t remember tomorrow.”

Brother Taylor recorded himself on his DIY home setup only when he was inspired by a higher power, often fasting and praying for days before recording. These intimate home recordings were digitized in 2020 and are being heard for the first time with this release.

Revisiting these old songs brought Brother Taylor to tears. “[When I hear this music] I pick up the same spirit that I did it in. And you see me cryin’. It made me feel good ‘cause I know I did it and I did it well. And I want to see it get out, because if it made me feel good, it make somebody else feel good. Right? This is spiritual music.”

Mike Hanapi (1898-1958), a famous steel guitarist and vocalist from Honolulu, Hawaii, left behind one of the greatest collections of pre-war Hawaiian music in the 20th century with his Kalama's Quartet. This is the long awaited analog reissue of the original 78rpm disc with remastering! This is a miraculous reissue of a number of recordings that have never before been reissued in any format. Gorgeous falsetto voice with a bottomlessly beautiful clarity and presence, and harmonious voice with a backing band as rich as a lonely yodel. Purely acoustic instruments such as lap steel guitar, ukulele, and harp guitar are gently woven into the vocal melodies, creating fluid, harmonious layers and hauntingly beautiful blue notes. This is truly peaceful, serene, and unique music. Reverse board jacket, 8-page full-size booklet with biography, rare photos, and full lyrics in Hawaiian and English.

Gorgeous and hypnotic Tanzanian dance music from the legendary Kiko Kids Jazz, a group that formed in the 1950s and produced a unique sound that stood out among the explosion of Tanzanian guitar bands in the run-up to the country's independence. Kiko Kids Jazz is the first LP album from Mississippi. With the endorsement of bandleader Salim Zahoro (1936-2021), who completed the collaboration shortly before his death at the age of 85, this is the first LP release of one of the most locally loved and innovative bands of the time. Remastered from the original tapes and pressings. The album explodes with funky, pastoral guitar music grooves inspired by the exciting music scene of acoustic and electric dance bands in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, as well as the poetic strains of Taarab and Arabic music. A full-size color insert (8 pages) is included. Officially licensed by Mzuri Records.

First ever vinyl collection of the legendary “Kostis,” the most enigmatic of all Greek rebetika artists. 12 tracks of truly unique guitar duets and black-humor lyrics chronicling the hash dens, prison culture and pickpockets of old Athens. Recorded under a pseudonym for export to the Greeks living in America, research has uncovered the musician, journalist and cartoonist Kostas Bezos as the figure lurking behind the Kostis name, with ties to the famous singer Tetos Demetriades. Renowned for his slide guitar playing in Hawaiian-style orchestras throughout the 1930s, the Kostis recordings reveal an entirely different underworld of the macabre and illicit. The use of guitar in these now-classic rebetika songs display a virtuosity of finger-picked Near-Eastern modes and unusual tunings at the dawn of rebetika, when the bouzouki was yet to become supreme.Presented in pristine audio quality mastered from original 78 rpm discs by Michael Graves, “The Jail’s a Fine School” stands as an important document of an enduring mystery in Greek music, and a high standard for what was once a truly subversive art form.

The work uses the language of the Ainu people, one of the few tribes left in Japan, and yet, through the use of contemporary music, especially reggae-like sound processing, it dances on the cutting edge of NEW WORLD MUSIC, which is still proliferating around the world today.

An unbelievable collection of dynamic Cambodian music recorded between the 1960s and the 1990s, both in Cambodia and in the United States. A truly Khmer blend of folk and pop stylings - Cha-Cha Psychedelia, Phase-shifting Rock, sultry circle dance standards, pulsing Cambodian new wave, haunted ballads, musical comedy sketches, Easy-Listening numbers and raw instrumental grooves presented in an eclectic variety of production techniques. Male and female vocalists share the spotlight, embellished by roller rink organ solos, raunchy guitar leads and MIDI defying synthesizers. Culled from over 150 ageing cassettes found at the Asian Branch of the Oakland Public Library in California, these recordings showcase a pre and post holocaust Cambodian musical lineage that can't be ignored.

Uwalmassa shape their relationship with various forms of musical heritage into technical and stylish forms on Malar, marrying acoustic sonics with a contemporary outlook that reflects their Indonesian identity; evolving, mutating, and scavenging traditions to draw parallels to dance music, and to test the adaptability and flexibility of those sounds. Here the collective go dark and deep in their first album-length collaboration with Mana, casting long shadows and moving snake style at speed across nine tracks. Using a mix of synthetic and acoustic instruments - the texture of Malar feels enigmatic, occasionally industrial, and the result magical in its mystery and fluctuating impact. Uwalmassa is the name with which DIVISI62, arts & music collective from Jakarta, Indonesia, perform and produce music.

早くも第2弾が登場です！今回は女性アーティストがメインとのこと。最早誰からも忘れ去られた、浮世離れしてうっとりとさせられる別世界的室内楽ジャズ！60年代に南米エクアドル・キトで活動していた知られざるスイートスポット的レーベル〈Caife〉に残された魅力的なカタログを専門家によるガイドのもと一挙24曲紹介したコンピレーション・アルバムが〈Honest Jon's〉から登場。空前のオイル・ブームとクンビアなど国外から流入する音楽スタイルに押し流される前、エクアドルのムジカ・ナショナルの黄金時代と呼ばれた時期に残された、土着とメスチーソの伝統が融合した痛々しいまでに美しく幻想的にしてユートピア的な音楽の数々を捉えた傑作コンピ！これはまさしく未知のゾーンです。豪華フルサイズ&フルカラー・ブックレットが付属。

Raja Kirik is Indonesian duo Yennu Ariendra and J. Mo'ong Santoso Pribadi, two radical artists who draw on Java's rich cultural traditions and its history of struggle against colonial oppression to create music that surprises, challenges and educates in equal measure. They root their music in the sound of shamanic trance dances, specifically the Jaranan, or Jathilan, a Hindu-Buddhist-era dance from the 11th Century that symbolizes the ways common people could overcome their rulers using evasion and agility. "Rampokan" is Ariendra and Pribadi's second album, originally released by cult Indonesian label 'Yes No Wave' in June 2020, and now presented in a remastered edition with an additional previously unreleased track in a limited double vinyl edition. The album is inspired by centuries of cultural resistance in Java. When Dutch traders established a colonial presence on the island at the end of the 16th Century, the Javanese used traditional dances to express their opposition. Raja Kirik express this historical friction with a mind-bending fusion of traditional Indonesian percussion, digital noise and over-driven Dutch hard-style. The album roots itself in the stage of Jaranan performance where the players become possessed, connecting to their subconscious mind and the body's collective memory and trauma. Ariendra and Pribadi reflect this by dousing evocative microtonal clanks from their arsenal of home-made instruments in expertly designed digital noise, and stringing the disparate elements together with the oppressive pneumatic pressure of high-BPM, warehouse-ready kick drums. Like the trance dances that inspired them, these tracks evolve and cycle from misery to ecstasy, spinning distinctive narratives with rhythm, texture and repetition. The album title is taken from "Rampokan Macan", a colonial-era arena battle between spearmen, criminals and wild animals. The ceremonial fights were provided to illustrate the strength of the Javanese Royal Kingdoms in the face of the Dutch East Indies government; Raja Kirik's sophomore album is a similarly lavish display, offering a charged confrontation of IDM, hard dance music and traditional sounds that spits fire into the face of tyranny. Of course, it is a recommended ritual trance / industrial picture scroll for fans around Gabber Modus Operandi and Senyawa!

Nahawa Doumbia is one of Mali's defining vocalists of the last four decades. Her work journeys through progressive stages of musical evolution and sonic vogues, making it hard to summarize or even comprehend. She's played a part in popular music since the late ‘70s, as her version of Wassoulou music developed from vocals-and-guitar duo into full-scale touring bands packing a bombastic, electrified punch. As Doumbia puts it, "My music has changed multiple times to this day…The more I progressed in my musical career, the more instruments I have had accompany my songs."


La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1 looks back to the beginning of Doumbia’s long career, when her voice was remarkably strong yet still developing. This was before she added bass and percussion, and finally the electric guitar and synths for which she became known in recent years.


She'd been singing traditional music since her early teens in Bougouni. Doumbia performed with cultural troupes throughout her youth and gained the notice of Radio Mali officials who entered her in a Radio France International contest, Découverte 81 á Dakar, which she won. Whether she knew it or not, as a young lady from a town many hours from Mali’s capital Bamako, she was destined for a worldwide touring career at the vanguard of Malian popular music.


Released in 1981 by the excellent Côte d’Ivoire-based AS Records, the singer was barely 20 years old when it was recorded. She was accompanied by her future husband N’Gou Bagayoko on acoustic guitar, whose style echoes the nimble runs of traditional kamele n’goni players. The stark simplicity of this highly intimate recording—the audible room acoustics, the occasionally in-the-red vocals—do not obscure the mature strength of her voice. On Vol 1 Doumbia performs her songs with the tenacity and hunger of a young artist on the cusp.

"When I think about it, first, I am reminded of how long ago it was. It's one of the albums that I love most because it reminds me of my youth. I was so young and my voice was light and joyful. I still listen to some of those songs today. I am really proud of that first album because that’s where it all began. It shows me how far I’ve come in my personal and artistic life; it gives me the courage I need to keep going forward, and makes me appreciate all the years of dedication and hard work I put into my musical career.

"
These early songs are rhythmically built around Bagayoko's sensitive guitar, as his fingers brush the fretboard and gently outline the melodies. Although this record predates the singer’s use of percussion, the driving skeletal didadi rhythm is apparent in the songs. Later albums like Vol 3 further prioritize her hometown didadi beat and the result made her famous.

Recorded in New York 1959. Impressive session led jointly by Herbie Mann and John Rae. On side A, the group incessantly shifts from soft vibes-and-flute jazz to percussion-heavy Afro-Cuban rhythms to classic "Blue-Note" hard bop. Side B is the African Suite, a percussive trip across the Sahara.

Kalita are excited to unveil the first ever reissue of one of – if not the – strongest South African kwaito/bubblegum albums in existence, Jivaro’s 1989 masterpiece ‘Saturday Fever’. Originally released on Maurice Horwitz’s Music Team label at the turn of the decade, the album features various heavy hitting tracks that perfectly encapsulate the post-boogie/proto-house movement that had taken over the country’s airwaves and clubs at the time. Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, this definitive release by Kalita is a truly essential piece of musical history and one sure to set any discerning dance floor on fire.

The album also includes the new age anthem "O Sol Na Janela" from "Outro Tempo", one of Music From Memory's flagship compilations of Brazilian obscure electronic music. He was also a member of Carmo, a prestigious label that Egberto Gismonti ran under ECM. The original "Caminho Do Interior" was sold for over 30,000 and now it's been reissued in a deluxe edition. A long-awaited analog reissue! This is another important reissue in the current trend of reevaluating Brazilian obscure music. This is a divine realm of spirituality and folklore. A true miracle piece, full of acoustic nourishment, stewing jazz, bossa nova, and even classical music! Gismonti also makes a guest appearance. The bonus track is "Idade Média" from the extremely rare 7" "Quase Meio Dia / Idade Média" from 1974. 180G heavyweight vinyl & remastered. A must have for Carmo fans. Highly recommended for all Balearic and New Age fans!

Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan by Nashenas In Wishlist view supported by Frank Schmidtsdorff thumbnail Michał Wieczorek thumbnail James Endeacott thumbnail Dirk Damaschun thumbnail lkrory21 thumbnail midi53 thumbnail rufdog thumbnail Franz thumbnail Sinya thumbnail Mark van Dijk thumbnail Patrick Principe thumbnail phillip nerestan thumbnail Darius Butkus thumbnail Faisal Jewell thumbnail ernestlavventura thumbnail kabul_qasem thumbnail samuel stackhouse thumbnail twhigg thumbnail Eli Nosdivad thumbnail justinefr thumbnail talbg thumbnail Flower Had a Thorn 05:17 / 07:42 Record/Vinyl + Digital Album package image package image A1 The Way I Love My Beloved A2 Your Sorrow Is Killing Me A3 Flower Had A Thorn B1 I Am Happy Alone B2 Life Is A Heavy Burden B3 O Beloved, The Sorrow Of Your Love Destroyed Me B4 The Author Of Destiny Includes digital pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. shipping out on or around February 24, 2022 €18 EUR Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album package image 1. The Way I Love My Beloved 2. Your Sorrow Is Killing Me 3. Flower Had A Thorn 4. I Am Happy Alone 5. Life Is A Heavy Burden 6. O Beloved, The Sorrow Of Your Love Destroyed Me 7. The Author Of Destiny Includes digital pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. shipping out on or around February 24, 2022 €12 EUR or more Streaming + Download Pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. releases February 24, 2022 €11 EUR or more 1. The Way I Love My Beloved 2. Your Sorrow Is Killing Me 3. Flower Had a Thorn 07:42 info buy track 4. I Am Happy Alone 5. Life Is a Heavy Burden 6. O Beloved, The Sorrow of Your Love Destroyed Me 7. The Author of Destiny about Strut present the first compilation of legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, recorded at the Radio Afghanistan Studios and later released on singles by the Royal label in Iran. Nashenas first made his move towards music aged 16 in 1951 when he approached Afghanistan’s national radio station, Radio Kabul, with an idea for a broadcast and, impressed with his language skills, they offered him a permanent job. “I was in close contact with some of the big names in Afghan music like Jalil Zaland,” Nashenas explains. “My father had a gramophone and we listened to other singers like Ustad Qasim Khan and Kundan Lal Saigal.” After unsuccessful initial forays into singing sessions for the station, he honed his skills as a writer, singer and musician, playing the harmonium. Inspired by a movie he had seen at the cinema, Nashenas wrote a new poem and sang on air again after the evening news, using the name ‘Nashenas’ (meaning ‘unknown’) for the first time. Following a wave of positive feedback from the public, he was given a new weekend slot and built his reputation through film song interpretations, famous poems set to music and his own compositions sung in Dari and Pashto. Nashenas would witness turbulent times as Afghanistan found itself caught up in the Cold War and the early ‘90s civil war until it became too dangerous to stay in the country. Through a friend in the U.N., he was able to seek asylum for himself and his family and take up residence in London, continuing to work as a musician and giving concerts globally.

EM Records again shines the spotlight on legendary Thai producer Surin Phaksiri in this second edition of his classic productions from the 1960s-80s. The first edition, released in 2019, focused on his innovative productions in the luk thung (*1) style. This 2022 release features his stellar, glowing molam (*2) gems from the 60s-80s, drawn mainly from his golden era in the late 70s and early 80s. Surin Phaksiri is a highly esteemed figure in Thai music, rooted deeply in his native region of Isan in northeast Thailand, a producer with a deep respect for the traditional artistry of his culture, yet always moving forward, looking outward, listening ahead. The molam style of Thai music showcases the voice; indeed, the genre’s name means “expert singer”, and Thailand is blessed with an abundance of experts, singers with amazing control, grace, vitality and finesse. This collection of 22 songs (18 only for digital download) features 15 singers, ranging from venerated legends to unjustly unheralded masters of the art. These songs were recorded and released after the era of the 7-inch single; with the advent of the cassette boom in Thai music, most producers adopted a quantity-over-quality conveyer belt production style, churning out soundalike material to fill the expanded length of cassette tape. Phaksiri resisted these tides and continued to work with a single-song mindset, tailoring each production’s instrumentation and arrangement to precisely fit each singer and song. This care and integrity can be clearly heard in this sweetly groovy collection. These gems, originally released on 7-inch vinyl, are all first-time official reissues, a project years in the making. Compiled by Soi48, who also provide liner notes. Cover art by Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48). 

Footnotes: 
1) Luk thung: A musical genre whose name means ʻcountry personʼs songʼ or ʻchildren of the fieldʼ . The name became established in the latter half of the 1960s and now has the status of a national genre of popular song unique to Thailand. The lyrics of luk thung songs deal mainly with the rural idyll, comparisons between the city and the countryside, life in the big city and current affairs. There are certain typical traits to the music, but no official musical form. 

2) Molam: "mo" is an expert and "lam" is a kind of performance art where the artist tells a story using tonal inflexions. In other words, the term molam refers to both the singer and art form. Molam pieces are not strictly speaking "songs". 

A double LP with 42 pages of full color 12" X 12" liner notes bound into a gatefold LP with a shiny silver foil front cover. Printed inner sleeves and 180 gram vinyl. "Strange World" is a compilation of cosmic and earthly doo wop and R&B from Jamaica and America. The songs are mostly sparse, beautiful and spacey. Features unreleased demos as well as hard to find songs found only on 45's from the 1950's. The liner notes feature unseen photos and cosmic art. Pyramid Records is a new label focusing on deluxe very small pressings. The goal is to make "dream records" that speak of an alter destiny better than what we got going these days.

Prog Rock & Obscure Groove from Indonesia...! Djauhar Zaharsjah Fachruddin Roesli (1951-2004) was a singer-songwriter from Bandung, Indonesia, who played rock and blues in his early years, dreamed of becoming a writer like his grandfather, the famous writer Marah Roesli, and left behind many unpublished poems, and even wrote acoustic protest songs inspired by Bob Dylan. Djauhar Zaharsjah Fachruddin Roesli (1951-2004), a singer-songwriter from Bandung, Indonesia, who even wrote acoustic protest songs inspired by Bob Dylan. This is a miraculous reissue of a 1976 cassette album by Harry Roesli, the legendary rock band he led!

After releasing an album with the band, he studied at the Jakarta Art Educational Institute and went on to the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. After returning to Indonesia, he started an avant-garde project that mixed the sounds of Xenakis, Cage, and Stockhausen with the poetry of Indonesian writer Yudhistira ANM Masardi. The group's activities have been multifaceted, including international performances in collaboration with such luminaries as novelist Putu Wijaya and filmmaker/actor Nano Riantiarno. With nearly 20 performers, the album is a miraculous blend of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, and other sounds with Indonesia's unique grooves, using not only traditional Indonesian instruments such as gamelan and choir, but also western instruments such as synthesizer and guitar. It's a miraculous balance of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, and unique Indonesian grooves!

Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes it’s ESSENTIAL compilation from 1970’s Egypt. Modal instrumental tracks from Baligh Hamdi - one of the most important Arabic composers of the 20th Century (writing for legends Umm Kalthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah, Warda, and many others). Features his legendary group the “Diamond Orchestra” with Omar Khorshid on guitar, Magdi al-Husseini on organ, Samir Sourour on saxophone, and Faruq Salama on accordion. All of these musicians were discovered and recruited by Hamdi to interpret his vision of a modernized, hybrid Arabic music. Under Hamdi’s direction, this orchestra charted a new melodic direction and created a new musical language. This compilation is culled from a specific era of Hamdi’s long career, a decade where he fully realized an international music which incorporated beat driven Eastern tinged jazz, theremin draped orchestral noir, tracks that feature searing guitar solos from none other than Omar Khorshid, and a selection of buzzing, sitar driven, Indo-Arabic tracks establishing a meeting of mid-east and eastern psychedelic exotica, and a vision that created some of the hippest music coming out of the Middle East from the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s.

Outernational Sounds very proudly Presents The Mallory-Hall Band "Song of Soweto" & "The Last Special". Limited, fully licensed digital and vinyl reissues of two crucial South African sessions led by Charles Mallory and Al Hall, Jnr., featuring Kirk Lightsey, Marshall Royal, Rudolph Johnson, Billy Brooks and more! Essential companion pieces to Kirk Lightsey’s legendary ‘Habiba’. Featuring tracks: Song Of Soweto: Side A – ‘Song of Soweto’, ‘Hamba Samba’; Side B – ‘Cape Town Blues’, ‘Moroka Rock’, ‘The African Night’ The Last Special: Side A - ‘The Last Special’, ‘Princess of Joh’Burg’; Side B - ‘Amafu (Clouds)’, ‘Blue Mabone’ Never released outside South Africa, and out of print since 1974, Outernational Sounds presents two long-lost Johannesburg sessions from the Mallory-Hall Band – an all-star review of West Coast jazz stars who toured apartheid South Africa in the mid-1970s. Sanifu Al Hall, Jnr. is a musician’s musician. During a storied career stretching across six decades, Hall has recorded with the greats of the music including Freddie Hubbard, Doug Carn, and Johnny Hammond, and leads his own Cosmos Dwellerz Arkestra. But until recent years, the only records on which he had appeared as leader were a brace of rich, funky LPs, Song Of Soweto and The Last Special, issued only in South Africa under the moniker of The Mallory-Hall Band (named for Hall and his co-leader, guitarist Charles Mallory – musical director for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mallory was conductor for Dusty Springfield touring bands, and had worked with John Lee Hooker, Stevie Wonder, and many others). Neither LP had any wider release, and both have remained out of print since 1974. How did a young stalwart of the Los Angeles jazz scene end up in a recording studio in apartheid South Africa? Al Hall, Jnr. and Charles Mallory had arrived in South Africa as part of the touring band for the singer Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. He never made it big in the US, but in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in southern Africa, and 1974 he hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – Hall and Mallory were part of the line-up, alongside Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, pianist Kirk Lightsey, tenorist Rudolph Johnson, drummer Billy Brooks, and Marshall Royal, musical director of the Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of the group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba was the first (reissued as Outernational Sounds OTR.013), and it was followed by two crucial sessions led by Hall and Mallory – Song of Soweto and The Last Special, issued on the local IRC imprint. Visiting apartheid South Africa in 1974 was a controversial choice for any artist. Numerous artistic and cultural bodies around the world had already announced that their members would boycott the country in solidarity with the struggle against apartheid, and working in South Africa was severely frowned on by anti-apartheid activists everywhere. For a Black band, touring the country to play to mostly white audiences could have been seen by many both inside and outside South Africa as a questionable decision. ‘It was a batch of mixed reactions when I choose to visit South Africa whilst apartheid policies were in place,’ Hall recalls. ‘To me the choice was a simple one – “I wanna see for myself!” I also wanted to be a part of breaking down racial barriers, having been down some of the same roads in my own country.’ The albums were recorded by a twelve-piece band at Johannesburg’s Video Sounds Studios in December 1974, and feature the legendary pianist Kirk Lightsey, Black Jazz recording artist Rudolph Johnson, and the rest of the touring band. Both records are superbly arranged slabs of peak 1970s funky big band soul jazz, with tasteful Latin inflections and more than a nod to South Africa’s upful township jazz sound. They are the sonic traces left by a seasoned African American band who were touring South Africa in the depths of the apartheid era, and who immediately moved beyond the segregated hotels and ballrooms to build links with local South African players and audiences. Never previously available outside South Africa, Outernational Sounds’ new editions of Song of Soweto and The Last Special (alongside our edition of Kirk Lightsey’s Habiba) represents the first time these albums have been in print for nearly fifty years. Fully licensed from Gallo Records and pressed at Pallas in Germany from Gallo’s original masters, they feature new sleeve notes from Francis Gooding (The Wire) based on interviews with Al Hall, Jnr., and a reminiscence from pianist Kirk Lightsey.