Folk & Traditional / All styles

2009 reprint, originally published in 2000. John Fahey is feared and revered around the world as a guitar player and composer. His inventions for acoustic and electric strings are the stuff of legend. Since he began recording in Maryland in the late 1950s, Mr. Fahey's access to the unknown tongue has been made manifest on over 30 albums, and his presence has unsettled audiences from here to Tasmania. He has served as a spiritual model for guitarists as disparate as Leo Kottke and Thurston Moore.…

The Visitor is a seriously all-O'Rourke affair: all the sounds you hear are Jim and Jim alone, recontextualizing everything he's done over the years & throwing out the bullshit. The one thing you won't hear is his voice. Some of The Visitor is tracked so deep, it took two hundred tracks to hold it all. It doesn't sound like it though - to Jim's credit, the mix sounds very minimal, very straightforward. There's moments of low comedy next to high drama & juicy melancholy with a seeming lack of reg…

Back in stock! Limited edition vinyl issue. The fourth album from Ben Chasny and one of his most complete, 'Dark Noontide' sees the guitarist exploring the Eastern themes approached in his earlier work and also delving further into the dark drone and unsettling ambience of his debut. Indeed, sidestepping some of the more upbeat solo-guitar moments of 'Dust & Chimes', Chasny manages to create an opium fuelled moonlit Middle Eastern haven in the comfort of your front room; you can almost smell the…

Limited to 500, hand numbered. Originally recorded in 2005 and intended as the third and final chapter in the series which included the beautiful albums "Last Light" and "Empty City", Dais Records is proud to release the latest album from Ghost Ambient composer Tor Lundvall: "Sleeping and Hiding". Dark and beautiful soundtracks for afternoon daydreams and moonlit forest walks.

A majestic landscape of harmonica laced hoe down folk. A true gem featuring the whimsical nature of the band in a whole new light, from dark psych folk songs to Shins-like beauty, the band has further developed their sound which has been described as the closest to magical (sur)realism this city has to offer...a layered, wonderfully complex sound that is two parts symphonic chamber pop, one part folkloric with a sprinkling of nursery rhymes in it.

Fat Possum's reissue of Townes Van Zandt's first four albums, along with 1978's Flyin' Shoes, squanders the opportunity to re-envision and expand an understanding of the songwriter in simply replicating the originals. Neither new liner notes nor bonus tracks accompany the series, which, weighed against the benefit of hindsight and existence of more popular live recordings, lends the albums little new significance other than their availability. The lack is particularly telling on Van Zandt's firs…

This is the fifth solo offering by the Houston, Texas-based pedal steel sorceress, Susan Alcorn. 'The Heart Sutra' opens and is inspired by the 'Sutra of the Heart of Transcendent Wisdom' which was delivered by Buddha 2,500 years ago. It is a beautiful, yet solemn work that reverberates from within, as Susan strums those magical strings. The title track, 'And I Await the Resurrection of the Pedal Steel Guitar' was inspired by Messiaen's 'Et Expecto Ressurectionum Mortuorum'. It is a near 16-minu…

Fela Anikulapo Kuti's 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival appearance, here as V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power), is one of Africa 70's finest performances. V.I.P. castigates Nigerian authority more sizably than any other Fela album for one reason: he verbally beat down the country's power structure in front of a European crowd. It was a big move for the singer (who'd lost his mother, his home, and any sense of physical security in his homeland thanks to Nigeria's thoroughly corrupt military elite). Fela certain…

Raw picked acoustic guitar drones dominate here as the instrumental fades into the waking dream soliloquy of observation. A long waltzy drone w/ enough spooky atmosphere for one to think that it could have been recorded at Sunshine studios as there is a heavy Vogel vibe to the whole thing.

LP version. After nearly a year on the assembly line, we're tickled to unveil the 5th in Locust Music's ongoing archival releases of Henry's work. He's made his mark with his brand of ecstatic North Indian Raga inspired minimalism on C Tune (Locust3), the full bodied experimentalism anthologized on Raga Electric (Locust6) and the avante-hillbilly bumpkin fiddle joyride on last year's Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Volume 1 & 2 (Locust 16 & 14). Now it's time to make a place in your heart for I Don't…

Originally released in 1977, this is a studio recording so it has a more polished sound than on the recent Best Best. BTW, none of these tracks are on Best Best... Stalemate and Fear not for Man are the stand outs, but the rest of album is good too. It's another intoxicating organic mixture of African harmonies, bebop, and James Brown. Listen to the samples!

These percolating, horn-heavy grooves simmer while Fela lays down his trademark rants, often in deliberately skewered pidgin English....totally unstoppable in its mix of music and message. His voice, interlocking guitars and percussionist Tony Allen turn grooves that often have 1 or 2 chords into complex statements - minimalism made for dancers.

This is essentially a CD reissue of Fela Kuti's 1972 album Roforofo Fight, with the addition of two previously unreleased tracks from the same era. It's true that Kuti's early-'70s records tend to blur together with their similar groupings of four lengthy Afro-funk jazz cuts. In their defense, it must be said that while few artists can pull off similar approaches time after time and continue to make it sound fresh, Kuti is one of them. Each of the four songs on Roforofo Fight clocks in at 12 to …

Nearly every one of MCA's twofer reissues of the best albums in Fela Kuti's discography is worthwhile, and this pairing of 1980's I.T.T. and 1982's ORIGINAL SUFFER HEAD is no exception. By the early '80s Fela had already honed his intensely polyrhythmic Afrobeat sound to perfection, and these two recordings feature all of the extended vamps, roiling rhythms, searing horns, call-and-response vocals, and political invective he was known for. ORIGINAL SUFFERHEAD marks the debut of Fela's Egypt 80 b…

Sandy Bull may have been the first man in the '60s folk renaissance to foreground modal drones in his music and thereby forge a link between Scottish ballads, jazz, and sitar meditations. The results are seismic, and when seen in the light of the millennial freak-folk scene, they cast Bull as one of the genre's primary father figures. VANGUARD VISIONARIES seeks to introduce neophytes to Bull's finest noodlings, covering ground that's similar to the previous Vanguard best-of, RE-INVENTIONS. The d…

RECENT. A new journey down similar terrain, searching out something new in a landscape that's been visited before. Take TUMA's capable hands & add the fantastic percussive talents of WEIS (ZELIENOPLE) & it's like the wheel reinvented. These two play off one another beautifully, w/ Weis creating layers of havoc beneath Tuma's pastoral missives. Weis is the perfect foil for Tuma's brittle sound world. Archaic drones spit bombastic blasts of fire while the resulting sparks flicker into a million di…

Hi quality, previously unreleased recordings from 1970 from the great raga-guitarist, Peter Walker (whose 2 essential Vanguard albums remain criminally unavailable). Peter's group includes: Maruga Booker (trap and frame drums, bells), Perry Robinson (clarinet), Badal Roy (tablas), Rishi (bass), Mark Whitecage (flute and alto sax). "One cold late fall weekend I put a session together. I found housing for the out of town musicians and invited my friend Maruga Booker who came all the way from Detro…

Ancestral Swamp is the 20th full-length album by legendary rambler, cartoonist, outsider folk singer, and guitarist Michael Hurley. It arrives just in the nick of time for the rabid Snockophile. A batch of new vittles and encores of some of his classic tunes, Ancestral Swamp bubbles with laid-back ease and tremolodic goodness. Most songs have the simplest of arrangements: Hurley singing solo, accompanied by his guitar, Wurlizter organ, or fiddle. Tara Jane O Neil helps lend a nice touch to El Do…

2009, House of Sticks is the third release by the Indie folk duo Arborea. Following closely on the heels of their 2008 critically acclaimed self-titled record, it is a verdant, personal collection of singles, drawing the best tracks from their highly praised debut cd Wayfaring Summer and several new songs recorded between 2007 and 2008. Arborea also offers up new versions of their songs Dance, Sing, Fight and Beirut. House of sticks is a continuation of the musical journey of Shanti and Buck Cur…

Limited 250 copies. Skilled in the black-art of ecstatic improvisation, Alex Neilson and Lavinia Blackwall continue their journey into verdant fields of free-psych-drone and traditional UK folk.

Stephanie Hladowski recorded the four ballads on The High High Nest while a member of the Glaswegian ecstatic jazz and folk collective Scatter. Listening to her lean, vulnerable voice, alone or with sparse instrumental accompaniment of drones and shimmers, is a directly affecting experience ... the communicative power of the human voice remains a current truth - delicate power in Hladowski's case, but nonetheless real.

2006 release, repressed! This 2CD set is an exhaustive collection of Thai Radio transmissions recorded over a 15-year period from 1989 to 2004. These 23 collage tracks have been assembled and distilled from dozens of cassette and mini-disc recordings captured on location from the capital of Bangkok to Chaing Mai and Isan Province in the north to Hat Yai in the south. The music presented here is relentlessly mystifying and seductive: Molam, Luk Thung, Kantrum, folk and pop, classic Thai guitar ro…

The music and production encountered here represents a cross-section of Sumatran FM radio and to a greater extent, what's happening now in Indonesian culture. From the signature sounds of Sumatra (Melayu, Minang Pop, the Batak ballad) to the widespread Indonesian phenomenon of Dangdut, this exclusive 'FM only' Radio Collage will leave your skull shattered, wondering why it's taken so long to be turned-on to the modern pulse of the world's fourth largest country. Some of these selections come fro…

From the traditional Nubian sounds of Southern Egypt to the cultured Arabic pop of Beirut, its all here in super-sonic collage: Cairo Orchestral/Greek Sartaki/Palestinian Folk/ Jewish and Euro-hybrid music styles/ Jordanian reverb guitar....all placed deep within the mirage of an 18 year-old time capsule of news, commercials, radio plays, UFO signals, Secret agent messages and chainsaw shortwave. Recorded in the summer of 1985 from Aswan to Jerusalem, this is a cerebral-smashing 65-minute listen…

Wedlock captures Sunburned in its 2003 suit when they took it to the West Coast to tour their way up to Wasilla, Alaska to attend and perform at Paul & Val's wedding on the longest day of the year, June 21, 2003. Under the bright midnight sun, Sunburned recorded this document, a testament to irony, omnipotence, moisture, pain, and the weight. Come and dine at this one, clear table. Double LP. September 2005 release taken from recordings in Alaska on the Summer Solstice. Features a beautifully de…

CD reissue of sold-out limited edition vinyl. Since the release of Six Organs of Admittance's self-titled debut in 1998, Ben Chasny has played pure guitar within individual songs, but For Octavio Paz is his first full record to explore the guitar inside and out, solo and over-dubbed, steel and nylon string (in fact, For Octavio Paz is the first Six Organs album to feature the reverberations of a nylon string guitar). What really sets Chasny apart from the other modern Fahey worshippers is that C…

A limited edition reissue of Dust & Chimes by Six Organs of Admittance, Ben Chasny's second amazing, underground folk-psych project from behind California's Redwood curtain. Heavy, acoustic guitar and mumbled vocalizations merge with out-there jamming in a style that has been compared to guys with LPs on Takoma, though Dust & Chimes is actually closer than anyone else is ever going to come to pantsing the first two Tyrannosaurus Rex albums. The sun is tanging, people.

The first ever reissue of the first private press LP from Brazil. Recorded and released in 1973 by the duo of Lula Cortes & Lailson. A real lost masterpiece from any angel, and the first release of the fertile Recife psych scene of the early 70's... mesmerizingly beautiful sitar & 12 string psych ragas beaming strait for your third eye, and lifted ever higher by occasional angelic vocals or a burst of fuzz guitar... truly amazing stuff sure to turn the ears of any folk/psych fan, past or present…

Debut solo CD from Jack Rose, combining his much-lauded Eclipse LP's Red Horse, White Mule and Opium Musick. While Red Horse, White Mule is generally recognized as in the Takoma-inspired tradition, Jack adds his own exotic influences and recognizable touch - whether abstracting on the modal epic "Red Horse" or the rough slide stylings of "The Colonel's Blues." Opium Musick is an eclectic collection with pieces for 12 string (the percussive and dark "Black Pearls), 6 string, and lap guitar. The t…

Compiled from a variety of sources, Raag Manifestos cuts across various acoustic styles much like Rose's Opium Musick LP, but with a more aggressive attack. 'Black Pearls from the River' and 'Hart Crane's Old Boyfriends' are dense, serious assaults on the 12-string, with the intensity of the latter enhanced by Ian Nagoski's roaring electronic backdrop. With subtle tabla accompaniment by Eric Carbonara, 'Crossing The Great Waters,' is another epic modal journey in the style of Pelt's 'Road To Cat…

Kensington Blues, the fourth full-length release from Jack Rose, is an inspired mix of styles and sounds that brings his in-person steel string guitar mastery down to CD scale. This is Rose's most diverse outing by far, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, sweet Weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. Honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005.

Music, Martinis and Misanthropy is a mellow, apocalyptic folk and spoken word album that combines acoustic and electronic instrumentation with brutal, Social Darwinist lyrics and poetry. It was created by pioneer noise artist Boyd Rice and an assortment of dark folk all stars. Bob Ferbrache is the recording engineer. It was recorded in Tokyo, Japan and Denver, Colorado between July, 1989 and March, 1990 for NER/Tesco. This album is considered a classic, yet defies easy categorization. The music …

Iowa City's Evan Miller is never one to stay in the same rut for too long. His earlier releases were composed of Fahey-esque spells, heavily emotional acoustic guitar work emanating tones of nostalgia and simplicity. On Transfigurations On Lap-Steel Guitar, a new zone is crafted with lap-steel guitar and tape collage, creating equally nostalgic music from the other end of the spectrum: delicate, minimal drones. Tones interweave and textures evolve: it is Evan's most personally progressive work, …

First CD reissue of this strange late 60s set of artifacts (previously reissued as an elaborate 2LP set on Little Indians). ""California deep Psychedelic loner. Acid leads, mystical vocals, tons of effects, completely stoned feeling. Came out as 2 single albums and even more limited as a double album. Only 3 copies known. The music is outta space psychedelic with great songs and beautiful vocals. A real killer from beginning to end." This record is in Paul Major's "Top Five of Weird Underground …

An official bootleg featuring the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND performing live at the 1969 Philadelphia Folk Festival. Widely considered to be one of the bandis best live recordings, the album features eight wonderful songs.

Jonna Karanka aka Kuupuu is one of the main movers of the (deservedly) much hyped Finnish Psychedelic Free Folk scene. Originally hailing from Tampere she is known as a core member of Avarus, Anaksimandros, Kukkkiva Poliisi and Maniacs Dream. Additionally, she has recently started Hertta Lussu Ässä with Lau Nau and Islaja and has collaborated with Tomutonttu (aka Jan Anderzen of Kemialliset Ystävät) and Paavi (as Lussu ja Paavi). "Yökehrä" is the first of two vinyl-only LP's on the Dekorder labe…

"Unilintu" is the second of two vinyl-only LP's on the Dekorder label compiling the best material from Kuupuu’s first four CD-R and cassette releases, this time presenting a slightly darker and even more coherent sonic vision compared to last year’s gorgeous "Yökehrä" LP which we sold out immediately (2nd edition is now available). Here’s what we said about the first LP: Jonna Karanka aka Kuupuu is one of the main movers of the (deservedly) much hyped Finnish Psychedelic Free Folk scene. Origina…

First solo album from leader of the mysterious & bongtastic loft-psych champions THE VANISHING VOICE (Troubleman, 5RC, DeStijl, 3 Lobed). Uber trippy/heady folk influenced in equal parts by legendary hedonists Fleetwood Mac & West Coast sad sack Judee Sill with tips of the cap to other early 70's West Coast signposts of despair & excess David Crosby, Grace Slick & Gene Clark. The intention to create something timeless & ageless informs each note of the music.

During their lifespan, The Incredible String Band contained several wives, children and pets, and were a five-piece when they disbanded in November 1974. Basically, everyone else acted as a supporting cast to the songwriting nucleus of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air marks the halfway point, more or less, of the Incredible String Band. This 1971 release was their first for Island Records, following Joe Boyd (formerly Elektra UK's director of A&R) to the label. …

Credited with being the first artists to fuse folk and psychedelic sensibilities, the Incredible String Band benefited from having two very complementary frontmen. Robin Williamson and Mike Heron were also extremely versatile musicians, as this, their third album, indicates: he two of them play 17 instruments here, including harpsichord, water harp, sitar, and oud. While Hangman's is a fascinating record dense with exotic rhythms and instrumentation, it also suffers in spots from the airy excess…