A gorgeous collection of music – brought together in an equally gorgeous package! We'll rave about the latter in a minute – but first onto the music, which is the most important part! The sounds were all recorded by
Paul Bowles in Morocco at the end of the 50s – at a time when
Bowles and other key counter culture figure were drawn to the nation, and began richly extrapolating its various cultures in ways that went onto have a huge global impact.
Bowles' fascination with the music of Morocco led to some of the first wider exposure of the unique vocal strains and hypnotic qualities of Moroccan sounds – and in a way, his efforts with this project were almost as important to the Saharan scene as the previous field recordings by Alan Lomax were to the south of the United States. Some of these recordings have been issued in the past, but this is the most complete set we've ever seen of
Bowles' recordings – served up in a lavish fabric-covered box, along with a leather-bound book that feels like one of
Paul's journals from the trip – complete with photos, notes on the music, and even writings on the overall project and its legacy. Very much in the best Dust-To-Digital presentation – and stunning throughout!
(Out of print and in great shape!)