‘Elegantly combines the delicacy of classical Arabic music, the raw expressiveness of Egypt’s countryside music, and the spontaneity of free improvisation, carefully obliterating the artificial separation between acoustic and electronic instruments. Despite the remarkable absence of any percussion or drums, The Handover is an extremely groovy band, with an ability to slow down and accelerate the tempo in almost telepathic synchronization at exactly the right moments.
‘Alongside the tight ensemble playing there is plenty of room for individual expression as the oud, synthesizer and violin take turns playing solos on top of repetitive riffs. Native Alexandrian Ayman Asfour plays violin with breathtaking beauty, not afraid to make it buzz, squeak and rattle. Belgian/Norwegian keyboardist Jonas Cambien makes the synthesizer a melodic instrument in its own right, at times evoking almost classical Maqam, at other moments coming straight out of an Egyptian wedding. The oud forms the backbone, as Aly Eissa’s solos guide the listener from minimalist, meditative drones, to a compelling climax, and back to earth.
‘There is much more to The Handover’s sound than the obvious references to Arabic and Egyptian music. The opening drone section of the album is pushed towards abstraction and even noise, and the vintage Farfisa organ gives the music a touch of 70s psychedelic rock. The repetitive riffs can be reminiscent of Embryo’s experiments combining krautrock with influences from the middle-east, but the use of repetition to induce trance dates way back in Egyptian music, and is present in many rituals like Sufi and moulid celebrations. The composed melodies on this album couldn’t be possible without Eissa’s deep love for this music. And what The Handover does with this composed material couldn’t be possible without three strong individual voices, their love to play music together and their dedication to push the traditions forward.’

Cicadas, dragonflies and other insects boogie down live and direct from Laos, Thailand and Burma.

Featuring vintage sides by Po Sein (one of the giants of early Burmese music and theatre), vocal and harp music from 1929, ‘modern songs with electric guitar’, and unique Burmese pop songs with piano.

Limited, gatefold LP version of the first SF CD release in 2003: droning beat pop, early Orkes Melayu songs, Batak Tapanuli, traditional Minang, and rare folk drama from the Indonesian island, from cassettes.

1970s garage and psychedelic rock, raw folk blues ballads, and country-and-western music from Shan State in Myanmar’s Golden Triangle.

‘As with many other ethnic groups of the area, a traditional singing pattern is used with each singer adapting words to context. Many of these songs express intimate, strong emotions that bring tears to the performers while they are singing. The cascading mournful feel of this music is beautifully transcendent. You’ve never heard anything like it.
‘Instruments used by the ensemble include the babi (single tree leaf ) and mepa (tree leaf rolled up into the shape of a horn or mirliton), a chiwo (three-stringed bowed instrument), a labi (six-holed bamboo flute), a lahe (three-stringed small lute) and a meba (vertical reed instrument).’

The oldest form of North Indian classical music still performed today — dhrupad — played by Madhuvanti on an instrument she built herself, recorded at home.
Two ragas; over ninety minutes.
Full-color gatefold, with extensive liner notes.

Rawly ethereal, other-worldly singing by members of hill tribes in China, Vietnam, and Laos.

A second volume of Charles Brooks’ magical recordings from central and southern Madagascar. Polyrhythmic rug cutters through stately Kabosy ballads.
Says Brooks — ‘The musicians on this album are storytellers and much of their craft is improvised and has a strong foundation of expertise in their respective cultural traditions… Seeking, recording, and sharing the intangible experience, the best of all of this, is to catch a ghost.’

‘Wild ecstatic vocals, distorted electric guitars, rocket bass, and an 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 region, funerals, weddings, circumcisions and other rites of passage have been celebrated for decades in ceremonies called mandriampototse. During three and seven days, cigarettes, beer and toaky gasy (artisanal rum) are passed around while electric orchestras play on the same dirt floor as the dancing crowds and zebus. Locally and even nationally renowned bands play their own songs on makeshift instruments, blaring through patched-up amps and horn speakers hung in tamarind trees, projecting the music kilometers away. Lead guitarists and female lead singers are the central figures of tsapiky.
‘What results during these ceremonies is unclassifiable music of astonishing intensity and creativity, played by artists carving out their own path, indifferent to the standards of any other music industry: Malagasy, African or global.’

Precious witness to the dying musical traditions of Ladakh, high in the Western Himalayas, for centuries a hub of the Silk Road to India, Tibet, and Kashmir.