World / Traditional / India

Media Condition: EX  Sleeve Condition: VG

A Khayal Patdeepki - Dekho Ri Ek Jogi - Vilambit : Ektaal / More Anganwa Aao Ji Maharaj - Drut : Tritaal
B khayal Bageshwari Bahar - ja re ja re kagwa ja - Vilambit : Ektaal / ritu basant men apni umang son - Drut : Tritaal

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A1 Raga : Miyan Ki Todi = राग मियाँ की तोडी
A2 Raga : Gara Kanda = राग गारा कानडा

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A Jugalbandi : Sarangi & Flute - Raga Maru Behag : Tritaal
B1 Flute Solo : Raga Gorakh Kalyan : Jhaptaal
B2 Sarangi Solo : Raga Ras - Mohini Taal Roopak

Media Condition: EX  Sleeve Condition: EX

A Raga Gujari Todi - Vilambit Teen Taal,Drut Teen Taal
B1 Raga Lalat - Vocal And Instrumental - Teen Taal
B2 Raga Bhairavi - Keherwa

Media Condition: VG+  Sleeve Condition: VG

A Raga Saraswati - Alap Vilambit Gat Tala Teen Taal, Drut Gat Taal Teentaal
B1 Raga Marubihag - Tala Teentaal
B2 Raga Pilu Thumri - Tala Deepchandi

Media Condition: EX+  Sleeve Condition: EX

A Raga Chander Bhankar - Alap
B Raga Chandar Bhankar - Gat In Teen Taal

Mohamed M. Kooshin was one of a rarified group in Somali music, a master of the kaban who followed in the footsteps of the legendary players of the kaban such as Qarshe, Hudeydi, and Omar Dhuule. Kooshin was the youngest member of Somalia's esteemed national music group Waaberi before leaving Somalia in the early 1990’s and moving to Toronto, Canada. In Canada Kooshin produced a string of releases for Waberi Studio and Arts, collaborating with Sahro Ahmed , writing and recorded out of his home studio. Kooshin passed away on December 27th 2018 leaving behind a legacy of beautiful music and loving fans across the global Somali diaspora. 

Kooshin played the the kaban which has a special place in Somali music. It was a foreign instrument that, upon its arrival to Somalia in the 1940’s, became the centre of the immensely popular style of music known as qaraami. For many Somali music fans the sound of qaraami — poetic lyrics accompanied by the sparse sounds of the kaban and bongo drums — is the quintessential Somali sound. 

A joint release with Wait And See from Toronto, Canada and the first in a series of Somali recordings from Toronto.

Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered.

The LP, cassette & digital version we now present is intended as an immersive entry into this music: gnarled and virtuosic electric guitars weave hypnotically throughout melismatic sung poetry and exclamations, pulsing hand drums, party chatter, buzzing rigged desert sound systems, and all manner of the ambient sounds of Nouakchott wedded to oversaturated cassette in all its swirling, breathing, psychedelic glory. Operating entirely outside of any local recording industry, these songs were collected from bootleg tape stalls, wedding souveniers, and networks of musicians, expertly curated, researched and produced by Matthew Lavoie.

Drawing from the deep well of Mauritanian classical music, the gamut of musical modes and the tidinitt lute repertoire are transposed to the electric guitar - often with frets removed or additional frets installed, “heavy metal” distortion pedals and phasers built into guitar bodies, blurring the lines between Haratine and Beydane musical cultures, the ancient and the futuristic. At times transcendent and transfixing, and conversely a furious and cascading intensity that commands jaw-dropping attention.

Brazilian music at it's finest! 2x7" set of four beautiful Piry Reis recordings from the 70s and 80s. Disc one is a reissue of his 1975 single on Som Livre, 'Heroi Moderno', which features the highly sought after 7inch version of 'Cisplatina' on the flip. The second disc holds the rare cuts 'Reza Brava' (1970) & 'Céu De Manágua' (1984). The project came together with the blessing of Piry Reis himself, and is released on the sub-label of Rush Hour recordings, New Dawn. Artwork by Amsterdam's Sekan with a touch by Megin Hayden. New Dawn, set up for less electronic but equally adventurous releases by artists we love.

This collaboration by Tokyo producers/musicians Shintaro Sakamoto and VIDEOTAPEMUSIC is the first of two EM Records 12-inch vinyl-only “tribute releases” in support of the film “Bangkok Nites”, produced by Kuzoku. Based on samples from Dao Bandon, Hongthong Dao-udon, Phairin Phonphibun, Thailand and Tokyo dreamworlds meet in these songs.

1985 was one of the most important years in Brazil's recent history, when the country was freed from more than 20 years of military dictatorship. The youth took the lead and finally Brazil entered the world show business circuit with Rock In Rio festival. But the real revolution was happening in the underground and this record is a proof of that.
One of the people in charge was the musician, composer, poet, writer, scriptwriter and speaker from Rio de Janeiro Ronaldo Tapajós, who was always involved with experimental and avant-garde music. His trajectory begins in the mythical 1968, when, as part of the the duo Rô and Carlinhos, he released an emblematic single containing the song “O Gigante” - perhaps the first Brazilian bad trip recorded on vinyl and a shrewd criticism of the society's “square” habits.

Cinema was an experimental and avant-garde piece released in early 1985. In many ways it’s an example of the new Brazil that was reborning after 21 years of darkness under Military Dictatorship. Musically, it was a pioneer album for Brazilian music, mixing acoustic and synthetic sounds.
This rare adventure in Brazilian music was released independently in 1985, financed by the artists themselves. The original small press sold-out, belonging now to record collectors around the planet. For the first time Cinema is re-released on vinyl, with two extra and unreleased tracks found after decades.
Remastered from the original tapes, this reissue includes reproduction of the original graphic art, new testimonials from the four members of the project and a long article signed by Bento Araujo, author of the book series Lindo Sonho Delirante, which investigates audacious and fearless music created in the Brazilian underground.
According to Cinema’s LP press release: “in the era of visual music, Cinema is sound”. In terms of sound, listening to this album feels like diving into an intriguing anguish of trying to understand how the relationship between technology available at that time (1983-1984) and the more organic instruments happened, this duality between synthesizers/effects with percussion, woodwind instruments, piano and clarinet. In other words: how was the coexistence between the synthetic and the acoustic? This paradox seems to seduce collectors, DJs and enthusiasts of Brazilian music from the 80's around the world.
This fictional soundtrack has a dark mood, as if a fog of dark and ambient music insisted on staying on top of cheerful patterns of Afro-Brazilian percussion, or conceptual synth pop.

We've stocked up on some of "Actuel" series from BYG, the legendary catalog in the history of free jazz! This is a masterpiece of Archie Shepp's performance recorded live at the Panafrican Festival, a pan-African cultural festival held in Algiers, Algeria in July 1969. The sound is still overwhelming.... This legendary album was recorded over two days from July 29th to 30th with Dave Burrell, Alan Silva, Sunny Murray, and local musicians from North Africa. This is a legendary album recorded over two days from July 29th to 30th. It is an amazing trance music with a spiritual horn section blowing in response to psychedelic Jajuka ritual music.

Dreamy instrumental acoustic folk guitar from Fouta Toro in Northern Senegal. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar with intricate syncopation, a technique inspired by the four-string hoddu, with melodies that go back centuries, from the Almoravid dynasty to the Mali Empire. In contrast to the familiar desert blues, Siftorde highlights a very distinct and underrepresented style of Sahelian guitar. Guitarist, photographer, visual artist, and folklorist Tidiane Thiam hails from Podor, a small riverside town in the far North of Senegal. A self-taught musician who learned guitar from late-night radio broadcasts, Tidiane is a veritable encyclopedia of Sahel folklore. Borrowing from this repertoire, he adapts his own technique of fingerstyle guitar, crafting serene pieces imbued with emotive reflection. Recorded at night on a single microphone at home in Podor, and set against the backdrop of crickets, the recordings on Siftorde are stripped down and informal, without any pretense of a studio recording. The effect is deeply personal and intimate. The album’s title, translated by Tidiane in four languages, means ‘Remember’ - a nostalgic ode to the temporality of the recording, and a plea for the songs themselves, whose survival demands they not be forgotten.

A masterpiece by Brij Bhushan Kabra, the master of Hindustani classical music on guitar! In India, the guitar was introduced by Hawaiian musicians in the 1920s, and later became widely popular in popular music and film music. He studied under Ali Akbar Khan, who deepened his knowledge of the instrument, and his music has a classical depth as well as a calm, relaxed mood and lightness. This may be due to the fact that the guitar is free from the weight of continuous performance tradition. The method of playing the guitar is also unconventional, as it is played horizontally on the lap, and I think there is a fascination when one follows one's own inner desires and creates something that has never been done before. I recommend this album to anyone who loves Indian music and guitar, or anyone who just wants to relax and unwind. It has been newly remastered and is only available in one pressing, so don't miss it. This is the original 1982 release with the world famous tabla player Zakir Hussain.

A masterpiece by Brij Bhushan Kabra, the master of Hindustani classical music on guitar! In India, the guitar was introduced by Hawaiian musicians in the 1920s, and later became widely popular in popular music and film music. He studied under Ali Akbar Khan, who deepened his knowledge of the instrument, and his music has a classical depth as well as a calm, relaxed mood and lightness. This may be due to the fact that the guitar is free from the weight of continuous performance tradition. The method of playing the guitar is also unconventional, as it is played horizontally on the lap, and I think there is a fascination when one follows one's own inner desires and creates something that has never been done before. I recommend this album to anyone who loves Indian music and guitar, or anyone who just wants to relax and unwind. It has been newly remastered and is only available in one pressing, so don't miss it. This one, Lure of the Desert, is an exploration of the folk music of Rajasthan. The hypnotic rhythms and meandering guitar ragas create a desert-like trance world.

A masterpiece by Brij Bhushan Kabra, the master of Hindustani classical music on guitar! In India, the guitar was introduced by Hawaiian musicians in the 1920s, and later became widely popular in popular music and film music. He studied under Ali Akbar Khan, who deepened his knowledge of the instrument, and his music has a classical depth as well as a calm, relaxed mood and lightness. This may be due to the fact that the guitar is free from the weight of continuous performance tradition. The method of playing the guitar is also unconventional, as it is played horizontally on the lap, and I think there is a fascination when one follows one's own inner desires and creates something that has never been done before. I recommend this album to anyone who loves Indian music and guitar, or anyone who just wants to relax and unwind. It has been newly remastered and is only available in one pressing, so don't miss it. This "Scaling New Horizons With Guitar" was released in 1976 and is considered to be one of Kabra's masterpieces.

From London, UK, comes a new star in the Dub world! Electro-funk producer Lord Tusk's reggae dub name, Sons of Simeon, has finally released his killer debut! The tenth release from Riddim Chango is the debut 10" single from London, UK-based producer Lord Tusk's reggae dub label Sons of Simeon. Funkin Even's Apron label and John Rust's Levels label, as well as working with legendary US MC Mos Def on an album and releasing a Vaporwave album under the name Sun Runners, Lord Tusk is known as a big sound system fan. He is also known to be a big sound system fan. Lord Tusk's killer Dub/Stepper was mastered at Transition Studios, known for their work with DMZ. The sound of the sound system is guaranteed stable!

Until Now, Jilala has been a much sought-after phantom in relation to their better-known musical and spiritual contemporaries, The Master Musicians of Jajouka. Culled from three and a half hours of 1965 recordings by writers/artists/poets Brion Gysin and Paul Bowles, the first batch of Jilala recordings were released on a 1965 LP that was scarce even upon its initial release. The second batch of recordings, which this LP has drawn from, came in the form of a CD by Baraka Foundation in 1998, which is also now long out of print.

The Jilala brotherhood — like the better-known Jajouka culture — has pre-Islamic roots in Sufi mysticism that span across northern Africa from Morocco to India. Jilala shares the kinds of small, portable instruments historically favored by nomadic cultures. Even among the more ardent aficionados of “world music” these recordings have seldom been heard.

In the original liner notes Ira Cohen provides a breakdown of the Jilala ensemble: “The instruments used are the shebaba, a long transversal cane flute, which leads the way; the bendir, a handheld drum resembling a tambourine without cymbals; and the karkabat which is a double castanet made of metal. On this record, there are usually three flutes, six drums and one pair of castanets.” In conjunction with the qraqaba – an iron analog to the wooden castanets featured heavily in the Flamenco music of the Roma people that also flourished over the centuries mere miles to the north in southern Spain.

These bendir drums provide a range very similar to that covered in contemporary popular music by the bass drum, snare, and cymbals that make up a standard drum kit. The Trance-inducing grooves were major influences on such bands as Led Zeppelin, Agitation Free, Can and the Rolling Stones. The collective rhythms are often reminiscent of early hip-hop.

"Nice dub by Sly & Robbie of their Master Of Ceremony album. A Bunny 'Striker' Lee production. 1978"

The Beaters – Harari was released in 1975. After changing their name, Harari went into the studio late in 1976 to record their follow-up, Rufaro / Happiness. In 1976 they were voted South Africa’s top instrumental group and were in high demand at concert venues across the country. 

Comprising former schoolmates guitarist and singer Selby Ntuli, bassist Alec Khaoli, lead guitarist Monty Ndimande and drummer Sipho Mabuse, the group had come a long way from playing American-styled instrumental soul in the late sixties to delivering two Afro-rock masterpieces. 

Before these two albums the Beaters had been disciples of ‘Soweto Soul’ – an explosion of township bands drawing on American soul and inspired by the assertive image of Stax and Motown’s Black artists. The Beaters supported Percy Sledge on his 1970 South African tour (and later Timmy Thomas, Brook Benton and Wilson Pickett). But their watershed moment was their three month tour of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where they were inspired by the strengthening independence struggle and musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo who were turning to African influences. On their return, the neat Nehru jackets that had been the band’s earliest stage wear were replaced by dashikis and Afros. 

“In Harari we rediscovered our African-ness, the infectious rhythms and music of the continent. We came back home inspired! We were overhauling ourselves into dashiki-clad musicians who were Black Power saluting and so on.” Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, talking of the band’s time spent on tour in the (then) Rhodesian township from where they took their name. As well as expressing confident African politics, Alec Khaoli recalled, they pioneered by demonstrating that such messages could also be carried by “...happy music. During apartheid times we made people laugh and dance when things weren’t looking good.” 

The two albums capture the band on the cusp of this transition. One the first album Harari, Inhlupeko Iphelile, Push It On and Thiba Kamoo immediately signal the new Afro-centric fusion of rock, funk and indigenous influences. Amercian soul pop is not forgotten with Love, Love, Love and, helped along by Kippie Moeketsi and Pat Matshikiza a bump-jive workout What’s Happening concludes the album. The second album Rufaro pushes the African identity and fusion further, with key tracks Oya Kai (Where are you going?), Musikana and Uzulu whilst the more pop-styled Rufaro and Afro-Gas point to where Harari were headed to in years to come. The popularity and sales generated by these two classic albums saw them signed by Gallo and release just two more albums with the original line-up before the untimely death of Selby Ntuli in 1978. Whilst they went on to greater success, even landing a song in the US Billboard Disco Hot 100 in 1982, it was never the same again. 

“Harari’s music still speaks directly to one of my goals as a younger artist: to express myself as an African without pretending that I don’t have all these other musical elements – classical, jazz, house – inside me.” (Thandi Ntuli, niece of Selby Ntuli).

The gold standard for Hawaiian lounge miracles! This is the first analog reissue of Martin Denny's 1959 album "Hypnotique", the undisputed king of exotic fantasy music! Once you drop the needle, you'll be transported to another world... this record fully showcases space age music overflowing with imaginary appeal, armed with dripping melancholy and an exotic and fantastic mood. Limited edition of 1000 copies.

Seminal Japanese jazz album from 1971. Journeys through jazz fusion, soul and big band moods. Impossible to obtain in its original format, these days. Hozan Yamamoto was recognised as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 2002. This highly sought-after album from the Japanese wood flute player is more upbeat and swinging than some of his other records. The big band he recorded this album with (Sharps & Flats) played a big part in the genesis of the album’s groove. Forming in 1951, they helped to make jazz popular in Japan after World War II. Yamamoto's flute lines weave over the heavy brass sound and groove, creating an MPS label blending of funky jazz and Japanese vibes. The closest comparison would be Dorothy Ashby's grooviest albums for Chess / Cadet – substituting Yamamoto’s flute for the harp. Licensed courtesy of Universal Music Group Limited.

This is an analog reissue of the 1956 album "Exotica" by Martin Denny, the undisputed king of exotic fantasy music! Once you drop the needle, you're transported to another world... A monumental album that launched Denny's 30-year career and opened up a whole new genre of exotica music! As the tropical mood from the iconic artwork suggests, the album showcases the full range of fantastic space-age sounds that reek of exoticism and imaginary charm.

The singular expressions of music across Indonesia are seemingly limitless, though few are as dynamic and hold such a colorful history as jaipongan of West Java. The form of jaipongan we know today was born from the fields of Java where an early form of music called ketuk-tilu echoed over fields during harvest times. Known for intense and complex drumming coordinated with equally dynamic solo female dancing, ketuk-tilu performances included a rebab (a small upright bowed instrument), a gong, and ketuk-tilu (“three kettle gongs”). Though the original performance context of this music revolved around planting and harvesting rituals, with the singer accepting male dancing partners, over time ketuk-tilu became an outlet for village life expressing fertility, sensuality, eroticism, and, at times, socially accepted prostitution. Activities in the first half of the twentieth century that were best suited amongst the elements of harvest and outside of urban criticism.

Fast forward to 1961, the year the Indonesian government placed a ban on Western music, most specifically rock and roll, ostensibly to revive the traditional arts and have the country refocus on Indonesian ideals. Though, this attempt to reclaim, and in many ways conservatize, musical output had an unexpected musical outcome. In the early 70s the composer and choreographer Gugum Gumbira (1945-2020) took it upon himself to retrofit and creatively expand the core elements of ketuk-tilu into a contemporary form. One that would harness ketuk-tilu’s core dynamics and nod to the government’s pressure to revive traditional forms, while creating a fresh and socially acceptable art form where enticing movements, intimate topics and just the right degree sensuality had a collective musical expression. Born was jaipongan.

Musically, Gumbira added in the gamelan thereby augmenting the overall instrumentation especially the drums. Importantly, he brought a new and very focused emphasis to the role of the singer allowing them to concentrate solely on their voices opposed to dancing as well. These voices weren’t there to narrate upper class lifestyles or Western flavored ideals (and colonial mentalities in general), but the worldview and woes of the common people of West Java. Intimacy, love, romance, money, working with the land, life’s daily struggles and the processes of the natural world were common themes in jaipongan that ignited the hearts of the people and directly spoke to both the young and old. The two timeless voices that would define the genre and fuel it to echo out across the globe were Idjah Hadjijah, featured here, and Gugum’s wife, Euis Komariah (1949-2011), two nationally cherished voices that catapulted the genre into the sensual, elegant and other-wordly.

Movement-wise, Gumbira included some of the original sensual moves of ketuk-tilu and intertwined them with movements based on the popular martial art called pencack silat. With just enough new and just enough old, and just enough safe and just enough bold, men and women danced together in public in ways never allowed before. The genre and its performances were an oasis for the optimal amount of controlled intimacy and sexual nuance to be socially acceptable. Jaipongan was embraced by a country longing for new societal norms and creative expressions.

All these elements combined rooted Jaipongan in the hearts of West Java and set the genre on fire. Gumbira established his own studio, Jugala studio in the city of Bandung, where a cast of West Java’s best players resided. This record, as well as hundreds more that have defined music in West Java of every style, were recorded there. Radio, a booming cassette industry, and live performances of jaipongan flooded the country, so much so that the government's attempts to reel it in were futile. Jaipongan had tapped into the hearts, daily worldview, airwaves and clubs of West Java and wasn’t going anywhere. And by listening here, it’s still as alive as ever.