***Andean party music from the central sierra of Peru. TAYTA SHANTI's long history of complex syncretism is expressed through its simple song structure. Minimal and raw, or layered with intricate arrangements, its unrelenting rhythm mesmerizes as much as it moves. 16 songs of pure folklore, spanning the late 1960s until the early 1980s. Compilation includes liner notes and photos. Instant mountain rave.
LP $17.75
12/20/2019
***ANDALEEB WASIF was born in a well-known family of Hyderabad, India in 1928. A self-taught singer and harmonium player. He gained recognition early in life, performing for the Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad when he was only six years old. On this recording Wasif performs six ghazals, a poetic form of couplets focussing on love and longing with mystical and spiritual elements. The lyrics to the ghazals featured on the recording are written by some of the best known Urdu poets of the 20th century including FAIZ AHMAD FAIZ. Never commercially released, the songs have been sourced from private concerts, home recorded cassettes and radio shows. Andaleeb’s renditions are enigmatic, filled with pathos, timeless and ethereal.
LP $16.35
12/20/2019
***Ethiopian artist SOSENA GEBRE EYESUS sings accompanied by her playing of the Begena, or King David’s Harp, one of the world’s oldest and most beguiling instruments. Since ancient times the Harp of David has been used as an aural balm, a soother of evil and disturbed spirits—it’s low, buzzing tones widely noted for their ability to sweetly refresh one’s soul. Said to have been brought to Ethiopia in biblical times by Menelik I, it has long been the central instrument used to accompany Ethiopian Orthodox hymns, which Eyesus plays here in an absolutely entrancing manner while softly singing songs of devotional reflection. Featuring six beautiful hymns that gently unspool at the measured pace of a lullaby, Sosena Gebre Eyesus magically creates a rarefied atmosphere that feels absolutely necessary and vital for these most turbulent of days. Originally released on cassette, this is a limited edition lp of 500 copies.
LP $16.35
03/22/2019
***ESTHER SUAREZ, also known as LA OCRASINA DE ORO, is a popular Peruvian Huayno singer. La Bolognesina is one of her earlier albums, featuring reverbed vocals over Andean harps supplemented with light percussion and handclaps. The album was recorded in 1981, with the title referring to her roots near the snow-capped Andean mountains of the Bolognesi province in the Ancash region of Peru. Peru experienced waves of mass rural-to-urban migration in the latter half of the twentieth century due to poverty and political instability, but with it also came an explosion in the popularity of the folkloric Huayno tradition. An urban and modernized studio version of ancient indigenous Quechua folk traditions, Huayno became the soundtrack to the migrant’s experience of both hardship and homesickness. Esther Suarez’s clear and yearning vocals soar over galloping huayno rhythms, evoking the highlands of her youth with heartbreak, regret and melancholy, while simultaneously looking to a place where there is always a will to live and an invitation to dance. Truly some of the most beautiful music ever.
LP $17.00
09/01/2017
***Holica and Sovann Yoeun were both working musicians in their native Cambodia when they fled the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Settling in Portland, Oregon they formed Wimeanacas Band which translates to Castle In The Sky. This is their second album, originally released on cassette in 1987. An amazing album of Cambodian celebration music, Wimeanacas played weddings, new year parties and community events during their 10 year existence. For this record, the band recorded all original numbers and had grown to a 10 piece ensemble.
LP $17.00
07/07/2017
***The lone recordings of teenaged vocalist ANNA MAKIRERE of Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Sung in close harmony in Māori Kuki Airan, Tiare Avatea pairs Makirere’s casual yet masterful vocalizations with virtuoso accompanists. Somewhere between slack-key and flat-picked, the brilliant guitar work is seasoned tastefully with sunburned effects. Translating literally to “Afternoon Flower,” this radiant collection of originals and traditionals was issued regionally on cassette in 1981. It remains a unique look into Cook Islands sound and style.
LP $15.50
02/17/2017
***Taken from REVEREND LOUIS OVERSTREET’s privately released 45s. Raucous guitar work and great gospel energy from one of the most renowned guitar evangelists along with Utah Smith and Charlie Jackson. This record features “Blessings” b/w “Black But Proud.” Originally recorded in the 1970s and released in tiny runs on the Overstreet and Lodestone record labels. Limited edition of 500.
7" $6.75
11/12/2013
***Deeply affecting and jewel-like pop songs from the early 1980s by the internationally renowned Ethiopian singer, Kuku Sebsibe. Born in Addis Ababa, she began performing live during high school and was almost immediately a sensation, doing stints in many of the most legendary ensembles of the day, including Roha Band, Wallias Band, & Ibex Band. She cut her first single with the great Alemayehu Eshete (see the two separate Ethiopiques volumes dedicated to him), and recorded her first full-length tape with the Roha Band in 1982, from which the present album is derived. The band’s loping bass lines, singing brass, and ethereal organ tones serve to lift Sebsibe’s golden voice to celestial heights even as her firm roots in Ethiopian traditional music keep the music terrestrially planted. Her supple melodies twist & glide —if a lullaby could be said to have power, or a physicality even, then this is something of what it would sound like. Like much of the greatest music, what you find here is that it’s capable of enacting two ideas or feelings simultaneously; one of unbridled joy, the other a graceful, haunting melancholy. This is such moving, immediate music from a master singer—you can just settle along with the momentum of the groove, or give it your full attention to all the layers it's willing to reveal of itself.
LP $17.50
TBD