All Categories — All Formats  

Mindblowing work from Mahmoud Ahmed – one of the key figures of Ethiopian music in the 70s, and a singer with a voice that's beyond compare! The sound here is extremely hard to describe – at one level grooving with some of the funk and jazz undercurrents of the work of Mulatu, but at... read more

Contemporary work from Mali – but played by a Tuareg group with a very earthy feel! Percussion and guitar dance together at the core of the tunes – often in these simple, hypnotic patterns that change slowly – especially as the chorus vocals come into the mix – sometimes... read more

A really wonderful document of of the Takamba style of music in Northern Mali and Niger – passionate, energetic and hypnotically performed by Ali Ag Amoumine! Ali's home is in Timbouctou, a couple hundred kilometers upriver from the Takamba region, and it was here that this excellent... read more

... read more

One of the rarer Ethiopian recordings we've heard from the 70s – and one of the most compelling, too! The sounds here are just as haunting as more familiar Ethiopian music, but also have a nicely unbridled feel too – almost a bit rough at times, especially in the way the rhythms unfurl... read more

... read more

... read more

Dead Moon's third album – bursting into the 90s with Defiance – a record that arrived when some fellow Pacific Northwest underground rockers were getting ready to be flung head first into the mainstream, but DM remained defiantly underground! Even though this third album, they were... read more

Some of the rawest sounds coming out of the Portland scene of the early 90s – served up in a solid way that avoids most of the pitfalls of their contemporaries on the scene! Dead Moon have all the wild energy of other Northwest groups of the time, but hone things down to a core essence that's... read more

Maybe the most perfect summation of the sound of Dead Moon – no-nonsense gritty work that definitely lives up to the image on the cover – and the kind of set that made the trio every bit as powerful as work coming from the New York or LA scenes of the late 70s! The retro punk vibe is... read more

Incredible work from one of the most important Ethiopian artists of the 70s – a smoking set of vintage recordings from Alemayehu Eshete – some of them plenty darn funky too! As you'd guess from his picture on the cover, guitar is Eshete's main instrument – used in these twangy... read more

A beautiful set of solo piano work by Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou – pulled from one of the CDs in the Ethiopiques series of compilations, and probably the most delicately melodic material in the series! Pianist-composer Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou has an extraordinary personal history – she is a... read more

A group with a great blend of old and new modes – a mix of rootsy sounds from their native Mali, and some more focused guitar lines that really help revolutionize their music! The notes bill Alkibar Gignor as a "garage rock band" – and while we think that's a bit of a stretch... read more

Haunting work by the enigmatic Gurdjieff – pulled from lost wire and tape recordings, and beautifully remastered for the set! Gurdjieff was perhaps known best for his work as a mystic, philosopher, and spiritualist – but he also had an amazing approach to the harmonium, one that was... read more

Amazing sounds from the delta – but way different than the usual blues you might expect! Sid Hemphill is a really unique talent – a multi-instrumentalist who made most of the records heard on this set – and a strong proponent of the earlier Mississippi use of panpipes! The local... read more

... read more

Long-shelved early Michael Hurley material – a full album's worth recorded by folklorist and archivist Fred Ramsey Jr around 1965 – and as far as we know, these are seeing release for the first time ever, thanks to Mississippi and Nero's Neptune! It's really good stuff – mostly... read more

Wow! Here's some never before released early 70s recordings by strange folk legend Michael Hurley – playing with a group of Franklin Co., VT players in the early-to-mid 70s! The group was dubbed The Fatboys at first and went on to go by Sheriff Mocus & The Deranged Cowboys a bit later... read more

... read more

Eccentric folk figure Abner Jay in somewhat earnest folk modes and more out there Americana sounds – on this album culled from 45s and LPs Abner made between 1964 and 1973! Abner worked in a number of styles, from strident folk troubadour to electric folk rock, gospel, and swaggering R&B... read more

Amazing performances from Kesarbia Kerkar – a key Indian singer of the postwar years, heard here in a variety of beautiful vintage recordings! Kerkar's got a voice that influenced many in generations to come – but the original sound here is much more mindblowing than so many others... read more

... read more

Timeless sounds from Lewlewal – a contemporary group from Senegal, and part of a vanishing culture in the city of Podor! The tracks were recorded recently, but have a feel that goes back decades – mostly acoustic instrumentation on percussion and guitar, played with an intimate... read more

Amazing sounds from this really unique ensemble – a group with a feel that's much looser than you might expect from the orchestra in their name – and a wonderful blend of electric and acoustic instruments, all with a feel that's as exotic and evocative as some of the best Ethiopian... read more

A bit blues, and a bit gospel – really unique work from Rev Louis Overstreet! "Rather Fight Than Switch" is a really upbeat track – fast tempo with stomping rhythms and soaring chorus vocals behind the Rev's raspy lead – overflowing with spiritual energy in a mighty... read more

A pivotal piece of Mali music history – the first LP by The Rail Band – the Orchestre Rail-Band D Bamako album from 1970! This legendary material comes from their early days from their time at the Station Hotel of Bamako and were sponsored by Mali's Ministry Of Information –... read more

Timeless blues work from Boyd Rivers – played on both acoustic and electric guitar, but with a classic spirit that stretches back to the days of the delta! The recordings are from the early 90s, but done in a way that feels like they're from decades before – clear enough to bring out... read more

Amazing sounds from Niger – some really hypnotic lines on electric organ – played in a way that's unlike any other use of the instrument we've ever heard! There's a flowing, water-like quality to the music that's almost in the territory of Terry Riley's work on organ – yet the... read more

... read more

Rootsy sounds from Henry Thomas – some great vintage recordings from the late 20s, with a feel that's quite different than more conventional blues from the time! Thomas definitely has a bluesy approach, but his use of the guitar is more strummy, almost folksy – as is his occasional... read more

... read more

A heavy helping of Ethiopian grooves – pulled from the later volumes of the legendary Ethiopiques series, and served up here on a unique vinyl collection! The tunes are a nice mix of some of the best Ethio styles of the early 70s – and include a few standout funky numbers, plus some... read more

A slew of vintage gospel material from the 78rpm generation – some of it with a definite country tinge, some of it a bit more bluesy – and all of it great! The package really lives up to the shellac-digging strengths of other compilations on Mississippi – and really opens us up... read more

A great batch of rare gospel tracks – served up with plenty of soul, and mostly in the great group harmony mode that often crosses over to the secular side of the spectrum! Most of these tracks are mighty raw – making the set feel almost more like a deep soul compilation than a... read more

Ethiopian R&B, jazz and funk from the late 60s to mid 70s – essential numbers by Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemeyahu Eshete, Lemma Demissew, Sefu Yohannes, Bahta Gebre-Heywet, Teshome Metuku and others – all of which are appearing on vinyl for the first time since the incredibly rare original... read more

Field recordings of Western Sahelian guitar music – recorded by Christopher Kirkley from 2009-2011 – and an evocative aural trip to the region, courtesy Sahel Sounds and Mississippi! Like the other great Sahel Sounds release, it's beautifully done – and impeccably well recorded... read more

... read more

Wild stuff – and one of the coolest compilations we've ever seen from the global scene! The set documents some early underground explorations of rocking rhythms – unusual use of electric instrumentation and R&B-styled production, mostly from far-flung sources, and served up with a... read more

Rootsy folk and early country music – pulled from a host of pre-war 78s, and served up in one mighty nice package from the folks at Mississippi Records! The set's a real treasure – filled with darkness and a sharp edge that you might not expect from tunes of this vintage – almost... read more

Raw sounds from the American underground – a great set of twang-heavy tracks from obscure 45s – most of them with a unique blend of rock and country styles! There's lots of the spirit here of Johnny Burnette – and a few artists actually seem to pay him tribute with their work... read more

Amazing blues from the Georgia scene of the 70s – music that hardly feels like other versions of the genre coming out at the time – partly thanks to the raw recording quality of these tracks! Most of the music features just a singer and guitar – sometimes just one or the other... read more

An excellent collection of rare regional gospel recordings from the 60s through the 80s – all of them with a timeless feel that really fits other collections of this nature from Mississippi Records! Despite the vintage of the tracks, most of them have a very spare sound – just vocals... read more

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right... read more

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right... read more

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right... read more

Incredible choral harmonies – recorded in a way that really captures the intensity of this unique style of spiritual music! The convention features the voices of a hundred or so regular folks – farmers, tradesmen, and their families – all coming together to work through songs... read more

... read more