RADHAKRISHNAN, PRASANT East Facing (Lotus Music) cd 14.98
When it comes to specific musical instruments it's definitely tough for us to be won over by the sax. It's an instrument that all too often employed by those who have no business using it (think Kenny G, bad '80s pop rock, etc.) It's questionable use has made it so that even in respected jazz we almost cringe at its use unless its by one of the very few sax masters. So we knew immediately that this record by Carnatic player Prasant Radhakrishnan was something very special when it began with the sounds of a gorgeous alto sax. Part of it was the fact that the sax was being played in a way we had never really heard the instrument used before. Radhakrishnan's ability to bring together the disciplines of Classical South Indian music with Jazz is something he does grace and style. Equally influenced by John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins as much as D.K. Jayaraman and his guru Kadri Gopalnath, Radhakrishnan essentially uses the Sax to play ragas while his group adds violin and traditional Carnatic percussion to round out the sound. Now living right here in San Francisco, Radhakrishnan has found a perfect place to share his transcendent sounds with lots of open minds and ears.
MPEG Stream: "Varnam"
MPEG Stream: "Kshinamai"

RAMAMOORTHY, T.K. Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic-Jazz (EM Records) cd 22.00
What awesomeness has EM for us this time? The Japanese reissue label rarely lets us down, digging up only the most interesting and unusual gems from long ago and far away. Recently they've brought us the "modernized" Thai music of Son Of P.M., and the spiritual bamboo flute playing of T.R. Mahalingam. Like the latter, this release is also from India, and furthermore ostensibly in the Carnatic (Southern Indian classical music) tradition, as per its truly fabulous title... but liberally mixed with Western jazz! Pretty neat, since we've heard plenty of albums doing the "jazz raga" or "Indo-jazz" thing (Don Ellis, Alice Coltrane, Joe Harriott/John Mayer, Gabor Szabo, etc.) but those are all by Western musicians looking to the East for inspiration, not the other way around. Whereas what we have here is a bit different in origin.
This album, from 1969, is an utterly gorgeous set of exotic, melodic Indo-jazz fusion masterminded by one T. K. Ramamoorthy, a prolific film composer and director. According to EM, it's the first recorded instance where serious Indian musicians delved into jazz territory, juxtaposing traditional Indian instruments and musical structures with those from jazz tradition too. Improvisation being a significant element of both styles, it was doubtless an interesting and exciting session for these musicians. It certainly is for the listener.
There's ten tracks here, and listening it's fascinating how it seems to subtly shift from the Indian and "exotic" to more familiar feeling jazz sounds, depending on what you listen for. The drummer lets loose on the traps one moment, while the zing of the strings of a sitar is heard at another, and it all works together so pleasingly, for fans of both Bollywood and Brubeck. Quite wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "Gowla"
MPEG Stream: "Ranjani"
MPEG Stream: "Rasikapriya"

RAMAMOORTHY, T.K. Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic-Jazz (EM Records) lp 29.00
What awesomeness has EM for us this time? The Japanese reissue label rarely lets us down, digging up only the most interesting and unusual gems from long ago and far away. Recently they've brought us the "modernized" Thai music of Son Of P.M., and the spiritual bamboo flute playing of T.R. Mahalingam. Like the latter, this release is also from India, and furthermore ostensibly in the Carnatic (Southern Indian classical music) tradition, as per its truly fabulous title... but liberally mixed with Western jazz! Pretty neat, since we've heard plenty of albums doing the "jazz raga" or "Indo-jazz" thing (Don Ellis, Alice Coltrane, Joe Harriott/John Mayer, Gabor Szabo, etc.) but those are all by Western musicians looking to the East for inspiration, not the other way around. Whereas what we have here is a bit different in origin.
This album, from 1969, is an utterly gorgeous set of exotic, melodic Indo-jazz fusion masterminded by one T. K. Ramamoorthy, a prolific film composer and director. According to EM, it's the first recorded instance where serious Indian musicians delved into jazz territory, juxtaposing traditional Indian instruments and musical structures with those from jazz tradition too. Improvisation being a significant element of both styles, it was doubtless an interesting and exciting session for these musicians. It certainly is for the listener.
There's ten tracks here, and listening it's fascinating how it seems to subtly shift from the Indian and "exotic" to more familiar feeling jazz sounds, depending on what you listen for. The drummer lets loose on the traps one moment, while the zing of the strings of a sitar is heard at another, and it all works together so pleasingly, for fans of both Bollywood and Brubeck. Quite wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "Gowla"
MPEG Stream: "Ranjani"
MPEG Stream: "Rasikapriya"

RIMPOCHE, BOKAR Sacred Chants & Tibetan Rituals From The Monestary Of Mirik (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98

ROY, DILIP Namaskaar (Cloud Forest) cd 13.98
In our utopian dreams of what it would be like to get off the plane and arrive in India this is what would immediately fill our ears! It makes so much sense that the title of this album is Namaskaar, as it's an age-old traditional greeting in India. An expression used as a warm welcome to visitors and honored guests. It also makes sense that this record was supposedly produced originally as a promotional item for Air India!
Dilip Roy is an Indian composer who creates deeply inviting and warm sounds that make you feel like you've been lifted off your feet and taken to some majestic land filled with color, melody and elegance. While this record was recorded in 1983, we would have guessed it was from the late '60s or early '70s as it has that slightly tripped out sound and lush arrangement that might have been the result had R.D. Burman and David Axelrod joined forces. We can just imagine Four Tet's Kieren Hebden and DJ Shadow drooling over these sounds and wishing they had gotten their hands on them to sample and steal. Imagine the tracks those two could come up with working with this stuff!! It's was no surprise when we learned that Roy sometimes collaborated with Ananda Shankar, such amazing grooves, but what we love so much about this record is how it has echoes of Bollywood in its sound yet it's way more calm and tranquil while somehow still managing to be just as much of a bright and colorful trip. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Nattu Padangal"
MPEG Stream: "Yaman"
MPEG Stream: "Priyatama"

SAKHI, HOMAYUN Music Of Central Asia Vol. 3: The Art Of The Afghan Rubab (Smithsonian Folkways) cd+dvd 21.00

SAN UL LIM s/t (World Psychedelia Ltd) cd 17.98
First album from 1977 by this South Korean group of three brothers who began to play together while attending their university. Apparently the three, completely disconnected from the greater Korean rock scene, were most inspired by the likes of Australian rockers AC/DC, but lacking the right equipment or technical know-how couldn't replicate their sound. Whether this is factual or not the music of San Ul Lim, it must be said, sounds absolutely nothing like AC/DC; rather, they sound a lot more like Turkish psych faves Erkin Koray, Haramiler, Mogollar, et al. In fact, the second track on this album shared a space next to some of those very Turks on the Love, Peace & Poetry: Asia collection and despite the fact that their tune had been recorded as much as ten years later than some of the others, they sound as if they could have been cut in the late 60's. San Ul Lim, while ostensibly a trio -- with the eldest brother on guitar, the youngest on drums and the middle playing bass -- either did some over-dubbing work or had another un-named member playing keyboards. Small oversight maybe, but the keyboardist has as big a role as the eldest bro when it comes to carrying the solos for the group using a broad array of synths -- a harpsichord farfisa patch being popular -- and electric pianos. On many of the groups songs it seems like they just gave the keyboardist cart blanche to just solo through the entire tune. The bass playing of the middle brother is equally spirited. Not content to merely playing his role in the rhythm section and keeping harmony going, he has a tendency to keep busy with fast moving scale fragments and melodies. It's all almost too much for the youngest on drums to keep up with at times! Definitely something that anyone who dug the HE 6 reissue reviewed recently (or the Shin Jung Hyun disc reviewed on this list) and wants to further explore the Korean '70s psych scene ought to check out for sure. Likewise if you haven't yet delved into these sounds from SK but like the other international psych sensations we've brought you before...
MPEG Stream: "Track 2"
MPEG Stream: "Track 7"
MPEG Stream: "Track 8"

SEKA GAMBUH PURA DESA ADAT BATUAN Music of the Gambuh Theater (Vital Records) cd 14.98
Gambuh is the oldest surviving dramatic form in Bali (incorporating music, literature and dance), a remnant of the Hindu Javanese courts of 500 years ago, it followed those courts to Bali when the Mahapajit dynasty fell to Islam in the 15th century. With the destruction of the royal courts in Bali by the Dutch in the 20th century, Gambuh has become an orphaned form, rarely heard and even more rarely recorded. In fact, this recording represents the first time ever that the entire drama has been recorded and released in commercial form. Although some of the bronze percussion instruments so commonly associated with the music of Bali are included in gambuh, they serve a more perfunctory role here and their numbers are much smaller than what would be found in most gamelan ensembles. The leading instruments, along with the two hand drums, are several (between 4 and 6) bamboo flutes (suling gambuh), some as long as one meter in length. Combined with the rebab, a two stringed bowed lute which plays almost in unison with the flutes, the resulting sound is quite haunting and beautiful. Though the flutes are playing in unison there's a slight inexact nature to their playing, maybe a certain freedom of interpretation of the melody, that gives their melodic lines an eerie echoing nature. The cd's booklet also comes with 21 impressive pages of very thoroughly researched liner notes that will satiate the appetites of budding ethnomusicologists or sundry other hungry music fiends out there. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Batel"
RealAudio clip: "Gadung Melati (excerpt 1)"
RealAudio clip: "Gadung Melati (excerpt 2)"

SHAGAN, MAZHAR Ragas Au Penjab (Harmonia Mundi) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not only is Mazhar Shagan a modern master of Hindustani classical music, he is also fairly non-traditional in the fact that he perfoms these gorgeously drone-y, age-old ragas on the very Western mandolin! Like much classical Indian music, these are epic and shimmering, long form drones, steel strings buzzing, weaving a lush nest of sonic overtones, underpinning emotionally rich melodies, weaving hypnotically through the thick sonic miasma. The sound of the mandolin is distinctly non-Eastern, and gives the proceedings an almost country feel, making Ragas Au Penjab sound like early twentieth century Appalachian folk music filtered through Indian classical music. So, so nice. Definitely for fans of modern practitioners of the (American Primitive) raga like Jack Rose, Pelt, Fahey etc, as well of course, as fans of Indian classical music.
MPEG Stream: "Raga Desh"

SHANKAR, ANANDA A Life In Music (Times Square) 2cd 16.98
At last, a readily available cd collection of ultra kitschy, exotic grooviness from the late great Ananda Shankar, nephew of '60s counter-cultural phenom, sitar master Ravi Shankar. Ananda Shankar, a sitar player himself (he gave lessons to Jimi Hendrix, in fact) had his own, rather more cult recording career, beginning with a self-titled album released in the USA in 1970 that featured sitar and Moog laden instrumental versions of such contemporary rock n' roll tunes as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire". He went on to record many more albums in India, all of 'em featuring the funky, futuristic East-meets-West fusion of which he was a pioneer. Such tracks as "Dancing Drums" and "Streets Of Calcutta" (both included here) eventually became DJ staples with the rise of the "Asian Underground" club scene in the '90s (Talvin Singh, et. al.).
Subtitled "the best of the EMI years", this 22-track, double cd anthology draws from seven different albums by Shankar, recorded for the EMI-owned Gramaphone Company Of India between 1975 and 1999, when Shankar unfortunately died of a heart attack at the age of 53. There's many gems here to tickle the fancy of anyone into Bollywood-style music. (And if you want to hear that 1970 debut album, it's at last been reissued domestically on cd by Collector's Choice, and is also in stock here at AQ.)
MPEG Stream: "Dancing Drums"
MPEG Stream: "The Alien"

SHANKAR, ANANDA A Musical Discovery Of India (Cloud Forest Recordings) cd 13.98
A few lists ago you might remember us gushing over the work of India's Dilip Roy. His record Namaskar was the perfect musical open armed welcome to the India we always see in our dreams. We mentioned in our review of that record how Roy had done production and arrangements for Ananda Shankar. And then just a few weeks after basking in the glory of Roy's great early 80's masterpiece we were met with the reissue of two great Dilip Roy arranged Ananda Shankar albums on this cd. A Musical Discovery of India was originally a 12" made for the India Tourism Development Corporation in 1978. It makes obvious sense why this would be used to sell travel to India because after listening to these lush arrangements, who in their right mind would not want to jump on the first plane to India?! The second record collected here is the fiery and frisky Sarrega Machan. On this album Shankar was once again joined by Dilip Roy and his majestic arrangements for a record with bizarre themes, of twilight and playful animals, a record that ignites a full sensory experience, like some soundtrack to a wildly colorful nature adventure filled with suspense and intrigue. Ananda always possessed a lighter, groovier and more playful touch than his much revered brother Ravi, but these two records prove once again that in his own approach he added so much richness to Indian music and culture. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Kaziranga Beat"
MPEG Stream: "Charging Tiger"
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Symphony"

SHANKAR, ANANDA s/t (Rhino / Scorpio) lp 16.98
Kitschy sitar / Moog classic from 1970, featuring a great cover and some amusing covers ("Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Light My Fire") alongside Shankar's own Indian music meets Western pop experiments...pretty cool. Finally reissued legit.

SHANKAR, ANANDA Thoth to Eros (Bombay Beat) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Subtitled "The Best of Ananda Shankar", this is long overdue (the original LPs command hundreds of dollars) material from Ravi's brother. Completely whacked out psychedelic sitar music, albeit a little cheesier (he covers "Jumpin Jack Flash") but sometimes a lot weirder and more experimental than brother Ravi. Supposedly comes with CD-ROM visuals.

SHANKAR, ANANDA, EXPERIENCE, THE & STATE OF BENGAL Walking On (Real World) cd 16.98
Ananda Shankar (RIP) met up in '99 with British "Asian Underground" DJ State of Bengal for this sitar-funk-electronica session. Indeed an "illustrious cult figure in the secret history of pop culture", Shankar was famed for his East-meets-West psychedelic pop experiments decades ago, and this is a fun and fitting finale to his career. If you were into the "Untouchable Outcaste Beats" comp (which featured an old Shankar track alongside folks from the new Asian/UK DJ scene) and/or are a fan of the likes of Talvin Singh, you should check this out.

SHANKAR, RAVI Flowers Of India (Cherry Red) cd 17.98

SHANKAR, RAVI Transmigration Macabre (Cherry Red) cd 16.98
Without a doubt one of the most psychedelic and experimental sounding records in the amazing recorded legacy of Ravi Shankar. Composed as a score for the British art film Viola, this finds Shankar experimenting and traveling with sounds that one might not always associate with him. Of course it's still his playing and several tracks have his unmistakable and totally influential sitar sounds, exactly the way you're familiar hearing them, but what's so nice about -this- record is that there are also moments where if you were listening without knowing it was Shankar you might guess it was any of a handful of psychedelic experimental bands from the last quarter century. Apparently the film is about a possessed man's belief that his dead wife has returned to life in the form of a cat that pursues him. Wow trippy stuff...and Ravi knew just the sounds to convey those otherworldly feelings. Really nice!
MPEG Stream: "Anxiety"
MPEG Stream: "Death"

SHANKAR, RAVI & ALI AKBAR KHAN More Flowers of India (El Records) cd 17.98

SHARK MOVE Ghede Chokra's (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
Reissues of pretty good obscure '70s prog-psych albums, while not a dime a dozen, aren't exactly hard to find (at a shop like ours, anyway). But when the band's from Jakarta, Indonesia, and they're called SHARK MOVE we get extra excited. Just look at the colorful mythology of the cover art. How could this not be cool? And it is. Originally released in 1970, the sole album from Shark Move is a treat for anyone into the long-haired hippy prog excesses of the day, spiced with an extra special something due to being from a non-Western land, where these guys were REALLY freaks for making this music... UK prog stylings derived from the likes of Genesis and Deep Purple are mixed with some more traditional Indonesian musical motifs, and not all the lyrics are in English. Also the results are further warped away from normalcy by the third-world production quality, which we'd say is a good thing.
With serious songs, complex arrangements (keyboards, flute!), and melodramatic doses of both thee gently melodic and thee instrumentally bombastic, Shark Move were certainly musically ambitious. A trait perhaps best exemplified by the sweeping nine-minute opener "My Life". Meanwhile, the fuzz-heavy shambolic riff-tumble of "Evil War" with its exotic coloration via keyboard and guitar soling is another of Shark Move's selling points. The sweeter stuff (often on the tracks sung in their native tongue) is nice too, and definitely sets them apart from their European and American contemporaries.
Thanks to Shadoks we get to hear this, which has been remastered and has new liner notes for this reissue, all done with the participation of Shark Move's leader, founder, and only surviving member, Benny Soebardja (lead guitar/vocals). Shortly after recording this album, the band's keyboardist was tragically killed in a traffic accident, and Shark Move came to an end, although Benny has continued to rock on with some other groups, including one called Giant Step that may also get a Shadoks reissue we're told.
MPEG Stream: "My Life"
MPEG Stream: "Evil War"

SHUSHA Shusha / This Is The Day (BGO) cd 9.98
If Googoosh and Shirley Collins were somehow melded together into one incredible singer, you would have Shusha. Shusha was a Persian singer from the early seventies most famous for her debut album, Persian Love Songs and Mystical Chants from 1971. But her love of music extended beyond her native Iran towards the British folk of Shirley Collins and Sandy Denny and the American protest music of Dylan and Joan Baez. That is what inspired her on these two 1974 recordings, Shusha and This Is The Day. Reissued together for a very affordable price, these two albums of chamber folk-rock divide time between English-sung originals, covers and reworkings of traditional British songs and poems. No native songs here, the only inkling that we're given that Shusha is not English born is her woozy phrasing on some of the American covers such as Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and the Elvis Presley social ballad, "In The Ghetto". But her singing really becomes transcendent on the British traditional material, where her range is allowed to soar around the song structures rather than being confined by them. This is an incredible discovery of two rare recordings by this amazing singer. Fans of Bridget St. John, Vashti Bunyan, and Joan Baez take note!
MPEG Stream: "Ariel"
MPEG Stream: "Wind of Keltia"
MPEG Stream: "South of The Great Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Bye Bye Johnny"

SIAMESE TEMPLE BALL Welcome to the Land of the Smile (self-released) cd 14.98
We recently received an lp simply called "Thai Record". Hmmm, very mysterious we thought, so we threw it on, and were instantly smitten. At the same time, it sounded sort of familiar... but how could that be, what were the odds that some random Thai recording would just so happen to be one we had heard or already owned. It finally clicked, this was no mysterious "Thai Record", this was an old AQ favorite, renamed and pressed on vinyl. Not to infer that it's not mysterious, it most certainly is, it just so happens to be a mystery we had faced before. The record, titled Siamese Temple Ball, was one we had reviewed years ago and was always a steady seller, and for good reason, it's an amazing album. The lp was gone as quick as it came, but it reminded us, that many of you probably missed out on the Siamese Temple Ball cd when we first listed it waaaaaay back, so now here's your chance. A brief discussion of this musical mystery from our original review:
Not much information comes with this disk at all, on the shrink wrap there's a faux pidgen English description claiming: "Flight comes to Thailand in the Year of the Rat. Siamese Temple Ball provide the lilting soundtrack for a chemical journey. Schoolgirls dance bashfully for the expectant throng. Life continues at a comparatively slow pace away from the rigours of fierce sun-light." Which is followed by the (label's) description: "In the tradition of Sun City Girls, Ya Ho Wha 13, The Spacious Mind, Taj Mahal Travellers, Mu, Word of Life, Group 1850, and Ghost, Siamese Temple Ball give maximum pleasure for thirsty brains." Quite a roster of comparisons, the most fitting of which is definitely the Sun City Girls. So while we assume that this record was recorded by a group of precocious, dilettante, ethnomusicologist hipsters, we like to suspend our disbelief and imagine this to be a genuine Folkways-style field recording, as the recording certainly has a genuine field recording presence - a single stereo microphone in a good location. The music itself is a catchy and mesmerizing steady pulse of various and sundry percussion instruments (metal, wood, skin), hollers, yelps, and rococo melodic lines spun out by tinny electric guitars, xylophones, flutes and Khan (mouth organ.) And yes, it's quite good.
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 2"

SINGH, CHARANJIT Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (Bombay Connection) cd 17.98
Now available on compact disc!!! The vinyl version was limited or something (perhaps being repressed), but now that this is on cd, and we've got plenty, we can make it Record Of The Week! As it should be, since it gets played here at least several times a day.
This is so absolutely brilliant and bonkers, that when we first heard it, we thought it must be fake, some modern day Rephlex artist putting everyone on, taking the piss, with a "raga-techno" album supposedly from the early '80s. But, no joke, this is the real thing! In 1982, Charanjit Singh, a famous Bollywood composer (he was featured on Sublime Frequencies amazing Bollywood Steel Guitar compilation), had a plan to translate ancient traditional Indian classical ragas to the synthesizer. Using the very synths that would later define Acid House (Rolands TB-303 and TR-808!), Singh unwittingly created a proto-acid masterpiece, before the techno genre ever existed. Since only a hundred or less copies were made originally, this release was mostly a rumor since its creation. We vaguely remember Drew Daniel from Matmos talking about it on Pitchfork, a couple of years back, saying someone should reissue it, but we weren't ready for how incredible and ahead of its time it sounds. Imagine if Kraftwerk (or even Oneohtrix Point Never) started composing music for a Bollywood Rave. Or imagine a more raga-inspired take on another proto-acid classic, Manuel Gottsching's epic E2-E4. While the "disco" rhythms are fast and frenetic and don't really vary that much between tracks (they're not really disco beats per se, but more akin to acid's trancey bounce), the synth flourishes and squelches of the raga over the top are soaring and floaty, making the tracks deliriously hypnotic. Capturing acid house's lysergic transcendence but with an outsider's economy that refuses to date it specifically to the era. We guarantee there is not another release quite like this one in your collection. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Raga Bhairav"
MPEG Stream: "Raga Madhuvanti"

SINGH, CHARANJIT Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (Bombay Connection) 2lp 29.00
Finally repressed on vinyl and back in stock!
This is so absolutely brilliant and bonkers, that when we first heard it, we thought it must be fake, some modern day Rephlex artist putting everyone on, taking the piss, with a "raga-techno" album supposedly from the early '80s. But, no joke, this is the real thing! In 1982, Charanjit Singh, a famous Bollywood composer (he was featured on Sublime Frequencies amazing Bollywood Steel Guitar compilation), had a plan to translate ancient traditional Indian classical ragas to the synthesizer. Using the very synths that would later define Acid House (Rolands TB-303 and TR-808!), Singh unwittingly created a proto-acid masterpiece, before the techno genre ever existed. Since only a hundred or less copies were made originally, this release was mostly a rumor since its creation. We vaguely remember Drew Daniel from Matmos talking about it on Pitchfork, a couple of years back, saying someone should reissue it, but we weren't ready for how incredible and ahead of its time it sounds. Imagine if Kraftwerk (or even Oneohtrix Point Never) started composing music for a Bollywood Rave. Or imagine a more raga-inspired take on another proto-acid classic, Manuel Gottsching's epic E2-E4. While the "disco" rhythms are fast and frenetic and don't really vary that much between tracks (they're not really disco beats per se, but more akin to acid's trancey bounce), the synth flourishes and squelches of the raga over the top are soaring and floaty, making the tracks deliriously hypnotic. Capturing acid house's lysergic transcendence but with an outsider's economy that refuses to date it specifically to the era. While we only have the double lp, there will be a cd release sometime in the next month or so. But don't sleep on the vinyl too long as it's highly limited, and we guarantee there is not another release quite like this one in your collection. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Raga Bhairav"
MPEG Stream: "Raga Madhuvanti"

SITAAR TAH Semimimimimin (aRCHIVE) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We first heard Sitaar Tah!, Tokyo's amazing 22-piece all-sitar "orchestra", a couple years back on another limited (and now out of print) aRCHIVE release, the sprawling, droning two cd set Animamima on which they collaborated with Japanese dark psych lord Keiji Haino! And we've been eager to hear more from 'em ever since. Now aRCHIVE presents a Semimimimimin, a 43-minute studio recording from the group. Sitars are GO!
So.... You like dense drone. You like exotic, Eastern raga-like stuff. You like psychedelic, pulsing, shimmering beauty. You like ghostly Phillip Jeck-like lo-fi surface hiss. Well what more need we say? You're gonna like this!
One long, trance-inducing track that weaves the sound so many massed sitars into complex patterns of rhythm and melody, modulating and building to more abstract and organic, swarm-of-insects levels... absolutely as soothingly nice as you could imagine.
Beautifully presented in the aRCHIVE tradition, in their usual oversized format, with art by SUNNO)))'s Stephen O'Malley, 4-color silkscreened cover, LIMITED TO 700 COPIES ONLY!
MPEG Stream: "Semimimimimin excerpt 1"
RealAudio clip: "Semimimimimin excerpt 2"

SMOKESTACK, DJ Shitala 2 (Giving Tree) cd 8.98
Hot of the heels of our Bollywood Bloodbath Record Of The Week from last list, we're happy to have another blast of banging Bollywood greatness for you.ÊArjuna Sayyed (aka DJ Smokestack) has proven to be not only one of the most knowledgable and deep digging DJ's in the Bay Area, but pretty much anywhere in the world as far as we're concerned. Some of us were lucky to snag the first volume in his Shitala series so we already knew how damn good his mixes were. Filled with some of the most insane '70s & '80s Bollywood jams, and mixed with such a flawless touch, this mix highlights all those amazing sitar freakouts, tabla jams, dynamic vocals, funk filled beats and everything that make this era of Bollywood music so endlessly enthralling...
Clocking in at about an hour, Shitala 2 is a testament to the greatness and forward thinking musical minds that were at the helm of the sounds of Bollywood during this classic era. Call it Indian funk, or disco, or whacked out pop, whatever it is, we call it killer! Smokestack's mix has crazy broad appeal, sure hardcore Bollywood heads will flip, but also hip-hop lovers, funk diggers, dance floor DJ's, and probably YOU. DJ Smokestack not only honors the legacy of Bollywood, but uses his knowledge and talent to infuse new life and energy and share the results with so many who may otherwise mightÊnever encounter and engage with the originals. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

SON OF P.M., THE Hey Klong Yao! (EM Records) cd 22.00
A couple of lists ago, we awarded Record Of The Week status to the fantastic Soundway compilation The Sound Of Siam, a collection of vintage '60s and '70s psych/pop music from Thailand (and it just came out on vinyl too, which we're listing this week). Dunno about you, but The Sound Of Siam only whetted our appetites for more, though we had to wonder, who could possibly top that? Well, if anyone could, Japan's EM Records, one of our favorite labels for eccentric, unexpected reissues, would be a good bet. As if on cue, here's EM's first entry into the '60s Thai music reissue market, by the group Son Of P.M., so named because their manager, one Phayoung Mukda, was the father of their keyboardist and arranger, Khabuan Mukda. (Amusingly, their name is making us think of the '90s hiphop groups Son Of Bazerk and P.M. Dawn, neither of which this sounds like of course!).
Son Of P.M., and spinoff group P.M. Pocket music, who feature on 3 of the 14 tracks here, were part of Thailand's "Shadow Music" scene back in the day, "Shadow Music" being the uniquely Thai synthesis of their own ethnic folk styles with Western rock, surf, Latin, go-go, and other pop sounds. It's an exciting, groovy, colorful hybrid indeed, a good example being the title track, with its swirling keys, chiming Thai xylophone, wailing group vocals, and drum breaks. Specifically, Son Of P.M. considered themselves to play "Modernized" or "Modified" Thai music, as EM notes that means their use of traditional Thai melodies and instruments (various gongs, drums, flutes, fiddles, etc.) has been augmented with electric guitars, keyboards, and other modern/Western instruments. Despite that, though, to Western ears this is still gonna sound way more Eastern than otherwise. Though the final track here, "King Of Drums", does get pretty darn surf-rock, a la The Ventures or the Surfaris, it's a bit of an outlier, the majority of this is less "rock" sounding, and seems to us to have more in common with the orchestral "exotica" of Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny, which is cool too.
Delightful stuff, sure to put a smile on your face and a wiggle in your hip. Another winner from EM. Unfortunately for us, though, the liner notes in this gatefold cd sleeve are all in Japanese.
MPEG Stream: "Manohraluifai "
MPEG Stream: "Horse Step Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Kaektoimor"
MPEG Stream: "King Of Drums"

SON OF P.M., THE Hey Klong Yao! (EM Records) lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A couple of lists ago, we awarded Record Of The Week status to the fantastic Soundway compilation The Sound Of Siam, a collection of vintage '60s and '70s psych/pop music from Thailand (and it just came out on vinyl too, which we're listing this week). Dunno about you, but The Sound Of Siam only whetted our appetites for more, though we had to wonder, who could possibly top that? Well, if anyone could, Japan's EM Records, one of our favorite labels for eccentric, unexpected reissues, would be a good bet. As if on cue, here's EM's first entry into the '60s Thai music reissue market, by the group Son Of P.M., so named because their manager, one Phayoung Mukda, was the father of their keyboardist and arranger, Khabuan Mukda. (Amusingly, their name is making us think of the '90s hiphop groups Son Of Bazerk and P.M. Dawn, neither of which this sounds like of course!).
Son Of P.M., and spinoff group P.M. Pocket music, who feature on 3 of the 14 tracks here, were part of Thailand's "Shadow Music" scene back in the day, "Shadow Music" being the uniquely Thai synthesis of their own ethnic folk styles with Western rock, surf, Latin, go-go, and other pop sounds. It's an exciting, groovy, colorful hybrid indeed, a good example being the title track, with its swirling keys, chiming Thai xylophone, wailing group vocals, and drum breaks. Specifically, Son Of P.M. considered themselves to play "Modernized" or "Modified" Thai music, as EM notes that means their use of traditional Thai melodies and instruments (various gongs, drums, flutes, fiddles, etc.) has been augmented with electric guitars, keyboards, and other modern/Western instruments. Despite that, though, to Western ears this is still gonna sound way more Eastern than otherwise. Though the final track here, "King Of Drums", does get pretty darn surf-rock, a la The Ventures or the Surfaris, it's a bit of an outlier, the majority of this is less "rock" sounding, and seems to us to have more in common with the orchestral "exotica" of Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny, which is cool too.
Delightful stuff, sure to put a smile on your face and a wiggle in your hip. Another winner from EM. Unfortunately for us, though, the liner notes in this gatefold cd sleeve are all in Japanese.
MPEG Stream: "Manohraluifai "
MPEG Stream: "Horse Step Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Kaektoimor"
MPEG Stream: "King Of Drums"

SOTHEAR, SREI AND SIN SISAMOUTH Cambodian Psych-out (El Suprimo / Defective) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
AT LAST, BACK IN STOCK!!
Another amazing compilation of Cambodian psychedelic music recorded from the late sixties to the mid seventies. This comp, culled from much crate digging in the open air markets of Siem Reip, right next to the legendary temples Angkor Wat focus exclusively on songs performed and sung by legendary Cambodian vocalists Sin Sisamouth and Srei Sothear. Sisamouth is a name that should be familiar to all fans of Cambodian psych, as he is featured heavily on pretty much every single compilation of Cambodian psych from that time (including all four of the Cambodian Rocks comps of course). Sisamouth wrote thousands of songs, many performed by Sothear, and many for films in which she also starred. The two become partners and eventually became two of the most (if not THE most) famous singers in Cambodia.
Tragically, both were killed by the Khmer Rouge -- as were their bands and of course millions of their fans. Their musical legacy they left is staggering. Thousands of amazing tunes, from garage rock stomps to full on psych rock blow outs. Wild guitars, buzzing distortion drenched leads, groovy wah wah rhythms, and organs all over the place, whirring, wheezing, warbling, all fuzzy and thick, sometimes spitting out nimble high end melodies, other times a thick carpet of psychfuzz, add in some James Brown funky horns, wild drumming, and some of the most amazing vocals ever, that go from croon to wail to squeal to howl and every place in between, and you've got some of the wildest psych-rock ever made!
Full color psychedelic sleeve with liner notes on the back.
All proceeds of the sales of this album go to the United Nations' Cambodian relief fund Adopt-A-Minefield. You can learn more or donate by going to http://www.landmines.org.

SOULEYMAN, OMAR Jazeera Nights: Folk And Pop Sounds Of Syria (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
We'll admit, we're a sucker for Sublime Frequencies, they've yet to release a record that didn't totally blow our minds. Which says as much about SF's curating as it does about the unheard music worldwide. Treasures everywhere, amazing and passionate and personal and far out sounds, being made in homes and yards, on street corners, in bars, at picnics and parties, not conceived for public consumption, meant for a small audience, and often for a specific purpose, getting a glimpse into these magical musical moments is what Sublime Frequencies is all about, and we feel lucky to get to experience these sounds.
This is the third record from Omar Souleyman on Sublime Frequencies, and just might be the best one yet, which is saying A LOT. A collection of live recordings culled from nearly 15 years worth of cassettes, these tracks are incredible, energetic, passionate, so full of life, effusive and emotional, funky and celebratory, and to Western ears, seriously far out. There's almost a wild Bollywood vibe (even though this is from the Middle East, not India), in the vocals, and the rhythms, and with the crazy tangled synthesizer melodies, the propulsive drumming, and Souleyman's distorted, wailed vocal delivery, it all sounds just so perfect, even listening to this music on record, it sounds sweaty and exhausting and cathartic, it's easy to imagine a big crowd of people dancing and bouncing along, freed from all cares and concerns letting the music just carry them away.
Like all Sublime Frequencies releases, the liner notes offer up so much information, on Souleyman, his life, the history of Syria, on Syrian folk music, etc, but even without all that info, if it's just about the music, these are some of the most amazing sounds you'll ever hear. Frantic Eastern melodies, frenetic percussion, analog synths wound around Souleyman's vocals, this is party music, dance music, but not like party or dance music the way we normally think about it. The music of Souleyman is transcendent, spiritual, psychedelic, transformative, a folk pop known as Dabke, rarely heard in the West, perhaps not at all if it wasn't for Sublime Frequencies, and we'd imagine these sounds might be overwhelming for casual world music listeners, it is after all wild and frantic and relentless, the melodies complex and twisted and tangled, there are some moments that verge on folky for sure, the final track is a gorgeous haunting lament, just vocals and buzzing synthesizers, but barring that track, even on the folkier jams, those strange synths, the unique melodies, the repetitive tranced out rhythms, those all transform Souleyman's folk into something much more, and in most cases, it's not long before the band explodes into yet another super intense sweat soaked psychedelic Syrian folk pop workout. So great!
MPEG Stream: "Hafer Gabrak Bidi (I Will Dig Your Grave With My Hands)"
MPEG Stream: "Ala Il Hanash Madgouga (The Bedouin Tattoo)"
MPEG Stream: "Hot Il Khanjar Bi Gleibi (Stab My Heart)"
MPEG Stream: "Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)"

SUARASAMA Fajar Di Atas Awan (Drag City) cd 14.98
Wow!!! A few years ago, we were totally blown away by a compilation put out by Smithsonian Folkways called Indonesian Guitars, which among many amazing tracks happened to feature a song called "Fajar Di Atas Awan" by Irwansyah Harahap. It was of that disc's highlights, with haunting female and male vocal harmonies, lilting acoustic guitar, sruti box drones and cymbals. What we didn't know was that Harahap and singer Rithaony Hutajulu, both ethnomusicology professors at the University of North Sumatra, were the main composers and singers for a larger group of musicians and performers called Suarasama, and that song was the title track of THIS incredibly beautiful, blissful record by Suarasama, a 1997 live recording, now released for the first time in the U.S. by the fine folks at Drag City. We are so stoked, what a wonderful surprise this is.
Formed in 1995, Suarasama's musical influences are widely diverse, creating contemporary music based on vartious aesthetic and conceptual aspects of Middle Eastern, Indian, Sufi Pakistani, Eastern European, Southeast Asian as well as North Sumatra Batak and Malay traditional music. But the results are very far from academic. Instead the music is infused with a hermetic introspective devotional quality that seduces the listener with its soft trance-like rhythms and haunting vocal mantras. Persian and Indian percussion of tablas and defs meld with deft finger-picked guitar and gambus improvisations and dueling vocal harmonies that propel circularly forward in hypnotically beautiful interweavings. Meditative and organic, full of levitation-inducing majesty. For any devotee of raga folk, Masaki Batoh, Six Organs, Daniel Higgs, L, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull, Congregacion, The Habibiyya, Malachi, Pandit Pran Nath, The Trees Community, or Bruce Palmer, this is absolutely essential!!
MPEG Stream: "Fajar Di Atas Awan"
MPEG Stream: "Sang Hyang Guru"
MPEG Stream: "Lebah"
MPEG Stream: "Habibullah"

SUARASAMA Fajar Di Atas Awan (Drag City) 2lp 19.98
Wow!!! A few years ago, we were totally blown away by a compilation put out by Smithsonian Folkways called Indonesian Guitars, which among many amazing tracks happened to feature a song called "Fajar Di Atas Awan" by Irwansyah Harahap. It was of that disc's highlights, with haunting female and male vocal harmonies, lilting acoustic guitar, sruti box drones and cymbals. What we didn't know was that Harahap and singer Rithaony Hutajulu, both ethnomusicology professors at the University of North Sumatra, were the main composers and singers for a larger group of musicians and performers called Suarasama, and that song was the title track of THIS incredibly beautiful, blissful record by Suarasama, a 1997 live recording, now released for the first time in the U.S. by the fine folks at Drag City. We are so stoked, what a wonderful surprise this is.
Formed in 1995, Suarasama's musical influences are widely diverse, creating contemporary music based on vartious aesthetic and conceptual aspects of Middle Eastern, Indian, Sufi Pakistani, Eastern European, Southeast Asian as well as North Sumatra Batak and Malay traditional music. But the results are very far from academic. Instead the music is infused with a hermetic introspective devotional quality that seduces the listener with its soft trance-like rhythms and haunting vocal mantras. Persian and Indian percussion of tablas and defs meld with deft finger-picked guitar and gambus improvisations and dueling vocal harmonies that propel circularly forward in hypnotically beautiful interweavings. Meditative and organic, full of levitation-inducing majesty. For any devotee of raga folk, Masaki Batoh, Six Organs, Daniel Higgs, L, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull, Congregacion, The Habibiyya, Malachi, Pandit Pran Nath, The Trees Community, or Bruce Palmer, this is absolutely essential!!
MPEG Stream: "Fajar Di Atas Awan"
MPEG Stream: "Sang Hyang Guru"
MPEG Stream: "Lebah"
MPEG Stream: "Habibullah"

SUKAESIH, ELVY The Dangdut Queen (Rice Records) cd 15.98
One of the best singers from Indonesia, Elvy Sukasih has one of those timeless voices that just effortlessly sweeps you off your feet. It's a combination of seductive flare sure sounding confidence that only the greatest of the great divas possess. Coming of age at the time that Dangut music was starting to bloom, she became one of its pioneers. Mixing Arabic, Indian, and some electric instruments into a high fevered eclectic sound that would become all the rage in Indonesia. While many would follow in her footsteps she actually was doing what would be later called Dangut before there was even such a thing. Recording since her teenage years in the early 60's all the way to today, she belongs in that special class of singers like Ofra Haza and Asha Bosle (Dangut music shares a similar sound and feel to lots of Bollywood music) who have managed to make music that respects their culture while at the same time transcends geography and has the capacity to enter all kinds of hearts.
MPEG Stream: "Penyanyi Sexy"
MPEG Stream: "Kareta Malam"

SUTEKH HEXEN Ordo Adversarial (Wands) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This local black metal / drone-noise duo have been cranking out recordings like crazy, not that you would ever know it, as all of them were released as lavishly packaged, outrageously limited cassettes (and all in batches of something like 50 copies). Finally, the band seem to be making waves beyond the WAY underground, and a comprehensive reissue campaign is under way, as well as a whole spate of about-to-drop new releases. But THIS, this is the first recording we've been able to get from these guys to list, and fans of noise drenched blackness, and super distorted psychedelic heaviness will be in heaven (hell?). A blasting, blown out, ultraviolent blend of raw, primitive black metal buzz, dense drones, lysergic psychedelic atmosphere and caustic abrasive blacknoise, these two tracks require iron ears, a black soul and preferably some headphones to get lost in SH's bizarre black cacophony.
"Bled Thy Likeness" is a blurred and muted expanse of crackly, staticky black thrum, murky and muddy, a writhing, swirling sprawl of hazy washed out minor key riffage, laced with streaks of soaring guitars woven into a background of distorted black ambience, eventually exploding into a whitenoise drenched blast of heaving, crumbling, ultra distorted blackdrone crush, hellish shrieked vokills smeared into undulating sheets of Merzbowian buzz, all underpinned by a haunting monkish chantlike melody, adding a strange bit of melancholy mystery to the harsh hellish buzz.
"Murmur" is just as intense, a wild frenzied blown out assault of fierce and fucked up blacknoise chaos, the shrieked vox distorted and processed into another layer of furious buzz, tangled up in the frenzied berserker riffing, the whole sound a twisted, gnarled tangle of face melting, ear shredding, soul shearing fury, the song somehow blossoming part way through into something subtly more melodic, the blacknoisebuzz and grim black-blast infused with a strangely lush and warm melodic undercurrent, a deep sonic swell, rife with epic black metal majesty, but nearly suffocated by the caustic clouds of brittle buzz and in-the-red roar overhead.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES. Super striking, thick black and white jackets, and printed on nice heavy vinyl...
MPEG Stream: "Bled Thy Likeness"
MPEG Stream: "Murmur"

SZABO, GABOR Jazz Raga (Light In The Attic) lp 19.98
Also now reissued on vinyl!
We're so happy that Light in The Attic reissued this, a stellar, newly remastered entry from 1967 in the amazing back catalog of one of our all-time favorite jazz guitarists from the sixties and seventies, Gabor Szabo. As a matter of fact, he was the first true guitar hero for Scott here at AQ, the reason Scott started playing guitar - thus Szabo is indirectly responsible for The Alps!
Releasing an amazing string of albums on Impulse, Skye, Blue Thumb and CTI, Szabo's masterful blending of eastern raga, gypsy and flamenco influences from his native Hungary with western jazz, mod, pop and rock influences created some of the most psych-inflected jazz grooves of the sixties. We suppose if you were only to get one of his records, Jazz Raga is arguably the best albeit strangest of the bunch. Featuring eight originals and three covers (including a version of the Rolling Stones "Paint It Black"), Szabo recorded the whole album with a group, including the funkiest of session drummers, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, then overdubbed sitar on all but two of the tracks. Of course by this time, the sitar was becoming THE instrument of choice in western popular music to channel a mystical spellbinding sound, but the manner in which Szabo employs it in the overall compositions of the tracks here is at times, lyrical, dizzying and truly wacked out. For one thing, the sitar is never quite in tune with the actual songs, making some of the melodies seem a bit warped in a way which is difficult to pinpoint. It's not an off-putting effect, quite the opposite. The slightly off interweaving of tonal shades and melody lines actually enhances the otherwordly mystical vibe on what might otherwise be perceived as a psychsploitative gimmick. Of course Szabo's meticulously intricate but seemingly simple guitar phrasings don't need much help from the sitar (he wasn't called The Spellbinder for nothing!). The sitar just provides an elemental coloring allowing a deeper immersion into whatever Szabo is seeking out, whether it be a quiet call to focus ("Walking on Nails"), a monster mod groover ("Sophisticated Wheels"), or the introduction of one of his signature tunes ("Mizrab"), a driving mantra-like tune of tablas and hypnotic droning open-tuned guitars that never tires. It's a song he would return to a few more times in his relatively short career (he died in 1982). Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Walking On Nails"
MPEG Stream: "Mizrab"
MPEG Stream: "Sophisticated Wheels"
MPEG Stream: "Caravan"

TENGIR-TOO Music Of Central Asia Vol. 1: Mountain Music Of Kyrgyzstan (Smithsonian Folkways) cd+dvd 21.00
The always in depth, well researched and executed Smithsonian Folkways brings us the first in what will be a series of releases focusing on the music of Central Asia. Tengr-Too is a new ensemble that plays traditional music with remarkable skill and versatility. In fact, one might think this is a compilation of different artists with the extraordinary range Tengir-Too exhibit. From jew's harp jams to vocal fronted folk songs and beyond using unique instruments intregal to Central Asia (Chopo Choor, Komuz, Sybygz, Kyl Kiyak). Don't worry if you don't know what those are, as always Smithsonian Folkways goes the extra mile with extensive liner notes and even an instrument glossary with pictures so you can actually see what some of those amazing instruments look like.
MPEG Stream: "Jangylyk "
MPEG Stream: "Kambarkan"

THAI ELEPHANT ORCHESTRA s/t (Mulatta Records) cd 15.98
First it was Frogs of North America invading our record bins, then it was Antarctic Seals and Penguins, followed by Insects in Stored Foodstuffs... now it's Elephants from Thailand! Brilliant recordings by non-human, um, sound-artists that we just can't get enough of here at Aquarius. In this case, the elephants are not just making their natural noises, they are indeed playing instruments! You may have read about this project in the New York Times -- when we found out about it we immediately contacted the label and ordered a whole bunch (based also on the on-line sample we heard at www.mulatta.org) and now here they are. These are elephants from a elephant preseve in Thailand who have been trained to play specially-built instruments (many marimba-like instruments similar to the traditional Thai renat, as well as such things as harmonicas, drums, and even a stringed "electric bass"), but they haven't been trained *what* to play, it's all improvised with minimal human guidance! Yet it's definitely music. It was kind of an experiment to find out how the creatures might express themselves, and we'd say it was very successful indeed. If we didn't know these were elephants, we'd think this was a strange No Neck Blues Band recording or something. Imagine a stumbling, primitive hippy folk jam on gamelan instruments, but not one that's random or erratic. The elephants play steady beats, the struck gongs or chimes interspersed with their vocalizations as well. With no overdubs and few edits this is certainly a very impressive recording!
The Thai Elephant Orchestra was dreamed up, and this disc produced, by David Soldier (New York musician and academic) and Richard Lair (American expatriate elephant expert, who advises the Thai Elephant Conservation Center where this project goes on). The two came up with the idea that elephants, being social animals, might enjoy playing music together, and proceeded to investigate... Happily, not only did the elephants enjoy playing, they were good at it, demonstrating that they were able to decide what sounded good (to them) and what didn't.
The booklet features photos and detailed, fascinating liner notes by both men. Here is what Soldier says the criteria was for the construction of the instruments, which were made by New York instrument builder Ken Butler (of "Gravikords, Whirligigs..." fame):
"1. The instruments must be suitable to the elephant's anatomy, which means large instruments operated by the trunk.
"2. The instruments must withstand jungle heat, humidity -- and the elephants.
"3. The instruments should require minimum upkeep.
"4. The instruments should have a Thai sound, because the regular daily audience is Thai, the mahouts would enjoy the music more, and the elephants have heard Thai music all their lives."
Some more great tid-bits from the notes: "The elephants took easily to the harmonica, which sparked the first elephant music fad: one morning I arrived to hear the sound of harmonicas from all over -- from the hills and from the river. The elephants were walking in from the forest playing harmonicas, which they hold easily in the tip of their trunks."
"The elephants didn't seem interested in the bells or theremin. At first they were spooked by the synthesizer keyboard, but later two animals were entranced by it. They disliked playing Ken's reed instruments with a large mouthpiece, or rather, trunkpiece. A mahout told me they were afraid that a snake might jump into their nostrils!"
As sort of bonus tracks, in addition to the forty-plus minutes of elephant improv, there's also some non-instrumental elephant field recordings, several tracks of humans and elephants playing together, and even a few traditional Thai songs played by humans, about elephants.
Sure there's a bit of simple amusement to be found here just from the concept alone, but in actual fact the music these elephants make is, to our ears at least, quite beautiful. We could go on and philosophize about how this project speaks to the relationship between man and animals in this world, but we'll leave those thoughts for you to explore if you chose to check out this album, which we highly recommend! Amazing and wonderful.
MPEG Stream: "Jojo"
MPEG Stream: "Duo For Renats"
MPEG Stream: "Harmonica Music"
MPEG Stream: "Heavy Logs"

TINARIWEN Aman Iman: Water Is Life (World Village) cd 21.00
Wow! The latest from this large ensemble from Mali once again demonstrate that they are one of the best bands anywhere on this planet. Their mix of electric guitars with more traditional acoustic percussion comes just flows so naturally with an effortless grace and style that just seeps into your soul. After their great debut from a few years back and a tour of the states (their show here in SF at the Great American Music Hall is still burned into the memories of those of us who were there that night!) there was of course the natural concern that like much great music from the other side of the globe that finally reaches these parts, that some glossy western producer would try to get their hands on Tinariwen and water them down for mass consumption. Tinariwen actually don't need any of that to reach a broad audience as their songs are so well crafted as they are, and so filled with warmth and emotion that they're pretty impossible not to love. Recorded in just two weeks, there is an urgency and undeniable spirit to these recordings, capturing their sound maybe better then any past recording of them has. Their music continues to exude the essence of the desert and what it means to be a nomadic people. The way they are able to find the perfect groove and lock into it is what sweeps us off our feet every time we listen to this. We would love to see them play shows with Brightblack Morning Light, as Tinariwen's warmth and deep grooves would be the perfect match for Brightblack's infectious take on nomad blissed out blues. This is quickly becoming one of our favorite records of the year, one of those discs that we can just say 'get it' with the utmost confidence. And it won't take you long to understand why!
MPEG Stream: "Cler Achel"
MPEG Stream: "Imidiwan Winakalin"
MPEG Stream: "Mano Dayak"

TRUCK Surprise, Surprise (Guerssen) cd 21.00
Here are the few facts we've gathered about this band Truck and their (apparently only) album entitled Surprise, Surprise: they were from faraway Malaysia, released this rare record back in 1974, and were obviously pretty big Beatles fans by the sound of it! And (less of a fact, more of an opinion) they're pretty rad. Sung in English, the ten tracks here are wonderful pop psych that could have come out of London in '68, by a band like Kaleidoscope... well, except for one element: the unexpected strains of spacey analog Moog synth heard in many of these songs. That helps make this Truck album extra-special. But it would be pretty special anyway, with its blend of dreamy, sunny melodies, lush studio orchestration, and a bit of fuzz guitar riffing. And while seemingly inspired by the Fab Four, Truck aren't just about them. We hear hints of The Who, The Creation, and even Joe Walsh in there just as much as ELO or Badfinger. But of course we'd recommend it to people who like obscure, Beatlesy bands like The Aerovons or Peru's We All Together. Released on cd (supposedly limited edition) by the Spanish label Guerssen, this is one of those cool out-of-the-blue reissues we're always stoked to hear! Nice!!
MPEG Stream: "Surprise, Surprise"
MPEG Stream: "This Is Our Love Song"

V/A Cambodian Rocks (original version on Parallel World) (Parallel World) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Previously issued a while back only on vinyl, "Cambodian Rocks" - now on CD - presents a handful of unknown (to the point that no artist names or track titles are given) Cambodian garage bands from the late 60s and early 70s. The liner notes explain that the compiler (s/he is also anonymous) picked up a bunch of random tapes while in Cambodia and put this together of the best tracks from those tapes. For those who are entranced by the psychedelic exotica found in the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series, "Cambodian Rocks" makes an exceptional companion. For the most part this compilation is dominated by really good fuzzed out organ / guitar garage rich with understandably crappy production. But along with the garage cuts, there's a track of incredibly unfunky James Brown mimicry that make the Make Up's theatrical irony seem even more insincere than they really are. Appropriated dancehall groove/stomps with Cambodian instead of Jamaican overtones. But the highlight is the appearance of the female led garage band who were featured on the Asian Psychedelic chapter of the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series. Greasy garage rock not far from the Count Five or the Seeds but with reverb drenched female vocals that hits high notes rarely found even on Bollywood sountracks. Totally essential.

V/A Asian Flashback: Underground Music From Asia (PSF) cd 17.98
Since 1991, Japanese label PSF has brought us six volumes in their essential underground psych-rock-noise-improv sampler series Tokyo Flashback. Now they've released a new compilation that's similarly cool, but broadens its geographic scope to include artists from Korea and China as well as Japan, most of whom we'd never been exposed to before. Some of the only familiar folks appear on the very first track, a live-in-Tokyo "improvised trio showdown" featuring Chinese guitarist Li Jianhong (of the noise band D!O!D!O!D! who have a disc out on PSF, and who also had his own awesome solo cd on aRCHIVE recently) teamed up with free jazz drummer Shoji Hano and High Rise guitarist Narita Munehiro, both from Japan. That's an amped-up freakout as you might expect. There's also a noisy D!O!D!O!D! track on here too, but beyond those, it's all new names to us. From Korea: Mustangs, Kim Young Jin, Amature Amplifier, and Soonie. From China: Mafeisan, Xiao He, Li Daiguo. From Japan: Kiyasu Orchestra, Sato Yukie, Yoshiteru Koga Jizo. Also there's a boy-girl Japanese-Korean project called 10, whose track "U-A-U" is a hissing, droning, throbbing backdrop to bizarre vocal expression.
All the tracks are interesting, it's an eclectic mix of experimental/underground styles, from full-on noise chaos to mellow, minimal acoustic guitar balladry, all sorts of stuff... ferinstance the energetic squawk of Kiyasu Orchestra's psychedelic free jazz exotica sits side-by-side here with the Mustangs' sixties style garage psych rock. And perhaps most surprisingly, there's even a dreamy, indie-folk cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" by Korean chanteuse Soonie at the very end of the disc.
The booklet boasts brief liner notes about each contributor, in four languages (English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese). Let's hope that this Asian Flashback is just the start of another series! PSF's antidote to all the mass market J-pop, K-pop, and HK-pop karaoke blandness out there.
MPEG Stream: MUSTANGS "Sativa"
MPEG Stream: XIAO HE "Bird And Water"
MPEG Stream: 10 "U-A-U"
MPEG Stream: SATO YUKI "Solo Improvisation"

V/A Asian Takeaways (Normal/QDK) cd 14.98
Despite the excruciatingly stupid title (why oh why must the food metaphors constantly arise, as if white people are so ignorant of Asian culture that the only thing they know about it is egg foo young and sweet and sour sauce -- aaaaaaauuuugh) title, this is an enjoyable compilation of kitschy east-meets-west Asian pop tunes from the '60s and '70s. Most of the tracks feature female vocalists, mostly with groovy, slinky lounge-rock backing, some with cinematic strings, others with boogie guitar, or bombastic horns... It's all very fun and cheesy and sometimes freaky (but not freaky like "Cambodian Rocks" so don't be hoping for something *that* cool). If you liked any of QDK's other unusual "world music" comps like the two Doob Doob O'Rama volumes of Bollywood tunes and the excellent Love, Peace & Poetry series of psych obscurities, you should check this out. Could have done with some liner notes, though! C'mon, we're only given artists, titles, and countries of origin for these tracks -- no dates, and no further info. It's frustrating -- we want to hear more (about and from) Chang Siao Ying, for one. An essay from the compiler would be nice, at the very least. Still, if it means anything to you, what we know is that the songs are performed by the following: Jing Ting (Hong Kong), Yoon Il-loh (Korea), Chung-ae Ahn (Korea), Yao Su-Yong (Malaysia), Chang Loo (Malaysia), Chang Siao Ying (Singapore), Che-Hong Beck (Korea), Thu Su Yung (Hong Kong), Yiu Peng (Hong Kong), Wang-Li (Singapore) and Shung Sister (Korea).
RealAudio clip: CHANG SIAO YING "Come Back To Me"
RealAudio clip: YAO SU-YONG "Good Bye In Spring"

V/A Asian Takeaways (Normal/QDK) lp 16.98
Despite the excruciatingly stupid title (why oh why must the food metaphors constantly arise, as if white people are so ignorant of Asian culture that the only thing they know about it is egg foo young and sweet and sour sauce -- aaaaaaauuuugh), this is an enjoyable compilation of kitschy east-meets-west Asian pop tunes from the '60s and '70s. Most of the tracks feature female vocalists, mostly with groovy, slinky lounge-rock backing, some with cinematic strings, others with boogie guitar, or bombastic horns... It's all very fun and cheesy and sometimes freaky (but not freaky like "Cambodian Rocks" so don't be hoping for something *that* cool). If you liked any of QDK's other unusual "world music" comps like the two Doob Doob O'Rama volumes of Bollywood tunes and the excellent Love, Peace & Poetry series of psych obscurities, you should check this out. Could have done with some liner notes, though! C'mon, we're only given artists, titles, and countries of origin for these tracks -- no dates, and no further info. It's frustrating -- we want to hear more (about and from) Chang Siao Ying, for one. An essay from the compiler would be nice, at the very least. Still, if it means anything to you, what we know is that the songs are performed by the following: Jing Ting (Hong Kong), Yoon Il-loh (Korea), Chung-ae Ahn (Korea), Yao Su-Yong (Malaysia), Chang Loo (Malaysia), Chang Siao Ying (Singapore), Che-Hong Beck (Korea), Thu Su Yung (Hong Kong), Yiu Peng (Hong Kong), Wang-Li (Singapore) and Shung Sister (Korea).

V/A Asian Travels (Six Degrees) cd 16.98
"Asian Travels" documents current strains of optimistic globalism as musical hybrids of the West's downtempo electronica and the East's rich traditions of vocal melodies. Ambient trance, drum & bass, and trip hop all appear in their most basic club-friendly forms alongside Pakistani & Indian vocals, melodic lines, and sitar drones. Featuring Fila Brazillia, Nursrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook, Banco De Gaia, Shankar, Euphoria, Cheb i Sabbah, Fun Da Mental, and more. Ethno-music for the honky.

V/A Asmat Dream (New Music Indonesia, Vol. 1: Sunda) (Lyrichord) cd 15.98
Compilation of modern compositions by Sundanese (Western Java) composers, and utilizing a wide variety of instrumentation: from gamelan, traditional Indonesian instruments, western instruments, electronics and tape. A South Eat Asian version of Ussachevsky. Excellent!

V/A Bali: Gamelan Semar Pegulingan: Gamelan of the Love God (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got the first batch of the Indonesia / South Pacific installment of Nonesuch's Explorer reissues, which total 12 in number. Ten of the discs are from either Java or Bali and just about each one features an entirely different form of gamelan. A Gamelan, as a cursory way of introduction, is an orchestra of primarily bronze (though bamboo gamelan are also common) percussion instruments -- metallophones, gongs, gong-chimes -- and drums. Quite often a gamelan will have a specific repertoire that it is exclusively built for the performance of, and certain ceremonial gamelan are limited to the performance of a single piece. On top of this, throughout Java and Bali there is an ever changing world of both village and court traditions which continue to defy definitions. These discs just in from Bali and Central & Western Java just scratch the surface of gamelan throughout Indonesia, but they're a fine introduction anyway.
Gamelan Semar Pegulingan is one of the many now rare gamelan of the island of Bali; displaced by the fall of the Balinese court and the subsequent explosion of gong kebyar. The repertoire of this gamelan, which is named after the god of love (Semar Pegulingan), was specific to two distinct occasions. The most common time in which Semar Pegulingan was used was outside the King's bed chamber in the evenings, but it also played the musical accompaniment for the Legong dance which was performed exclusively by pre-pubescent girls. The set on which the material on this CD was performed was one which had been spared the crucible through the efforts of the Canadian composer/ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee in the 1930's who commissioned a group of musicians to continue the gamelan's repertoire. These recordings were made in 1972 by Robert Brown after the gamelan had been carefully restored to its original condition (it had come into disarray after McPhee's departure from the island and had been decomposing for some 30 years.) It is a particularly beautiful gamelan and hearing it can give on a bit more perspective on the popular gong kebyar. Because of its relatively slower pace, it's much easier to grasp how the instruments interlock within the gamelan.
RealAudio clip: GAMELAN SEMAR PEGULINGAN "Tabuh Gari"
RealAudio clip: GAMELAN SEMAR PEGULINGAN "Sinom Ladrang"

V/A Bali: Golden Rain (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got the first batch of the Indonesia / South Pacific installment of Nonesuch's Explorer reissues, which total 12 in number. Ten of the discs are from either Java or Bali and just about each one features an entirely different form of gamelan. A Gamelan, as a cursory way of introduction, is an orchestra of primarily bronze (though bamboo gamelan are also common) percussion instruments -- metallophones, gongs, gong-chimes -- and drums. Quite often a gamelan will have a specific repertoire that it is exclusively built for the performance of, and certain ceremonial gamelan are limited to the performance of a single piece. On top of this, throughout Java and Bali there is an ever changing world of both village and court traditions which continue to defy definitions. These discs just in from Bali and Central & Western Java just scratch the surface of gamelan throughout Indonesia, but they're a fine introduction anyway.
Back in 1967 when this record hit the shelves it blew people's minds, and even today it remains one of the most unique and amazing things you're likely to hear. "Golden Rain" is the historic recording that started it all. Recorded by David Lewiston in 1966, Golden Rain was not only the first recording to be released in the Explorer series, but is touted as the first commercial release of "International" music (a claim that some might argue with.)
The first two tracks are recordings of Gamelan Gong Kebyar. The 20-minute third track is Lewiston's recording of kecak, the almost universally loved monkey chant. Kecak has an interesting history in that its creation in the 1930s is due at least in part to German artist Walter Spies, a cultural outsider. The performance is entirely a cappella, with a male chorus of 60+ men chanting in an interlocking fashion derived from gamelan composition. The origins of the chant come from a ritual exorcism dance that's centuries old. The thing about Balinese performance, at least up until later this century, is that it was all inseparably tied to ritual, be it a wedding ceremony, funerals, and other various life cycle ceremonies. Bali's increasing popularity as a tourist destination for middle class and wealthy Europeans in this century was coupled with these same tourists wanting to be entertained by their exotic hosts. Unfortunately for them, there was not only no concept of performance merely for entertainment's sake and not being Balinese, their presence at any such ritual event was violation of its sacrosanctity. Spies' work in encouraging his Balinese friends to create a completely new performance from older traditions, whatever his intentions may have been, allowed for the Balinese to keep the purity of their rituals intact and for the occidentals to get their kicks.
RealAudio clip: BALI: GOLDEN RAIN "Gamelan Gong Kebyar "Hudjan Mas""
RealAudio clip: BALI: GOLDEN RAIN "Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant [excerpt 1]"
RealAudio clip: "Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant [excerpt 2]"

V/A Bali: Music For The Shadow Play (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This recording, made by Robert E. Brown in 1970, is a condensed version of the music (gender wayang) that usually accompanies Balinese shadow play (wayang kulit) performances. Normally lasting four hours (instead of the Javanese marathon of nine) the music here is some of that which one would most commonly hear during the unfolding of a play. Aside from the time differences between Javanese and Balinese shadow play, the next most striking difference is that the Balinese variant uses only four instruments (a few gongs and drums, which accentuate fight scenes, etc. are not included on this recording) instead of the complement of a full gamelan. The instruments are two pairs of gender (pronounced with a hard, not a soft "g"), one pair tuned an octave higher than the other. The gender has ten thin bronze keys suspended by strings over bamboo resonating tubes. Additionally, each pair of gender is tuned a small interval apart such that the same note played on both instruments simultaneously will produce a shimmering tone much like in Balinese gamelan. Each musician uses two wooded mallets in playing the gender, the part played in the right hand usually being the kotekan (intricate interlocking melodic part) and the left hand generally playing a slower, supportive role. Gender wayang is generally recognized as Balinese music at its most advanced and refined. Pioneering ethnomusicologist and Balinese music enthusiast Colin McPhee referred to gender wayang as the "perfect expression" of Balinese music. Along with the difficult kotekan parts, the players must also manage to dampen the keys of the instrument with the pads of their hands as they play the following note so the notes don't blend into one another. The timbre of the instruments is a bit like an unholy tack piano. The polyphony is quite remarkable to behold, and on this recording is quite distinctly captured, with one pair of gender to your left and one pair to your right.
RealAudio clip: GENDER WAYANG FROM TENGES KANYINAN, PLIATAN, BALI "Rebong"
RealAudio clip: GENDER WAYANG FROM TENGES KANYINAN, PLIATAN, BALI "Mesem"

V/A Bali: Music From the Morning of the World (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like the "Gamelan & Kecak" and "Golden Rain" recordings in this series, the tracks on "Music From the Morning of the World" were recorded by David Lewiston. As with "Golden Rain" they were made during his first trip to Bali in 1966. And like the later recording, the tracks here are a broad collection of genres from the island which serve to demonstrate the variety of musical forms that exist there. Along with the requisite kebyar tracks (two here: one from the baris dance and the other from the Barong dance) is a medley of recordings of a genggong ensemble (small ensemble of jew's harp, flute, drums and cymbals) a recording of gambuh, an a cappella lullaby, gamelan anklung, another excerpt of both kecak and a gender wayang ensemble.
MPEG Stream: SEKEHE GAMBUH "Sekar Leret"
MPEG Stream: RANI "Lullaby"
MPEG Stream: GAMELAN ANGKLUNG "Margepati"

V/A Bamboo On The Mountains (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 15.98
Excellent collection of recordings documenting the varied musics of the Kmhmu people, and recorded from 1982 to 1996 in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Suburban California. As the title implies, much of the instruments found herein are assembled primarily from bamboo, a versatile grass: jew's harps, blow tubes, mouth organs, etc. But also included are plenty of vocals and even the occasional gong ensemble. Lots of beautiful, nasal tones that make one's sinuses tickle, and leaping melodic lines (Andee irreverently refers to the music on this CD as emulating "armpit farts" - to each his own opinion) make for some stunning songs. Especially interesting to note are the serenades in which young lovers sing to one another through a blow tube or jew's harp in order to disguise their vows from their parents.

V/A Between Heaven & Earth (Silva Screen) cd 11.98
Specially priced cd sampler of three different Balinese music genres - Gamelan Jegog, Gamelan Semar Pegulingan, and Gender Wayang. Jegog is the relatively recently developed bamboo gamelan found mostly in West Bali. Absolutely stunning and LOUD, the aesthetic of Jegog is an attempt to recreate the tone and volume of gongs and metallophones with bamboo. Semar Pegulingan (so named after Semar, the god of love) is the gamelan that traditionally played outside the king's chamber in the afternoons and evenings while the king slept with the queen (think of it as make out music) back before the Dutch got their dirty paws all over Bali. Gender Wayang is the music which accompanies Balinese shadow puppet plays (Wayang Kulit.) Consisting of four gender - metallophones, each with ten flat bronze keys suspended over bamboo resonators - Gender Wayang is considered the most complex and technically difficult music in Bali.

V/A Beyond Istanbul 2: Urban Sounds Of Turkey (Trikont) cd 22.00