Folk & Traditional / All styles

2024 Stock. Sensitive sitar from one of the instrument's leading younger exponents, specializing in the vocal-derived gayaki style. Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. Bageshri and Des are two ragas that are extremely difficult to play, yet Pt. Budhadityaji has treated both of these ragas with the utmost respect. An outstandin…

2024 Stock. Ravi Shankar's son, Brij Narayan, learned to play the sarod, an Indian plucked guitar with a softer sound than its sister, the sitar. He trained with both his father and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. The eerie Lalit and the peaceful Bairagi Bhairav are played here in the early morning. Lalit is given a 25-minute alap that is played slowly and without accompaniment, and the great Zakir Hussain plays the two pieces for 25 minutes. The shorter Bairagi Bhairav is a treat, full of memorable, beau…

2024 Stock. The most famous exponent of Hindustani flute music is off course the great Hariprasad Chaurasia playing the bansuri (the bamboo flute) and to a lesser extent Ronu Majumdar. In the West, North Indian music has always overshadowed South Indian (Carnatic) music, which is a pity as the latter is as profound and beautiful as the former. North Indian music has changed through the Middle Ages by the Arabian, Turkic and Persian influences the Mogol Invaders brought with them. It had become m…

2024 Stock. Sensitive sitar from one of the instrument's leading younger exponents, specializing in the vocal-derived gayaki style. Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of being the ever first artist (not just musician) in history to perform in the House of Commons, London. Famously proclaimed the …

2024 Stock. Nishat Khan has earned an international reputation over his long, distinguished career, which began when he was just seven and saw him performing ragas at the Queen Elizabeth Hall by the age of 16. With a sitar-playing lineage that goes back to the court of the Mughal emperor, he has appeared at concert venues across the globe and collaborated with a diverse range of musicians including Vanessa Mae, Paco Peña, John McLaughlin, Philip Glass, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Evelyn Glennie, Django …

2024 Stock. Global violin icon Dr. L. Subramaniam, is the world’s leading authority of South Indian classical music and violin, having performed for more than 65 years now. Constantly propelled from Singapore to Paris, from Delhi to Los Angeles, he has conquered every audience with the elegance and virtuosity of his style.  He performed his first concert when he was 6 years old and received the best violinist prize from the President of India H.E. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan for winning the All-India R…

2024 Stock. Sensitive sitar from one of the instrument's leading younger exponents, specializing in the vocal-derived gayaki style. Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of being the ever first artist (not just musician) in history to perform in the House of Commons, London. Famously proclaimed the …

*250 copies limited edition* "The first full length LP by Joshua Massad and Dylan Aycock. Massad is a tabla player living in India and studying under Zakir Hussain. Massad and Aycock came together in Tulsa to record these improvisations live at the legendary Church Studio which was founded by Leon Russell in the 70's. Over a few nights they captured some moments in the studio before it came under new ownership and just before Joshua moved to India. Aycock improvising on 12-string with Massad acc…

*100 copies limited edition* Raoul Eden is a french solo guitarist in the American primitive tradition. Leaving behind strumming, he began playing fingerstyle guitar. Coming from the old European continent, Raoul Eden has singular influences, which he puts down to the crossroad position of his roots – between the eastern and western world, north and south. Arabic music has always been present around him; he is fond of Gnawa music and plays guembri (a Gnawa bass lute also known as a sintir, gimbr…

Death Is Not The End's survey of folk music traditions in Northeastern Brazil, originally broadcast on NTS Radio in 2019, becomes the latest to be committed to cassette as part of their 10th anniversary series. It specifically focuses in on the spur-of-the-moment improvised "duelling" poetry of the repente, embolada & aboio styles that are unique to the Nordeste region.

Five Traces is a wordless opera in three acts. Its sound includes words and images. The notes must speakŠ this wordless opera is certainly my most daring experiment with text in sound.

2024 Stock. Builds slowly from the statement of the melody to intense sections of stunning brilliance

2024 Stock. The Sarangi remains not only the authentic and original Indian bowed instrument but the one which most poignantly, and in the hands of Ram Narayan, most revealingly expresses the very soul of Indian feeling and thought. I cannot separate the Sarangi from Ram Narayan, so thoroughly fused are they, not only in my memory but in the fact of this sublime dedication of the great musician to an instrument which is no longer archaic because of the matchless way he has made it speak

2024 Stock. This sensuous evening raga for the bamboo bansuri flute was recorded with tabla by Sabir Khan.

2024 Stock. Ustad Imrat Khan hails from a great tradition of musicians called the Imdadkhani Gharana, named after his grandfather. It has produced great masters of the sitar such as Ustad Vilayat Khan and his son Shujaat Khan, Shahid Parvez and Budhaditya Mukherjee. This renowned gharana specializes in gayaki; the vocal style of sitar playing, which is obvious when listening to this recording, as I can't help singing along with the Ustad's beautiful lyrical playing. Imrat Khan is the master of t…

2024 Stock. The Nimbus recordings of Hariprasad Chaurasia are among the best of his recorded repertoire. Hariprasad Chaurasia's hauntingly beautiful interpretation of Raga Lalit probably is the best introduction to that raga for listeners unacquainted with Indian music. Lalit is a serene raga with a devotional mood to be performed at dawn, before sunrise. Most sandhiprakash ragas (to be performed at dawn or dusk) feature komal swaras (flat notes), which give them a certain dreamy, longing, even …

2024 Stock.  The album presents a deeply meditative world, resonating with the mysteries of India. When it comes to sarangi - a forgotten Indian instrument that has been overshadowed by the violin in terms of popularity and accessibility - nobody can compare to Ram Narayan. Both Ram's growth and the ragas performed on this CD are deeply emotional. Additionally, the tabla playing is both powerful and precise. To experience the ethereal sarangi sound, this is a must-have. Ram Narayan (1927-) is a…

2024 Stock. The Nimbus recordings of Hariprasad Chaurasia are among the best of his recorded repertoire. Hariprasad Chaurasia (born July 1, 1938, Allahabad, United Provinces, British India [now in Uttar Pradesh, India]) is an Indian flutist in the Hindustani classical tradition whose performances and compositions brought global recognition to the bansuri, a simple side-blown bamboo flute. Unlike most other noted musicians of his generation, Chaurasia was not born into a family of musicians. Alth…

2024 Stock. Shivkumar Sharma's contribution to the Indian classical tradition is that he introduced the Santúr (hammered dulcmimer) to the classical Indian repertoire. That is no small feat, considering the conservative attitude that these performers take towards musical performance. "Sharma is credited with bringing this folk instrument, normally associated with the Sufi music of Kashmir, into Indian classical music. Indian music involves several of the elements I’ve been discussing in this lis…

Sleeve Records & Dig This Way teamed back to bring to light the history and the tracks of this iconic early 70' Psychedelic Afro-funk East Nigeria group. The Hygrades's album will include all 4 rare 45"s united in a single LP with an insert of their story told by a true Uchenna narrator.

A Lost Transmission from the British Psychedelic Underground

Restock due soon! Edition of 500 copies. Shane Parish is a member of the Bill Orcutt Quartet and Tzadik Recording Artist. Solo guitar arrangements of various jazz /avant garde/electronic/etc. tunes. Imagine: It’s sometime in the back half of the 19th century, America. You’re sitting in the parlor of your mansion, or in the only room of your shack; things are dusty and smell like sweat and hair, no matter how wealthy you may be. You don’t own a phonograph, and you don’t know who Tony Hawk is, but…

The compilation ‘Les Belgicains – Na Tango Ya Covadia 1964-1970’ (‘Les Belgicains’ during the time of Covadia 1964-1970) tells the remarkable story of the first Congolese student orchestras in Belgium. During that time Congolese referred to countrymen living in Belgium as ‘Les Belgicains’. The Congolese Rumba presented on this compilation blew a new, fresh wind through the musical landscape of Congolese popular music under the supervision of the legendary editor and producer Nikiforos Cavvadias …

A veteran of the great Malian orchestra, the Super Biton de Ségou, Mama Sissoko is an accomplished musician. His music traverses Mandingo, Bambara, Sarakolé, Songhai, Bobo, Peul, Malinke and Bozo traditions, all while flirting with jazz. On stage, Mama Sissoko is a purist who engages with the audience bringing his energy, urgent vocals and truly inspired guitar solos throughout the concert. ‘Live' brings together recordings from a concert given in Paris at La Villette in 1998 and takes us back t…

2024 reissue. ‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born. In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Insti…

"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…

*2024 stock* "On the night of December 18, 2021, Mamer and his newly formed psychedelic folk band Mask were about to record a live album at Shenzhen B10 Live, a few audiences were invited. Before the recording, Mamer improvised on sherter for nearly 40 minutes. This album was therefore born. Xêrtêrmin / Sherter Solo may be, or should be the world’s first sherter solo album—although we don’t want to overemphasize it for the sake of sales. Most of the time, this ancient Kazakh instrument is used a…

"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…

*2024 reissue* This  - somehow - mythological album from one of Iran’s top sitarist lurches between traditional Eastern forms and more modern Western styles, blending the two into a fascinating fusion of cultures and flavours. Similar to the work of Indian rare groove master Ananda Shankar, the record brings to life the ultimate marriage of funky drums, lush horns, wah-wah guitars and Eastern harmonies. A necessary re-discovery !

*2024 repress* "Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Different strokes for different folks. To each their own. Osondi owendi. It’s a conventional aphorism in the Igbo language but if you utter the word “osondi owendi” in Nigeria today, the first thing that comes to anybody’s mind is the cucumber-cool highlife music maestro Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his legendary album that takes its name from the adage. Released in 1984, Os…

Tip! *2024 repress* Hive Mind Records are proud to present Colours of the Night, the final studio recordings of deep, hypnotic Gnawa songs from the late, great Maalem Mahmoud Gania. The recordings see their first release outside of Morocco on 8 September 2017, and are available as a double vinyl LP and digital download. The release has been licensed directly from the Gania family and comes with the support of all who were involved in the original recordings. Colours of the Night is his first alb…

*2024 repress* "Mind-melting West Javanese gong pop, recorded in 2007 at Jugala studios in Bandung, based on a Javanese secular village music and dance tradition known as ketuk-tila, which was transformed into a popular studio music in the early 1960s by the producer Gugum Gumbira, founder of Jugala. With vocals by Idjah Hadidjah, one of the key historic voices of jaipongan, the situation here is disorientatingly heavy, low bpm gong pressure coming straight from the originators. It is a much les…

Myriam Gendron's second album, sung in French and English: traditional songs from Quebec, France and the United States reworked around romantic longing and mixed with her own writing.

*300 copies limited release* "Sometimes it’s hard to resist the feeling that there was a crucial turn in life out of which everything else flowed. Maybe in our more reasonable frames of mind we can dismiss that thought and take our plans and intentions very seriously. But, there’s often a lurking conviction that, like the oak from the acorn or the movie from its opening scene, it is already all there. In the first moment of Relics of Our Life, anything could happen, anything could come next. But…

*2024 stock* In 1962, Karen Dalton summoned Richard Tucker to join her in Colorado, extolling the healthier lifestyle and plentiful gigs at Boulder folk club, The Attic. Upon his arrival, the pair solidified their personal and professional relationship, riding horses in the mountains, and performing as a duo at parties and venues throughout Denver and Boulder. Stories of the spell they conjured - and rumors of tapes - have circulated among friends and musicians who witnessed them, but until now,…

With Time is Glass, Six Organs of Admittance is captured once again in the intricate tangle of the fretboards, soaring in open skies above. Like lens flare cutting through the speakers; spiderwebs cracking the windshield that holds back all the onrushing reality. Blowing the dust away, cutting a new path for cognition. After 20 years of living on the road in different places, Six Organs of Admittance had returned home to Humboldt County -- a far country, to some, but still part of the world thro…

2024 small repress! Recorded in 1995 and 1996, mostly in John Fahey's room at a Salem, Oregon boardinghouse, the performances on Proofs and Refutations prefigure the ornery turn of the page that marked Fahey's final years, drawing another enigmatic rabbit from his seemingly bottomless musical hat. Cloaked in the language of dogma, this is Fahey dancing a jig in the Duchampian gap, jester cap bells a-jingling. Right out of the gate, Fahey re-materializes before us, somewhere between Oracle of Del…

Tip! "There is, and has been, a prevailing orthodoxy permeating the Egyptian musical hierarchy that would render this spectacular piece as scandalous. But let us remember that over the past 100 years, Said Darwish, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Halim El Dabh, Ahmad Adaweya, and the modern Mahraganat movement have all experienced their fair share of scandal and opposition. Music must always be pushed forward – it may not always succeed as revelatory, but in this particular case, it does. Much like the ven…

Incredible Bosnian field recordings from the early 60s and orchestral work by Folke Rabe

*2024 stock. Custom CDr* West African griots are gatekeepers of their culture, repositories of oral tradition. Hear centuries-old histories from Gambia and Mali, accompanied by stringed instruments and drums. This recording features a recitation describing the beginnings of the slave trade with the Portuguese and Dutch in the early 1600s.