Music > traditional musics

A new milestone in the reflection on the challenges of creation in traditional music, and its recent aesthetic renewal.

8 years almost to the day after releasing his unique re-interpretation album of his field recordings made in the late 90's in Tanzania, Kink Gong is back with another volume of bushmen madness.

This issue explores the crossroads, contacts and contrasts between two fields of musical knowledge: ethnomusicology and popular music studies.

Previously unreleased music by Otto Sidharta, pioneer of Indonesian electronic music, inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music.

Black Truffle continues its documentation of the work of Berlin-based Italian singer Amelia Cuni, one of the great contemporary exponents of dhrupad, the oldest surviving style of North Indian classical vocal music.

A vinyl compilation containing undisclosed original recordings of Portuguese fishermen's songs and contemporary compositions by artists Filipa Cordeiro, Joăo Pais Filipe, Nandele, Romain Baudoin and S1m0nc3ll0.

A volume that gives a voice to artists, writers, witnesses and experts, all invited to reflect upon the question of the Portuguese fishermen's culture and the rapid transformation it experienced, accompanied by a vinyl compilation containing undisclosed original recordings of Portuguese fishermen's songs and contemporary compositions.

This volume gives a voice to artists, writers, witnesses and experts, all invited to reflect upon the question of the Portuguese fishermen's culture and the rapid transformation it experienced.

Dewa Alit, Bali's master of contemporary Gamelan composition, returns to Black Truffle with Chasing the Phantom, presenting two recent works played by the composer's Gamelan Salukat, a large ensemble that performs on instruments specially built to his designs, using a unique tuning system that combines notes from two traditional Balinese Gamelan scales.

A field recording project initiated by Japanese sound artist Yasuhiro Morinaga, documenting traditional gong music by different Southeast Asian ethnic groups.

A field recording project initiated by Japanese sound artist Yasuhiro Morinaga, documenting traditional gong music by different Southeast Asian ethnic groups (2 CDs with a 52 page booklet).

FLEE's new project focuses on the music of the pearl fishermen of the Persian Gulf and aims to honor the memory of the divers, their culture and their music, through a 2XLP compilation and a 240 pages long book in Arabic and English.

FLEE's new project focuses on the music of the pearl fishermen of the Persian Gulf and aims to honor the memory of the divers, their culture and their music.

FLEE's new project focuses on the music of the pearl fishermen of the Persian Gulf and aims to honor the memory of the divers, their culture and their music.

Sound American Publications' 27th issue, The Life Issue, proposes a reflection upon the smallness—and largeness—of living amidst a tumultuous, globally-shared moment (featuring Claire Rousay, Susan Alcorn, Jack Langdon, Lea Bertucci & Audrey Chen, Katie Porter, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Henri Pousseur, Chris Pitsiokos, Catalytic Sound collective, Ka Baird, Mazen Kerbaj...).

The first-time vinyl edition of CC Hennix's 2014 piece "Blues Alif Lam Mim in the Mode of Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis," intended to reveal the blues' origins in the eastern musical traditions of raga and makam.

The latest album by Iranian-American electronic music producer Sote is an all electronic affair, harmonically maximalist, predominantly symphonic-synthetic, requiring active listening.

This publication tells of the journey of a photographic research of the origins of cumbia music along the lower Magdalena river in Colombia.

This double LP forms a tribute to Pizzica, an antique music from Southern Italy, used to heal people suffering from tarantism, a mysterious disease caused by a spider. It includes field recordings of musicians-exorcists in the 1950's in Puglia, and six reworks by contemporary electronic musicians.

Solo album of the world legend bansuri master from India. The acclaimed flautist recorded it in a 16th century Church in the Netherlands. The record gathers musical improvisations on bansuri with tanpura and flute as accompanying instruments. Ajanma takes the listener into an intimate and meditative communication with Chaurasia.

This compilation features traditional songs that originate from the city of Sanaa, the sheikdom of Lahej, and the port of Aden. The term samar, which is the title of the compilation' second part, describes the delicious, luxury time when people gather for relaxation, refreshment and music. Music performed by the Kawkabani brothers and oudh player Hassan al Zabeede.

A music piece based on sound check situations and rehearsals of Amazigh music recorded by Gilles Aubry between 2013 and 2014 in Morocco. Using his microphone as a sound processing device Aubry has transformed further his field recordings in the studio through performative feedback techniques.

Ancient Light and the Blackcore was originally published in 1995 as part of Sub Rosa's “Utopian Diaries” series. It gathers 5 tracks of hallucinatory music and extraordinary recordings of shamanic ceremony from the Yanomami communauty. Includes the text Subworld by David Toop. First vinyl issue.

An overview of the fruitful long-standing collaboration between Amelia Cuni, specialist of Indian dhrupad singing, and minimalist experimental musician Werner Durand.

What is it we call “Black” music? A selection of texts from the April 2010 conference in Bordeaux based on a critical discussion of Philipp Tagg's open letter about “Black music,” “Afro-American Music” and “European Music.”

Camel Zekri (electroacoustic guitar), Thierry Madiot (bass trombone and trumpets), Daunik Lazro (baritone saxophone) and Dominique Répécaud (electric guitar) reach a rare degree of balance between softness and roughness, between lightning and harmony.

The meeting, on the Niger River, between contemporary improvised music and African musical traditions.

Limited green vinyl version of the latest album by Iranian-American electronic music producer Sote is an all electronic affair, harmonically maximalist, predominantly symphonic-synthetic, requiring active listening.

LP plus DVD with full-length movie (125 minutes) of Balafon music of the Lobi people, recorded in and around Gaoua, Burkina Faso, on a two-week journey in June 2014, by Dirk Dresselhaus (alias Schneider TM), Julian Kamphausen and Arved Schultze. Packaged in a full-colour gatefold sleeve with DVD tray, with numerous photos and an extensive interview with Dresselhaus.

Maria Beltsikova and Tatiana Dordzhieva are two Kalmyk folk musicians, named after the Mongolian descendants living in Russia. This compilation gathers traditional Kalmyks songs (about the deportation of the Kalmyks in 1943-1944) and Soviet folklore.

A vibrant tribute to Kenya's musical signature genre Benga.

Mesmerising 1992 performance from the Dhrupad master vocalist Amelia Cuni, accompagnied by renowded vina player Gianni Ricchizzi and Helmut Waibl on pakhawaj.

Sound American's 25th issue celebrates explores the intersections of folk and experimental music practices (edited by Sarah Hennies and Anna Roberts-Gevalt, featuring Throbbing Gristle, Henry Flynt, Suzanne Kite and Scott Benesiinaabandan, John McCowen, Meredith Monk and Peggy Seeger...).

Publication documenting a centuries-old choreo-musical ritual from Southern Italy, used to exorcise women of a mysterious evil caused by the bite of a spider. It gathers contributions by artists, sociologists, anthropologists, scientists, and priests, and features a large ensemble of photographs.

Limited edition including a double LP compilation and a 168-page publication gathering a complete documentation on Tarantismo, a project dedicated to a centuries-old choreo-musical ritual from Southern Italy, to exorcise women of a mysterious evil caused by the bite of a spider.

Michael Snow's The Last LP is an extraordinary collection of tracks “of rare music derived from threatened, obsolete, or now-extinct cultures from around the world” that although the claiming of being field recordings of ancient musical experiences, are in fact pieces played, conceived and recorded by the artist himself.

This compilation features traditional songs that originate from the city of Sanaa, the sheikdom of Lahej, and the port of Aden. The term samar, which is the title of the compilation' second part, describes the delicious, luxury time when people gather for relaxation, refreshment and music. Music performed by the Kawkabani brothers and oudh player Hassan al Zabeede.

Deriving from an eponymous audiovisual performance, this electroacoustic project by Sote (Ata Ebtekar) blends traditional music from Iran with hardcore electronics.

Never released before recordings from Logos Foundation live sessions in Brussels, on May 7, 1977. Toop and Burwell's association, which ran during the seventies, was a good mixture of musical decomposition through free improvisation, bioacoustics, environmental sound, raw musics, anthropology, and esoterism.

Fascinating and unreleased before music by Otto Sidharta, pionneer of Indonesian electronic music. Electronic compositions from 1979 to 1992 that integrated natural sounds and urban sounds to this extent were extremely rare at the time, which gives them a unique form of intensity.

Fascinating and unreleased before music by Otto Sidharta, pionneer of Indonesian electronic music. Electronic compositions from 1979 to 1984 that integrated natural sounds and urban sounds to this extent were extremely rare at the time, which gives them a unique form of intensity.

This catalogue is a visual journey through the artist's show at Mudam Luxembourg. It centers on Almond's series of cosmos-inspired abstract paintings Timescape. Produced in conjunction with the publication, the record All Things Pass highlights the musical dimension of the artist's eponymous video installation. The soundtrack embodies both the tradition of music in Northern India and an experimental approach, expressing links between cosmic and human existence.

A musical anthology gathering a collection of recordings featuring traditional instruments from Asia and Oceania—from New Zealand to the Philippines, from India to Burma.

An anthology of original recordings from Java, Sumatra, and Bali: a collection of ecstatic and hypnotic sounds, featuring a large panel of musical influences and traditional instruments that represent Indonesia's large heritage of profound cultural differences.

This first volume gathers traditional music from different areas of the Indonesian archipelago, featuring music from Sulawesi, The Moluccas Islands (Spice Islands) and Central Java.

This second volume dedicated to traditional music from the Indonesian archipelago covers music from the vast island of Sumatra (West Indonesia), The Moluccas Islands and the island of Bali.