Folk & Traditional / All styles

Gorgeous new full length from Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem. Wissem's long form, graceful melodic lute layers, preceded by suspenseful deep bass movements, create a transcendental and pastoral. Wissem's is a world where hypnotic minimalist figures are repeated to slow the act of listening. Nihil Obstat (Nothing Hinders) is performed on Wissem's custom black lute built by Michael Schreiner. LP pressed in an edition of 800. "New classical lute music that sound as if it always existed, as if it h…

On October 2 1958, after over 60 years of colonial rule, Guineans voted overwhelmingly for their independence, and Guinea was declared a Republic with Sékou Touré as President. Guinea was the first of West Africa’s Francophone colonies to gain independence. To free Guinea from its colonial legacy, president Touré sought to restore dignity to his nation and give cause for Guineans to take pride in their culture, history and newfound freedom. To achieve this, he instructed his government to implem…

Recorded at the infamous Spahn Ranch in 1970, while their leader Charles Manson was facing trial for the murder of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, The Manson Family Sings is a highly disconcerting listen. Beneath the harmonic brilliance and folksy innocence of these campfire-styled recordings are the hallmarks of Manson’s twisted worldview, rendering a dystopian edge to what is otherwise compelling singalongs. Squeaky Frome, Brenda Gold, Gypsy Share and Sandra Blue all feature, with Clem Grogan fron…

A chilling artifact from one of history's most infamous figures emerges from the shadows: Charles Manson – Live At San Quentin, a raw, lo-fi collection of improvised folk songs recorded in 1983 inside the legendary prison. Captured with just an acoustic guitar amid the echoes of flushing toilets and jailhouse chatter, this album delivers Manson's most accessible – and surprisingly poppy – performances ever taped. Following his 1971 conviction for the brutal murders of seven people, including act…

Malenčyk / Lami is a double vinyl pairing unpublished archival recordings of Belarusian fiddler Stanisłaŭ Malenčyk with Italian sound artist Giovanni Lami's response to that archive.

The Mill Pond was originally released in 1997 as a double 7' that went immediately out of print. For it's 10th aniversary we're issuing it on compact disc housed in a deluxe letterpressed jacket and including an extensive booklet collecting John Fahey's paintings for the very first time. Limited edition. The Mill Pond is all over the place stylistically, so it should confuse those who try to pigeonhole Fahey into any one category. The Mill Pond further proves that there is only one category into…

A side project from North Sea Radio Orchestra members. A new duo with explosive creativity and an extraordinary musical level that explores the boundaries between Renaissance, classical, medieval, folk, and contemporary music. As usual for Craig Fortnam, best known as the mastermind behind the North Sea Radio Orchestra, and Laurent Valero, also a member of the ensemble on the occasion of the critically acclaimed tribute to the music of Robert Wyatt, Folly Bololey, issued by Dark Companion in 201…

Updating canonical Scottish folk tunes is a rather unfashionable niche, placing these songs within the context of modern/alternative rock is an even tougher chore, but it's one that Scottish neo-traditionalist Alasdair Roberts approaches with pluck and somber intensity. Previously with the band Appendix Out, No Earthly Man is Roberts' third album as a solo artist and it is undoubtedly his most difficult to approach. His previous album, Farewell Sorrow, was a collection of joyful, filigreed songs…

Joyful rug-cutters and sweet soul-uplifters from the town of Morogoro, in early-1960s Tanzania: muziki wa dansi, inspired by Cuban 78s, and dance crazes like the twist and cha cha cha, but making them its own. Here is the cream of over a hundred recordings by Salum, mostly for Mzuri Records of Kenya; pretty much lost till now. In an old-school tip-on cover, with lyrics in Swahili and English on the inner sleeve. Lovely stuff.

Drawn from his six monumental singles for the Philips, Amha and Yared labels between 1970-73, revolutionising traditional Eritrean music via the innovations of amplified kirar, electric guitar and horns. Thick, deep declarations and considerations of love over a mixture of sombre and joyous tunes (with the hand-clapped beat often shifting into double-time near the end). Co-released with Mitmitta Musika in Addis Ababa; handsomely presented in a tip-on sleeve, with extensive liner notes, translati…

"Bayawan" is the common name for Muqam music used by the Dolan people. Bayawan, or Dolan Muqam, is a unique form of folk music and one of the most important cultural heritages of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. Generally speaking, Muqam is a form of large-scale suites which include songs, dances, and instrumental sections, in which the development of music often features a significant degree of improvisation. The Muqam of the Uyghurs is characterized by its diversity of musical styles. Apart fro…

*2025 stock* These are live recordings of Nikhil Banerjee at KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California, on the 9th of July, 1967. It is for the first time they are made into vinyl record and published in China. The original recordings were on two reel-to-reel tapes. In 1988, American record label Raga Records released the recordings on both CD and cassette. Until a few years ago, it was by chance that producer Tu Fei got hold of these reel-to-reel tapes and decided to release this vinyl version, hoping…

Sixty Strings is an album of two epic duets by Eric Carbonara (22-string upright Chaturangui guitar) and Jesse Sparhawk (38-string lever harp). While Carbonara has studied Chaturangui extensively with Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya in Kolkata, and Sparhawk was classically trained by major figures of the harp world in his formative years, the music here is their own—not a mashup of quasi-orientalism and conservatory bloodlessness. Both side-long tracks lay out a spacious framework, with the two pl…

Years later, revisiting this performance through the album still leaves me gasping in awe—she reads minds, she hypnotises, a celestial sprite blessed by the heavens. Her solid grounding in classical and folk music, extraordinary technique and control, boundless stage presence, and our own beautiful yet bittersweet memories all converge to create this timeless recording. Time rewinds to a May evening in 2014, as the inaugural Tomorrow Music Festival unfolded. Czech musician Iva Bittová stood alon…

Tip! The Sahaja Veena is a stunning stringed instrument with a unique and beautiful design reminiscent of the Vichitra Veena and Chitra Veena. With a wider range than the traditional Indian veena and a deep, warm sound, the instrument can produce compelling melodies and delicate ornamentation, often evoking deep emotions, and is therefore also known as the “Sagar” (‘Sagar’ meaning “sea” in Hindi). “(Sagar means ”ocean" in Hindi). Noor Zehra Kazim is the world's only Sagar Vina player. Her father…

"The antennas that grow in your ears and hide in my head. In 2019, Dan and Li's live performance at the OCT-LOFT International Jazz Festival of their album "Mutually Chanting Cipher" was a stroke of genius, and the two of them put together a memorable performance with little advance communication. In November 2021, Dan traveled to Yunnan to meet Li with Tang. In Dali, they experimented with a wide range of compositions, from acoustic to plugged-in instruments, from Chinese to Western, from ethni…

This studio album is recorded after Guo Yongzhang performing on the 5th Tomorrow Festival stage.

Michel Houellebecq is, of course, well-known for his novels, translated into more than 40 languages, and his Goncourt Prize (The Map and the Territory, 2010), but perhaps less so for his debut album, released exactly a quarter of a century ago on Tricatel label. One can sense the influence of Serge Gainsbourg's L'Homme à la Tête de Chou, a disillusioned Procol Harum and a world-weary Burt Bacharach hovering over Houellebecq's poems in Présence Humaine, a now cult classic album orchestrated by Be…

Nyahh Records is proud and excited to announce this compilation of singers, which has been on the back boiler for some time!! Inspired by the song collecting of Alan Lomax, this compilation brings together two generations of singers from all across the island of Ireland. Some of the songs previously appear on albums, but the rest were recorded by the singer themselves on their phones to give the song a real and raw effect that brings an authentic feel and immediacy to the songs. A long standing …

*300 copies limited edition* "Turner Williams Jr.'s music unfolds like a crossroads, where ancient and modern traditions intersect and attract each other. We hear American Primitive Guitar (Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Sandy Bull), the trance of Indian ragas, melancholy of Celtic ballads, the most experimental side of French folk revival (René Zosso, Rémy Couvez, Pierre-Jean Croset, Valentin Clastrier), while allowing the memory of even more ancient music to filter through (Marin Marais, François C…

Edition of 200 copies Another wonderful album by this Swedish-based guitarist/carpenter. This is the fourth (and I believe final, at least for now) addition to Collin’s series of site-based outdoor recordings. The first three were stellar examples of Jon’s finger-thinking, and this one is as well. He seems to have embraced a romantic form of melodicism over the course of these albums, contrasting with some of the harsher blues evocations he’s explored recently. And as much as I enjoy everything …

Path To The Gallows was recorded in Beeston, UK and Durban, South Africa straight to cassette and engineered by the wizard Rob V. It's Duncan's 9th "proper" album (but could also be his 12th or 6th depending how you count them).

Ultan O’Brien is a fiddle player and composer from the wilds of County Clare in the West of Ireland. Ultan is a performer as well as a regular at sessions all of Ireland and can be found by chance in any pub in Dublin, Cork or some remote village on the edge of nowhere, flying jigs and reels around the room. Ultan was reared in the rich tradition of Irish music which is so commonly found and heard in Co Clare, but he also delves deep into sound art and experimental music. He has often been heard…

Blue Lake reveals his most ambitious album yet, which finds its visionary creator Jason Dungan harnessing the collective alchemy of his band, with ten spirited tracks that resonate with a powerful directness, evoking an ecological connection to the wider world.

“Enta Omri” is Om Kalsoum’s most famous song, composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, who is still rightly regarded as a prominent musician and composer in Egypt. The creation of this song was the first long expected collaboration of two musical giants, which came at the repeated urging of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser. There was talk in Egypt on the streets and in the media about what was believed to be a cold relationship between the two legends. Finally, after years of estrangement, Mohamed …

Om Kalsoum! They call her ’The Rose of the Nile’, ‘The Queen of the Nile’, ‘The Daughter of the Nile’ or even ‘The 4th Pyramid of Egypt’ since she’s known as the greatest Egyptian singer of all times. Om Kalsoum’s mythical life story of a poor peasant girl who grew up to become the face of Egypt is a 20th-century fairytale. Almost half a decade after her death the power of her music and singing is still moving the hearts of millions of people worldwide. At the end of her overwhelming career she …

Om Kalsoum! They call her ’The Rose of the Nile’, ‘The Queen of the Nile’, ‘The Daughter of the Nile’ or even ‘The 4th Pyramid of Egypt’ since she’s known as the greatest Egyptian singer of all times. Om Kalsoum’s mythical life story of a poor peasant girl who grew up to become the face of Egypt is a 20th-century fairytale. Almost half a decade after her death the power of her music and singing is still moving the hearts of millions of people worldwide.   At the end of her overwhelming career sh…

The rich and lengthy instrumental intro is just a precursor of the emotion present in this song. The talent of the composer is underlined by how he utilises the traditional style of singing poetry in a more open and creative way. Abdel Wahab’s infusing of long and groovy interludes with varied tonality, rhythmical patterns and an overall unique approach, carries Om Kalsoum’s powerful voice and brings the song to an incredible climax. In this way, he gives more colour and depth to the music and t…

Six Organs mainstay Ben Chasny has become one of the high shamen of the US psychedelic underground, disseminating his hairy vision between at least three bands and a couple of genres over the past decade. His umpteenth album begins with a sonic white-out called Waswasa – a thrilling myocardial infarction of guitar more in keeping with another of his bands, Comets on Fire, who are, in fact, on board here. How Chasny tells his sprawling, incandescent guitar solos apart, we may never know; this is …

Recorded live on location by Maxime Bobo, this vinyl LP includes a 4-page full-color insert with detailed liner notes plus photos of the musicians and surroundings. Tsapiky music from Southwest Madagascar features wild ecstatic vocals, distorted electric guitars, rocket bass, and the amphetamine beat! Unlike anything else, this is THE high life music you've always wanted - ceremonial music played with abandon and extreme intent, honoring the living and dead alike. In Toliara and its surrounding …

West Virginia Snake Handler Revival "They Shall Take Up Serpents" marks the arrival of a landmark record, documenting the last, snake handling church in Appalachia. Featuring hillbilly rock guitars, trance-like rhythms, and howling vocals, this album was recorded 100% live and without overdubs by Grammy-award winning producer and author, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Zomba Prison Project). The first release of American music ever by Sublime Frequencies, Brennan states, "As much …

** 2-LP gatefold with 12 page full-color booklet insert ** This double LP of instrumental Hindustani, Carnatic and folk 78rpm shellac records from India comes with a full color 12-page insert of gramophone record ephemera, shops, labels, manufacturing details and graphics. The LPs feature over 25 artists recorded between 1904 and 1959 playing a panoply of instruments: jalatarang, dilruba, sarod, clarionet, pakhawaj, violin, been, kazoo, shehnai, tabla, sarangi, sitar, vina and more. Artists incl…

*In process of stocking* Spriguns Of Tolgus (later shortened to just Spriguns) were a British folk-rock group formed in 1972, who have long been admired by connoisseurs of that era. Having made two self-funded albums, they attracted a major label deal with Decca for two further LPs, which demonstrated their growing originality, and caught the attention of some significant figures in that world. After two Decca albums Mandy decided to form her own label and rebranded as Mandy Morton and Spriguns …

With Black Koyo, Mattias De Craene enters a sound world at once intimate and vast. Born from journeys in Morocco and Brussels, the project traces the rhythms, chants, and spirits of the Gnawa tradition, revealing a quiet resonance that echoes De Craene’s own search for depth and presence. Guibri, qraqueb, call-and-response chants, saxophone, loops, and electronics come together in a trance-induced dialogue — ritualistic, elemental, and dreamlike — creating a space where listening becomes immersi…

Wewantsounds continues its Middle East reissue series with Assa'd Khoury's 1978 rarity, Electronic Touches Belly Dance. Reissued for the first time in nearly 50 years in partnership with Byblos Records founder Mozart Chahine, the album features Oriental classics reimagined through Khoury's pioneering electronic keyboards. This definitive edition includes original artwork, remastered audio, a new introduction by Ahmed Khalil (Dikraphone), and an exclusive interview with Chahine, the album's produ…

With Ritual Riots, Stéphane Hoareau delivers a deeply rooted work in créolité, conceived as a force of unity, resistance, and transmission. A guitarist from Réunion Island and a key figure in the emergence of contemporary global music scenes, Hoareau continues his commitment to revitalizing maloya - transforming it with boldness and creativity into a living, open, and contemporary heritage. Through his collective projects and radical approach to musical ritual, he develops an aesthetic where tra…

The faultless Analog Africa presents another superb reissue project here, this time looking to two rare 1980s gems by Ousmane Kouyate, a master guitarist and heir to the Griot tradition. He was a key figure in Les Ambassadeurs alongside Mory Kante and Salif Keita and helped shape modern Mandingue music with his electrifying take on the genre. The tracks presented here, 'Kefimba' and 'N'Ny' were originally released on cassette and later vinyl but are hard to find. They showcase his funk-infused s…

Oidupaa Vladimir Oyun was a Tuvan musician and a man with an amazing, but really heavy destiny, a man of unbending will and divine talent and the creator of a unique style of throat singing, accompanied by playing the button accordion. Researchers described Oidupaa's style as blues and emphasized the complexity of this style of performance, which requires the singer to exert a lot of tension on the vocal cords. This is the author's unique version of the deepest and most powerful type of throat s…

** 2026 stock ** Experimental psychedelic doom from Lima, Peru. The album by El Hijo De La Aurora explores new sonic territories, and is a balance between classic 70s doom and experimental sounds with unconventional instruments like Tibetan bowls and gongs. The Enigma of Evil explores the origin of the cosmos, and how we establish our relationship with the spiritual world.   The album recalls concepts covered by Copernicus and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in her books Isis Unveiled, and The Secret …

2026 stock Poison Gown is the 2016 album by Portland-based chamber ensemble Disemballerina, blending cello, viola, guitar, and harp into a haunting, doom-laden sound. Released on Minotauro Records, its six tracks evoke dark romanticism with slow, gloomy strings, subtle distortions, and atmospheric effects like hellish howls or cricket chirps. The music merges elegant chamber arrangements with a metallic edge, creating a sense of primordial dread and internal turmoil. Tracks like "Impaled Matador…