So, yeah, I was getting ready to work on this year’s ShellacHead Annual when I realized I hadn’t posted a damn thing since last year’s Annual! Wow, I guess 2015 went by pretty quick. I’ve mostly been working on recording an album with my rock band, SKUNK, but I’ve still been collecting old records and fantasizing about various reissue projects. I promise to try to make 2016 a bit more exciting here at ShellacHead.

This year’s Annual is worth the wait though – 15 super rare tracks from Sudan’s Munsphone label. Go ahead and look on Ebay for a Sudanese 45, there’s one there right now for $500. Take a look on the collecting site Discogs. Yep, there’s one there too and the asking price is $1000. Suffice it to say, these are much sought-after records! The records are difficult to find and so is information about the Munsphone label or the artists, but I’ve included what I know in a downloadable pdf.

Well, another year, another trip around the sun and all that jazz. It’s been a gray and wet couple of months here in Oakland, and yes, California needs the rain, but it’s left me pining for some sun and fun. The ShellacHead Annual is usually a sample of records I’ve collected over the year, but this year I decided to take a musical sojourn to the Caribbean. Here’s a selection of 78s and 45s from my collection that showcase the great diversity and musical connections of one of the world’s most vibrant musical zones. 26 tracks from Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Colombia, Honduras, Martinique, Curacao, and elsewhere. The first 200 downloads are free, or until the end of January, whichever comes first.

I hope it gives you a bit of warmth and musical sunshine during the depths of winter. Enjoy!

Clarinetist Selimi and vocalist/violinist Hafize were brother and sister, coming from a long line of famous musicians from the city of Leskovik at the southern border of Albania. By the mid-1920s they were living in Istanbul where they were the star attractions of the Albanian music scene. Selimi and Hafize recorded for Columbia during a session in Istanbul in 1928. Columbia made some 300 recordings the following year in Albania itself. To this day, the beautiful deep voice of Hafize is considered a benchmark for female Albanian singers of the southern repertoire, and Selim’s reputation as a clarinetist is highly regarded.