Folk 124 Items

A truly unique Gospel stylist - Isaiah Owen's plays guitar and sings in his own very distinctive and otherworldly way. Isaiah plays loud and with quite a bit of dissonance, his voice floating above beautifully. This LP features some of his finest performances captured from his radio broadcasts in Montgomery Alabama and from studio recordings. Mississippi is very proud to present this material. Liner notes by Kevin Knutt (of the greatest radio show of all time, Sinners Crossroads, as well as the Case Quarter label).

1st guitar band in Cambodia

Annie Girl AND THE FLIGHT's intense, psychedelic live performances of “crushing high-voltage lullabies” (The Bay Bridged) have made a mark on the San Francisco rock scene, where they’ve been featured as one of the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Artists On The Rise. From their self-titled hypnotic folk debut, which was Mojo Magazine’s album of the month, the band evolved into a louder, faster art rock incarnation punctuated by garage rhythms. For its marriage of memorable guitar riffs and dreamy vocals, their EP Bodies was chosen as one of SF Weekly’s Top Bay Area Albums of 2015. The same year, Annie Girl and The Flight were hand picked by Laura Jane Grace to support punk legends Against Me! on a 28-city North American tour

On October 17th, 2011, the Smoke Fairies backed by members of Blitzen Trapper (Subpop Records) recorded Volume 6 of the Upstairs at United series of all analog recordings in the historic United Record Pressing plant. True to the Upstairs at United series, each song was recorded in a single take direct to ¼ inch tape then cut at 45 RPM for the ultimate listening experience.

''The Fairies are Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire, two lasses from Chichester, UK who sing and play acoustic guitars. The duo's voices and instruments harmonize in haunting ways that evoke the ethereal spirits from which they take their band's name.'' - Steve Horowitz (popmatters.com)

The addition of Blitzen Trapper's Erik Menteer (b-3 & percussion) and Brian Koch (drums) along with Martin H. Gonzalez on bass add a unique element to the haunting guitar and vocal combos of Katherine Blamire & Jessica Davies that we've come to love as the Smoke Fairies.

Discrepant presents Tiago Sousa's brand new LP with collaborations from Tó Trips, Ricardo Ribeiro, Balthazar Molina and Rebecca Roth.
Expect a unique work by one of the most interesting and intriguing musicians to come out of the burgeoning Portuguese music scene.

Jilk release their new EP ‘In Need of Tess‘ – A wonderful collection of tracks that build on the established epic soundscapes of past releases but also demonstrate the organic development of combining experimental ambient pallets with more traditional orchestral scores and delicate pop sensibilities.

Following their successful collaboration with Haiku Salut on the emotionally charged ‘Periscopes’; Jilk return with warped vocals, soaring strings and a techno core tying the spiralling dense walls of ambience together.

The lead single, ‘In Need of Tess’ is a collaborative piece; a pulsating slice of chamber pop about dead dogs and dreams which also draws on the considerable talents of video director Nic Kane, the sculptures of Hester Sorel Moriarty Thompson.

The rest of the EP comprises of a two-part piece developed from a soundtrack Jilk produced for a lovely short film by Nim Jethwa. Building, developing and fleshing out the ideas; Jilk combine the sweeping beauty of orchestral timbre with driving 4/4 pulse and rusty sounding guitars for Nim and Nim (Sit Down Outro).

Baby Hannah is an epic piece of post rock inflected electronica making full use of the bands wide range of players. Vibraphone, violins and guitars cling to foundation drum patterns as the piece moves from ambient drone through to a rain storm of melodic percussion that even Steve Reich would approve of.

Be Heart: A short but emotionally charged clattering lo-fi electro love song built from home found sounds and frazzled broken synths. The most aching club romance to take place in a child’s toy box.

Then a collaboration with the incredible Nuala Honan as Jilk rework her stand out track ‘All is Not Lost’, (taken from her 2014 album The Tortoise). Jilk mould the song into a hazy blanket of clicks, whirs, strings and heart wrenching vocals from snippets.

Ex vivian is the musical project of actress and rising international star, Krysten Ritter. Krysten enlisted the help of WT Records to record and release this group of honest songs. Drum machine Americana, comes beautifully packaged with insert.

A variety of Voodoo Rhythm artists pay tribute to The
Monsters! Featured acts include Urban Junior, King Automatic,
The Devils, Roy And The Devils Motorcycle, Delaney Davidson,
The Seniles, Rolando Bruno, Sudden Infant and others.

Hailing from Tennessee, this Grammy-nominee and member of Pistol Annies performed live at TMR during last year's Music Biz conference.

The release comes on 180g vinyl. This is Kris Drever’s second solo album; impressive contemporary Scottish folk album.

Compuma, a.k.a. Koichi Matsunaga, reaches back through time to 1970s Hawaii to perform a mind meld, his old-school Roland drum machines and present-era compumagic vulcanizing and reshaping Haku's original home-grown analog synth madness. Not merely a remix, this a synergistic reconstruction, a transformation at the molecular level in which Haku's source-code DNA is reborn in 2015.

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...

Back in 2011 when I was tentatively looking for a second release for my fledging record label Clay Pipe Music, I stumbled upon a mysterious MySpace page by a group called ‘Tyneham House’, the page was decorated with artwork by Rena Gardiner (who was unknown to me at that time) and the music was an otherworldly mix of field recordings, Mellotron and acoustic guitar. It turned out that Tyneham was promised to Glen Johnson’s Second Language label, so I offered to do the artwork, and in January 2012 the two labels co-released it on tape and CD in a cardboard box with a handmade booklet of my illustrations.

In 2016 Clay Pipe reissued it on 10” vinyl, in an edition of just 300, which has since become sort after. The new 2023 pressing is on blue and transparent marbled vinyl, with a reverse board cover and inner sleeve, and the booklet of illustrations has been given a complete redesign. Frances Castle 2023

The pastoral, wistful yet ineffably disquieting music of Tyneham House is made by artists who wish to remain anonymous here, save for their eponymous title. The musicians are happy, however, to let it be known that these recordings have been around for some years (many of them complied from old cassettes) and that they take inspiration from the 1960s/’70s/’80s work of the Children’s Film Foundation – a body who really ought to have made a film about this mysterious West Country curio. At least now we have its endlessly poignant soundtrack.

The small village of Tyneham, on the beautiful Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, was once a thriving little community – that is until the British Government requisitioned it for training manoeuvres and other ‘strategic purposes’ in the run up to Wwii. This was supposed to be a temporary measure, but the area remained in military possession long after hostilities had ceased, causing distress among former inhabitants, many of whom were farmed out to prefabs in nearby Wareham and Swanage.

Tyneham was characterised by its red telephone box, a tiny parade of shops – Post Office Row – and a grand country pile which stood about half a mile away from the village: Tyneham House. The army removed the building’s oak panelling and ornate decorative details and promptly set about using it for target practice. So great was the shame expressed locally about the damage inflicted upon one of Dorset’s grandest houses that the powers that be decided to grow a copse around the remains of the structure to give the impression that it was no longer there. Despite this, a substantial part of the structure remains intact, including its Saxon hall.

Land access around Tyneham was opened up in the 1970s, but admission to the house remains strictly verboten. Those who’ve been found around the premises, especially anyone wielding a camera, have felt the full weight of military trespass law. Tyneham today is regarded as a nature reserve by some – as a national embarrassment by others. It’s still a political hot potato, in Dorset at least.

After his groundbreaking album 'Opa Hey!' and the raw and groovy 'Demoni', Kottarashky's third album takes us deep into the NYC district called Sofia and introduces us to its street corners brimming with rock, blues, Balkan-style funk and the jazz-flavoured rhythms of late summer. On this album The Rain Dogs are much more than just the back-up band of a lone sonic wizard. This time around the crew comprises some of the most sought-after musicians drawn from the contemporary Bulgarian scene.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2016!

The album, produced by Andrew Holdsworth, is Damian’s first solo album in more than 10 years. Following suit with his previous solo releases, Built for Fighting is a singer-songwriter album containing 11 new original songs and a cover of Depeche Mode’s Somebody. The album is mixed and mastered in Sweden by the Fascination Street duo Jens Bogren and Tony Lindgren.

no 7" included

Compiled by Zaf Chowdry also responsible for Suss'd amazing 'P&P' and 'Deep Disco Culture' series. Co-compiled with music enthusiast and broadcaster Mark Taylor. A great genre of music given an arguably absurd title. A collecton of predominately white singer/songwriters from America's west coast influenced by African-americans R & B artists as much as soft rock, country, disco and jazz.

Confusion is good sometimes. It’s a way to start thinking about whatever you are confused about. This is what Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions do since 2008. They managed to fire the stages all across the world: from New York to Istanbul, from Paris to Sao Paolo, from London to Skopje... Questions they spread all these years where like: are they really turkish? is this really jazz? doesn’t it sound like a rock band? how come a jazz ensemble can really be like a band? How can they be so able to jam with any musician they meet on stage? And so on... It’s a simple fact Ilhan Ersahin, being one of the rare moguls of New York City underground scene via his club and record label (nublu), is traveling all around the world. It’s possible to see him jamming with Red Hot Chili Peppers in Sao Paolo, featuring Bugge Wesseltoft in Blue Note Tokyo and/or playing a beautiful oriental set with turkish gypsies in an elegant concert hall somewhere in Europe. His newyorker energy is with him all the time. How about Istanbul Sessions then? It’s a summary of all you read above. Master level musicianship meets a high eclecticism where the cliche of “east-to-west crossover” finds its true sense and power. A session is a meeting of a deliberative body to conduct its business. In this case, the business is music, and the music is another heavyweight long player from Ilhan Ersahin & crew. Upon listening to the record for the first time, one word overrides every other emotion and devours the mind: Cinema. More specifically, “cinematic.” Ersahin’s sax sounds like it was recorded in the fucking Alps. Or in the sweeping sand dunes and Oasis’s of the Middle East. It’s just that W I D E. On “Falling,” Ersahin’s sax is practically 3-dimensional. Double tracked and bathed in a healthy dose of reverb, the saxophone and rhythm of the band evoke a story-like narrative. From the mad-man trills strewn throughout the track, to the soaring, almost stadium anthem chorus. Clearly, it’s all about the (s)axe, and Ilhan Ersahin is YOUR axeman. History has a tendency to repeat itself, and for the third time ‘round, East meets West once again. And the results are more satisfying than that mammoth inter-racial orgy you’re always fantasizing of. Through Ersahin’s playing, you can hear the ghostly echoes of dead, pre-war jazz greats behind his frenzy-inducing saxophone playing. You can also hear the Siren’s call, the brooding beauty of the shrouded mystery that is the Desert. Devilishly hot and bothered, the dry night air caresses your face, stirring a primal urge that excites as you step out into the glow of the Turkish metropolis. An Istanbul session, awaits.

Dragging rock drums, cutting guitar riffs and Tamasheq chants. This is the sound of the new Tuareg generation. Life in an urban contextand the connection with the Saharan culture has been the feeding ground for Kel Assouf’s album ‘Tikounen’.

2024 restock. Sky Girl is a mysteriously unshakeable companion, a deeply melancholic and sentimental journey through folk-pop, new wave and art music micro presses that span 1961-1991. It's a DIY collection of different genres, from different countries across different decades, that are all bound by the same longing sentiment. A concept compilation! A seemingly disparate suite of selections of forgotten fables by more or less never-knowns, Sky Girl forms a beautifully coherent and utterly sublime whole deftly compiled by French collectors DJ Sundae and Julien Dechery. From Scott Seskind's adolescent musical road movie to Karen Marks' icy Oz-wave, the charming DIY storytelling of Italian-American go-getter Joe Tossini and the ethereal slow dance themes of Parisian artists Nini Raviolette and Hugo Weris, Sky Girl resonates on a wide spectrum historically, geographically and stylistically. It unites in a singular, longing, almost intangible ambience. If the names sound wholly unfamiliar that doesn't matter, the nature of the compositions swiftly nurtures an intimacy with these lonely, poignant, openhearted wanderers. Most were available in a very limited capacity at the time of their release, some were never really released at all - Gary Davenport declined to release "Sarra" after he split with the girl for whom the track is named - years later a friend convinced Davenport to allow him to put 100 copies online to sell and DJ Sundae was quick enough to snare one. Beyond their scarcity, these tracks are bound together by a certain raw beauty that's achievable when music is made and no one is listening. Sky Girl comprises of fifteen officially licensed songs, a two year international scavenger hunt through long-folded home label operations, the depths of internet forums and traceless acetates. Both compilers are well trained record sleuths - DJ Sundae's labels Hollie and Idle Press have reissued Arthur Russell affiliate Nirosta Steel and DIY relic Pitch, while Julien Dechery previously compiled Fire Star, a retrospective on Tamil film composer Ilaiyaraaja, for Bombay Connection. Released by popular NTS show "Noise In My Head" offshoot Efficient Space, Sky Girl is enriched with artwork from Perks and Mini mutant Misha Hollenbach and appropriately elegant sleeve notes courtesy of Ivan Smagghe. Includes digital download. Also features: Linda Smith, Bruce Langhorne, The Seraphims, Some of My Best Friends Are Canadians, The Rising Storm, Warfield Spillers, Joyce Heath, Angel, Nora Guthrie and Once.

LP version comes with download of the album."There's No Leaving Now", the newest record from Kristian Matsson's aptly titled moniker, The Tallest Man On Earth, finds the Swedish troubadour trading in the sense of urgency that fueled his first two records for a confidently relaxed approach. The results are paralyzing. Drums, piano, baritone guitar, woodwinds and pedal steel layer this collection of songs that never compromise virtuosity for immediacy. The songwriting is every bit as detailed and captivating as his previous work, but this time around, Matsson is showing a few more cards. The music of the Tallest Man on Earth has traditionally centered around the power of performance and has served as a reminder that directness is the best course of action. However,...

Neşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk poet, the last great representative of Turkish culture and musical tradition. He is also known as the "Bozkırın Tezenesi ". On the albums he released from the 1950’s onwards, he recorded Central Anatolian folk songs and dance tunes as well as the folk songs he learned from his father Muharrem Ertaş. Starting in the 1960’s, he began to write both lyrics and compositions. He used the pseudonym "Garip", and from the 1970’s onwards, his folk songs were interpreted by many artists of the period. In 2009, he was deemed worthy of being included in UNESCO's Living Human Treasure inventory. This album contains 10 songs performed by the great master in 1998. "Güzel Ne Güzel Olmuşsun", "Hapishanelere Güneş Doğmuyor", "Neredesin Sen" and "Zahide" are the most remarkable tracks on the album

A collection of 4-minute tales written to provide listeners with insight into the inner workings of failed ambitions & sef-destruction

Listening to this album feels like sitting in a lovely meadow in the shadow of a dam taht's gonna heave-ho any minute. Featuring MEG BAIRD on vocals backed by members of COMETS ON FIRE, SIC ALPS, SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE, HOWLIN' RAIN, ASSEMBLE HEAD IN SUNBURST SOUND, WATERY LOVE among many other acclaimed bands

At the end of the 1960’s, there was a house in Vancouver that was a home solely for Hippies and homeless youth; it was known to locals as "the Cool Aid House." When the Canadian government withdrew funding in 1970, the house was in danger of closing. All of the top bands in the Vancouver area offered to record songs for a benefit album—and since the local music scene produced some of the best bands in Canada, the album that resulted was stunning; it has long been a much sought-after collector's item. What no one knew until recently was that the original “Cool Aid Benefit Album” was intended as a two-record set: contractual problems with Capitol Records forced Cool Aid House founder John Walsch to drop tracks by Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck—tracks that are now restored to this package. Other cuts include the strange proto-electronic burbles of Mock Duck (quite unlike almost everything else they ever recorded) on ‘As the Bullet Enters Anton’ and ‘Pointillistic Scherzo’; the vicious snarl of Black Snake’s ‘Carousel,’ and the strange Spalding Grey-ish acoustic song/poem ‘The Planet Man.’ Hydro Electric Street Car have left little behind them, but their lovely ‘High Memory’ sounds like a lost Grateful Dead track from their early, dreamy period. A terrific discovery!

The end result of the joint efforts of Light in the Attic and Lion Productions is this deluxe 2xLP package, jam-packed with stand-out music by Vancouver’s top bands of the day: Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck, Papa Bear's Medicine Show, Mock Duck, Hydro Electric Streetcar, Route Nine, Blacksnake Blues Band, Nancy, Spring, and Greydon Moore and Leo Jung. Obscure cuts available nowhere else, in a wide variety of styles: weird electronic sounds, heavy garage fuzz guitar freakouts, stoner rock, and acoustic folk.

Numbering less than 1.000 people, the Dayak Benuaq from the Eastern Kalimantan region of Indonesian Borneo still practice many of their traditional ceremonial customs. This album of field recordings presents the music associated with the kwangkay, the secondary mortuary ritual celebrated by the Dayak Benuaq, recorded live on location by Vincenzo Della Ratta. According to the Benuaq belief system, upon death the soul of the human being is transformed into the liau, associated with the physical body, and the kelelungan, associated with the intellect or the head. Both the liau and the kelelungan temporarily reside in a sort of cosmic location, connected respectively with the bones and the skull of the deceased, who has entered a state of deep unconsciousness, as yet neither pertaining completely to the realm of the living, nor to that of the dead. Music plays a key role within the kwangkay, as it is crucial for guiding the liau and kelelungan spirits to their final destinations. It is also intended to please the spirits of the dead by providing them with entertainment. This ritual includes a night dance performed for the spirits and accompanied by a musical piece known as the ngerangkau. These rites and ceremonies are often dedicated to several deceased persons and are held within a house belonging to one of their family members. Featured here are two different versions of the ngerangkau, with their long, trance-inducing rhythmic gong patterns. There are two more tracks on the album which are not specifically related to the kwangkay. "Titi Mati" is a gong piece commonly played to proclaim the recent death of a villager. And finally, a nocturnal soundscape of a village by the river Mahakam, a channel of transport and communication which is essential for the local people of the Benuaq territories. Limited edition LP; includes insert of text and images by Vincenzo Della Ratta.

Reissue of German cassette release as vinyl after nearly 40 years. The songs are from the various singles and the debut LP. The title song 'Yuh Yuh' is from Selda's 1977 'Dostum Dostum'/'Yuh Yuh' single. Most of the songs are performed with the Anatolian Rock super group Dadaslar who are known for their works with Ersen. The group consists of Fehiman Ugurdemir (guitars and synthesizer, former Cem Karaca & Kardaslar guitarist), Ozkan Ugur ((bass, former Baris Manço guitarist) and Mehmet Gözüpek (former drummer of Bunalim) and creates a powerful groove with their psychedelic arrangements.

Matana Roberts is one of the most acclaimed, socio-politically conscious and aesthetically intrepid avant-jazz practitioners of the 21st century. Following the critical accolades that the first two Coin Coin chapters have thus far received, the past year has been marked by further career-defining recognition for her body of iconoclastic work: Roberts was a recipient of both the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts and the Daisy Duke Impact Award in 2014.

Roberts has long employed the phrase “panoramic sound quilting” to describe the process surrounding her Coin Coin work. The third chapter in her Coin Coin series finds Roberts implementing this metaphor most explicitly, constructing a sound art tapestry from field recordings, loop and effects pedals, and spoken word recitations, alongside her saxophone and singing voices. Coin Coin Chapter Three: river run thee could arguably be considered first and foremost a vocal work, and notwithstanding its experimental and esoteric structure, a deeply narrative work as well.

Described as “slow, hypnotic folk and/or loud, trance-inducing art-rock” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Annie Girl AND THE FLIGHT’s intense, almost psychedelic live performances have been making a mark on the San Francisco rock scene. Four-song EP.

Howe Gelb does not stand still. His next solo album 'Future
Standards' sees him fulfil a long time aspiration to play jazz
standards. Inspired by the classics, his piano songs have found a
clearer shape as “future standards” but have always been a
central element to his creativity. Sitting neatly against his huge
back catalogue of solo records, these compelling and timeless
songs are alluringly melancholic and reflective.

Purple Vinyl.Celestial piano composition and performance by a classically-trained Ethiopian nun. Erik Satie, Debussy, liturgical music of the Coptic Church, the Ethiopian five-note scale, and a touch of the divine. It is some of the most moving piano music you will ever hear!

“Wild Boy …” is a reissue of the well-known 2016 release curated by Brian Chidester, renowned researcher and biographer of Eden Ahbez. Especially for this album, Brian wrote an interesting text about Abi’s life, which definitely became the decoration of the release. With the new 2020 re-release, we went a little further and kept what is commonly referred to as studio cuts. It’s a few more minutes in the studio with ahbez himself, full of emotion and life. In addition, to the delight of fans, the edition includes an additional composition Nature Boy (Mantovani Orchestra). Especially, it is worth noting the outstanding mastering prepared from practically decomposed tapes by the Grammy-nominated Jessica Thompson, which guarantees the deepest and warmth possible sound. Jessica a huge ahbez fan and we’re highly appreciated for what she has done to save his music for the future. Eden Ahbez is definitely at the origin of psychedelic music and this release can be taken as further proof. Over the past twenty years, the iconic figure of the world’s first hippie Eden ahbez has become famous primarily for his 1948 song “Nature Boy”, praising universal love, and his amazingly solo album from the 1960s called “Eden’s Island” – one from the first concept albums in the history of music and probably the first psychedelic music album. “Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez” deepens understanding of the origins of the psychedelic movement in the 1950s. The disc contains a musical selection of works by Eden ahbez himself, written by him in the period after Nature Boy. The inclusion of songs such as “Palm Springs” – Ray Anthony Orchestra and “Hey Jacques” by Erta Kitt gives the listener the chance to discover for the first time the little-known recordings of world-famous artists composed by Eden ahbez. Through “Wild Boy” and “Surfer John” you can hear the author’s handling of absurd rock and exotic experimentation, as well as sweet psychedelic pop like Monterey (with Paul Horn on flute). Overall, Wild Boy: The Lost Songs Of Eden Ahbez offers an overview of the lost works of 1949-1971 with seven unpublished recordings and eight rare singles.

Back Again On Black Vinyl!Tenth Anniversary Reissue Of Josephine Foster's Lauded Ninth Album 'Blood Rushing'. The North American Colorado Based Singer-Songwriter Has Lent Her Warbling Mezzo-Soprano And Interpretive Wit To Nearly Two Decades Of Self-Produced Recordings. Foster's Songs Are Rooted In Early American Folk-Blues As Well As Classical Art Song And Tin Pan Alley. A Rock-Ballet...

140 gram black vinyl!

An eclectic, yet cohesive & remarkably assured nine-track tapestry, united by one of the most versitile & evocative voices you'll ever hear. Pressed to limited tan color vinyl.

36th studio album!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's first full-length studio album, The Oh Hellos present a special re-mastered LP reissue of Through The Deep, Dark Valley on black 180g vinyl.Remastered for the occasion, the reissue offers fans a chance to hear the music in a new light, and refresh their relationship with the album.Through The Deep, Dark Valley is a self-contained concept album, so for best results should be listened to in its entirety, in order, in one sitting."When we first wrote Through the Deep, Dark Valley, we wanted the album to flow like a narrative," says Tyler Heath. "Ever since, it's been a pattern we've found ourselves leaning into more and more with every record. To celebrate that original narrative spirit a decade later, we wanted this anniversary reissue to feel a little like a pop-up storybook that draws you in for the journey. We also enlisted the talented Charlie Kramsky to shine up our old recordings into a new Ten Year Anniversary Remaster."

Steve Von Till, best known as Californian heavyweights Neurosis' singer and guitarist, is due to release a new solo album, A Life Unto Itself on his main band's Neurot Recordings Von Till enlisted Randall Dunn, production supremo and Master Musicians of Bukkake founder, to helm the desk, as well as bringing in Eyvind Kang on viola and percussionist Pat Schowe. 'A Life Unto Itself' also showcases J. Kardong on pedal steel, texturising Von Till's baritone gravel and sun-bleached skeleton of...

The 78 Project is on a journey across America to make one-of-a-kind 78rpm records with musicians in their hometowns using a 1930s Presto direct-to-disc recorder. With one microphone. With one blank disc. In one 3-minute take. Along the way, a kaleidoscope of technologists, historians and craftsmen from every facet of field recording—Grammy-winning producers, 78 collectors, curators from the Library of Congress and Smithsonian—provide insights and history. In Tennessee, Mississippi, California, Louisiana, the folk singers, punk rockers, Gospel and Cajun singers in the film share their lives through intimate performances, and find in that adventure a new connection to our cultural legacy. With musical performances by: Reverend John Wilkins (Como, MS), Louis Michot, Corey Ledet & Ashlee Michot (Arnaudville, LA), Victoria Williams (Los Angeles, CA), John Doe (Fairfax, CA), Dawn Landes (Brooklyn, NY), Holly Williams & Chris Coleman (Nashville, TN), John Reilly & Tom Brosseau (Pasadena, CA), Gaby Moreno & Adam Levy (Los Angeles, CA), Jaron Lanier (Berkeley, CA), Ella Mae Bowen (Franklin, TN), Dylan Leblanc (Franklin, TN), Coati Mundi (Murrieta, CA), The Bo-Keys with Percy Wiggins (Memphis, TN), John Paul Keith (Memphis, TN), Ben Vaughn (Wonder Valley, CA), Sea Of Bees (Sacramento, CA), The Easy Leaves (Santa Rosa, CA) and Little Wings (Topanga Canyon, CA). Special edition DVD with over 30 minutes of bonus materials including complete musical performances and never-before-seen interview footage.

Stunningly beautiful, poignant music from Bilād al-Shām — ‘the countries of Damascus’, known nowadays as Syria, Lebanon and Palestine — including performances from the very first recording sessions in the region. The legendary, moody Beirut singer Būlus Ṣulbān is here — some historians have him singing before Egypt’s Pasha Ibrāhīm Bāshā during his military campaign in Syria, in 1841 — and Ḥasība Moshēh, Jewish ‘nightingale of the Damascene gardens’. Thurayyā Qaddūra from Jerusalem; Yūsuf Tāj, a folk singer from Mount-Lebanon; Farjallāh Baiḍā, cousin to the founders of Baidaphon Records... Musical directors like the lutist Qāsim Abū Jamīl al-Durzī and the violinist Anṭūn al-Shawwā (followed by his son Sāmī); such virtuosi as the qanun-players Nakhleh Ilyās al-Maṭarjī and Ya‘qūb Ghazāla, and lutist Salīm ‘Awaḍ. Even at the time, notwithstanding such brilliance, public music-making was frowned upon as morally demeaning, especially for women. Musical venues were generally dodgy. Ṣulbān once cut short a wedding performance for the Beiruti posh, after just one song, he was so disgusted with his audience. ‘If I had to tell you about the catcalls,’ one commentator wrote about the musical theatre of the time, ‘the stomping of feet, the sound of sticks hitting the ground, the noise of the water-pipes, the teeth cracking watermelon seeds and pistachio nuts, the screams of the waiters, and the clinking of arak glasses on the tables, I would need to go on and on and on...’

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2015!