Now Out! Hassaniya Music from the Western Sahara and Mauritania SF 083LP

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

Hassaniya Music from the Western Sahara and Mauritania

Various Artists SF 083LP

In 2006, Hisham Mayet returned to West Africa to continue his search for an unknown musician he had heard six months earlier on the radio in a Morocco hotel room. Knowing only that it was Sahrawi music -- music of the south -- he headed down through the vast and remote desert landscape of the Western Sahara and Mauritania in hopes of finding someone who could identify these revelatory recordings. The story of how he finally found this elusive artist is the stuff of ethnomusicological legend. But he also found much, much more as he wandered from Laâyoune, Western Sahara, to Mauritania's capital city of Nouakchott. From intimate, sinuous home recordings by Group Marwani, to a sublimely devastating track by the enigmatic Abdul Rahman Al-Gheid, to the inimitable tidinit artistry of Sadoum Ouled Aida, the performers on this album exemplify the haunting and intoxicating qualities of Sahrawi music. Featuring Mayet's first recordings of the electrifying Group Doueh, as well as dizzying field recordings from Nouakchott's Marché Capitale -- where relentless traffic noise swirls together with fragments of melody from countless cassette vendors' PA speakers --Hassānīya Music from the Western Sahara and Mauritania is the evocative soundtrack to a chimerical journey that is also documented visually in Sublime Frequencies' breathtaking filmPalace of the Winds (SF 047DVD). It not only traces Mayet's own passage through these barren and beautiful lands, but also charts the evolution of Sahrawi music from sung poetry accompanied by traditional acoustic instruments to electrifying modern grooves drenched in reverb and phase effects. Limited edition pressing with Stoughton tip-on full-color gatefold jacket.

Samples and ordering through ForcedExposure: 

http://beta.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/SF.083LP.html

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

MARK GERGIS INTERVIEWED BY THE QUIETUS: REMEMBERING SYRIA

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

MARK GERGIS INTERVIEWED BY THE QUIETUS: REMEMBERING SYRIA

Link for interview:

http://thequietus.com/articles/13623-mark-gergis-interview-sublime-frequencies-dabke-syria

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

A NIGHT OF SUBLIME FREQUENCIES Feat. Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop) LIVE and 2 Films By Hisham Mayet

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

AUGUST 6 - 7:30 PM

Cinefamily

 611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles 90036

(323) 655-2510

A night celebrating one of the most unique record labels ever: SUBLIME FREQUENCIES, a collective of explorers recording obscure sights and sounds from traditional urban and rural frontiers all over the world including field recordings, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression. Join us for an evening featuring two new films directed by label co-founder Hisham Mayet (appearing in person) plus a live performance by “Alvarius B”, the alter ego of label co-founder Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls! Join us for this night of celebratory music, followed by a party on the Spanish patio with hot tea, African snacks and Sublime Frequencies DJs spinning rare and beautiful tunes from around the world!

THE MUSIC:
Alan Bishop (aka Alvarius B) is a founding member of Seattle’s avant-garde and genre-defying Sun City Girls, whose career spans 27 years and over fifty releases. From their telepathic free jazz/post rock psychedelic trio roots, to gorgeous outer-national Arabic and Asian inspired folk music, Sun City Girls performances were wildly unpredictable, sometimes verging on performance art, with elaborate costumes, kabuki-inspired makeup, and the creation of a festive, ritualistic atmosphere with audience participation. As Alvarius B, Bishop has penned hundreds of his own original folk songs in a primitive “out” style informed by an obsessive love of psychedelic rock, free jazz, exotic music from beyond borders, Italian film soundtracks, and an extraordinary sense of humor. Join us for this special one-night-only live performance.

THE FILMS:
The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry In The Sahel (Dir. Hisham Mayet, 2012)
Highlights include intimate views of ecstatic dance in the painted houses of the island-dwelling Wogo; the seductive courtship rites and trance vocals of young Wodaabe men; a mesmeric Tuareg and Zarma duet for guitar and molo; Hausa griots enchanting with comsaa strings; Zarma spirit possession ceremonies; and heart-stopping footage of the Dogon mask ritual atop the Bandiagara Escarpment in the village of Endele.

Vodoun Gods on the Slave Coast (Dir. Hisham Mayet, 2012, PREMIERE SCREENING!)
This film, shot during the country’s rich Vodoun celebrations, is an impressionistic lens on the myriad ceremonies that this rich and diverse culture has to offer. Showcasing intimate observations of a variety of Voodoo ceremonies: The cult of Sakpata (god of Pestilence and healing), Egoun dramas shrouded in magisterial costumes and the Zangbeto night watchmen, among other highlights. This will be the premiere screening of this visual feast.

- See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/cinespia-salon/#cinespia-salon-a-sublime-frequencies-celebration-feat-live-set-by-alvarius-b-alan-bishop-from-sun-city-girls

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

OUT NOW! 2013 CD REPRESS: GROUP BOMBINO Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger) Vol. 2

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

OUT NOW! 

2013 CD REPRESS: GROUP BOMBINO 

Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger) Vol. 2

SF 046 CD

 

2013 repress, originally released 2009. Led by the guitar virtuoso Omara Mochtar (Bombino), the group's debut LP -- volume two in the Guitars From Agadez series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, and Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of the country. The only road that connects this legendary city with the rest of the country is littered with land mines and the only escorts are the military. This music and its messages of hope, justice, and desire for validation of the Kel Tamachek way of life ring louder than ever. Group Bombino are gaining mythic status in and around the Tuareg community for their incendiary live performances. Coming from the same scene as Group Inerane and sharing some of the same musicians, Group Bombino showcase both sides of the Tuareg guitar style. The first half of this CD features the "dry guitar" sound, an unplugged selection of songs sung among the dunes, camels and stars of the Tenere desert. The last five tracks demonstrate the electric fury of the full band, a melding of heavy, psychedelic guitar heroics with a raw, garage sound, back beat percussion, all swirling in extended trance rock moves. Recorded live and unfiltered in Agadez and the surrounding desert in early 2007, with the band's equipment powered by generators and an unflinching dedication to the rebellion, Group Bombino's music transcends any influence and ignites the raw passion of its message to the outside world. Includes liner notes by Hisham Mayet with great photos of the musicians.

Order via 

Forced Exposure: 

http://beta.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/SF.046CD.html

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

OUT NOW! Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol. 2 - Vinyl 2 LP

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol. 2 

2 LP

SF033 LP

 

Order from Forced Exposure: http://beta.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/SF.033LP.html

Molam is a multi-faceted folk country music native to Laos and the collection of rural Northeastern Thai provinces called Isan. Molam is an umbrella term used for numerous Lam styles. It literally translates into "expert singer" or "expert song." Featured here on volume two of this series are Lam Phun, Lam Thuy, Lam Plern, Lam Dern, and Lam Sing styles of Molam recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. All of these forms are built from a tradition that is centuries-old. A few examples of Molam/Luk Thung (Thailand's national country music) hybrids are also featured here. In the late 1960s, at the onset of Molam's modern genesis, electric guitars and organs were introduced alongside the extant folk sounds of the khaen (bamboo mouth-organ) and Phin (Thai lute). Hybrid styles were formed with an electrified sound that jived with tradition while creating something entirely new. Much of the music relies on stock formulas, designed primarily to showcase the stylings of various singers from the region. But, as this brilliant collection demonstrates, the rules tend to bend a bit as more adventurous groups experiment with the genre and the production. Sound effects, flamboyant vamping, odd vocal styles, and trick intros and finales based on popular rock themes show up now and then, among other playful and dynamic shifts, making for some exceptional listening. So join us now in our perpetual and confounding love affair with Thai Isan Molam. Enjoy this rarely-heard music, culled from vintage cassette and vinyl recordings, rescued from the silent places in which they've rested for the past decades. Compiled by Mark Gergis and Alan Bishop. Beautiful 2LP limited edition vinyl release in a full-color heavy-duty gatefold jacket of the long out-of-print CD from 2007.

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

OUT NOW! Brokenhearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica from Southeast Asia LP

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

OUT NOW! 

Order from Forced Exposure:
http://beta.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/SF.013LP.html

Brokenhearted Dragonflies:  

Insect Electronica from Southeast Asia LP

TUCKER MARTINE

 SF013 LP

 

There is a legend in Burma stating that swarms of male dragonflies gather to join in choruses of high-pitched tones to court their mates. The ones that don't succeed in mating eventually scream so loud that their chests explode and they drop dead to the ground. These recordings are a tribute to this legend. Droning cicadas, dragonflies, and other insects display their charm as masters of the high frequency airwaves, recorded live and unprocessed by Tucker Martine in the lush settings of Laos, Thailand, and Burma. Enter the supernatural world where entomology and electronica converge in a tropical hallucination of alien sound. Anyone who has ever wondered if these strange symphonies could be recorded or preserved as precisely as they sound in the field need look no further. Martine has done it and you will be transported to the exact experience one would encounter in these mysterious lowlands. Limited edition LP pressing of the long out-of-print CD from 2004, comes with a beautiful tip-on jacket, including an insert with photos and liner notes by Hakim Bey and Alan Bishop.

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

NOW OUT! NEW RELEASE: Ethnic Minority Music of Southern China CD SF081

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

Ethnic Minority Music of Southern China CD 

SF081

 

The 5th Sublime Frequencies volume in Laurent Jeanneau’s amazing documentation of vanishing indigenous music of the rural Asian frontiers, this CD focuses on ethnic minority groups of Southern China. Presented here are 17 tracks of supremely infectious vocals and folkloric instrumentals played on a wide variety of local traditional instruments. The centerpiece of this collection is the 13 minute Do Djui Atsei (track 5), an absolutely epic male and female group choral vocal piece which is improvised as a song of intimate personal emotions that brings tears to the performers as they are singing together. Jeanneau has spent many years traversing the hills and valleys of Southeast Asia and China, and he has captured a dizzying array of folk music, much of which has never been documented before. He is perhaps the most committed and accomplished procurer of rare and threatened music from the region and seems more focused than ever as he states in his liner notes for this release: “In China, by the end of the 1950s, 400 ethnic groups registered to be counted in the census. There might be 300 remaining groups nowadays. I was facing an incredible amount of potential musicians. Now after 6 years spent in Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, I have recorded 55 CDs of raw stuff. This Sublime Frequencies product is a compilation from those CDs, displaying the diversity I was able to find between 2006 and 2012, and I’m not finished....” This disc comes with a 16-page booklet of detailed notes and photographs of the musicians by Laurent Jeanneau.

Order via Forced Exposure: http://beta.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/SF.081CD.html

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

OUT NOW: I REMEMBER SYRIA Digital Reissue Charity Release SF009DI

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

I REMEMBER SYRIA Digital Reissue Charity Release SF009DI

 

Available Now...

Now is the time to purchase "I Remember Syria" for download. All proceeds will be donated to the Syrian Red Crescent, so please buy a copy or two, and tell people. Find it here at Boomkat (linked below) or on iTunes, Amazon, and anywhere else you purchase digital media. This edition comes with an expanded downloadable booklet.

The most important thing about this reissue is that all proceeds from the sale of this release will be donated to a charity that assists Syrians in need. And they are in need.

Syria doesn’t sound like it did on “I Remember Syria” anymore, and it doesn’t look like the photographs in the expanded booklet. As you may already know, Syria is suffering in the midst of unthinkable turmoil, attack and destruction. As a wide-scale humanitarian disaster continues to unfold, Syrians both within the country and in refugee camps beyond its borders are in need of immediate assistance.

“I Remember Syria” was assembled as a love letter to the country I grew to know as one of most civilized places on Earth. It contains recordings made and collected during my first travels to Syria between 1997 and 2000. Across the span of 14 years, I would travel there as frequently as possible. When initially released on Sublime Frequencies as a double-CD in 2004, the aim was to showcase and humanize a land and its people that had been politically and culturally exiled by the west for decades. Hopefully, these recordings can serve again as a testament to the beauty and unity of Syria, and the grace, hospitality and integrity of its people.

– Mark Gergis – March, 2013

“I Remember Syria” (SF009DI)
Sublime Frequencies is proud to present this digital reissue of I Remember Syria: an assemblage of field recordings, interviews, radio broadcasts and music, from one of the least-known quarters of the Arab world. Before the west associated Syria with its current crisis, it had politically and culturally isolated the country for decades – leaving little known of its contemporary peoples, or its rich heritage of art, music and culture.

Originally released as a 2-CD set in 2004, this one of a kind audio document was recorded and surgically assembled by Mark Gergis from recordings he made in Syria between 1997 and 2000. The results offer a multi-faceted glimpse into the country, as it was at the cusp of the 21st century.

Disc one features sounds from the ancient capital city of Damascus – including vivid street soundscapes, interviews, spontaneous live music, sounds captured inside the world-renowned Ummayad Mosque, and fragments of radio and television broadcasts, as well as exploring the mystery of a legendary underground city called “Kazib”.

Disc two takes us out to “Greater Syria”, capturing live musicians, political opinions of the day, radio excerpts and sketches, songs from cassette releases found around the country, and other audio anomalies. The closing track showcases the haunting sounds of wood against wood produced by the Norias – the giant irrigation waterwheels that have churned in the Orontes River, in the city of Hama, for centuries.

All proceeds from the sale of this release will be donated to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (IFRC) to support urgent humanitarian aid work during the ongoing crisis in Syria.

Purchase via Boomkat:
http://boomkat.com/downloads/704653-mark-gergis-i-remember-syria

Purchase via Emusic:
http://www.emusic.com/music-news/review/album/mark-gergis-i-remember-syria/

Purchase via Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/I-Remember-Syria/dp/B00CDALUMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366659148&sr=8-2&keywords=i+remember+syria

Red Crescent Home page:
http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/where-we-work/middle-east-and-north-africa/syrian-arab-red-crescent/

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.

NEW RELEASE: The Pierced Heart and the Machete DVD SF080

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

The Pierced Heart and the Machete 

DVD SF080

The Pierced Heart & The Machete is a vivid, unflinching exploration of two annual Vodou pilgrimages in Haiti. The first is for Èzili Danto, goddess of love, art and passion; worshipers from all over the world descend on the southwestern town of Ville-Bonheur to bathe in the sacred waterfall where Dantò resides. The second pilgrimage is for Dantòs' husband Ogoun, god of war, iron and healing. It takes place at the end of July in the northern town of Plaine du Nord, where practitioners bathe in a mud pool and make flamboyant sacrifices.
This beautifully shot film offers disorienting yet illuminating glimpses of the contradictory and complementary aspects of these two lwa, the electrifying rites that honor them, and the intense music that accompanies these ecstatic and bloody ceremonies. As in her previous film for Sublime Frequencies, Staring Into the Sun, Olivia Wyatt’s vision is always sharp, unerring and unobtrusive.

70 minutes/Color; digipack; all-region DVD; NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1000 copies.

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC.