[ aquarius records — International ]

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After marvelling (if you're at all of our mindset) at the cover painting, which features some sort of dulcimer, an electric guitar, and an amplifier itself decorated with a painting of a dead tree and a sunset, the first thing that'll grab you about this 1977 Swedish folk-rock reissue is that it's so superbly recorded -- crystal clear, not too slick or over produced, just simply sterling, live-in-your-room sound that belies this album's misty '70s origin. Though ordinarily we find dusty, crackly, low-fi recordings of long-lost folkesque psychedelia to be preferably evocative and mysterious, this just sounds *amazing*. So, your ears will rejoice at how great Kong Lavring sounds...and then, the songs. So good. Kong Lavring made a terrific mix of traditional Norwegian folk music and electric rock instrumentation, with the choppy bite of "Liti Kjersti" being a particularily stellar example of such. With both male and female vocals -- Viking style male choirs chanting it up, and lovely sweet female vocals, capable of exquisite unaccompanied beauty. Though never particularily popular (they made only two albums, of which this is the first), Kong Lavring could be considered a Norwegian version of Fairport Convention, to make a loose comparison. Also recommended for fans of Turid, Kebnekajse, Arbete Och Fritid, and other Scandinavian folk/rock outfits -- perhaps even those of the black metal variety like Storm. The aforementioned cover art suggests a lot to those of us enamoured of the '70s hippy folk vibe, and this disc is indeed as good as the cover portends.

MPEG stream: Liti Kjersti
MPEG stream: Fagre Piker

From the very first notes of Assume Crash Position, we're immediately transported right back to Kinshasa in the Congo, a bustling town square, people going about their business, cars zooming past, children playing and shouting, people sitting at tables on the sidewalk drinking, eating, catching up, birds perched in the trees, chirping, just a regular bustling African city, except maybe for a certain group of musicians, creating their own soundtrack to daily life, conjuring up a gorgeous, rhythmic, hypnotic and strangely psychedelic racket, equal parts classic African folk music, High Life, and junkyard percussion. The musicians are wielding a strange array of hand built instruments, there's lots of rusted metal, car batteries, old cracked loudspeakers, various drums, and most notably, some fantastic looking, and even more fantastic sounding amplified thumb pianos. By now, regular readers of the aQ list most likely know we're talking about the truly amazing Konono No.1, quite possibly one of our favorite African ensembles ever, past or present. When we first hear them a few years ago, we were blown away, the super distorted thumb pianos spitting out clouds of rapid fire chiming notes, tangled melodies, all locked into super hypnotic drum driven grooves, call and response vocals, simultaneously festive and danceable, dark and mysterious, raw and feral, primitive and DIY, lush and melodic and like nothing we had ever heard before. When we first threw on Assume Crash Position, our first thought, was that very little had changed, and to a certain degree that's true, all of the above mentioned elements are still present, the wild thumb pianos, still the focal point, their sound curious but so warm and sweetly melodic, the call and response vocals, the tribal percussion, the groovy rhythms, but from the first track it IS in fact evident that some things have changed. That opening track, "Wumbanzanga", is far more melodic, far more pretty and almost more like some of the other traditional African music we've heard in the past, with great female vocals, the vibe super festive, but those thumb piano melodies definitely add a distinctly Konono vibe. Then the next track, "Thin Legs" explodes in a frenzy of whistles and tribal drumming and vocals, that's it, but it too manages to be super melodic and totally effusively celebratory. It's not until "Mama Na Bana" which opens with that Konono style stop start THRUMP THRUMP THRUMP, where the whole group locks in, before launching into classic Konono, it's really hard to describe, but those fuzzy buzzing metallic melodies wrapped around the repetitive rhythms and the super emotional vocals, the whole rest of the record is classic, albeit a bit more polished and melodic, Konono junkyard Congotronics... Some of the highlights this time around include "Makembe", with its buzzing melodies, crooned vocals, and the sounds of kids playing and birds chirping, before there's a BIG crash, apparently the sound of a concrete wall collapsing, a wall the vocalist was moments earlier leaning against, and then the band launches into one of the best jams on the disc. Or the gorgeous closing lullaby of "Nakobala Lisusu Te", with muted thumb pianos, super tangled melodies, and a sweet soulful croon, so dreamy and blissful, the perfect way to unwind after a wild, sweaty, funky, groovy, Congotronic workout. The packaging is cool too, with tons of photos of the local scrap yard / junkyard, where the band gather up most of the material they use to build their instruments, not to mention a shot of that collapsed wall that crumbled mid-song. As with past Konono's, utterly and absolutely wholeheartedly recommended!

MPEG stream: Wumbanzanga
MPEG stream: Thin Legs
MPEG stream: Mama Na Bana
MPEG stream: Makembe

So here it is! Hard to believe it's finally here -- some of us have been waiting forever for this record, or at least ever since we discovered a tiny, super compressed, thirty second long sound clip on the internet over a year ago. In all of half a minute, we became OBSESSED. Completely captivated by this band's totally alien, lush, organic 'world music' weirdness. We eventually tracked down a (great) live record by Konono No.1, which we listed here a few weeks back, and then after tons of internet sleuthing and a bunch of emails we finally managed to get in touch with someone at the Crammed label in Belgium who was willing to sell us this brand new studio album directly, since they are without US distribution. Phew! So was it worth it? Hell yeah! Anyone who heard that infamous sound sample (which was from this album), or who got to hear the live record, knows that this band is totally amazing, and indeed this record is beautiful, wild and wonderful, chaotic and festive, totally perplexing but completely mesmerizing. For those who missed out on the live record (which we've also just restocked!) or are new to the wonders of Konono No.1, here's the story: twenty five years ago, Konono formed in Kinshasa, an area between Congo and Angola, performing their own version of traditional Bazombo trance music, incorporating the then-unwanted distortions of their haphazard homemade sound system. They left the bush and settled in the capital where they were forced to compete with the harsh sounds of the city: cars, trains, buses, shouting, etc. So with very little to work with they fashioned pick-ups, microphones, loudspeakers and amplifiers from stuff they could find on the street -- old car batteries, pots and pans, magnets, even branches. Their main instrument is the likembe, a kind of thumb piano. Konono features three of 'em (bass, medium and treble) and the sound of the electrified and amplified likembe is what defines their sound. Accompanied by dancers and percussionists, the likembes wail and drone, buzz and moan, totally overblown and distorted, sounding a little like sixties fuzz guitars, turning a glorious high life jam into something much more strange and wonderful. Super rhythmic, and thick with the buzzing melodies of the likemebe's, Konono weave a massive sound. It's the wildest weirdest street party you've ever been to. Throbbing with energy and emotion, rambuctiously rollicking and totally infectious. Seven lengthy tracks that all sort of bleed and fuse into one epic world-psych jam. The African high life Hawkwind? So so great! Check out this video clip: KONONO [http://www.crammed.be/craworld/movies/konono_promo.mov]

MPEG stream: Lufuala Ndonga
MPEG stream: Masikulu

Yay! These AQ faves -- everyone's faves -- from Kinshasa are back with another exciting dose of their "Congotronics". Chances are, especially if you're a regular AQ customer, that you know all about 'em already, and maybe even got to see them at one of the shows that (lucky for us!) they've played over the past couple years in San Francisco. Live is where it's at for them, a sweaty, joyous, unstoppable, never-ending groove heavily laced with the sound of their signature instrument: the DIY homebuilt electric amplified African thumb-piano (called a likembe). In the hands of Konono No.1, it produces a bright, burbling, somewhat distorted, almost-electronic-keyboard sort of sound that we immediately fell in love with way back when we first heard the band. But that of course is not all, there's plenty of percolating percussion underpinning the likembe melodies, over which they do exuberant vocal toasts and call-and-response chants. When they get going full-on, you'll want to turn it up LOUD and let the whole neighborhood enjoy the energetic density of Konono No.1. Eight tracks, 52 minutes total, recorded live (sounding great!) in Belgium. Some songs you might recognize from versions on the previous two Konono discs (Lubaku and Congotronics), others are previously unrecorded. All will get your body moving, guaranteed. This is dance music, nothin' but. At home alone, unwilling to dance? It'll still bring a mesmerized smile to your face for sure.

MPEG stream: A.E.I.O.U.
MPEG stream: Nsimba & Nzuzi

We have been totally obsessed with these guys (as have the rest of you judging from how many folks have called and emailed about them and already bought a ton of copies from us before this review even was written) for at least a year if not more and until now there hasn't been a thing (other than a minute long mp3 sample available on Crammed Discs' website) which has been taunting us with the promise of a full length from these guys. So until that fabled Crammed Discs release actually comes out we've got this little nugget to tide you over. And it's no small shakes neither. Though we only learned of them recently Konono No.1 have been around for some 25 years. Hailing from Kinshasa, Congo, Konono No.1 are true African punk rock. They are real D.I.Y. Not putting on shows and printing zines, no, how about building their own instruments from found scraps and dismantled machinery and retrofitting and electrifying traditional instruments! For instance the lead musician Mingiedi Mawangu has taken his likembe (thumb piano), rigged it up to pickups (self-built from hammered parts purloined from car starter motors) and amplified it with a custom built amplifier driven by a car battery, using microphones built out of copper wire and branches. How cool is that! And the sounds these instruments produce is amazing. The likembe, with its muted gentle melodic thrum, is turned into an overdriven buzzing melodic powerhouse that sounds like nothing you've ever heard. Well, sometimes it sounds a bit like some sort of psychedelic alien fuzz guitar, but mostly it just sounds amazing and bizarre. The songs are all very melodically similar and mesh into one massive hour long jam, with wild percussion, chanted vocals, and of course the wailing Likembe. So completely amazing. Every time we play this in the store, someone buys one. Immediately. Seven extended tracks, recorded live and released on the Ex's label Terp.

MPEG stream: Ditshe Tshiekutala
MPEG stream: Ku Hollande

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SORRY. If there was ever a more unlikely split record, we sure can't think of one. But if there was ever a split we'd most like to see, it would be hard to do better than Konono No1 and the Dead C. Not sure if the two bands are a perfect fit, or just happen to satisfy our weirdly eclectic tastes, but this split 12" is fucking amazing. Two new tracks from Konono No 1, who if you are an avid reader of the AQ list are no doubt already familiar with ( we carry both their full lengths, their live record Lubuaku, as well as their studio album Congotronics). An African ensemble led by a trio of amplified Likembes (thumb pianos) and whose equipment is cobbled together from car parts, branches, batteries and other urban detritus. The sound is wild and joyful, rollicking and totally exuberant, the likembes sounding like some alien underwater psychedelic guitars. Wow. And then there's the Dead C. What can you say? One of the most important bands to ever come out of New Zealand. The masters and originators of the NZ free rock sound that has influenced hundreds of bands and been copied by hundreds more. The first 5 tracks are locked grooves, but skip past those (or not!) and you'll find three brand new tracks, 17 minutes of the Dead C in clattery chaotic rock mode, bursts of stumbling, distorted, propulsive free rock, like some lost Krautrock classic, played through crappy practice amps and on a beat up old drum kit, everything drenched in tape hiss and recorded in some cavernous space. Now if they had only managed to get Konono to record WITH the Dead C...

MPEG stream: Masikulu
MPEG stream: 2
MPEG stream: 3

This record is so goddamn beautiful. Hard to know how to describe it. It reminds me of the sonic equivalent of those time lapse films where you watch the seasons pass in a matter of minutes, sunrise, sunset, plants slowly unfurling and blossoming, before wilting and falling to the ground, snow and then rain and then sun, everything moving at an accelerated pace, but blending and merging into a completely mesmeric and hypnotic fugue. Sort of like that. The tag on the cd mentions Godspeed and the Rachel's, and while those are the easiest comparisons (Godspeed because it's so epic, and the Rachel's because it's sort of chamber music) they don't at all hint at the complexity and depth of this Kopernik record. Thick and throbbing, undulating bass is the foundation, cellos, and upright basses, double basses, bowed and plucked, create a viscous and dense bed of rumbling, pulsing low end over which delicate, glistening melodies are sprinkled. This is ambient music, but so rich with layer after layer of delicate sound, that form an impossibly complex and challenging and beautiful listen. While rooted in this bass heavy, epic classical ambience, these songs do stretch in all sorts of improbable directions. Gorgeously lush chamber music, with digital glitches and hiccups, reminscent of Oval's Diskont, but instead of sounding underwater it sounds like it's floating in midair. A medieval court music, sort of grand and pompous, but also a bit forboding, like a much more GRIM Penguin Cafe Orchestra with burbling bass and loping melodies. Dark and cinematic, suspenseful and harrowing noirscapes with thick walls of lower register thrum with heavily affected backward vocals. Lonely and desolate, but so sincere and emotional. A perfect late night record of soothing dreaminess and nocturnal mesmer, but unlike many similar records, it can stand up to serious listening, offering even more when time is taken to explore its rich mysteries.

MPEG stream: Ondoyany Et Divers
MPEG stream: Theme For Grace
MPEG stream: Man, Myth, And Magic

Anyone who dug last year's cd reissue of Erkin Koray's Elektronik Turkuler LP probably also will want to suck on this aural hookah, the man's second album (we would assume from the title -- the English language info here is scant -- but it might actually be his third!) from the mid-seventies. It's another fantastic, psychedelic foray into the East-West juxtaposition of Turkish folk and acid guitar rock...well, compared to Elektronik Turkuler this is perhaps a blend somewhat less psych, more traditional, but still totally great. We just can't get enough of this stuff (see elsewhere this list for another fine example, the Edip Akbayram & Dostlar album!) and we're pretty sure you can't either. On 2, Turkish guitar god Koray's middle eastern grooves move from stately and orchestrated to more lively, rockin' rhythms, all the tracks drawn from singles circa '72 to '76, plus earlier non-album bonus cuts going back to 1967, including an acoustic version of one of the Elektronik Turkuler hits.

MPEG stream: Estarabim
MPEG stream: Gonul Salincagi

The Middle Eastern psych rock obsession continues to rage here at Aquarius! Nothin' better than the exotic sounds of swingin' sixties Istanbul (or a close approximation). Here's a cd reissue of a 1974 album by guitarist/vocalist Erkin Koray, known as the Jimi Hendrix of Turkey. Maybe that comparison isn't the most accurate (there's nothing as heavy as "Purple Haze" here), but at least it gives you an idea of the East-meets-West grooves found on "Elektronik Turkuler". Two cultures, one counterculture, it seems. With sinuous "belly-dancing" tunes rocked up with distorted electric guitar, rock n' roll beats, some wild flute playing, and the occasional lysergic organ freakout, this is an authentic "magic carpet ride" as it were, culminating in the 9-minute "Turku" complete with spoken word incantations and freaky sound effects. The traditional-sounding vocals are all in Turkish, some of the tunes are clearly adaptations of traditional Turkish music as well. Anyone who really dug the John Berberian "Middle Eastern Rock" disc we listed a few months back, or loves those great "Turkish Delights" or "Hava Nargile" compilations (both of which feature Koray tracks), should check this album out. Unfortunately we only have 8 copies in stock at the moment, so please act fast, or be patient... MPEG Download: "Karli Daglar" [/audio/koraykarli.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Karli Daglar" [/audio/koraykarli.m3u]

MPEG stream: Karli Daglar
MPEG stream: Inat

Uh, c'mon, how could this NOT be awesome? Sublime Frequencies never fails us, first off. AND we're already fans of vintage Turkish psych in general, guitarist/vocalist Erkin Koray in particular. So this release, with its excellent eyeballs-shooting-purple-rays-from-space-or-whatever cover painting, was eagerly anticipated at AQ. And yeah it's awesome. As the subtitle says, this consists of singles and rarities circa 1970-'77 from this Middle Eastern psych rock master, founder of "the first underground group of the Orient", a living legend whose career stretches back to the '50s. Rarities? Well, compiler Mark Gergis notes in the liners: "This collection features tracks not found on the many unauthorized Erkin compilations and LP reissues that have emerged in the west over the years." And indeed these eleven tracks were provided to Sublime Frequencies by Koray himself, sourced from his personal vinyl collection! So, listen up, 'cause this is the stuff Erkin wants us to hear, and well, if you're any sort of Turkish psych fan like us, you NEED to hear it. Tracks like "Kendim Ettim Kendim Buldum" and "Hadi Hadi Ordan" are going to make you very happy. Swirling and shimmering, twanging surfy electric saz (or is that oud?), melodic deep droning vocals, bellydancing folk motifs, stirring orchestration, and YES some wild blasts of psychrockguitar distortion, it's the exotic East (lots of East) meets West sort of thing we just love! While some of this is wonderfully moody, a lot of it rocks, all right, ferinstance just crank up "Krallar" (a '75 single from whence that striking cover image comes) with its especially dramatic vocals to match its uptempo urgency. Digipack cd release for now, with a vinyl version due out in a couple of weeks as well. Is it too much to hope that Sublime Frequencies will get Erkin to undertake a Western tour like labelmate Omar Souleyman, one of these days...?

MPEG stream: Mechul
MPEG stream: Ve...
MPEG stream: Hadi Hadi Ordan

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

After a flurry of contemporary releases, Chris Connely, Chicago Thrash Ensemble, Mako Sica, PlusTapes returns with another mindblowing archival release, this one comes from Korea, and is the collected works of an all girl trashy rock and roll garage band called the Korean Black Eyes, who totally kick ass. Brash and snotty and groovy. The opening jam, is all buzzing bass, reverbed surf guitar, pounding drums, bleating sax, and some seriously raspy bad ass lead vocals, complete with wild throat shredding screams, her voice rough and raw and so passionate. The second track finds the Black Eyes getting all groovy and funky and soulful, adding some warm whirring organ to the mix, channeling Sly Stone and Funkadelic, but giving it their own twist. The vocals are amazing, and pretty much make the band, sung in English, but with a SUPER thick accent, and it's that total rock bad girl voice, weathered from whiskey and cigarettes, but still so sexy and sultry. The interesting thing, as with many of these bands, is how did a band like this survive in Korea in the early seventies? In a time when this sort of rock was not at all encouraged. And most certainly not by women. But we're so glad they did. And we're so glad PlusTapes tracked this stuff down. The B side even gets all ballady, opening with a Moody Blues cover, but it's not at all cheesy, their version is smokey and mysterious, sung in Korean, the sax slithery and slippery, the sound humid and heavy. And then they go off and finish the record with "Jesus Christ Superstar", epic and groovy, and subtly psychedelic, and again the vocals just seal the deal. It's criminal how good these women are. In different circumstances they could have been, should have been huge, and certainly the vocalist would have been a superstar with her tough and sexy Tina Turner / Janis Joplin yowl. Total kick ass bad girl garage rock and roll genius. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!! Pink tapes, each one hand numbered and hand decorated, with cover art by Plastic Crimewave.

Do we even have to tell you this is cool? Basically this is something you should want as soon as you read the words "Guitars From Agadez" and "Sublime Frequencies" on the sleeve. Being a limited 7" single also ought to seal the deal. Everything so far from SF in their Guitars From Agadez series (records from Group Bombino and Group Inerane) has been killer, and this introductory taste of the talents of another North African axe master, Koudede Maman, follows suit. Koudede & his band unleash some smoking, sinuous, hard edged grooves on both hypnotic sides of this single, recorded live on tour last year. Wish we'd been there, sounds like a funky good time. And we most certainly hope that SF has a full-length in the works! Limited to 600 copies.

The fantastic Sublime Frequencies "world music" label brings us another installment of incredible North African guitar music, in the vein of Group Inerane and Group Doueh. We first heard the talents of young Tuareg six-stringer Koudede & his band on Sublime Frequencies' previous Guitars From Agadez Vol. 5 single, and when we reviewed that we said we hoped there was a full-length in the works, 'cause we wanted to hear more of Koudede's hypnotic, hard-edged grooves. Sadly, though, with this release comes the news that Koudede was tragically killed in a traffic accident in October this year, while travelling back to Niger from playing a show in Burkina Faso. So while Vol. 5 was an exciting introduction to his music, Vol. 6 must be a tribute to his memory, and what might have been. The two tracks here were recorded live by SF's Hisham Mayet at a tumultous concert Koudede played in January 2012, in the midst of ethnic strife in Mali. Limited edition of 700 copies (Vol. 5 is long gone already).

After two 7"s, Sublime Frequencies has released the final four tracks recorded by Tuareg guitarist and vocalist Koudede Maman, the last ones recorded shortly before his tragic death in a car crash while traveling to Niger from Burkina Faso last year. Koudede was a rising star in the nomadic community, a powerful performer and voice for the plight of his people against both the suppression of their ancient traditions and the rise of modern nation-states that usurp the natural resources of the land which the nomadic people desperately need. Most of Koudede's music was created in strife, but sought to create unity in a tumultuous region that saw very little of it. Though listening to him perform, one can only truly sense pure joy. A beautiful and heartbreaking release.

With all the recent reissues of lost '70s West African musical gems, it's important to remember that there is amazing music being made RIGHT NOW over there, of course. And with so many of today's indie bands like Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend borrowing so much from African music its nice to go right to the source and hear some brand new sounds from that region, that are overflowing with such beauty and the rich tradition of storytelling through song that has long been a part of Ngoni culture. Bassekou Kouyate has been a major player in the West African music scene for years, from back in his days playing in a trio with Keletigui Diabate and Toumani Diabati and then branching out to form his own ensemble, where he has invented and perfected his own instrument known as the bass ngoni, which has the ability to reach such rich harmonic states of sound. On I Speak Fula, the first release on Sub Pop's new international imprint Next Ambiance, Kouyate and his band show how rich, peaceful yet trance inducing the music they create can be. With guest spots from his former musical partner Toumani Diabate as well as vocals from Vieux Farka Toure on a few tracks, this is such an amazing display of some of the most talented musicians in West Africa today. So much on the record reminds us of some of our favorite releases on Terp, like Lanaya or Djibril Diabate, only with the addition of some seriously enchanting vocals. The first, fantastic release from a new label that definitely seems poised to bring us more great unfiltered sounds from across the globe. So good!

MPEG stream: Musow - For Our Women
MPEG stream: I Speak Fula
MPEG stream: Saro (Featuring Vieux Farka Toure)

Bassekou Kouyate is like the Steve Vai of Mali. About as close as you'll get to a shredder. His instrument of choice the ngoni, an African lute which is an early ancestor of the banjo. Bassekou builds his own ngonis, at at some point decided he just didn't have enough strings, so started adding MORE, and eventually formed Ngoni Ba, the first ever group formed around FOUR ngonis, augmented by percussion and of course soulful stirring vocals, but it's the ngonis that are the star. Apparently, when Bassekou was a young man, he observed guitar players moving to the front of the stage to solo, and as luck would have it, Bassekou had outfitted his ngoni with a strap, and while most ngoni players traditionally sat to play, when it came time for his solo, he stood up, headed for the front of the stage and proceeded to blow everyone away. Signaling his radical intentions for the instrument. He also developed his own unique style of picking, a unique version of slide guitar technique as well, a style that was quickly adopted by a new crop of young ngoni players in Mali. Jama Ko is the latest from Kouyate and his Ngoni Ba, and is easily the best thing we've heard. His Sub Pop records (!) didn't quite capture the raw energy and emotion, but here, the songs are dreamy, haunting, emotional, passionate, the vocals a huge part of the sound, with the ngonis weaving a lush melodic backdrop, but it's when the ngonis take center stage that things get really good, the sound very reminiscent in places of Konono No.1, the lead ngoni, super distorted and buzzy, unfurling wild tangles of melody, but every song here is incredible, the sound of four ngonis divine, easily slipping into wild psychedelic swirls, with at least half of the record spent in some sort of Afro-psych mode, but just as easily, weaving soft lushly layered textures, over which the group lays down swoonsome minor key melodies, and delivers heartfelt vocal driven Afro pop dreaminess. So great!

MPEG stream: Jama Ko
MPEG stream: Dankou
MPEG stream: Ne Me Fatigue Pas
MPEG stream: Kele Magni

When Allan said that we were getting a CD of recordings of the "Hawaiian guitar of India", I had visions of Gabby Pahinui being backed up by fast and furious tablas. In reality, the music of Gopal Krishan and the vichitra (or strange) veena is nothing like Hawaiian music, so clean that out of your head. No, the reason why Hawaiian guitar is mentioned in connnection with this strange veena instrument is due to the fact that, unlike the sitar, this zither has no frets and instead the performer utilizes a pieces of stone (glass, or wood), much like a Hawaiian guitar, over the strings to reach the proper pitch. This slide guitar like way of performing allows not only for much longer sustained notes -- the decay resulting from bending a pitch via applying pressure to the string on a sitar or sarod is much quicker -- but greater precision and variability of pitch: hence, greater possibility for expression. Another item that apparently makes this veena particularly strange is that, unlike other instruments in the veena family which don't generally have sympathetic strings, it does. And not only that, because the plucked strings are quieter than normal, the sympathetic strings sound much louder relative to the melody. As far as performers of the vichitra veena, Mr. Krishan is pretty much it. The guy has an unintentional monopoly on the instrument and as such, gets to travel far and wee to play it for fascinated crowds. Each disc contains one track, that divided into three parts: a solo prelude by the veena and then two sections accompanied by tabla, the second faster than the first. Beautiful and sublime. Comes with a heaping portion of liner notes in French, English and German.

RealAudio clip: Raga Jog - Alap
RealAudio clip: Raga Jog - Teen Tal Drut

The Kronos Quartet maps the world of sad nomadic musics from Yugoslavia, Portugal, India, Mexico, Romania, Iran, Lebanon, Argentina, and the semi-real land where Terry Riley is from (you know... California). Pleasant background music for white people who like to get drunk on sangria, then lie about how intoxicated they are, all the while dancing like a rhythmless idiot and talking on a cell phone to some poor sap who can't get them off the phone.

We've already sold a ton of these. It's not hard to see why. Everybody loves Bollywood film music, and Asha Bhosle is the queen of Indian cinema singers. And the always-adventurous chamber group the Kronos Quartet are pretty cool as well, aren't they? So the idea of Kronos teaming up with Bhosle to record a bunch of the best film songs written by famous Bollywood composer Rahul Dev Burman (1939-1994) is a fine one, and it's worked out marvelously on this disc. Rather than the hyperkinetic, energetic style of music that accompanies the big production dance numbers so often characteristic of Bollywood film, these tracks are of a more languid, moody variety, full of tender sentiment and romantic yearning. Perfect for the sad yet uplifting strings of Kronos (with help on tabla and other percussion from guest Zakir Hussain, and also Wu Man on pipa). And of course perfect for the lovely voice of Bhosle, who sang so many of these songs originally. We said "moody" but these moods do range widely, from sad to seductive to joyous. This package (which comes ensconced in a nice metallic cardstock slipcase) includes a thick booklet full of detailed notes and photos. You get lyrics and even a synopsis of each of the films in which these songs first appeared, generally back in the early '70s. All in all, gorgeous tribute to Burman and his classic Bollywood ballads, and mostly likely a worthy introduction to them for many.

MPEG stream: Dum Maro Dum (Take Another Toke)
MPEG stream: Mehbooba Mehbooba (Beloved, O Beloved)
MPEG stream: Nodir Pare Utthchhe Dhnoa (Smoke Rises Across The River)

Anyone captivated by the hypnotic grooves found on the great "Ethiopiques" series should check out this not-dissimilar music by one of Ethiopia's neighbors to the north. The late Egyptian bandleader Ali Hassan Kuban, who passed away this summer at the age of

RealAudio clip: Amira
RealAudio clip: Yah Nasma Yah Halina

A fairly recently recorded collection by the "James Brown of Nubian music." Ali Hassan Kuban has been both celebrated for fusing jazz / popular music with traditional Nubian music by many and reproved for debasing it by others. Nevertheless, Kuban made an indelible mark on Nubian and Egyptian popular music, selling millions of copies of his records in his 72 years. "Real Nubian" was recorded between 1997 & 2000 and demonstrates that Kuban was not shy, even in his golden years, to incorporate new and modern elements into his arrangements. So it should come as no surprise that this album has a greater presence of synthesizer and electric bass, but also harmonica, saxophone, bagpipes and even a little bit of vocal processing a la Cher's "Believe" on one track. It all gets a little too Peter Gabriel at times and maybe a little rich for some palates, but if you can get past the chilled white wine and restaurant dining al fresco production values of this album the same Ali Hassan Kuban spirit and inventiveness remains there underneath it all.

RealAudio clip: Gammal
RealAudio clip: Koma Wo Beda

Oh my god! We're overwhelmed with this sudden spasm of Fela Kuti reissue activity -- a dozen cds (many of them containing two LPs worth of music) in the last couple weeks alone, with more on the way! Needless to say, we're not YET able to offer reviews of each

KUTI, FELA Everything Scatter / Noise For Vendor Mouth (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Ikoy Blindness / Kalakuta Show (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA J.J.D. / Unnecessary Begging (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Live In Amsterdam (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Monkey Banana / Excuse O (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Open & Close / Afrodesiac (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Roforofo Fight (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA The '69 Los Angeles Sessions (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Upside Down / Music of Many Colours (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Zombie (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98

MPEG stream: Lady
MPEG stream: Water No Get Enemy
MPEG stream: Coffin For Head Of State
MPEG stream: ODOO

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Record Store Day 2013 release!

Here's a mighty impressive set for all you Fela Kuti fans out there: two cds packed with his best (Gentleman, Zombie, No Agreement, Coffin For Head of State and more) and the legendary 1982 documentary on Fela shot in Lagos, Nigeria. While the running time is only 53 minutes, there's nary a moment of un-necessary footage. Along with shots of Lagos and interviews with Fela there's plenty of footage of rare live performances at Fela's Shrine club and at the collective where he and his group reside. It must also be noted that this DVD includes both the French and English versions of the documentary which are different -- so it is recommended that you watch both.

MPEG stream: Zombie
MPEG stream: Coffin For Head of State

Two disk anthology of Fela Kuti's grand ouevre. As the title implies, one disk focuses on Fela's jazz oriented cuts and the other on his dance elements -- though parsing those two, which are so entwined in all his music, is somewhat tough. Never the less, this is a pretty good introduction to the music of Fela Kuti, spanning twenty years of his prolific career (with tracks from as far back as 1972 and as recent as 1992) and is recommended to those who are curious about his work, but have yet to make any commitments.