Folk 386 Items

Estrela Mágica is a collaboration between Winter (Samira Winter) and Triptides (Glenn Brigman). The duo didn’t plan on making a record together; they simply set out to create the type of music they both loved. Sighting influences from Brazil’s colorful Tropicalia movement as well as the phased out sunshine psychedelia of the American 1960’s, Winter and Brigman started blending together their favorite musical colors into a brand new sonic palette. Two years and a dozen home recording sessions later, they had crafted enough material to form the Estrela Mágica LP.

The pair first met in Los Angeles and immediately bonded over their mutual love of Brazilian music and culture. Winter, growing up in Curitiba, Brazil was exposed to mpb, samba and tropicalia at an early age by her mother Maristela, who used to sing “Ele Dorme” and “Raio De Sol” to young Samira (both appear as new arrangements on the record). Brigman, while attending Indiana University, was introduced to Brazilian music by his roommate Pedro Assad who left him a collection of Brazilian samba, bossa nova and tropicalia LP’s upon moving to Rio de Janeiro.

While Winter and Brigman perform most of the music on the record, they were graced with the guest appearances of some their musical friends; Jason Simon (Dead Meadow), Julian Porte (Levitation Room), Modeste Cobián (The Buttertones), Mason Rothschild (Fever The Ghost), Tiago Lobão (Nevilton).

The music was recorded throughout LA, starting in the basement of Winter’s Echo Park house, traveling to a studio in Highland Park and ending in an apartment in East Hollywood. Brigman’s trusty Tascam 488 Portastudio tape machine travelled with them capturing the nuances of each environment to give each song a unique voice and sound.

Whether or not you speak Portuguese, the nostalgic, hazey sound and classic song crafting of Estrela Mágica will translate into any heart that is willing to open itself to the music. From melancholic ruminations on time and loneliness to blissful statements of friendship and peace, Winter and Brigman are exploring the universal aspects of the human experience. Whether sung in Portuguese, Spanish or English, these songs transcend language and plunge straight into the soul.

Recorded in the provinces of Champasak, Attapeu, Sekong and Saravan by Laurent Jeanneau (Kink Gong). Limited to 1000 copies.

Saigon Supersound Continues… to present more interesting tunes of a musical era that has long been obscured. With the well-received Volume 1, we are very delighted to dig deeper and share with you the beautiful music of a short but significant period in Vietnam‘s history.
Much like the country itself, the music of Vietnam has endured many twists. As the result of the Geneva Accords in 1954, Vietnam was divided into two. From the North, the Nationalist forces fought to reunite Vietnam as a Communist State, while the American troops backed the government of the South. This caused a mass migration of Northerners to the South, which includes many Tân Nhạc (Modern Music) singers and songwriters. Often characterized by its emotive, poetic and prolific personality, Tân Nhạc continued to freely develop in the South and progressively vacating from the influences of its main inspiration, French music. In the North, the Resistance music, or the so-called Nhạc Đỏ (Red Music), which promoted socialism, patriotism and anti-capitalism was the only genre allowed on national radio. Tân Nhạc was something new to the South Vietnamese repertoire. Between 1954–1960, the theme of hometown (quê hương) was a main inspiration for many songwriters such as Hoàng Thi Thơ, Lam Phương and Nguyễn Hữu Thiết. The 9th title of the compilation, “Thôn Trăng Mở Hội Trăng Tròn” showcases a variety of images that were often described in this genre: the harvest moon, playful children, old mother…
Every recording made in this era is then an organic combination of human experiences, communications and uniqueness. In 1965, the first American troop landed in Vietnam, bringing with them the musical influences of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley… The Vietnamese people quickly integrated it into the repertoire with hope to further diversify the music of Vietnam. Constantly changing and learning from different cultures, the modern music of Vietnam cuts a window into the soul of a Vietnamese person and the country’s history as a whole. With that, we hope that Saigon Supersound Volume 2 would take you on a trip back to the unique atmosphere of Saigon through the many different palettes of music that this beautiful place offers.

“Kizaki Ondo” is a folk song from Nitta Kizaki town in Gunma, north of Tokyo. Played annually by local performers at the Bon-Odori traditional summer dance festival, it features unabashed lyrics about prostitution along with a rhythmic drive sure to appeal to fans of contemporary electronic genres as well as aficionados of traditional musics. The first track is a wildly echoing vocal version recorded in 1980, redolent of humid summer nights; the second track, recorded in 1981, is an instrumental version, both by the Kizaki Ondo Preservation Society. The other two tracks are extensions of tradition, with Tokyo-based producer Clark Naito’s 2018 revisions of “Kizaki Ondo”, providing trap-inspired interpretations, with a vocal version using the original lyrics, along with a sweet instrumental take. This release, the third edition of the EM Records Japanese folklore series, directed by Riyo Mountains, is available on LP & CD, with English lyrics and notes, and rare photos. Evocative cover art by Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48).

The first new release exclusively via TAD from Boomarm Nation, who welcomes Tunisian producer Lokal Affair to their family. His debut Seremunia EP, 3 tracks of deep percussive jams, is inspired by life in the Sahara desert, evening fire rituals, and ecstatic drumming styles from across the globe. Lush, mid-tempo spiritual sounds for your sound system. Lokal Affair AKA Malek Midouni is a Tunisian born musician currently living in Lyon, France. As a bonus the label commissioned an incredible thundering remix of the percussion heavy tune “Goumari” from good brother Alter Echo

"These sounds are accidents. There was intent only in so far as a simple idea, which is really around bringing together factions and forces in Iranian, Islamic culture, under one roof, to have them play nice together, to co-exist, float as one and to complete each other, in order to tell a story called Ta Tash, which is Farsi for To The End. There's definitely elements of devotional sounds that we weave into the tracks. Stories of the past. But whether this is devotional music, at large, I don't know about that. Like, you're not going to be hearing Vivid Persian Dreams blasting in a mosque anytime soon. But maybe devotional in a more personal sense. It captures the essence of a sentiment during the brutal 8-year war between Iran-Iraq. It is also defensive, and perhaps in response to existing in the US over the past 7 years. But also because of it. Therein lies the beauty of this country. Today, let's talk about this. Glass half full. This country. This beautiful, incredible, fucked up country. The artwork is part of an edited collection of images pulled together from the years of the Iran-Iraq war. A collection of 15 works of art titled Postcards from the Outer Boroughs. Some of these images belonged to our family, others we found by forming a dialogue with the actual men who fought in battle with our family members. Men who remember those last, precious moments of the lives of our loved ones. We were curious to somehow learn more about that moment from those who served. These Postcards are the culmination of the hard work and imagination of Ghalamdar, a wonderful Iranian visual artist based in the UK. In them, we explored how we could modify these quintessentially Iranian motifs to lift the weight of emotion, the weight of innocence, of loss, of blind faith, to the end? How do we connect an Iran of the past, Iran of the books, to the Iran of today? After all, we are of the same blood. As a by-product of mixing media, mixing contexts, we attempt to playfully bridge this gap, if ever so slightly." - Saint Abdullah