John Fahey - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death (1965)

ARTIST: John Fahey

ALBUM: The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death 

GENRE: Contemporary Folk, Finger-Picked Guitar

YEAR: 1965
Hey all - apparently, I am still alive. I hope you missed me :)

About album

A strange man, John Fahey, with an unusual set of guitar styles. This album, originally released on Riverboat Records and later reissued by Fahey's own Takoma label, has a lot of rough edges in terms of the recording but a tremendous amount of power when it comes to the music. Fahey was at the top of his game, alternately playful and dark, so there's never a dull moment. There is always something new to be heard on each playing.

DOWNLOAD

African Virtuoses - The Classic Guinean Guitar Group (2007)

ARTIST`````African Virtuoses

ALBUM`````The Classic Guinean Guitar Group

GENRE`````African Folk, World, Latin Influenced

YEAR````````2007

Why

Life would be beautiful if it sounded like this.

Info:

After rushes on gnarly West African music over the past year-- particularly records by Saharan trance bands Tartit, Etran Finatawa, and the fierce Tinariwen-- the focus is sliding down the coast's bulb. This comp of lyric acoustic guitar work from the Diabate family is the third Guinean release Sterns Africa has offered this year, alongside a reissue of a Bembeya Jazz Ensemble retrospective and a singles collection from the Guinean state-run label Syliphone.

Review from Pitchfork:

Not to say that it's protest music, because it's not. If anything, the central charm here is how damn unhurried and relaxed the Diabates sound. Even when they ornament-- and the music is so harmonically and rhythmically simple that it's almost all ornament-- it's more amble than flash; on the closing "Solo Virtuose", Papa Diabate has about seventeen minutes all to himself, so he spreads out, sometimes lapsing into arpeggios alongside brother Sékou for the sake of mutual hypnosis.

Read the rest.

DOWNLOAD

V.A. Hovering (2010)

ARTIST`````Various
ALBUM`````Hovering
GENRE`````Instrumental, Guitar, Experimental, Folk, Spaghetti, Soundtrack, Acoustic, African
YEAR````````2010

Hover:
For the ones that liked the Landscapes compilation - it's on the similar direction but with a rather different tone. Almost all songs here are wonderful instrumentals I discovered in the last 6 months or so (mostly guitar). The only track with a full vocal is the magical Amandrai by Ali Farka Touré.

As you will notice, the compilation is constantly divided by 1 minute long simple compositions of winds I mixed myself using some shitty effects and samples. Also - yeah I posted Calexico's El Morro again but I adore that track and it fitted really well within the selection. Just try to take it all in one listen - and leave some feedback:)

Tracklist:
01 ~~~ Wind 01
02 Dead Combo - Rumbero (2005)
03 Guano Padano - El Divino (2009)
04 Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - The Ransom (1977)
05 ~~~ Wind 02
06 Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Bukkake Sunrise (2004)
07 Gustavo Santaolalla - Deportation Iguazu (2006)
08 Leo Kottke - The Last Of The Arkansas Greyhounds (1971)
09 ~~~ Wind 03
10 Calexico - El Morro (1999)
11 M. Ward - John King's Watercolor Bicycle (2001)
12 Dirty Three - Obvious Is Obvious (1998)
13 ~~~ Wind 04
14 Bert Jansch & John Renbourn - Hole In The Coal (1966)
15 Ali Farka Touré - Amandrai (1988)
16 Toumani Diabate - Cantelowes (2008)
17 ~~~ Wind 05
18 Michael Brook & Brian Eno - Earth Floor (1985)
19 Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries (1984)
20 James Blackshaw - Past Has Not Passed (2008)
21 ~~~ Wind 06

DOWNLOAD!

JAMES BLACKSHAW - SUNSHRINE (2008)

DECEPTIVELY EXPERIMENTAL
ARTIST`````JAMES BLACKSHAW
ALBUM`````SUNSHRINE
GENRE`````FOLK, ALTERNATIVE,
YEAR```````2008

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:
A brilliant and innovative 12-string guitar player, James Blackshaw was born in 1981 in London, where he continues to make his home. Another in a long string of amazing British acoustic guitar wizards, Blackshaw has been compared at various times to Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Glenn Jones, Jack Rose, and Leo Kottke, among others, but his sound, often modal and based on improvising across set themes, is entirely his own.

ALBUM REVIEW:
James Blackshaw's Sunshrine was originally issued in 2005 by the Digitalis Industries label in an edition of 1,000 CDs. A year later, Bo'Weavil re-released it on vinyl as half of a double album that also included his first recording, Celeste. That pressing was limited to 525 copies and sold out quickly. Blackshaw was garnering a small but very dedicated following to be sure. His earlier recordings had been reviewed in The Wire and in Signal to Noise, and were circulated by word of mouth and on dubbed CD-Rs for two years. Blackshaw was introduced to American shores via the Cloud of Unknowing album in 2007, thanks to the great ears over at New York's Tompkins Square imprint. The label has undertaken a great labor of love in providing the American releases of Blackshaw's back catalog: this is the third and final entry in that series on CD. Sunshrine is the shortest of Blackshaw's early recordings. It is comprised of two tracks; the title piece at 26 and a half minutes and "Skylark Herald's Dawn," a beautiful little sketch that lasts just a bit over three minutes. Call it a mini-album, a long EP, whatever; the title track is perhaps the single most stunning piece of music Blackshaw released up to Cloud of Unknowing.

Blackshaw plays both six- and 12-string guitars on "Sunshrine," and an Indian sarod, harmonium, organ, bells, and bowed cymbals as well. The track is pristinely recorded and is developed, as his previous works had been, by combining modal notions of Indian raga with long drones juxtaposed against various melodies and fluctuating rhythmic pulses and dynamic textures.

DOWNLOAD SUNSHRINE

MAX TUNDRA - MASTERED BY THE GUY AT THE EXCHANGE (2002)

A COMPLETE SURPRISE FOR ME. ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED LESS KNOWN MUSICIANS TODAY. A MUST HAVE.
ARTIST`````````````MAX TUNDRA
ALBUM`````````````M. BY THE GUY AT THE XCHNG
GENRE`````````````EVERYTHING???
YEAR```````````````2002
























MY VIEW:
Here it goes: naive pop, parody post-rock, bubblegum pop, funk, trash, acoustic, Commodore 64, children's music, moog synthesizers, superfast -supercute beats with spacey effects, drill n' bass breaks, heavy electronics THAT ALL FIT INTO ONE 4 MIN SONG. And it sounds complete. It doesnt sounds like an experiment. Its like he was born with this ultra-music in his head.
This is a complete surprise to me. Enjoy this super-talented madman.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Ben Jacobs is notable for his musical schizophrenia, his back catalog for Warp and Domino a jumpy collision of found sounds, Squarepusher-type beat thrashes, and jaunty wrestling with "real" instrumentation. His second album for Domino sees Jacobs find his voice, no doubt back-flipping around the sound booth as he laid down lyrics to his funk-fueled spliced tape excursions. "MBGATE" is typical of the album -- a magically messed-up fusion of horn pushes, distorted songs, and general subverted pop craziness that does nothing but encourage the belief that if Prince hadn't burnt out in the early '90s, he'd have taken the name Max Tundra and hung out with a certain Guy Davie at a mastering house on North London's Randolph Street.

DOWNLOAD

JOSE GONZALES - IN OUR NATURE (2007)

THIS ALBUM IS NOT OUT YET! GET IT HERE BEFORE I GET FUCKED. JOSE'S SECOND PROMISING ALBUM. I DIDNT HAVE MUCH TIME TO LISTEN IN DETAIL BUT IT SEEMS QUITE GOOD.
ARTIST`````````````JOSE GONZALES
ALBUM`````````````IN OUR NATURE
GENRE`````````````INDIE POP
YEAR```````````````2007 (25th SEPTEMBER)












MY VIEW:
Considering the simplicity, quality and lush emotial experience of his debut album "Veneer", this album better be good. I've listen to it but not in detail and it sounds quite good. As I've noticed, this time, Jose is singing about the primitive side of humans. He is still using only his acoustic guitar occasionaly mixed with some simple tasteful percussions.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Swedish singer/songwriter José González is a star in his native land. His album Veneer was released there in the early 2000s and has achieved gold status. Far from the pop album you might expect from such a statement, the album is an entirely acoustic affair that reflects a childhood spent listening to equal parts bossa nova, classical, and post-punk by the likes of Joy Division. Touchstones for González's sound include Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Red House Painters, and Elliott Smith, all artists who are literate, quiet, and melancholy but also create memorable songs as well.

DOWNLOAD

MADJID KHALADJ - IRANIAN PERCUSSIONS (2001)

Original cover. Cant fid a better one:(
FROM THE ROCKS AND SANDS OF THE BURNING PERSIAN EMPIRE! ONE OF THE BEST IRANIAN PERCUSSIONIST EVER
ARTIST`````````````MADJID KHALADJ
ALBUM`````````````IRANIAN PERCUSSIONS
GENRE`````````````TRADITIONAL/ETHNIC/FUSION
YEAR```````````````2001

MY VIEW:
I was surprised that this guy is actually famous and popular... This album, brilliantly precise but insanely improvised, produces a much needed hypnotic expirence which I can only call "completely empty but filled like burning hell"... If I had this album during my "psychedelic years" - I'd probably be dead by now:)
Yes and... sorry people, no vocals, fancy production or cheap ambient effects. Just great desert drummin' untill the mornin' comes:) My favourite track is "The Esoteric".

NICELY WRITTEN SHORT BIOGRAPHY (by Eugene Chadbourne):

Of the many talented younger players from the Iranian classical music scene, this player of the tombak and other traditional instruments has made the most widespread inroads on the Western music scene, although the rewards of that may be questioned when they include soundtrack appearances on such Hollywood duds as Geronimo or Last Man Standing. The farthest thing artistically from a bad commercial film is the musical environment this artist came out of, the brilliant world of Iranian dastgah. Like the Indian raga to which it is related, compositions in this genre are based on various modal systems, which the performers extrapolate at great length, building up to high speed chases that are the dream of every percussionist. The instrument played by Madjid Khaladj is known as a tombak in Iran, a dombak in Turkey, and has an Irish relative in the bhodran. Khaladj began studying the instrument at the age of seven, the initial pounding and banging of a youth leading to a brilliant career as a traditional musician, pedagogue, composer, and lecturer.

He has mastered an entire family of Iranian percussion instruments, including the daf, which might sound like some kind of British insult but is actually considered a mystical drum. The musical adventures of Khaladj have led to collaborations with the traditional Armenian vocal group Kotchnak, as well as the laid-back California recording scene of world music wannabe Ry Cooder. The Iranian also went far from his roots when he recorded an album entitled Chopin, Impressions with pianist Leszek Mozdzer and the results of this collaboration can only be described as fascinating.

DOWNLOAD

ANOUAR BRAHEM - BARZAKH (1991)

DEBUT ALBUM BY THE BEST OUD PLAYER ON THIS PLANET
ARTIST`````````````ANOUAR BRAHEM
ALBUM`````````````BARZAKH
GENRE`````````````WORLD/ETHNIC/FUSION
YEAR```````````````1991

MY VIEW:
This is definetly one of the best musicians from the Middle East. This is his first and by my personal opinion - best and purest work.
I have included some photos and an inteview with Anouar from 2007.

ALBUM REVIEW (by Stephen Cook):

This starkly beautiful collection of 13 tracks by Tunisian composer Anouar Brahem is his debut release for the ECM label. The album spotlights Brahem's solo oud pieces, which range from the meditative ("Sadir") to the propulsive ("Ronda"). This solo work is nicely augmented by stellar contributions from violinist Bechir Selmi and percussionist Lassad Hosni; Selmi is featured on the transcendent "Barzakh," while Hosni figures prominently on "Souga" and "Bou Naouara." The three musicians come together for the joyous dance number "Parfum de Gitane." Throughout Barzakh, Brahem and the others forge an appealing mix of Middle Eastern sonorities and jazz phrasing, an intimate sound perfectly suited to the clean and spacious ECM recording style. This is a great title for fans of both international music and jazz.

DOWNLOAD