Tag Archives: world music

An omnibus review of Central Asian traditional music

Many parts of Asia have only recently been opened to the West. Many of these lands have for much of the past several centuries been under the sway of huge empires – the Ottomans, Tsarist Russia, the Mongols, ancient and … Continue reading

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Tsagaan Sar’s White Moon (Traditional and Popular Music from Mongolia)

Big Earl Sellar wrote this review. Often the term “world music” has been corrupted to encompass a small and narrow band of culturally “acceptable” music. A typical fan of this genre will have a fair-sized collection of Afro-pop, Latino popular … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Ten Years of Face Music

Big Earl Sellar wrote this review. Face Music is a Swiss record label, specializing in World and World fusion styles. This compilation comes after the release of their 22nd album, no mean feat for an independent label with such an … Continue reading

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Nohon’s Altai Maktal

Big Earl Sellar wrote this review. As I write this, the first snow of fall is drifting down. The chill of the coming six months is in the winds, and every face I see wears a frown, dreading what winter … Continue reading

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The Klezmer Conservatory Band’s Dance Me To The End of Love

Brendan Foreman wrote this review. If one would consider the KlezRoym New School, then the Klezmer Conservatory Band is thoroughly Old School in their approach to the music. All of the usual forms of klezmer are here: the frenetic freylekhs, … Continue reading

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Various artists’ The Rough Guide To The Music Of Russia

Over the last decade or so the idea of music compilations has taken on a new face – thank goodness!! Compilations have become an art form and, fortunately for the music lover, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The series of Rough … Continue reading

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A Latvian music UPE Records omnibus review

Various artists’ A Touch of Latvian Folk Music Skandinieki’s Skandinieki Valdis Muktupavels’s Valdis Muktupavels Marija Golubova’s Stasti Un Dziesmas Latvia is a small country located on the east side of the Baltic Sea, with Estonia to the north, Lithuania to … Continue reading

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Garth Cartwright’s Princes Amongst Men

Gypsies and music go together. Not just in popular imagination, but in fact. From the Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt to the wailing trumpets of the brass orkestar, from Andalusia’s Flamenco guitarists to the profound and joyful singing of Esma … Continue reading

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Vigüela’s A la manera artesana

The Spanish folk quintet Vigüela call their new album A la manera artesana or “In the artisan way.” In the album’s liner notes by the great folk music champion Simon Broughton, he explains it this way: “The title of their … Continue reading

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Imarhan’s Aboogi

One of my favorite songs of 2016 was “World Goes Away” from the Tucson Arizona-based group Xixa’s album Bloodline. As I said in my review of that album: XIXA’s dual frontmen, Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan, seem to have internalized … Continue reading

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