Sublime Frequencies

Deben Bhattacharya (1921–2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. Highly influential, it would not be too bold a stretch to say that his work shaped how we listen to the world: he produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1953 until his death in 2001.

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band's already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound that they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop. There's distinct parallels with the sounds found on this tape and the work uncovered in recent years by cratedigger labels such as Awesome Tapes From Africa, Sahel Sounds and Sublime Frequencies.

Following the untimely cessation of the much-beloved underground eclectics Sun City Girls in 2007 due to the death of percussionist Charles Gocher, the brothers Bishop (Alan and Richard) have shown no signs of slowing down their respective creative output. As the voice (and low end) of Sun City Girls, Alan Bishop (aka Alvarius B.) has continued, in his own way, to further the late band's legacy with a sprawling series of appropriately avant-garde recordings and world music experimentalism. As co-founder of the Seattle-based Sublime Frequencies, he and Hisham Mayet have tapped into the spiritual predecessors of Sun City Girls' pan-globalism, offering up little-heard recordings both classic and contemporary from around the globe.

Omar Souleyman turns out another brilliant batch of club-ready turns on EDM powerhouse Mad Decent. Getting back to the type of fire found on his Sublime Frequencies and Sham Palace turns following years of Four Tet-produced missteps, ‘Shlon’ is delivered hot and direct in the vein of 2017’s ‘To Dyria, With Love’ with 6 tracks of whirlwind microtonal synth licks, stentorian vox and driving machine rhythms. ’Salon’ sets it off with slow donks and line-dancing claps, ’Shi Tridin’ steps it up with a wild mix of Euro-house swagger and blazing synth crossfire, and ‘Mawwal’ makes room for dry-iced, beat-less slow jam in the titular style of sung poetry. ‘About Zilif’ is the BIG one though, featuring Rizan Sa’id slinging wild drums and scything riffs compatible with electro chaabi, and ‘Layle’ nearly hits Psy-trance levels of yoghurt-weaving club actio.

A whole sociological study could probably be based around Saigon Rock & Soul, a double-album compilation of killer Vietnamese pop/rock tracks from the late ‘60s to mid-‘70s, but that will be left to more academically minded types in order to focus on the music at hand. The tunes included here were surely the product of Western music's influence, as American soldiers brought the sounds of U.S. rock, pop, and soul along with them over the course of the Vietnam War. By the late ‘60s, a whole subgenre of than nac ("modern music") had emerged, as hordes of young Vietnamese musicians absorbed and emulated the music that arrived from overseas. Besides local clubs, many of the artists featured here performed – and often recorded – at U.S. army bases, where the soldiers made up a major portion of their fan base.

A fascinating immersion in the heart of a funeral ceremony live recorded in Bali, where gongs, cymbals, and drums give rhythm to the bewitching atmosphere of this mortuary procession.

La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela - The Theatre Of Eternal Music: Dream House 78’17” (1973) {Vinyl, Shandar 83 510 rel 1974}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/48kHz - Vinyl Rip -> 357 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 187 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 27 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974 Shandar | 83 510
Classical / Modern Classical / Minimalism / Avant-Garde / Experimental

An important and early part of La Monte Young’s succinct, near-sacred catalogue of solo, longform recordings to legitimately reach vinyl (you could count ‘em on one hand!), this pressing of Dream House 78’ 17” is an understandably precious and ineffably wonderful thing of beauty.