Folk 222 Items

Sam Burton is a singer/songwriter from Salt Lake City, now based in Los Angeles. After several years circulating homemade cassettes on labels like Chthonic and embraced by blogs like Cassette Gods, Sam has recorded his first proper debut album with producer Jarvis Taveniere (Purple Mountains). Due in mid-2020, Sam's debut LP will be preceded by two limited edition 45s, one which will be available exclusively for Record Store Day in the UK. Sam is slated to tour the UK and Europe in 2020 with fellow Tompkins Square artist Gwenifer Raymond.

As if they had been playing for the past 40 years in small road clubs and dusty honky tonks in the United States, Los Locos Del Oeste transport us to a time on which rock’n’roll was yet to be invented and the Hawaiian sounds and melodies from jazz mixed creating new sonic paradises. From western swing to the purest country, along with other popular melodies that dominated the airwaves between 1930 and 1960, the four piece formed by Mario Cobo (guitar and vocals), El Lega (guitar and vocals), Javier R. Cortés (double bass) and Blas Picón (drums) moves seamlessly within these styles they love and known so well. George Barnes, Jimmie Rivers, Speedy West, Jerry Bird, Chet Atkins, Charlie Christian and Bob Willis are some of the references that their elegant sound bring back.

Cairo’s Dijit follows that smoked out, killer debut album for Youth with the first release on newly minted Cairo/London based label diy. Recommended if yr into Jabu, Andy Stott, Tricky, Zuli or ManonMars.

Roza Eskenazi was a giant of rembetika, the urban Greek music of Ottoman origin associated with the poor underclass. Eskenazi’s life was extraordinary: born Sarah Spinazi to a poor Sephardic Jewish family in Constantinople, probably in the mid-1890s, after an itinerant childhood, she began dancing at the Grand Hotel Theatre in Thessaloniki. She eloped with the wealthy Yiannis Zardinidis around 1913, with whom she bore a son, but after his untimely death in 1917, she placed the son in the care of an orphanage and moved to Athens, where she danced with Armenian cabaret artists. Eventually, the composer Panagiotis Toundas discovered her singing and arranged her first recordings for Columbia Records in 1929, which catapulted her to fame. Cutting over 500 songs in the 1930s, she became the leading exponent of the Smyrna school of rembetika. Running a nightclub in Athens during the German occupation of World War II, she hid resistance fighters and British spies and helped many Jewish families flee the country. She finally toured the USA in the 1950s, and though her career subsequently waned, a 1970s revival led to further work. The longevity of her output is such that her song Misirlu was included on the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction; the 21 gems collected here were recorded between 1931 and 1947.

This compilation features some great examples of rebetika songs from the 20's and 30's including some well known artists like Rosa Eskenazi, Markos Vamvakaris, Anestis Delias, Rita Abadzi and others. An excellent overview of the phenomenon for anyone interested in southern European folk music history.

After the very acoustic "¿Dónde estás María?". I decided to try a new experiment taking as a reference the legendary group "Cumbia siglo XX" which is a group who explores a futuristic vision of coastal cumbia in the 80s, together with other groups such as "Grupo folclórico", "2000 voltios" and others, mainly under the label Machuca and Felito records. This new 80s cumbia was a combination of funky basses and a further evolution of the rhythms, blending this style with disco and even rock music and superimposing the traditional versus the urban context and the modernity.

Meridian Brothers took this as a departing point and inspiration, making the same experiment but in XXI century, using the modern media of this time; all kinds of drum machines, guitars and synths, algorithmic software etc, and also taking into account the global exposition of modern cumbia in the 2010s. So all kinds of influences and genres are blended around this cumbia axis. Urban beats, synthy grooves, glitches and all kinds of swear words (and its censoship &$*/&##), and all kinds of slang languaje are included in the songs of the album.

All these elements are filtered and passed through the traditional train of thought of Meridian Brothers, which is the figuration of an abstract picture of sound put it within a concrete context or cultural tendency.

Türküola releases maybe the most outstanding piece of Cem Karaca & Apaşlar in their adventure in Germany. Cem Karaca was a new born Anatolian Pop star from rock’n’roll roots and Apaşlar was a surf band when they united in 1967. In the end of 1967 they toured Germany and began to record with Ferdy Klein Orchestra (which was a version of Werner Müller Orchestra) between 1968-1969. “Gılgamış-Ayrılık Günümüz” is one of the singles recorded as a cooperation between the band and the “big band” . Therefore the A side of the single “Ayrılık Günümüz” (Our Day of Departi reflect this cooperation between Werner Müller Orchestra and CK & Apaşlar with a feeling of mod scene, a rock ballad with polyphonic arrangements. On the other hand the flip side of the single gives out the band’s own groove and performance with the instrumental psychedelic rock peace “Gılgamış” (Gilgamesh). Gılgamış is inspired by the Epic of Gılgamesh and the band plays a powerful groove with a Mesopotamian mood and riffs. The Apaşlar line-up playing in this piece was Mehmet Soyarslan (electric guitar), Seyhan Karabay (bass), and Leon Habib (drums). Beginning with Seyhan Karabay’s solid bass riffs which is followed by drums of Leon Habib serving an energetic groove; Soyarslan plays his Epiphone guitar with psychedelic effects which sometimes take the main theme to a micro tonal scale. Today we have the opportunity to hold this unique piece in compliance with the authentic cover coated with gelatine and its vinyl produced from the master tapes. Thanks to Türküola for this generous reissue for the collectors of Turkish psychedelia.

Damily was born in 1968 in Tongobory, a village surrounded by the great Malagasy river Onilahy. His career as a professional Tsapiky musician began in 1986; he settled in France in 2003, and since then has been developing his international career with his Malagasy musicians. This album is a compilation of his cassettes recorded in Madagascar between 1995 and 2002.

fold out cover

More than 25 years in the making, Swedish folk rock pioneers Garmarna continue to reinvent what music rooted in the Scandinavian tradition is about. New album 'Förbundet' is a hard-hitting record that pushes the boundaries of traditional folk and defines the soul of Garmarna. One of the underlying themes of the record is facing the beauty of living and the beauty in saying goodbye. Some of the core songs on the album, like Dagen Flyr, Ur Världen Att Gå and Avskedet, spread their message of sorrow and letting go across all of the other songs. Having always pushed to reinvent themselves with every record, Garmarna does not shy away from modern, electronic influences on ‘Förbundet’. Simultaneously, the musicians also took a closer look at what they believe is the core of their music, calling it the most satisfying album they have made so far. ‘Förbundet’ is all about that soul, from start to finish.

Singer-songwriter with deep roots in hip hop culture.' Gea Russell presents his latest album One Last Dance, an album that fuses elements of blues, soul, reggae, jazz and hip hop. Whist his music has been likened to Tindersticks, Ben Harper and Michael Kiwanuka we are faced with a truly unique voice. The Result, an honest, spacious and heartfelt dance, and hopefully not his last.

‘A celebration of the ever-expanding and evolving label family, Lli008 comprises an LP, a fifty-odd-page booklet (and eight page photobook and insert), further digital tracks and some web-based stuff contributed by friends new and old from far and wide.’

Uzelli Kaset was established in 1971 by Muammer and Yavuz Uzelli in Frankfurt, Germany. Their music resonated not only with the longing that Gastarbeiter (guest workers) felt for the homelands and families they had left behind and the melancholy brought by their difficult living and working conditions in Germany, but also with the joy that welled up at village weddings on their days off, and the long car or train journeys home. Reaching the remotest corners of Germany as well as Turkey, Uzelli Kaset was soon more than just a music company; it became a companion to Turkish workers living far from home. Not counting the handful of 8-track tapes and 14 LPs released in the early days, the catalog consisted entirely of cassettes.
When they opened their Istanbul office in 1977, Uzelli moved beyond production and became successful in the areas of reproduction, distribution and marketing. Taking the catalogs of other production companies under its umbrella, it continued its rapid growth.
The 90s became the CD decade, and because Uzelli Kaset had not released its catalog in CD format, hundreds of albums remained unavailable to an entire new generation. Because the albums had not been released in LP form either, musical explorers ran into the same problem. Remaining active and serving in various areas of the music industry, Uzelli carefully preserved its visual, audio and document archives, ensuring their survival to the present day.
After an immense amount of work, this catalog, which had long awaited discovery by new generations, was finally released in digital format. For record collectors seeking the spirit of those times, we also began offering this special selection of compilation albums in vinyl format. As we created this series, our goal was to guide listeners toward new discoveries, and open new pages for music lovers to explore. Leaving our rich, multifaceted catalog to genuine musicians, curators and artists, our desire became to approach the recordings of that period from a different perspective.
We are overjoyed to know that our continuing meticulous work will bear fruits whose taste and aroma have been long forgotten.
Uzelli

Chaotic Good is J. Warren’s fifth full-length album and first for Wax Nine/Carpark Records. It represents a moment of rupture in the singer-songwriter’s career as she transitions away from the quiet, folk-adjacent work that defined her early solo albums with a bold statement piece that demonstrates the breadth of her ambition.

On the eponymously titled final song of her debut album Land Of No Junction, Irish songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances sings “Take me to the land of no junction / Before it fades away / Where the roads can never cross / But go their own way.” This search, indeed the heart of the album, recalls journeys towards an ever shifting centre—a centre that cannot hold—with maps that are constantly being rewritten.

She writes: “The album title is a result of a mishearing. Cian Nugent (Aoife’s musical collaborator and co-producer) was telling me about childhood trips he made to Llandudno in Wales, passing through a station called Llandudno Junction… Land Of No Junction later became a place in itself. A liminal space—a dark vast landscape to visit in dreams… A place of waiting where I could sit with uncertainty and accept it. Rejecting the distinct and welcoming the uncertain and the unknown.”

The album is shot through with this sense of mystery—an ambiguity and disorientation that illuminates songs with smokey luminescence. Yet, through the haze, everything comes down to what, where and who one is. With Land Of No Junction, she has built a universe full of intimacy and depth, with lyrics written through a process of free thought writing. It lends the record fluidity, each song in dialogue with the next not only through language, but the way each musical choice complements or threads into another: “I would write without putting pressure on taking the song in any particular direction. It all carried itself naturally and instinctively with melody coming first and then structure later.” Written over several years, the songs traverse and inhabit this indeterminate landscape: the beginnings of love, moments of loss, discovery, fragility and strength, all intermingle and interact. Some songs—like lead single “Blow Up”—date back to university days, where Frances studied film. Borrowing its title from the 1966 Antonioni picture of the same name, it indirectly provided the catalyst for Frances’s broader considerations about being a woman and self-determination—”Blow Up” and “Less Is More” were written before the abortion referendum was passed in Ireland in 2018—during time when women were forced to travel abroad during crisis pregnancies. They are both songs about being a woman and finding strength in a forever changing world.

What Sophie Michalitsianos has created, using barely more than her voice, piano, and cello, is magical, defying labels. Originally released as a private-press CD for her fans, I.A.A.Y.A, or I Am As You Are, is sublime, intimate, weightless, and comforting. The album takes its time yet feels urgent, like you need this music, this moment. This is the first time it's been available on vinyl. If the name Sol Seppy sounds familiar, it's because Michalitsianos had one groundbreaking album in 2006, The Bells of 1 2, which for those that heard it became one of the most important albums of the 00s. From it came the track Enter One, which has been used on numerous high-profile TV shows and has a silly number of views on YouTube. Most of I.A.A.Y.A was recorded and mixed in Knoxville, United States. Now, though, Michalitsianos lives in a small Greek village, hoping to make it her home while she works on the next two records. Yes, this is just the first part of a trilogy. In Sophie's own words: "Deep within these songs is a meeting place. It's an old home of everyone's and I hope for it to be an anchor whilst we bob up and down in chop." This is rare, this is real, this is true.

The Infamous Stringdusters aus Nashville gelten als eine der besten und innovativsten Bluegrass-Bands unserer Zeit, sie traten mit Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs und Bobby Osborne auf, belegten mehrmals die #1 der US-Bluegrass-Charts und erhielten 2018 sogar einen Grammy Award für das beste Bluegrass-Album. Nun veröffentlichen sie das Weihnachtsalbum "Dust The Halls" mit 10 zeitlosen Xmas-Klassikern in ihrem unverwechselbaren, groovy Style.

"With a nod to the past and a firm foot down on the gas toward the future, the 'Dusters... don't leave bluegrass behind, they're stretching it from within." - New York Times

Ed Askew has been in NYC for 30 years. A few years ago he moved from Washington Heights in Manhattan to Ridgewood in Queens. And starting next month, he will be in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.During all this time, Ed developed a home recording method which is very nuanced and at the same time concise. Ed’s harpsichord, tiple, synth and a muscular use of Pro Tools all play a role. His lyrics are on a whole new level; and his voice is his own. 2020 Seven Songs is his most recent home recording and the first one made this year.“Starting in January, “coffee in the afternoon, chocolate cake and copper pennies” -- the album begins by looking forward to less difficult times, warm weather and days at the beach.2020 is an experimental piece that talks about young bands and continues an optimistic thread.Make a Wish evokes a certain reconciliation with lost love. You’ve experienced this. We are in February.In March, I am holed up in my apartment. I make another song; watch TV and contemplate the passing time, romance, and make some small paintings.144 is a short piano piece, I play it on my classic Alesis synth.The beginning of March brings to mind San Francisco memories as I watchquarantined musicians play from home.It seems that I am “waiting for the end of time” at the end of March. I’m working on songs and painting a bit. I remember 1967 and the time I spent in Harlem after I moved to New York as I hear late night ambulances on my street.”Ed Askew, NYC, 2020

Martha Rose is a Berlin based English musician. Her music is a combination of casio pop and old English folk song. Melodies rule and lyrics slowly reveal. "Spit" was her debut LP, released on limited vinyl through Treibender Teppich Records, who do present new album as well. For fiends of: Joanna Newsom, Broadcast, Cat Power, Tom Brosseau, Angel Olsen, St Vincent, Independent, Casio-Pop, FolkpopAlbum info:The title 'Undress & Dive After' comes from the lyrics of an old English folk song called "Hares on the Mountain." It represents situations piled up upon each other, with new metaphors expressing the same thing again and again - the hopeless desire of women to pursure the men they are interested in. "If all you young men were fish in the water, how many young girls would undress and dive after?" This album title informed the recording and writing process of 'Undress & Dive After' from the beginning. Martha Rose's lyrics consistently follow through the threads of the heart, the intertwining of desire and loss, and evoke a medieval valour in the pursuit of true love. There is always a scent of the unattainable crush - "I'm such a liar, but it's just cos I love ya" - permeating Martha Rose's work. "My Heart Still Beats 4 U" expresses melancholy frustration in the recurring nightmare of love always expressed too late, or too little.In 'Iron Age Daydream' we see a metaphysical expansion of her emotional universe into a fusion of visions and thoughts. 'Fine to be alone, naked underneath my clothes', Rose laconically explores and links up themes of awkward holiday plans, infuriating day jobs, the taste of blood in wounds that don't hurt anymore, the imagined memory of ancient civilisations, jars of unborn embryos in the natural history museum, the fantastical worlds of E.T.A Hoffman and Georges Bataille. It ends back where it started, with rolling, foaming milk, conjuring daydreams and burning seas.There are odes dedicated to the creative vision of a beloved school friend (Keep a Par...

Before his prolific activity in the field of music therapy, Agostino Nirodh Fortini also embarked on his own path in electronic music. In the early eighties he was a close collaborator of Walter Maioli and Fred Gales, at the time of the pioneering label Sound Reporters. “Suoni Immaginari”, released only privately on cassette in 1988, contains a wide range of keyboards and lots of ethnic field recordings assembled with an absolutely modern praxis ahead of its time. Nirodh imagines his planetary odysseys as a complex of harmonic devices, nebula storms, glassy explosions and gravity-free falls. His operational horizon reflects further cultural ideas and suggestions; not only the artifice between natural sounds and the programmed machine but also the intrusion of arabesque dreams and jungles contaminated by invading insects and mad pipers. These are spectral symphonies which can have analogies with the fourth world of Hassell and Eno.

“This recording is not a "best of", it is a reflection of Tori Kudo's evolution as a composer, from playing with seasoned musicians, to playing with people just starting out, from playing with meticulous scores, to playing call & response melodies written down, to the songs here on "Je est un Autre": instant improvisations based on keyboard compositions that Tori plays for the group. Yes, that is it. He plays a recording of himself on the keyboard, with singing or humming sometimes and he leaves it to the "big band" to interpret this on the spot. Sometimes, you can make out the melody, other times it is quite obscure, as if a sort of common shyness flows out of the collected instrumentarium.

And other times, well, it is a big party.

Mr Kudo and the group were invited to tour Europe to celebrate 20 years of the project Le Ton Mité, members of which are absorbed into the ensemble. The recording evolves from the static sound of hermetic conditions to the live concert in the later tracks. The studio here, is a trendy concert hall in Brussels Les Ateliers Claus. You hear the applause of the brave ears that weathered the ride of accidental psychedelia & moiré of various notes fading into and out of each other. This is only a sliver of the material from the 20 hour recording marathon documenting the new composing/playing style of Mr Kudo & snippets from the last concert of the March 2018 tour. Perhaps the album should be called "Je est un autre : Volume 1" in a vague reference to "My Brother The Wind" series from Sun Ra. In any case, here you have four sides of ten inch vinyl to take you on a journey into Maher: Je est un autre…”