Maisha is a 6-piece outfit lead by drummer Jake Long who are a part of the up and coming London Jazz undergound. Others in the band: Nubya Garcia (sax/flute), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Amane Suganami (piano/Wurlitzer), Twm Dylan (double bass) Tim Doyle (percussion and Yahael Camara Onono (percussion). Most of the tracks are 8 minutes or longer. AArbor
aarbor 1/8/2020 A Library
Fatou Seidi Ghali and Alamnou Akrouni are Les Filles de Illighadad: the first women’s Tuareg band. They are cousins. Their band includes 2-3 other women.Tuareg women don’t play the guitar they play a style of music called tende which is centered on a drum made with mortar and pestles. It’s a style that influenced Tuareg guitar playing but isn’t generally part of the music played by Tuareg men. This is an example of traditional women innovativating beyond what has been acceptable in their culture. This is their first record (from 2016), it’s lovely! The A side is 5 tracks which are not separated, the B side is one long track called ‘Tende’. – AArbor
aarbor 1/8/2020 A Library
German funk group which is the alias of the Poets of Rhythm. Compost label boss Michael Reinboth wanted a disco funk release and this moniker was created for that project. This is their only full length release. It’s funky in a delightful (not sticky sweet) way. Drop the needle! AArbor
Nerija are a collective of London-based musicians: Nubya Garcia (tenor sax), Steve Reid, Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto sax), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizzie Exell (drums), and Rio Kai (bass). Their music is original and inspired by: jazz, hip hop, Afrobeat and South African Township styles. Each track was written by a woman who plays on the recording. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Bodo Eisel and Martin Maischein are the Sandbenders. This record from 1998 is their only release on Craft Records. Even though it’s called Rock ‘n Roll this is not guitars and drums, it’s keyboards and beats. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Indonesian music and culture was influenced by the people who invaded them: Mongolians, Hindus, Buddhists (7th and 12th centuries), Moslems (13th century) and Christians (in the 16th Century). The indonesian people include many cultural and linguistic groups – from the relatively primtive Dayks in Central Borneo and the Temiar people of Malay to the more sophisticated Javanese and Balinese. Many Western people are familiar with the shadow puppet plays and Gamelan orchestra music. This limited edition remastered release of recordings done in 1949 offers a listeners additional Indonesian musics: dance music, children’s music, shaman songs, even opera – as well as other instruments. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Hideaki Ishi is DJ Krush who dropped out of school, joined a gang and then the Yakuza. call these tracks “downtempo”. He says that the movie Wild Style inspired him to become a DJ. He is considered one of the pioneers of Japanese hip hop and considers his music to be “underground” rather than “mainstream” hip hop. Here he is heard with others: Coldcut, Jazzanova, Kodo, DJ Shadow and remixing others. FCC on Side C track 1. Some standout tracks: A1 and 3, B1 and D1. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library, CD
Jennifer Bellor is a 36 yo composer (PhD from Eastman) who teaches music composition and theory at the U of Nevada – Las Vegas. This is her latest release and I was prepared not to like it, but I did. I liked her use of instruments: melodic percussion vs. non-melodic percussion, a variety of saxophone sounds, she really must like twilight, sunset, dusk because she understands the magic of that time of day. Be sure to check this out. – AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Ladakh is a part of Kashmir high in the Western Himalayas, in India. In the past its strategic location at the crossroads of important trade routes that connected the Silk Road to India, made it important. In the 1960’s China closed the borders with Tibet and Central Asia, so international trade has dwindled, except for tourism. Morup Namgyal worked at Ladakh’s only radio station and recorded a vast archive of Ladakhi folksongs, over 1000 recordings. Tragically the collection burned to the ground in 2002 along with the radio station. Morup set about recreating the archive. 5 of the songs on this album, recorded in 1992, are among the handful of tracks to have been spared by the fire. Sublime Frequencies has assisted in the preservation of the Ladakhi heritage by making this music available around the world. Play this record and help to keep Ladakhi folk musical traditions alive! The tracks are beautifully recorded and I especially liked the instrumentals, vocal tracks are tuneful and listenable. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Softballet is Ryoichi Endo, Ken Morioka and Maki Fujii from Japan. They formed the band in 1986 and disbanded in 1995. This remix album is remixers remixing mixers. It’s from 1995 and features major producers e.g. Black Dog remixing Plaid [2]. I liked every track, they’re all intriguing. The sound is relatively gentle even on track [4] which grows into something sonically bigger and more powerful, but still gentle. Carl Craig is the remixer on track [5]. His sound is recognizable and contrasts well with the echoey English vocals. Autechre remixed track [6] which is called Jail of Freedom. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 A Library
Weekender is from 1999 when Alois Huber was a part of the Sabotage Communications/Craft Records posse in Vienna. Huber is a key player in the Vienna avantgarde electronica music scene. He and Franz Pomassl founded the Laton label in 1990. He has been described as “Austria’s grand master of deep minimal ambient electronica…” I would call these tracks energetic “downtempo”. AArbor
aarbor 12/18/2019 10-inch, International
This record is from the era before Ethnomusicology turned recording of ethnic and folk musics into cultural documentation and preservation. There is an element of that here, except the liner notes are anything but scholarly. They describe the journey of the recording expedition to Afghanistan. The red vinyl is wonderful but hardly scholarly. The drumming is wonderful be sure to work it into your set. – AArbor
aarbor 11/20/2019 A Library
This is volume XI of Alan Lomax’s Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music. The music is from Japan, the Ryukus, (Okinawa) Formosa (Taiwan) and Korea. It was collected and edited by Genjiro Masu for the Japanese Music Institute of Tokyo. The recordings are very good, carefully done. There is some great material here. I especially enjoyed the Formosan and Korean recordings on the B side, although I’m not sure why they are included in a collection of Japanese folk music. Folk music is not boring! AArbor
aarbor 11/20/2019 12-inch, A Library
From 2005 this is the first of a series of 9 volumes featuring various DJs. Coldcut are Matt Black and Jonathan More (from the UK) the founders of the Ninja Tune label and trip hop pioneers. They produce electronic dance music which often includes cut up hip hop samples, breaks, soul, funk, jazz, spoken word (and other types of music and multimedia). This record is Coldcut working with other well-knowns like Steinski, Yazz and DJ Q-Bert, as well as remixing Red Snapper, Asian Dub Foundation, James Brown cut ups. Tracks 1-5 are fabulous. They’re funny, you’ll enjoy identifying the snippets of the tracks they’ve sampled, the first track has a cosmic outer space vibe. Enjoy! AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 A Library
A beautiful collection of gamelan music from 1928 in Bali. If you love gamelan music you will find music you will like here.
AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 A Library
This is the soundtrack from the 2007 film Gili 45 ancora una volta (Gillian who is 45 once again). In fact this soundtrack is a compilation of other (mostly Italian) soundtracks. There’s something everyone can enjoy here. AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 A Library
On delicately pink vinyl, this is the 3rd release from Los Guapos Sensibles which came out last Valentines Day. A side: Bigoton was written by Alfredo Varela which features some vocoder vocals. On the B side: Decimas del Desamor (tenths of Heartbreak) was written by Ryan Drury (who is also part of Los Discos Duro and Los Jalogüines) and M. Juarez. This is danceable Cumbia music. AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 CD, International
This is Kiki Valera’s Debut solo album. He is a Cuban master of the Quatro a 4-stringed chordophone now living in Seattle. He is a member of the Familia Valera Miranda – a century-old music dynasty which is known for Son Cubano, the infectious Cuban call and response song form which blends Spanish (song style and meter) and African (rhythm) musical traditions. Valera was exposed to Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery and Chick Corea through cassette tapes while in school and those jazz inspirations influence his cuatro solos. Valera is joined here by childhood friend, reknowned Cuban vocalist Coco Freeman. Valera and his ensemble pair 12 original songs with lovely instrumental work – put on your dancing shoes. AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 A Library
The debut single release (09/19) for Ritmos Tropicosmos who are a 7 piece cumbia group from Oakland. These are perfect for Halloween. Side A is the Mummy’s Tomb – a story about an ancient mummy locked up for several centuries in a worm-infested tomb. After several centuries she is finally set free to dance all night by the power of the Cumbia. The B side – The Kiss of Death is an instrumental which gives a nod to various maestros de Organo Cumbia: Eduardo Surita, Tulio Enrique Leon and Gabrielle Meza. AArbor
aarbor 11/13/2019 12-inch, International
In Buddhism the “Bardo” is the period between death and rebirth. Tibetan Buddhists believe that when someone dies, their consciousness wanders through the Bardo for 7 weeks (49 days) before transitioning to a new life. The consciousness of the newly deceased becomes aware of and accepts the fact that it has recently died, and it reflects upon its past life. Here Laurie Anderson is your guide through the Bardo reading passages from The Tibetan Book of Dead (The Bardo Thodol) which is translated into Enligsh by Tenzin Choegyal. Feel the unknowable expanse of the Bardo through vibrations from various resonant instruments. Add a meditative set to your show while you reflect on your life. Perhaps new inspiration will appear… AArbor
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