From the south-east corner, with uneasy Estonian identity, and ties to Russia via the Orthodox Church — striking singing about everything, in different lineups, with recordings from the 1930s till up to date.

Musical accompaniments to kabuki theatre, by this pre-eminent Japanese chamber orchestra, with voice, shamisen lutes, fue flute, and kotsuzumi, otsuzumi and taiko drums.

Bardic epics and nomadic songs, with dombra lute accompaniment.

Sundanese ritual music for the goddess of rice and the ancestral spirits, performed by Pupung Supena and Tahya — tarawangsa fiddle with ostinato accompaniment on kacapi zither.

The king of acid-fuzz guitar presents a barbed bouquet of classic psych covers — The Stooges, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, MC5, Jefferson Airplane and co — with killer, piercing fuzz-wah guitar and bizarre software-generated vocals. ‘One of the finest acid-punk shredders to ever walk the planet, Munehiro Narita gives these time-honored psych rock classics a serious kick in the ass, in the most bizarre and Japanese of musical settings’ (Steve Krakow, Galactic Zoo). ‘Munehiro Narita (High Rise et al) bleeds all over a series of massively re-wired cover versions of classic psych while computer generated little girl vocals relocate the whole damn thing in another future altogether’ (David Keenan).

Achingly subtle, erotic dance and dance-opera experiments, including the first recordings of female participants; with an extensive essay as a PDF, linked to 1930s silent films and photo library.

Kebyar with sung poetry, gambuh dance-drama, ancient ritual angklung, and solo flute.
Full English translations in the booklet.

The singer Yu Ji-suk, with a 10-piece ensemble of choir and percussion, performing the Seodo Sori repertoire of the north-west provinces. Nostalgic, dynamic folk songs, rooted in everyday life.

Featuring the Gamelan Semar Pagulingan — the ‘Gamelan of Love in the Bedchamber’ —playing instruments that no longer exist, in repertoire originally performed just outside the private residence of a raja during meals and quiet times… and when he was up to no good with one of his wives.

Virtuosic, sor-led molam music from Isan, the province bordering with Laos and Cambodia — sprightly melodies through haunting dirges, over woozy basslines, drones, clattering percussion.

Infectious songs and rootical instrumentals — the fifth SF album presenting Laurent ‘Kink Gong’ Jeanneau’s amazing documentation of the vanishing indigenous music of the rural Asian frontiers.

Profiling producer Theppabutr Satirodchompu — the first in a series of albums celebrating the key-players of modern molam music, from Northeast Thailand. Limited vinyl from Light In The Attic.

Sexy and ardent, this is great fun.

Imai Keisho playing koto and Yamase Shoin shamisen, amongst others. Historic recordings by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. Excellent label.

Gong, angklung and gender wayang under the direction of Anak Agung Gede Mandera.

Eighteenth and nineteenth century folk repertoire featuring horn, overtone flute, panpipes, vertical flute, shepherds’ trumpet — and violin or balaika.

Pipa master Wu Man and her Uyghur, Tajik, and Hui collaborators explore connections between the musical worlds of China and Central Asia.

Sacred and secular vocal polyphony.