Folk 210 Items

Black Friday Record Store Day 2020 Release.
RSD Exclusive. Limitation: 1500 copies.

An EP of rare and unreleased recordings, including a cover of Graham Nash’s “And So It Goes”, featuring Dawes.

Cover has ring wear and saw-cut bottom seam

Includes original insert.

‘Since the 16th century, the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas has been home to a unique Afro-Indigenous culture originating in the integration of the Indigenous Chachi and Nigua peoples with African Maroon communities. Juyungo documents significant Esmeraldan artists and bands playing the Afro-Ecuadorian folklore of the province, as well as including some older field recordings. Based mostly on the marimba, whose origins lie partly in the African balafon, partly in Indigenous percussion instruments, the music is laced with call and response chants, ambient insect and bird noise, the filigree finger-styles of the Andean guitar tradition and the panpipes of the mountains. This is resonant insider roots music at its headiest — the mystic revelation of Esmeraldas, gully deep and lustral.’ - Francis Gooding, The Wire.

The fifth in our series of LPs compiling classic music from Ecuador. Customary Honest Jons runnings: a beautiful gatefold sleeve; superior pressing, with vivid, intimate sound; full-size, sixteen-page booklet, in colour throughout, with detailed, fascinating, bi-lingual notes, and stunning photographs.

The music is transfixing, magical; not like anything else. From start to finish, this album is continuously, profoundly immersive; a kind of journeying, trippy meditation about slavery and cultural resistance, identity and mix, places and spaces, futures and pasts. It’s inscrutable to net-surfing, algorithms, Shuffle. But for a taste try the insurgent marimba roller Agua Largo, jet-propelled by Rosa Huila’s rapturous blend of African spiritualist and Christian chant. ‘Healing music,’ Zakia called it on Gilles Peterson’s BBC show recently. And the ravishing pasillo Kasilla Shungulla — ‘calm your heart’ in the Quichua language — a duet between the Peruvian master-guitarist Raúl García Zárate and viola da gamba by Juan Luis Restrepo from Medellin, recorded in a baroque church in Buzbanza, Colombia.

Kate Bollinger's songs tend to linger well beyond their run times, filling the negative space of ordinary days with charming melodies and smart phrasings. She writes them at home in Richmond, Virginia, letting her subconscious lead, an open-ended process she likens to dreaming. From a chord progression appears a line, maybe a syllable will start to stick, enough to pursue, but she says sometimes the words don't feel likeher own, more like shapes that form in the mind's sky. Bollinger's musical universe is relaxed, tender, and unassuming; within lives a timeless sensibility, a songwriter's knack for noticing the little things and their counterpoints. Darkness and light, pain and pleasure, reality and escape. Her new EP, Look at it in the Light, her first project on Ghostly International, is collaborative; she shoots music videos with her friends and colors each of her folk-pop songs with musicians in her community. The title Look at it in the Light is a reference to the aspects of Bollinger's life that she knows need examining. For one, there's her persistent resistance to change _ she chooses to ignore it on the title track ("I try not to notice / I deny my fate"), as wiry strums sync with crisp drums. She surrenders to comfort on "Who Am I But Someone," a light and softly psychedelic number. "Yards / Gardens" finds Bollinger in full swing, skipping verses of uncertainty above a bright and nimble bassline and kick. Guitar riffs unravel across the bridge, trailing her lines like ellipses. The string-backed "Lady in the Darkest Hour" is the set's most luxuriant statement, recorded during a session at Matthew E. White's Spacebomb Studios with in-house arranger Trey Pollard (Natalie Prass, Helado Negro). Here her lines ring bittersweet yet reassuring, uplifted by swells of golden-hued instrumentation. From the hushed abstractions of "I Found Out" to the biting suspicions of closer "Connecting Dots," Kate Bollinger uses every inch of this dazzling EP to find her footing amidst the ever-present sways of life

Brazilian Hip Hop, with a golden-era glint and a 20-strong cast is given fresh impetus on Ela Partiu, 24 year old rapper Laiz"s breakout recording on Agogo Records.Glowing with Pan-African collaborations, and rooted in Laiz"s love and appreciation of magical realism, tropicália and Brazilian music old and new - think Tom Zé and Marcelo D2 - Ela Partiu features Sudanese trap-rapper Zeyo Mann, Ghanian percussionist and singer Eric Owusu (Jembaa Groove, Pat Thomas) and produced by young.vishnu & Pachakuti, from the up and coming crew, and Laiz"s label mates, The New Love Experience.

Sofie Herner (Enhet För Fri Musik, Neutral) returns with Neuter, the first proper album since the Gitarrmusik Iii-x LP released on Förlag För Fri Musik back in 2017. Neuter was recorded between 2018 and 2021 and is the culmination of a very distinctive and unmistakable sound Sofie has developed and refined during close to 10 years now. The music of Leda is based on primitive guitar loops of various lenghts, loops that intervenes and creates peculiar rhythms and subtle harmonies. Slow-burning proto-industrial basement buzz with occasional vocals buried in the mix. The connection to the sullen soundscapes of Neutral is of course there, but the skeletal, monotonous compositions and austere nature of things sets this apart widely. Years has passed and Neuter is ultimately more Malmö than Gothenburg. Hints has been thrown out on a handful of limited in-between releases on labels like Knotwilg and Kashual Plastik during the last few years, but Neuter is the pinnacle of Herner's body of solo work. Nine tracks, 37 minutes.

Mastered by Linus at Elementstudio and comes packaged in a cover jacket with full colour printed inside. Edition of 750 copies. Discreet Music 14.

Lily Yoshikai releases an analog version of the album, which is immersed in the feeling of the Showa era and offers innovative arrangements! The album contains 8 songs including "Ai no Sanka" and "Kassai" from the album "Lily Yoshikai", "Koi no Fuga", a cover of The Peanuts song newly recorded for this analog release, and "Punishment Game" featuring Orquesta de la Luz, which will be packaged for the first time on this analog release!

Limited to 2000 copies. A shelved album from 1970. 1) I Mean To Shine 2) Turn 3) Roaring Of The Lamb 4) Roll Back 5) Autumn 6) Jones

Side B 1) In A Station 2) Mama Tears 3) City Mug 4) 4 + 20 5) The Dove

Why you'll love it...
Hot on the heels of Waylon, Kris, Johnny and Willie's The Highwaymen supergroup, three of the biggest names in vintage country, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, joined up in the early 90s for an album. Named after a Kitty Wells song, Honky Tonk Angels captures all 3 performers playing off each other, clearly having a blast in the studio. It's making its US vinyl debut with VMP.

Limited to 2000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Tammy Wynette's Honky Tonk Angels is pressed on 180g Blue & Pink vinyl at Memphis Record Pressing (MRP). The 1LP will arrive in a single, reverse board, foil-stamped and numbered jacket.

Maalem Houssam Guinia Dead of Night

Hmrlp035 LP £12 Allah Allah Daym Molana Jangari Jahwari Bouri Bouriama Ya Jowadi Samaoui Matinba Mosawiyin (Souiri)

"Raw, deep and spiritual Gnawa music from Morocco to carry you through the night...

Recorded in a single late night session in a house in Casablanca, using a Tascam field recorder and 2 microphones, Dead of Night is the incredible new solo album from Maalem Houssam Guinia, the son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, and one of Morocco's most exciting young Gnawa masters.

The album was recorded live on the night of 3rd January 2022 in a relaxed session that lasted into the early hours of the next morning, and it captures Houssam at his most natural, singing and playing the Gnawa songs that have been with him since his birth, completely solo and free without percussion or backing vocals. Houssam described the album as containing the songs he knows best as these were the pieces his father would play and sing late into the night in their home when he was an infant.

What you'll hear on Dead of Night is raw, deep Gnawa music in its purest form played by a young Maalem who has been immersed in the culture his whole life and is a master of his craft. The whole performance has been beautifully and sympathetically captured by bassist and producer Karl-Erik Enkelman."

Voice & Guimbri by Maalem Houssam Guinia. Recording & Production by Karl-Erik Enkelmann. Mastering by Julian Tardo. Photography by Bader Naggay. Design by Marc Teare.

With thanks to Hamza Guinia, Khalil Mounji, Karl-Erik Enkelmann & Karl Jonas Winqvist.

No vinyl of any Manu Chao album has been available for ages. Now the wait is over, all studio & live albums are back on double or triple gatefold vinyl incl. the CD version. Go!

Myth and legend swirl around The Master Musicians of Jajouka, an all-male
troupe of Sufi musicians from a village in the Rif Mountains of northern
Morocco, and the custodians of a culture with roots in ancient Persia. Passed
down through generations of the same family, the Attars, their trance music is
as complex and melodic as it is spiritual and healing. Delivered on instruments
including lira (flute), gaita (oboe), guimbri (bass lute) and drums beaten with
hands and sticks, it is intensively practised and often played all night.
The Master Musicians had recorded with the Rolling Stones, been declared
“the 4,000-year-old rock’n’roll band” by counterculture guru Timothy Leary
and toured Europe for the first time in a decade when, in 1995, led by Bachir
Attar, they pitched up at Real World during Recording Week. Captured live
before a small rapt audience, this performance of three long-playing tracks
bottles all the deeply felt passion of musicians in the moment, merging voices
and instruments in ways guaranteed to transport. Each composition is distinct:
‘My God My Love Has Come’ favours strings. ‘The Real Long Night in Jajouka’
is heavy on flute. In ‘Boujeloudia’ the focus is on the oboe-like ghaita. But the
fever builds and burns throughout.

A new beast from Will Oldham and his longterm collaborator and pal, Matt Sweeney. Matt wrote the music and Bonnie the words. This one's something else!

Ocean Blue vinyl

Back in October, Artist To Watch alum Mdou Moctar returned with a new song called “Chismiten.” The song accompanied news that the virtuosic Tuareg guitarist had signed to Matador, with a promise of a new album on the way. Today Moctar’s back with the official announcement: That new album is called Afrique Victime, and it’s out in May. Turns out “Chismiten” is the album’s opener, and along with today’s the announcement Moctar’s shared another new song called “Tala Tannam.” “‘Tala Tannam’ means your tears,” Moctar said in a statement. “It is another love song of which I’m very fond.”

“While the song talks about love, we wanted to show the love between friendships and the love of Niger,” Moctar’s bassist Mikey Coltun added. “The video includes friends and family — in the Tuareg community in villages around Niamey as well as Hausa people from villages in the Dosso region.”

Part of Moctar’s rise to prominence in the West was thanks to his searing, psychedelic style of guitar-playing. Afrique Victime promises more of that.

Funeral For Justice is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2019 breakout Afrique Victime, it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down. The songs on Funeral For Justice speak unflinchingly to the plight of Niger and of the Tuareg people. "This album is really different for me," explains Moctar, the band"s singer, namesake, and indisputably iconic guitarist "Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US and Europe came here, they said they"re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution."

A kind of intimate scrapbook of the startling collaboration between the techno maestro and this long-standing musical collective based in Bishkek, devoted to the roots music of Kyrgyzstan. Loose-leaved but balanced, lucid and intimate, it sets out from stunning a cappella and virtuosic komuz and kylak, mouth harp and traditional percussion: not field, but expert studio recordings, using marvellous vintage microphones, made over several days in Berlin. Further, a few of these are deftly treated by Moritz, using Reichian de-synced double-tracking, and discreet effects. Also two ten-minute dubs: a deadly, signature Berlin steppers, plus its version; and an echoing, mystical drum session, recorded live on stage in Bishkek. And a side-long, dream-like summation: the locomotive, oceanic, clangorous, dread Facets.

Ravishing, rooted, searching music; beautifully presented.

A classically trained vocalist with a self-taught instrumentalist's spirit, Shara Nova has been releasing spellbinding music as My Brightest Diamond since 2006. Over the years, the band has released five groundbreaking albums, each showcasing a different musical landscape while always centering on Nova's distinctive voice.

Her journey took an unexpected turn in July 2023, when within hours of learning about Sinéad O'Connor's passing, a fierce storm plunged her Detroit home into darkness. As the city held its breath, Nova sat with her guitar, reflecting on O'Connor's iconic SNL performance where she repurposed Bob Marley’s "War" to address child abuse, urging viewers to “fight the real enemy.” Inspired by this act of artistic courage, Nova poured her emotions into a raw demo – the title track "Fight the Real Terror" – which opens the album in its original form.

Traveling from her home in Detroit to Chicago, Shara worked with Tom Schick at Wilco’s studio, The Loft, for five days. Initially expecting to re-record everything, she was surprised when Tom insisted on keeping the raw demo material. The week was spent overdubbing, with Shara playing bass for the first time, alongside pianos, guitars with gizmotrons, and re-amping some original guitar parts recorded in her studio. More than just a collection of songs; Fight the Real Terror is a call to action, and a testament to the transformative power of music. Nova's powerful vocals and genre-bending compositions are simultaneously intimate and expansive, urging listeners to confront their fears, embrace their vulnerabilities, and fight for a better world.

“Her wholly enveloping, finely tuned alto sounds by turns forceful, vulnerable, cooing, playful, and endlessly emotive.” NPR Music

“…percussive, jagged art-pop that explores themes of self- acceptance, sensuality, and community.” Pitchfork.

“...has a feeling for both the grandeur and the grain, building every sweeping gesture in her music out of a swarm of small details.” The New York Times

MYRNINEREST is the new Hallucinatory Cartoon channelled by David Tibet in order to work, outside of CURRENT 93, with some of the artists and friends he admires the most. ""Jhonn," Uttered Babylon", their harrowing and haunted debut, featuring James Blackshaw and David Tibet, is centered on Davids friendship with, and love for, the late Jhonn Balance of COIL as well as Jhonns death and how it affected the circle of friends around Jhonn. With all lyrics by David and all music written by James, the album was recorded during February 2012 with James Blackshaw on classical guitar and harmonium and David as vocalist. Both LP and CD formats contain the same songs, but with very different mixes by different artists, and the tracks on the 2 formats have also been given different names.The vinyl version is mixed by The Bricoleur and comes in a full-colour, reverse-board, sleeve with a 4-page insert containing the albums text and reproductions of two charco...

Blisteringly groovy collection of completely off-the-radar songs by Libyan composer / producer Najib Alhoush’s group The Free Music, circa 1976. Releasing an astonishing 10 albums, all impressively strong and equally infused by soul, funk, disco and reggae, The Free Music created a distinctly infectious groove that unfortunately didn’t make an impact outside of Libya due to the complex political situation at the time. There is a reason it says “Part 1” in the title.

First ever official reissue of Nancy & Lee’s classic 1968 duet album
Definitive reissue with Nancy’s involvement
Includes the bonus tracks, “Tired Of Waiting for You” and “Love Is Strange,” from the album sessions
Newly remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin
Vinyl pressed at RTI
Q&A with Nancy & GRAMMY®-nominated reissue co-producer Hunter Lea
Never-before-seen photos from Nancy Sinatra’s personal archive

Light in the Attic is thrilled to announce the first official reissue of Nancy & Lee: the highly-influential 1968 duet album from Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. This definitive edition of Nancy & Lee features newly-remastered audio by the GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin and includes an array of exclusive content, including a new interview with Nancy, never-before-seen photos, and two bonus tracks from the album sessions: an ethereal cover of The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You” and an uptempo version of “Love Is Strange” (first made famous by Mickey & Sylvia in 1956). This release marks the official debut on vinyl for both tracks.

Nancy & Lee can be found in a variety of formats, including vinyl, cassette tape, CD, 8-track, and digital. The vinyl LP, pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (RTI), is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and features the iconic, original cover photo by Ron Joy. Inside, a 20-page booklet offers an array of photos from the legendary singer, actress, and activist’s personal collection, as well as an in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by the reissue’s GRAMMY®-nominated co-producer, Hunter Lea (also available in the CD package). In addition to the classic black vinyl pressing, a selection of colorful variants can be found exclusively at NancySinatra.com, LightInTheAttic.net, independent record stores and select online retailers.

In celebration of the release, Nancy Sinatra and fellow musician and longtime friend Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew) visited Record Technology, Inc. (RTI) in Camarillo, CA to take a tour of the plant and get a sneak peek at the Bootique-exclusive pressing of Nancy and Lee. A short video piece documenting the day, including new interviews with Sinatra, Randi, and RTI plant manager, Rick Hashimoto is available here.

MORE ABOUT NANCY & LEE

When Nancy – the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra – first met Lee Hazlewood in 1965, she was a demure, 25-year-old divorcée, who was struggling to find her place as an artist amid the changing musical landscape. At the urging of her label, she was introduced to the Oklahoma-born songwriter, Lee Hazlewood, who had found success working with guitarist Duane Eddy. While Sinatra and Hazlewood hailed from vastly different worlds, they were about to embark on a partnership that would change the course of their lives. Just months after meeting, Sinatra scored her first No.1 hit with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” Written and produced by Hazlewood, the song became Sinatra’s signature tune – transforming her into a confident and commanding feminist icon.

Initially, Hazlewood maintained a behind-the-scenes role with Sinatra, enlisting arranger and composer Billy Strange, as well as other members of The Wrecking Crew (the famed Los Angeles session musicians) for the singer’s best-selling 1966 debut LP, Boots. But when they returned to the studio later that year for Sinatra’s sophomore effort, How Does That Grab You?, Hazlewood joined the singer for a duet of his song, “Sand.” Over the next year, as Sinatra’s star rose, the artists continued to collaborate in the vocal booth, finding success with “Summer Wine,” “Lady Bird,” and the cinematic “Some Velvet Morning” (all penned by Hazlewood). In 1967, just months after Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash scored a country hit with “Jackson,” Sinatra and Hazlewood released a pop version of the offbeat song, landing in the Top Ten across Europe and peaking at No.14 in the US.

Recalling her duets with Hazlewood, Sinatra laughs, “we used to call it beauty and the beast!” Voices with no blend.” Indeed, no one could have predicted that these two contrasting voices (and personalities) would work together quite so well. Praising the duo’s “sonic alchemy,” Hunter Lea writes, “rarely in music has there been such an unlikely collaboration: Nancy, the sassy and sweet songstress contrasted by Lee, the gruff, psychedelic cowboy. A harmonic partnership that defies conventional logic yet yields so much beauty.”

Before long, it seemed only natural for the artists to release an entire album together. In addition to compiling their recent duets (many of which appeared on Sinatra’s solo LPs), the duo recorded several new covers and Hazlewood originals. Billy Strange and The Wrecking Crew provided lush orchestral arrangements, as the two artists performed a range of material, including folk, pop, and country songs, with a twist of psychedelia.

Throughout the album, a palpable chemistry can be heard between Sinatra and Hazlewood – from the frisky banter on “Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman” to the tongue-in-cheek delivery of “I’ve Been Down So Long (It Looks Up To Me).” But the artists also reveal their softer sides – particularly in the romantic balladry of “Sand.” Their languid rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” meanwhile, is downright erotic, despite the lyrics. But, as Sinatra asserts, her decades-long relationship with Hazlewood was always platonic. “We had sort of a love/hate relationship,” she explains. “Maybe it was a sexual tension because we never had any kind of affair. I don’t know exactly what it was, but it worked.”

That je ne sais quoi certainly did work. Upon its release in the spring of 1968, Nancy & Lee became a critical and commercial hit on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No.13 on the Billboard 200 and No.17 in the UK. By 1970, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA. Over the decades, however, the appeal of Nancy & Lee has only grown, while the album has amassed an enduring cult status that few titles achieve. Multiple generations of artists, including Sonic Youth, Lana Del Rey, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, have cited Nancy & Lee as an influence.

In recent years, Nancy & Lee has also inspired a groundswell of recognition from such outlets as Rolling Stone, which ranked the pair at No.9 on their 20 Greatest Duos of All Time list. Pitchfork included Nancy & Lee in their “Best Albums of the 1960s” roundup, hailing the record as “a document of a flawless collaboration.” The UK’s Far Out Magazine declared Nancy & Lee to be “a masterpiece that still ripples in the sonic waves today.” NPR, meanwhile, noted that “Sinatra and Hazlewood masterfully marry sunshiny orchestral elements with lyrics that dig at something darker about the human condition.” They went on to praise Sinatra’s work on Nancy & Lee as “some of the best that she’s ever recorded…it proved that she would hardly allow herself to be pigeonholed into one-hit wonder territory. Here, she made it clear that she was capable of so much more.”

Today, Sinatra reflects fondly on her time with Hazlewood. “The most fun was when there were two mics in the studio, and Lee was on one and I was on one,” she recalls. When asked about the lasting appeal of Nancy & Lee, the artist credits much of its success to her partner. “Lee has a following that continues to this day. He’s beloved; people love him all over the world.”

Sinatra’s legacy, meanwhile, continues to grow, as new generations discover her impressive catalog (which boasts nearly 20 studio albums – her duets with Hazlewood among them – and dozens of charting singles, including the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice). In 2020, Sinatra was recognized by her peers when “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” was inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame. That same year, Sinatra partnered with Light in the Attic Records for Nancy Sinatra: Start Walkin’ 1965-1976, a definitive survey of her most prolific period. At the end of 2021, LITA reissued Sinatra’s classic debut, Boots, while the label will continue to celebrate Sinatra with a variety of special releases, exclusive merch, and more.

Source of Denial is the second LP from Nihiloxica, the Bugandan techno outfit hailing from Kampala, Uganda. It comes after more than three long years since Kaloli, their acclaimed debut on Crammed Discs. The album points a (middle) finger at the hostile immigration and freedom of movement policies implemented in the UK, as well as across the world. Fueled by their frustrations with this intentionally convoluted system, the group have produced their most cataclysmic effort to date.