Browse by Label: SUBLIME FREQUENCIES

Artist:	VA
Title:	Folk and Pop Sounds of Sumatra Vol. 1
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	SF 001LP

Limited edition full-color gatefold LP version of the first Sublime Frequencies CD release from 2003. The equator runs through only ten countries on earth and I bet that you cannot name them all without consulting a map. Indonesia is one of them and the only nation in Asia with the equatorial stripe impaling it. There are so many different cultures spread out on this chain of islands that it would take several lifetimes to experience them all properly. Within this umbrella of diversity is one of the world's richest and most dazzling sound museums. Sumatra is the northwestern entry point to the great archipelago. Approximately the size of California, Indonesia's largest island has a wide variety of natural wonders: dense jungles, picturesque mountain peaks, gargantuan lakes, lowland swamps, active volcanoes, and highly frequent seismic activity. Populating this gorgeous setting are orangutans, tigers, durian trees, the largest flower on earth, dozens of cultures and languages, myths and folklore, and much more music than you've ever been allowed to discover. The style selections on this LP include forms of droning beat pop, early Orkes Melayu songs, Batak Tapanuli, traditional Minang music, and folk drama soundtracks heard by only a handful of outsiders. The recordings are from old cassette tapes; decaying documents of various sound qualities containing some of the most eccentric artifacts ever uncovered from this fascinating island. Assembled and compiled by Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls) in July of 1989.

Artist:	BISHOP, ALAN
Title:	Night Recordings From Bali
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	SF 003CD

"The island of Bali is Indonesia's most popular place. With the modern beach resorts at Kuta and Legian, the lovely, tropic interior of palm-covered hills and rice paddies, and a rich variety of art, dance and music, the island is a destination of choice for travelers around the world. But, regardless of their increasing role of servicing an ever-demanding tourist industry, the Balinese are a strong-willed and tight-knit society. The island is a tiny enclave of Hinduism within a massive nation of Islam, yet, their Gamelan music is faster, tighter, and louder than their mighty neighbors to the west, the Javanese. Balinese Gamelan stylings and the Ketchak dance are legendary throughout the world and have been immortalized in sound recordings and on film for decades. But, beneath the creeping exterior of a pseudo-western culture slowly overtaking an amazing tradition of unique human expression, the moods of the island are governed by magic and superstition. The hills, forests, rivers, and crossroads are alive with tales of demons (Leyaks) and a flesh-eating Ogress (Rangda). A lesser-known darker side of Balinese life secretly balances the lighter side 'tropical paradise' of tourist brochures. This CD is entirely composed of field recordings from August and September of 1989. The majority of the recordings were made at night in and around the villages of Peliatan and Ubud. Amidst the excerpts from Gamelan and Ketchak are sounds of the forests and mysterious crossroads where packs of dogs seem to take on forms of angry demons. Also encountered here are odd folk stylings for flute and drum, outdoor village theatre, and other sound anomalies from the center of Balinese culture."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Princess Nicotine: Folk And Pop Sounds Of Myanmar (Burma)
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	SF 006LP

...Vol. 1. Limited edition full-color gatefold LP version of the Sublime Frequencies CD release from 2004. Original description from 2004: How do they do it? Are they smarter? Are they better? How can it be ignored or denied? How is it possible that one of the most unique, perfectly composed and performed, intense and awe-inspiring musical legacies the world has ever known is looming north of the equator physically tucked between world cultural giants India, China, and Thailand, without more than a whisper from ethnomusicologists or those who define themselves as "purveyors of world music?" Not only are the roots of this music unique, but so are the results after incorporating outside instrumentation from modern colonial and (unavoidable) international influence. What the Burmese have done with a piano is so precise in the adaptation to their existing form and melody that one would think they invented it. Burmese music has a very distinct sound and whatever instrument is assimilated into its core only seems to magnify the original intent without depending upon outside ideas relating to each component utilized. This collection will immediately bring you up to speed to what you have been missing all along. The time is now to put the real music of Myanmar on the map once and for all. Here are some of the greatest names from the past 50 years of Burmese musical history from the original recordings featuring Mar Mar Aye, Bo Sein, and the incomparable Tonte Theintan. Listen, and be amazed! Compiled by Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls) in 1993 and originally released on Majora Records (LP/1994).

Artist:	MARTINE, TUCKER
Title:	Brokenhearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica from Southeast Asia
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 013LP

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.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Streets of Lhasa
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	SF 016CD

2005 release, repressed. "Streets of Lhasa lifts us to the high plateau of Tibet where anonymous street balladeers sell folk songs for a living and ghostly voices drift in an ambience of time forgotten. Children, birds, trains, prayers and a traditional temple activity called 'bian jing' (where monks discourse about scripture and punctuate their points by clapping loudly) provide the backdrop for this disc with the folk music of the street taking center stage. These enterprising musicians sing passionate songs and play instruments like the 'Erhu' and the 'San Xian'. The recordings are as clear as the strings of these banjo and violin-like instruments scathed by leather fingers of the high, thin air. Tibet has been under Chinese control for nearly half a century and their leader, The Dalai Lama, resides in exile to the south in Dharamsala India. Buddhism remains of primary importance here and chants of song and prayer are heard throughout the plateau. This ornamental carnival of sound was recorded by Zhang Jian (of the Beijing-based sound collective 'fm3') on the streets of Lhasa, ZhaDa and Shigatse in August 2003. Liner notes written by Steve Barker (ON THE WIRE/BBC)."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2LP
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	SF 019LP

Double LP reissue of the long out-of-print classic CD first released in 2004 -- the first modern electrified Molam recordings from the 1970s ever presented outside Thailand. Molam is a multi-faceted folk music native to Laos and the predominantly rural Northeastern region of Thailand known as Isan, home to myriad ethnic groups and provinces, and once a part of present-day Laos. Mo meaning "master" and lam meaning "song," "molam" literally translates into "master singer," but it remains more of an umbrella term covering over a dozen types of lam styles in which male and female singers can be backed by a free-reed bamboo mouth organ called a khaen, indigenous lute-like instruments (the phin or the soong), a bowed fiddle called a sor and a percussion ensemble featuring finger cymbals and hand drums. Lam phun and lam sing are the two molam styles featured most prominently in this collection. Also in the musical family is look thoong, a slower, more tragic style, usually lamenting lost love and perpetual poverty. Examples are heard on tracks 10, 15 and 20. Costumed Isan comedy troupes called Talok incorporate hyper-eccentric molam and look thoong renditions with low, vaudevillian comedy and high social satire on stages and TVs throughout the country. Maniacal examples are heard on tracks 2, 8 and 11. The classic recordings featured here are selections from rare vinyl LPs, 45s and cassettes recorded in Isan and beyond between the 1970s and 1980s. This was a pivotal time when music of the region began to be electrified and integrated with Western instruments, when electric bass, effected guitars, electric organs, kit drums and horns played alongside the khaen and the phin. Molam had never sounded this way before -- and due to the typically ephemeral nature of the music industry and the introduction of the modern keyboard work-station, molam will never sound like this again. This vinyl 2LP edition comes housed in a full-color heavy duty gatefold jacket with gorgeous original artwork and liner notes. Compiled by Alan Bishop and Mark Gergis, October, 2004.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Radio Thailand: Transmissions from the Tropical Kingdom
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	SF 028CD

2006 release, repressed! This 2CD set is an exhaustive collection of Thai Radio transmissions recorded over a 15-year period from 1989 to 2004. These 23 collage tracks have been assembled and distilled from dozens of cassette and mini-disc recordings captured on location from the capital of Bangkok to Chaing Mai and Isan Province in the north to Hat Yai in the south. The music presented here is relentlessly mystifying and seductive: Molam, Luk Thung, Kantrum, folk and pop, classic Thai guitar rock, antique ballads, novelty tunes, traditional ceremonial music and other miscellaneous styles rarely heard outside the Kingdom. Also featured are various commercials, DJs, radio IDs, news reports, mysterious folk radio, language lessons, sacred chants, bumper cues and plenty of audio anomalies only the sheer genius of Thai Radio can supply. Tune in to the amazing audio experience of Thailand's Tropical Kingdom!

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Highway to Hassake: Folk & Pop Sounds of Syria
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 031CD

2010 repress. Omar Souleyman is a Syrian musical legend. Since 1994, he and his musicians have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout Syria, but until now they have remained little known outside of the country. To date, they have issued more than five-hundred studio and live-recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city. Born in rural northeastern Syria, he began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that remain with him today. The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music. Here, classical Arabic mawal-style vocalization gives way to high-octane Syrian dabke (the regional folkloric dance and party music), Iraqi choubi and a host of Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish styles, among others. This amalgamation is truly the sound of Syria. The music often has an overdriven sound consisting of phase-shifted Arabic keyboard solos and frantic rhythms. At breakneck speeds, these shrill Syrian electronics play out like forbidden Morse-code, but the moods swing from coarse and urgent to dirgy and contemplative in the rugged anthems that comprise Souleyman's repertoire. Oud, reeds, baglama saz, accompanying vocals and percussion fill out the sound from track to track. Mahmoud Harbi is a long-time collaborator and the man responsible for much of the poetry sung by Souleyman. Together, they commonly perform the "Ataba," a traditional form of folk poetry used in Dabke. On stage, Harbi chain smokes cigarettes while standing shoulder to shoulder with Souleyman, periodically leaning over to whisper the material into his ear. Acting as a conduit, Souleyman struts into the audience with urgency, vocalizing the prose in song before returning for the next verse. Souleyman's first hit in Syria was Jani (1996) which gained cassette-kiosk infamy and brought him recognition throughout the country. Sublime Frequencies is honored to present the Western debut of Omar Souleyman with this retrospective disc of studio and live recordings spanning 12 years of his career, culled from cassettes recorded between 1994 and 2006. This collection offers a rare glimpse into Syrian street-level folk-pop and Dabke -- a phenomena seldom heard in the West, not previously deemed serious enough for export by the Syrians and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees.

Artist:	GROUP INERANE
Title:	Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger)
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 034CD

2011repress of the first Group Inerane album from 2008. Group Inerane is the now sound of the Tuareg Guitar Revolution sweeping across the Sahara Desert and inspired by the rebel musicians that started this music as a political weapon used to communicate from the Libyan Refugee camps in the 1980s and 1990s. Spearheaded by the enigmatic guitar hero Bibi Ahmed, Group Inerane has been together for several years and carries the rich tradition of Tamachek guitar songs for another generation. These ten tracks are a combination of amplified roots rock, blues, and folk in the local Tuareg styles, at times entering into full-on electric guitar psychedelia. This music is performed with two electric guitars, a drum kit and a chorus of vocalists. The recordings were captured live in the city of Agadez in the Republic of Niger. Group Inerane was also featured in the Sublime Frequencies DVD Niger: Magic and Ecstasy in the Sahel. Recorded by Hisham Mayet, this CD reissue includes an 8-page insert with photos of the musicians and liner notes.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Music of Nat Pwe: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma)
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 035CD

... Vol. 3. In Myanmar (Burma), many people believe in ghost spirits called Nats. These spirits are historical figures who met tragic or violent deaths. They are said to possess the power to assist or devastate the lives of those who recognize them. A Pwe is a ceremony held to appease a Nat. Pwes are arranged daily throughout Myanmar for many purposes including the achievement of success in business, a happy marriage, or improving one's health. A Nat is summoned through a Kadaw; the flamboyant and charismatic master of ceremony dressed in elegant costume. The Kadaw is a spirit medium, singer, dancer, storyteller and magician who exposes the crowd to a living incarnation of the Nat. Cash money is thrown and cigarettes and whiskey are hand-delivered by the Kadaw to the willing faithful. Audience participants are often ecstatic, spontaneously launching into trance as the Nat spirit possesses their bodies while the melodically ornamental and thundering sound of the Nat Pwe orchestra plays on as perhaps the last great internationally unknown musical juggernaut existing anywhere. This collection of music documents the phenomenon known as the Nat Pwe orchestra. There is absolutely nothing like it anywhere else on earth. If you are looking for some music to groove to, soothe your mind, or relax to, this is NOT for you! This is some of the most jarring, intense and maniacal music being created on earth today. Your head will be spinning amidst the cranked reverb and echo of the vocals as they swirl like locusts in a floating graveyard as the bells, cymbals, and tuned metal bars crash and spill down an endless staircase, while the hand drums and Hsaing-Wang circle of rhythm pound the beat in and out of a million twists and turns until you've either had enough or you get with the program. Turn it up and submit. This is what it's ALL about, schoolboy!

Artist:	VA
Title:	Latinamericarpet: Exploring the Vinyl Warp of Latin American
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 039CD

...Psychedelia Vol. 1. "Latinamericarpet is a non-stop collage of vinyl artifacts culled from stacks of forgotten LPs of the 1960s and 1970s from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Isle de Pascua (Easter Island). Historically, Latin America was part of the "new world" that Christopher Columbus "discovered" in 1492, which soon was brutally conquered by the Spanish and Portuguese. Obviously it was only a "discovery" from a Eurocentric perspective because, in fact, on these vast lands there were hundreds of advanced native cultures living for centuries. However, after countless years of violent colonization and internal wars, the independence emerged on the whole continent, launching a group of new countries with their own unique identities. But what is Latin America nowadays? A complex answer for a complex puzzle: some people would say it's a huge cocktail that combines -- in a more or less chaotic way -- the ruins of pre-Columbus cultures and diverse European traditions mixed with a high dose of pseudo-tropical weathers, Latin manners and unstable economies... although that's also a simplification: Latin America is just Latin America, and it deserves to be "rediscovered." But let's go straight to the record. This compilation brings together some glittering sounds from LPs that have been somehow forgotten over the years. Although most of the tracks presented here were recorded during the peak of the psychedelic era in the late '60s and early '70s, this is not a collection packed with guitar group psychedelia, although there are a few unknown gems here that qualify as such. There are also pop and folkloric songs, children's songs, odd instructional record excerpts, and a few other anomalies from our neighbors to the south. These selections are only brief samples of what was made in Latin America in those glorious years, but while we wait for further works that can bring to light more sounds from this "undiscovered" continent, just relax, turn on your stereo and keep this magic Latinamericarpet flying." --Compilation liner notes by Albano Costillares (Argentina).

Artist:	VA
Title:	Bollywood Steel Guitar
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2LP
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	SF 043LP

First time vinyl issue of the out-of-print CD. Double LP Stoughton gatefold with the bonus track "Duniya Mein," (covered most famously by the Sun City Girls as "Apna Desh" on the Crossdressers release). Bollywood Steel Guitar is the most comprehensive collection to date of steel guitar pop instrumental music from India. All 21 tracks featured here were film hits from 1962-1986 and all the masters of the steel guitar sound from the period are represented: Van Shipley, Kazi Aniruddha, S. Hazarasingh, Sunil Ganguly, and Charanjit Singh. An entirely different approach that rocks, swings, and grooves through some of India's most beloved film tunes, the electric steel guitar as lead instrument transforms the already infectious melodies into a multitude of higher sound dimensions. This album was compiled and carefully selected from rare LPs over several years by Stuart Ellis. Here are some excerpts from his liner notes: "The term 'Bollywood' originally referred to Bombay's (now known as Mumbai) Hindi language film industry. Although there are a number of other studios that produce films in other languages, more recently the definition has been expanded in the West to describe pretty much all films produced on the sub-continent. But where in most countries a film's soundtrack would merely be used as a promotional tool for the film, in India, film music has become an industry unto itself with playback singers and dance numbers. The music is just as important as the film and lives on long after the film has left the theaters. These songs are, for the most part, the pop music of India. As with most popular music, other artists sometimes recorded cover versions of these songs. Of these musicians, a small number specialized in instrumental arrangements and created what could be called the elevator music of India. While there were a few who used the harmonium or 'mouth organ,' the most popular instrument used in these 'instrumental favorites' was the steel guitar."

Artist:	MAYET, HISHAM (DIRECTOR)
Title:	Palace Of The Winds
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD
Price:	$19.50
Catalog #:	SF 047DVD

Shot over the course of two years (2006-2008) by Hisham Mayet, Palace Of The Winds is an intimate and dream-like journey exploring the music of Saharawi culture from Guelmim in Southern Morocco to the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott. With spectacular images from inhospitable landscapes, chimerical phenomena that transpire by the sheer remoteness of the land, and haunting indigenous music from a people that have long been shrouded in mystery, this is a genre-defying film of profound beauty. Explore the intoxicating tapestry of sight and sound that this obscure region has to offer through its most awe-inspiring musicians. Featuring live performances by Group Doueh, Group Marwani, Sadoum Oueld Aida and Group Bab Sahara. Color; 52 minutes; digipack; all-region DVD; NTSC format. Limited edition pressing of 1,000 copies.

Artist:	GROUP DOUEH
Title:	Treeg Salaam
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 048CD

Group Doueh's follow-up to their now-legendary debut LP is here. While most would think it damn near impossible to top the former release, in terms of sheer "shock and awe," Treeg Salaam (trans. "Streets Of Peace"), blows hot and dusty from the infernal sand-swept dunes of the Western Sahara. Compiled from Group Doueh's personal archives, these five tracks are as brain-shifting in their ecstatic brilliance as any music ever heard. From the wah-stroked lead-off track to the blazing dexterity of "Ragsa Jaguar," the whole of the first side is an entrance to the lip-puckering tea den of Saharan trance heaven. Salmou Baamar's (Doueh) guitar/tinidit runs explode in cosmic shrapnel, raining down on the temporal nodes of the listener's brain. On "Tazit Kalifa," we have a 20-minute, smoky, slow-burning, psychedelic excursion into the great unknown. A meditation on the arid and inhospitable landscape that inspires this music and its people. Compiled by Hisham Mayet, this is a CD reissue of the limited LP pressing which sold out almost immediately upon release.

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Dabke 2020: Folk & Pop Sounds of Syria
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	SF 049CD

Repressed again! Sublime Frequencies is pleased to present the second volume of Northeast Syrian dabke music from legendary vocalist Omar Souleyman and his group. This CD was compiled by Mark Gergis to coincide with the Sublime Frequencies UK/European tour in May and June of 2009, featuring live performances by Omar Souleyman himself. Culled from dozens of cassettes recorded in Syria from 1999-2008, the music here is an extension of Omar's Highway to Hassake: Folk & Pop Sounds of Syria (SF 031CD) release, touching on some previously-unheard angles. Their trademark serpentine synthesizers, electrified bouzok (traditional stringed instrument) and driving rhythms forge a severe form of "new wave dabke" with a live energy and integrity that captures the essence of the Syrian Northeast; one-of-a-kind Syrian dabke party tunes, regional atabat-styled crooners, and unbelievable Iraqi party jams. The CD is packaged in a cardboard sleeve with a paper insert.

Artist:	KHORSHID, OMAR
Title:	Guitar El Chark (Guitar Of The Orient)
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	SF 052CD

Double CD reissue of the out-of-print vinyl edition. With an additional ten bonus tracks and a 14-page booklet in a tri-fold digipak. The late Omar Khorshid remains an iconic legend of the Arab world, though he's received criminally little international acclaim. Born in Cairo in 1945, the glittering age of Egypt's cultural reinvention, Khorshid was soon to become one of its luminaries and most well-known, if short-lived, voices. He is regarded as the greatest guitarist the Arab world has ever known. By the mid-'60s, Khorshid was established with his group Le Petit Chats, an Egyptian beat group modeled after the prevailing influence of Elvis and The Beatles. It was at this time that one of the reigning figures of contemporary Arabic music, Abdel Halim Hafez, asked Omar Khorshid to join his orchestra. With Baligh Hamdi composing, Hafez with Khorshid in place would create some of the most innovative modern sounds in the Arabic musical canon. Time with the Hafez orchestra offered Khorshid instant fame, and it wasn't long before he was asked to play with the queen of Arab music, the voice of Egypt herself, Oum Kalthoum. Over the next few years, Khorshid became a well-established and integral part of the Arab musical landscape. He was featured heavily in live concerts, national TV and radio and studio recordings, playing for the leading artists of the day. The guitar had now become an essential ingredient in the Oriental orchestra. Khorshid began recording albums under his own name for the prestigious Lebanese record labels Voice Of The Orient and Voice Of Lebanon. Working with visionary engineer Nabil Moumtaz at Polysound studios in Beirut, Khorshid would take his music into some of the most progressive musical terrain of its time. The tracks included here in this retrospective are from the prolific span of Khorshid's career in Beirut from 1973 to 1977. The venerable Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish best encapsulated this time in Lebanon: "unfortunately, it was paradise." Khorshid's prolific instrumental music enjoyed recognition that transcended class and status during the brief period he shone. It's a testament to his immense talent and some of the finest guitar music the world has ever heard.

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Jazeera Nights: Folk & Pop Sounds of Syria
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 055CD

2011 repress. Sublime Frequencies is honored to present Omar Souleyman's third Western collection on disc. This retrospective features live recordings spanning 15 years of Omar's tireless repertoire, and is rife with frenzied Syrian dabke (a regional folkloric dance and party music), Iraqi choubi and a host of Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish styles, among others -- an amalgamation that exemplifies the musical essence of Northeastern Syria. Culled from cassettes recorded between 1995 and 2009, this collection offers a further rare glimpse into Syrian street-level dabke folk-pop -- a phenomena seldom heard in the West, not previously deemed serious enough for export by the Syrians and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Over the years, Souleyman's popularity has risen steadily and the group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. In 2006, Sublime Frequencies partnered with Omar to release Highway To Hassake (SF 031CD), the first compilation of his works to be issued in the West. The success of this release and the video for the song "Leh Jani" helped see Souleyman and his group invited for their first Western tour in 2009 alongside label-mates Group Doueh from the Western Sahara. This successful tour quickly elevated Souleyman to the status of an international legend -- and deservedly so. This release coincides with the beginning of Omar's 2010 international tour in May which will take him to the UK, the European mainland, and hopefully the U.S. and Canada. CD features a full-color 8-page booklet with great photos, a general overview of the lyrics translated into English and liner notes by compiler Mark Gergis.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	SF 056LP

For centuries, the Jemaa El Fna (Rendezvous of the Dead) has remained the stage for one of the most spectacular social forums on the planet. By day, this central square in the city of Marrakesh, one of Morocco's great imperial cities, fosters a kaleidoscope of entertainment for its local inhabitants; storytellers, acrobats, magicians and snake charmers all create intriguing displays of bewitching spectacle. As the sun sets, the evening grows frantic with the pulse of the crowd; it is then that the night musicians set up. Free from the restrictions and expectations of light entertainment for a tourist crowd, these musicians manifest ecstatic performances that animate the audience and players alike. The groups represented on this album; Troupe Majidi, Amal Saha, and Mustapha Mahjoub, are working and carrying the torch of their musical heroes nightly in the square. These songs come from the repertoire of Morocco's greatest musical exports: Nass El Ghiwane, Lemchaheb, Jil Jilala, Larssad, and many others from the Chaabi (Moroccan popular music) canon and are given a raw, emotional and fiery interpretation. Instruments are powered by car batteries and blown out through megaphone speakers. These recordings represent a rare opportunity to hear this music at such close proximity taking in all the power and passion of the performances. The raw fidelity captures an unflinching immersion of what is simply some of the greatest street music on earth. Recorded by Hisham Mayet in 2005, a few of these performances were featured in his film Musical Brotherhoods From The Trans-Saharan Highway (SF 041DVD). This collection also contains tracks not present in the film for a more potent snapshot of the ecstatic Jemaa El Fna. Limited edition LP comes in a beautiful full-color gatefold jacket with photos of the musicians and liner notes by Hisham Mayet.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Ethnic Minority Music of Northwest Xinjiang, China
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 057CD

Laurent Jeanneau and Shi Tanding have returned from the northwest corner of China's Xinjiang province with an amazing batch of recordings collected during the weeks leading up to the volatile Uyghur uprising of 2009. Armed with their trusty audio gear, the couple was set on getting married and recording various styles of regional ethnic music near the Chinese border with Kazakhstan. However, the local authorities suspected that the pair had other intentions, shadowing and interrogating them wherever they went. Their marriage in Shi Tanding's home town of Ili would have to wait for another time (the marriage documents were delayed in processing deep within the Chinese bureaucracy) but the recordings, preserved here, display several magnificent and unique varieties of traditional Islamic folk music with traces of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish influences heard throughout. The players are Kazakh, Uyghur, Kirgiz and Mongol Erut musicians performing on a wide array of local stringed instruments including topchar, komuz, rushtar, rawab and tchang. One amazing example is Kurmanjiang Zaccharia, a Kazakh string virtuoso, whose lightning-fast fingers blaze up and down the neck of his two-stringed dongbra. Another is an epic 10-minute vocal muqam performed by a trio of Uyghur musicians on satar, tambur and dotar. Also featured is a Kazakh singing-style called Ay Ikesse performed by Aken (improvising poet-singers utilizing dongbra accompaniment), Kirgiz songs sung in the Manas style and played on the komuz, and Mongol Erut bai boor den instrumental pieces. The CD comes with a 16-page full-color booklet featuring photos of the musicians and informative liner notes chronicling the journey, instruments and styles documented, and background information on the performers by Laurent Jeanneau.

Artist:	VA
Title:	My Friend Rain
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD/CD
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 059CD

My Friend Rain -- A film by Robert Millis (color/38 minutes). Filmed throughout Southeast Asia by Robert Millis between 2002-2004, My Friend Rain is an abstract homage to the endless monsoon cycles of rebirth and destruction. Dreamy musical segments, fleeting glimpses, odd sounds, temple shrines, tropical backdrops, decay, death, languid afternoon rains, and mysterious celebratory events take the viewer from soaked mornings in the lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta to humid nights on the streets of Isan province. Two tracks originally released on Millis' Leaf Music, Drunks, Distant Drums CD from 2002 can now be witnessed for the first time in this film: an amazing elephant mahout playing a song on a leaf with his mouth and a Burmese marionette orchestra musician performing expertly on tuned drums. The overall experience is an impressionistic collage of sight and sound captured live and in the moment on location in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. Along with the DVD which features 12 minutes of extra footage and deleted scenes, the package includes a bonus CD with the film's soundtrack of traditional and popular music culled from live performance, cassette and LP archives. Some of the soundtrack highlights: a gorgeous Thai Luk Thung track by Waiphot Phetsuphan, a classic Khmer performance by Pan Ron, one of the Queens of Cambodian music, and an epic Burmese pop rendition of the Bee Gee's "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart," alongside folk performers, street musicians and a traditional Burmese orchestra. Robert Millis, original co-founder of both Climax Golden Twins and AFCGT, also co-produced the Victrola Favorites: Artifacts From Bygone Days (DTD 011CD) book/CD project on Dust-to-Digital and is a frequent contributor to the Sublime Frequencies label. DVD/CD comes in a 2-disc jewel box with a full-color insert. DVD is NTSC format, region free.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 060CD

This is the CD version of the out-of-print 2LP. The long-awaited foray into the Vietnamese rock, pop and soul sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s is finally here. Saigon Rock & Soul delivers the goods international retro collectors have been searching for in vain for many years -- and it delivers beyond belief. Every song is a mini-masterpiece, be it heavy acid-rock psychedelia, horn- and guitar-drenched funk grooves, or gripping soul ballads reflective of life during wartime. The tracks that form this collection cut a window into a rich musical Vietnamese music scene that has long been obscured, and for the most part, forgotten. As the scope of electrified Vietnamese music from the 1960s and 1970s begins to be revealed, it becomes evident that this was among the heaviest and most eclectic musical scenes of Southeast Asia at the time. These songs tell of war, love and what war does to love. All of them were recorded in makeshift studios and even U.S. army facilities while the Vietnam War raged -- and were issued by a handful of Saigon record companies on vinyl 45s and reel or cassette tapes. Westernized forms of music in Vietnam had appeared during the latter 19th century, and especially during the early 20th century, under the influence of the French colonizers. Tan Nhac (trans. "modern music") always incorporated both domestic and international sounds, and continued to develop alongside Western musical trends. During the 1960s and 1970s, pulp ballads were being recorded by leading crooners of the time who alternated between modern and traditional forms of regional music. When the electric guitar hit the streets of Saigon, Vietnamese renditions of contemporary instrumental trends such as surf-rock, beat and twist soon emerged, followed by some pretty deep soul sounds inspired by Motown radio hits as well as funk grooves brought on by James Brown and his contemporaries. By the mid-1960s, Vietnam had been ravaged by war for years. American G.I.s had become a standard fixture in Saigon, as did many of the cultural artifacts they brought with them. This certainly included the music. The sounds of rock and roll dominated the radio waves, and Saigon nightclubs were teeming with new sounds. Musically, The Shadows and The Ventures soon gave way to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as an enthusiastic set of young Vietnamese rockers signed on to the lifestyle, always eager to hear the latest musical trends the G.I.s would bring in on LP or tape. This era saw the birth of a vibrant rock scene, yet rock music and anything that came close was commonly referred to as "soul" in the Vietnamese genre-listings. Like many cultures in Asia, Vietnamese music is recorded, marketed, listened to and disposed of in a relatively quick manner. This level of advanced ephemera ensures a degree of difficulty when trying to unearth and discover cultural histories. Literally, most of the music heard here has been brought back from the dead. Artists featured include some of Vietnam's most popular at the time: Elvis Phuong, Hung Cuong, Mai Lei Huyen, Le Thu, Thai Thanh, Giao Linh, Mai Lei Huyen and the CBC Band. Features 70 minutes of classic original recordings compiled by Mark Gergis with extensive liner notes.

Artist:	GROUP INERANE
Title:	Guitars From Agadez Vol. 3 (Music Of Niger)
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 061CD

CD reissue of the instantly sold-out Volume 3 of the now-legendary Guitars From Agadez series. Group Inerane's sophomore LP is the latest missive from the now-sound of Niger's Tuareg guitar scene. Led by guitar hero Bibi Ahmed, this new incarnation introduces another legend on second guitar, one Koudede Maman. Koudede is considered to be a cornerstone of the second wave of the Tuareg guitar lineage, while Tinariwen and Abdulla Oumbadougo are the godfathers of the scene and Group Inerane and Bombino are the third and most current incarnation of the Tuareg's voice for hope and equality. Koudede's addition to Group Inerane's line-up arises from unfortunate circumstances -- Adi Mohammed, Inerane's original second guitarist, was shot dead in the endlessly festering rebellion battles. This new line-up is testament that the music of the Tuareg will not be stopped. The sound represented on this album is the apex of the trance stun guitar style that this scene has perfected. This is rock music as played with Saharan modes. There is a propulsive entropy to these songs that is infectious and narcotic! Two guitars, bass and drums chug along on a hypnotic choogle that rivals both the Magic Band's early '70s marathon workouts and The Velvet Underground's drone on tracks like "Sister Ray." This is music made from revolution and its message of hope and validation of equality of the Tuareg way of life is unstoppable. Recorded by Hisham Mayet on location in Niger's capital Niamey in 2010 as travel to Agadez was forbidden by the military Junta that had just overthrown then President Mamadou Tandja. This limited edition digi-pack CD comes in a beautiful full-color LP-style gatefold jacket with photos of the musicians and liner notes by Hisham Mayet.

Artist:	HAYVANLAR ALEMI
Title:	Guarana Superpower
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	SF 062CD

Hailing from the Turkish capital of Ankara, Hayvanlar Alemi is a group of contemporary players steeped in the art of psychedelics, surf, and expansive rock instrumental grandeur. Formed in 1999, the band is led by �z�m İtez (electric guitar) and Işık Sarıhan (percussion) and they've released a variety of CDs and mp3 tracks in Turkey and beyond leading up to this, Guarana Superpower, their first official release outside their home country. The tracks drift from majestic beauty to blazing delirium with İtez etching his manifesto for electric guitar every step of the way backed by Sarihan's wide variety of percussion styles. Although the group is rooted in classical and modern Turkish psych-rock in spirit, they draw on a large range of sounds and influences, and traces of Turkish styles are hard to pin down. Two of the tracks, "MEGA Lambada" and "Guarana Superpower," are more reminiscent of late '80s post-punk experimental mind-melting, referencing Torch Of The Mystics-era Sun City Girls in grand fashion. Other cuts expand on a diversity of areas including tripped-out surf, retro Cambodian rock, electrified Thai Mor Lam and Saharan guitar music. Every single track is memorable and the incredible variety helps confirm the fact that Hayvanlar Alemi is one of today's great rock instrumental combos. CD version features two bonus tracks and includes an 8-page color insert with photos of the group.

Artist:	HAYVANLAR ALEMI
Title:	Guarana Superpower
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 062LP

Hailing from the Turkish capital of Ankara, Hayvanlar Alemi is a group of contemporary players steeped in the art of psychedelics, surf, and expansive rock instrumental grandeur. Formed in 1999, the band is led by �z�m İtez (electric guitar) and Işık Sarıhan (percussion) and they've released a variety of CDs and mp3 tracks in Turkey and beyond leading up to this, Guarana Superpower, their first-ever vinyl LP. The tracks drift from majestic beauty to blazing delirium with İtez etching his manifesto for electric guitar every step of the way backed by Sarihan's wide variety of percussion styles. Although the group is rooted in classical and modern Turkish psych-rock in spirit, they draw on a large range of sounds and influences, and traces of Turkish styles are hard to pin down. Two of the tracks, "MEGA Lambada" and "Guarana Superpower," are more reminiscent of late '80s post-punk experimental mind-melting, referencing Torch Of The Mystics-era Sun City Girls in grand fashion. Other cuts expand on a diversity of areas including tripped-out surf, retro Cambodian rock, electrified Thai Mor Lam and Saharan guitar music. Every single track is memorable and the incredible variety helps confirm the fact that Hayvanlar Alemi is one of today's great rock instrumental combos. This extremely limited one-time LP pressing comes in a full color heavy-duty tip-on jacket. Last copies.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Pakistan: Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2LP
Price:	$27.50
Catalog #:	SF 064LP

Spending the greater part of the last decade assembling this masterpiece while tracking down most of the musicians in the process, Stuart Ellis of Radiodiffusion International has compiled a mind-blowing set of Pakistani instrumentals spanning the period between 1966 and 1976. It's all here: rock and roll beat, surf, folk traditional mixed with pop, film tunes, electric guitars, sitar and organ solos, brilliant percussion and arrangements crafted by the grooviest bands of the period: The Panthers, The Mods, The Bugs, The Blue Birds, The Abstracts, The Aay Jays, The Fore Thoughts, Nisar Bazmi, and Sohail Rana. Situated between Afghanistan, India and Iran, the collision of cultural influences in Pakistan gave birth to music that was, and still is, unlike anything heard anywhere else on the planet. By the late 1960s, previous restrictions on musical expression began to soften and bands that were playing American and British pop covers became popular in Karachi's burgeoning night club scene and at private dance parties. Long hair came into fashion among young men and hashish became the popular drug of choice on college campuses across Pakistan. Soon, hippies from both North America and Europe began flocking to Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Very few of the bands that formed during this time actually got to record. Like their neighbors in India, the Pakistani record industry was more focused on releasing "filmi" music, which had just started to incorporate the electric guitar and electric sitar. Pakistan's musical revolution ended in June 1977 after a coup d'�tat and the establishment of a pure Islamic state governed by Sharia law. This marked the end of the "Swinging '70s" in Pakistan as night clubs and alcohol were banned throughout the country. Television and cinema, as well as popular music, were now subjected to government censorship. After the clamp-down, many Pakistani musicians left the country and moved to America, Canada and England. The audio quality here is top-notch, sourced straight from the original EMI Pakistan masters. This limited 2LP set is housed in a heavy-duty full-color gatefold jacket with superb photos of the musicians and extended liner notes by compiler Stuart Ellis.

Artist:	WYATT, OLIVIA
Title:	Staring Into The Sun
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD/CD/BOOK
Price:	$26.50
Catalog #:	SF 065DVD

Staring Into The Sun is the latest ethno-folk cinema classic from Sublime Frequencies. Ethiopia is known to be one of the oldest areas inhabited by humans and presently has over 80 diverse ethnic groups. In 2009, photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt explored 13 different tribes throughout Ethiopia in this visually stunning film on DVD with accompanying 136-page book of Polaroid photographs and audio CD of field recordings. Traveling from the northern highlands to the lower Omo Valley via bush taxi, Isuzu cargo trucks, and by any means possible, Wyatt brings together the worlds of Zar spirit possession, Hamer tribal wedding ceremonies, Borena water well polyphonic singing, wild hyena feedings and bizarre Ethiopian TV segments, presenting an enchanting look at these otherworldly images, stark landscapes and captivating sounds from the horn of Africa. The featured tribes are captured with an unflinching sense of realism and poetic admiration resulting in a visual and aural feast of the senses. 136-page hardcover photography book with one music CD and one film on DVD. 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, landscape format. 117 color photographs and liner notes by Olivia Wyatt. Sublime Frequencies' most elaborate package yet. One-time limited edition pressing of 1,000 copies. DVD is NTSC format, All Region; length of film: 60 minutes, Color, Stereo.

Artist:	GROUP DOUEH
Title:	Zayna Jumma
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 066CD

On tour in North America, June/July 2011! Group Doueh's latest record is here and the plot continues to thicken! From the gorgeously cracked yet all-embracing opening drum roll of "Zayna Jumma" (the title track), it's evident this band is hell-bent on redefining the sound of its influences and in turn, shape the future sound of its surroundings. It's musical alchemy in its purest, most remarkable form, pushing at the boundaries of geographical divergence while simultaneously speaking to the shared resonances between Western rock rhythms and the pulse of the Saharan trance tradition. Since its inception, Group Doueh's ability to craft pop hooks from a foundation of saharoui roots music has been a manifestation of sheer song craft and innovation. The tracks on Zayna Jumma are a deeper excavation of the group's forged terrain: a collision of contemporary Afro-Saharan grooves balanced with the searing modalities of Doueh's desert origins, finally nuanced by the transcendental pop/rock/desert blues elements honed from gestating in the fringes of the Sahara desert. For the latest installment of this Dakhla family's musical dynasty, Doueh recruits his next eldest sons El Waar (synth) and Hamdan (drum kit), and wife Halima is augmented by three female back-up singers. The band keeps evolving and this album reveals its newest phase -- that of a formidable ROCK unit. The songs on this record were recorded in 2010 -- a busy year for Doueh, maintaining its day job as the go-to group of the Saharan wedding industry while still managing recording sessions and a tour with Tony Allen (Fela Kuti's long-time drummer). On the heels of this momentum, Zayna Jumma is released to coincide with the group's 2011 spring/summer tour of the UK, Europe and a first-ever U.S. tour. This band continues to redefine the musical landscape and keep listeners amazed and transfixed. It's the perfect ecstatic music for the impending apocalypse, a rogue sound rooted in the past and yet boldly harnessing the aural possibilities of the landscape ahead... go ahead and jump aboard. Recorded on location in Dakhla, West Sahara in 2010 by Hisham Mayet.

Artist:	GROUP DOUEH
Title:	Zayna Jumma
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	SF 066LP

LP version of Group Doueh's record Zayna Jumma. From the gorgeously cracked yet all-embracing opening drum roll of "Zayna Jumma" (the title track), it's evident this band is hell-bent on redefining the sound of its influences and in turn, shape the future sound of its surroundings. It's musical alchemy in its purest, most remarkable form, pushing at the boundaries of geographical divergence while simultaneously speaking to the shared resonances between Western rock rhythms and the pulse of the Saharan trance tradition. Since its inception, Group Doueh's ability to craft pop hooks from a foundation of saharoui roots music has been a manifestation of sheer song craft and innovation. The tracks on Zayna Jumma are a deeper excavation of the group's forged terrain: a collision of contemporary Afro-Saharan grooves balanced with the searing modalities of Doueh's desert origins, finally nuanced by the transcendental pop/rock/desert blues elements honed from gestating in the fringes of the Sahara desert. For the latest installment of this Dakhla family's musical dynasty, Doueh recruits his next eldest sons El Waar (synth) and Hamdan (drum kit), and wife Halima is augmented by three female back-up singers. The band keeps evolving and this album reveals its newest phase -- that of a formidable ROCK unit. The songs on this record were recorded in 2010 -- a busy year for Doueh, maintaining its day job as the go-to group of the Saharan wedding industry while still managing recording sessions and a tour with Tony Allen (Fela Kuti's long-time drummer). On the heels of this momentum, Zayna Jumma is released to coincide with the group's 2011 spring/summer tour of the UK, Europe and a first-ever U.S. tour. This band continues to redefine the musical landscape and keep listeners amazed and transfixed. It's the perfect ecstatic music for the impending apocalypse, a rogue sound rooted in the past and yet boldly harnessing the aural possibilities of the landscape ahead... go ahead and jump aboard. Recorded on location in Dakhla, West Sahara in 2010 by Hisham Mayet. Housed in a full-color heavy-duty gatefold tip-on jacket.

Artist:	KORAY, ERKIN
Title:	Me�hul: Singles & Rarities
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 067CD

Erkin Koray and Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present this collection of rare tracks and lesser-heard singles. All tracks were recorded and released in Turkey between 1970-1977 and culled from Koray's personal vinyl collection. Includes exclusive photos and remastered audio. What more is there to say about Erkin Koray? An iconic guitar and songwriting genius. A voice of gold. Having founded the country's first-ever rock and roll group in 1957, he is regarded worldwide as the father of Turkish rock. Forging Western sounds with his own inimitable musical mastery, he self-produced singles and LPs throughout the 1960s and 1970s that shook and altered Turkish society. Erkin didn't stop at rock and roll. Over time, he began to find inspiration in folk sounds from Turkey's Anatolian interior, and radio broadcasts received from Egypt and Lebanon. He looked to the East from his West-leaning Istanbul perch, and began incorporating these sounds into his own work. This amalgamation was as unprecedented and unorthodox in Istanbul at the time as rock and roll itself had been in the 1950s. The resulting hybrid sound ignited what became known as the Arabesque music movement in Turkey -- which continues to this day. While Erkin has recorded and performed tirelessly throughout the years (both as a solo artist, and with the powerful groups he formed), his extensive back catalog only began to be explored by the international community in the 1990s. He is now recognized as one of the foremost global leaders of psychedelic, folk rock, pop and balladry. His music has stood the test of time more than many of his Western contemporaries and influences have managed to, and his prolific work ethic has not ceased. He continues to live and breathe music, performing epic concerts, and continuously plotting new recordings and strategies. His vision and integrity, coupled with his pronounced world views and inherent musical greatness, have made him the unique and magnificent living legend he is today. This collection features tracks not found on the many unauthorized Erkin compilations and LP reissues that have emerged in the West over the years. Ranging from the sublime to the surreal, these tracks offer an essential glimpse into the extensive repertoire of the great Erkin Koray. --Mark Gergis, July, 2011

Artist:	KORAY, ERKIN
Title:	Me�hul: Singles & Rarities
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	SF 067LP

Limited 2012 repress; LP gatefold edition. Erkin Koray and Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present this collection of rare tracks and lesser-heard singles. All tracks were recorded and released in Turkey between 1970-1977 and culled from Koray's personal vinyl collection. Includes exclusive photos and remastered audio. What more is there to say about Erkin Koray? An iconic guitar and songwriting genius. A voice of gold. Having founded the country's first-ever rock and roll group in 1957, he is regarded worldwide as the father of Turkish rock. Forging Western sounds with his own inimitable musical mastery, he self-produced singles and LPs throughout the 1960s and 1970s that shook and altered Turkish society. Erkin didn't stop at rock and roll. Over time, he began to find inspiration in folk sounds from Turkey's Anatolian interior, and radio broadcasts received from Egypt and Lebanon. He looked to the East from his West-leaning Istanbul perch, and began incorporating these sounds into his own work. This amalgamation was as unprecedented and unorthodox in Istanbul at the time as rock and roll itself had been in the 1950s. The resulting hybrid sound ignited what became known as the Arabesque music movement in Turkey -- which continues to this day. While Erkin has recorded and performed tirelessly throughout the years (both as a solo artist, and with the powerful groups he formed), his extensive back catalog only began to be explored by the international community in the 1990s. He is now recognized as one of the foremost global leaders of psychedelic, folk rock, pop and balladry. His music has stood the test of time more than many of his Western contemporaries and influences have managed to, and his prolific work ethic has not ceased. He continues to live and breathe music, performing epic concerts, and continuously plotting new recordings and strategies. His vision and integrity, coupled with his pronounced world views and inherent musical greatness, have made him the unique and magnificent living legend he is today. This collection features tracks not found on the many unauthorized Erkin compilations and LP reissues that have emerged in the West over the years. Ranging from the sublime to the surreal, these tracks offer an essential glimpse into the extensive repertoire of the great Erkin Koray. --Mark Gergis, July, 2011

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Haflat Gharbia: The Western Concerts
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 068CD

Omar Souleyman is a folk-pop singer from rural northeastern Syria. Like many Syrian musicians, he made his name as a singer for wedding parties in the region, with hundreds of cassettes and CDs documenting his performances distributed throughout the country. These, along with several studio albums, earned him legendary status in the Syrian dabke scene throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. After his 2005 breakthrough folk-hit "Khataba," Omar gained wider recognition throughout the Arab world. After collecting his tapes for a decade, Sublime Frequencies released the first compilation of Omar Souleyman tracks to be distributed in the West. The success of Highway To Hassake (SF 031CD, 2007), and the enthusiastic online reaction to the promotional clip for his track "Leh Jani," led to Omar being invited to tour the UK and Europe in the summer of 2009. It would be his first time performing or travelling outside of the Arab world. He and his group, comprised of two longtime collaborators -- Rizan Sa'id on keyboards, and electric saz player Ali Shaker -- set off on a six-week Sublime Frequencies tour with label-mates Group Doueh. By the end of 2009, Omar had proven that his unique and charismatic delivery of Syrian electrified folkloric dabke, Iraqi choubi and Arabic shaabi had the ability to appeal to the most diverse of Western audiences. His success has continued, with further tours throughout Europe, America and Australia drawing rave reviews and leaving a trail of fervor across the globe. The rise of Omar's success has transcended the wedding halls and cassette stalls of Syria and slipped into Western popular consciousness. Despite there being no shortage of musical talent in Syria, dabke and otherwise, Omar Souleyman is the first Syrian musical export to have won the hearts of Westerners and Arabs alike on this scale. His trademark checkered khaffya, sunglasses and elegant jalaba are not uncommon male attire in the Arab world, but for years in the West, it is that exact image which has been excessively demonized. Perhaps one of the most striking achievements of Omar's rise has been watching that iconic image transformed from comic book villainy to something positively regal. The recordings on Haflat Gharbia: The Western Concerts, Omar Souleyman's fourth release on Sublime Frequencies, represent an hour of the best moments from the Western tours between 2009 and 2011, captured in striking fidelity and intensity. Fans will recognize familiar songs, as well as previously-unreleased material presented here for the first time, in what is the biggest sounding Omar record yet. Compiled and recorded by Mark Gergis.

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Haflat Gharbia: The Western Concerts
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2LP
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	SF 068LP

Deluxe gatefold 2LP version. Omar Souleyman is a folk-pop singer from rural northeastern Syria. Like many Syrian musicians, he made his name as a singer for wedding parties in the region, with hundreds of cassettes and CDs documenting his performances distributed throughout the country. These, along with several studio albums, earned him legendary status in the Syrian dabke scene throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. After his 2005 breakthrough folk-hit "Khataba," Omar gained wider recognition throughout the Arab world. After collecting his tapes for a decade, Sublime Frequencies released the first compilation of Omar Souleyman tracks to be distributed in the West. The success of Highway To Hassake (SF 031CD, 2007), and the enthusiastic online reaction to the promotional clip for his track "Leh Jani," led to Omar being invited to tour the UK and Europe in the summer of 2009. It would be his first time performing or travelling outside of the Arab world. He and his group, comprised of two longtime collaborators -- Rizan Sa'id on keyboards, and electric saz player Ali Shaker -- set off on a six-week Sublime Frequencies tour with label-mates Group Doueh. By the end of 2009, Omar had proven that his unique and charismatic delivery of Syrian electrified folkloric dabke, Iraqi choubi and Arabic shaabi had the ability to appeal to the most diverse of Western audiences. His success has continued, with further tours throughout Europe, America and Australia drawing rave reviews and leaving a trail of fervor across the globe. The rise of Omar's success has transcended the wedding halls and cassette stalls of Syria and slipped into Western popular consciousness. Despite there being no shortage of musical talent in Syria, dabke and otherwise, Omar Souleyman is the first Syrian musical export to have won the hearts of Westerners and Arabs alike on this scale. His trademark checkered khaffya, sunglasses and elegant jalaba are not uncommon male attire in the Arab world, but for years in the West, it is that exact image which has been excessively demonized. Perhaps one of the most striking achievements of Omar's rise has been watching that iconic image transformed from comic book villainy to something positively regal. The recordings on Haflat Gharbia: The Western Concerts, Omar Souleyman's fourth release on Sublime Frequencies, represent an hour of the best moments from the Western tours between 2009 and 2011, captured in striking fidelity and intensity. Fans will recognize familiar songs, as well as previously-unreleased material presented here for the first time, in what is the biggest sounding Omar record yet. Compiled and recorded by Mark Gergis.

Artist:	HAYVANLAR ALEMI
Title:	Yekermo Sew
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	7"
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	SF 070EP

Hayvanlar Alemi comes smashing out of the gates in 2012 with a jaw-dropping version of Mulatu Astatke's "Yekermo Sew" as the A-side of this single. Side B is an unreleased improvisation featuring the quartet version of the group. This limited one-time pressing vinyl single was made for the band to sell on their European tour, which begins in May of 2012. Limited copies, however, will be available through normal distribution channels. 45 rpm.

Artist:	MILLIS, ROBERT
Title:	This World Is Unreal Like A Snake In A Rope
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 073DVD

A film by Robert Millis. Folk cinema from the eternal never-ending collage that is India. A journey through the ancient Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu featuring Hindu trance ceremonies, street music, festivals, nagaswaram improvisations, impossibly loud cities, ancient temples, processions, devotions, decay, fireworks, abstractions and more. India is impossible to know: it is impossibly old and impossibly new, impossibly rich and impossibly poor, quiet and chaotic. Offered here is one perspective, raw, captured live and in the moment, with an emphasis on India's complex and mesmerizing sounds. DVD features a bonus photo gallery with over 100 images. 50 minutes/Color; digipack; all-region DVD; NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1,000 copies.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Staring Into The Sun: Ethiopian Tribal Music
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	2LP
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	SF 074LP

A contemporary survey of the tribal music of Ethiopia. Recorded in 2009 by Olivia Wyatt, this double LP showcases an array of mind-blowing sounds from the "land of eternal sunshine." Presented in this visually stunning gatefold are audio examples ranging from remote tribes -- of the Ethiopian highlands, the lower Omo and the Great Rift Valley -- to their electric analogues in the sweaty beerhalls of Addis Ababa. This collection features songs from the Azmari, poet-musicians who play the krar (ancient lyre) and whose song repertoire includes everything from comic improvisation to lyrical elegiac, the Borana whose work songs are a transcendental polyphonic singing that stops time, and the Dirashe whose syncopated panpipes are as otherworldly as anything ever heard. Other selections include music from the Mursi, Druze, Gedeo, Konso, and Tsemay tribes as well as some fine examples of amplified roots music from the capital from the Habesha 2000 Band. This is a limited edition one-time pressing double LP housed in a gatefold full color tip-on sleeve with gorgeous Polaroid shots from Olivia Wyatt.

Artist:	MAYET, HISHAM (DIRECTOR)
Title:	The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry in the Sahel
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 075DVD

Sublime Frequencies announces a new film by Hisham Mayet: The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry in the Sahel. Condensed from 40 hours of footage shot between 2007 and 2012, The Divine River is an exhilarating, hallucinatory, harrowing record of music, ritual, life, and landscape along the Niger River -- which the Tuareg call "Egerew n-Igerewen," or "River of Rivers" -- as it winds through Mali and the Republic of Niger. Traversing 300 miles of this transitional zone between the Sahara and the Savanna, The Divine River is not a linear record of a journey so much as a phantasmagoria of visual associations that create their own emotional topography and chronology (always accompanied by music) that blurs the lines between sacred and secular, past and present. 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. True to Sublime Frequencies' "aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience," The Divine River refuses hasty contextualizations and rote interpretations that, far from "explaining" cultural displays, deaden viewers to the presence of mystery. Avoiding the temptation to reduce ritual to a simple matter of ends and means, its silence respects the chasm that separates concepts like "possession" from their lived reality. Rejecting the distractions of an imaginary understanding in favor of simple attention and humility, it traces the portal to deeper knowledge counseled in a centuries-old Sufi prayer: "O Lord, increase my bewilderment." 47 minutes/color; digipack; all-region DVD, NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1,000 copies.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Pop Yeh Yeh - Psychedelic Rock from Singapore and Malaysia 1964-1970: Vol. 1
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.50
Catalog #:	SF 079CD

Until now, for some unknown reason, the psychedelic rock movement in Singapore and Malaysia, aka Pop Yeh Yeh, has never been given the worldwide attention it deserves. This compilation -- Pop Yeh Yeh - Psychedelic Rock from Singapore and Malaysia 1964-1970: Vol. 1 -- is the first of its kind to focus solely on the Malay rock groups of this region. The Pop Yeh Yeh era, which took place roughly between the years of 1964 to 1970, coincided with the rapid modernization happening at the time in Singapore and Malaysia. Sublime Frequencies has already released many incredible compilations from neighboring Indonesia, so it's about time that the Malaysian groups got some attention! Pop Yeh Yeh artists instinctively cross-pollinated electric sounds of the West with Malay melodies, and added their own local poetic voice to the lyrics they wrote -- sung in Malay and sometimes Bawean. The Pop Yeh Yeh musicians started out playing in styles inspired by Western groups like The Beatles and Cliff Richard, but they eventually succeeded in creating a sound all their own -- a sound that is not only accessible to the Western ear, but also retains an undeniable Malay personality. Nearly eight years in the making, this compilation was exhaustively researched and compiled by Carl Hamm and features 26 classic tracks of the very best bands and singers from Singapore and Malaysia's Pop Yeh Yeh era, including M. Osman, Orkes Nirwana, Adnan Othman, A. Halim, Roziah Latiff and The Jayhawkers, J. Sham, Hasnah Haron, Zaleha Hamid, and many more. This CD edition comes in a tri-fold digipak with gorgeous artwork, two 40-page booklets with insanely extensive liner notes including band/artist bios, an overview of the era, translated lyrics, and plenty of rare photos taken from vintage magazines, album covers, and the artists' own personal collections.

Artist:	WYATT, OLIVIA
Title:	The Pierced Heart & The Machete
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	DVD
Price:	$18.50
Catalog #:	SF 080DVD

The Pierced Heart & The Machete is a vivid, unflinching exploration of two annual Vodou pilgrimages in Haiti. The first is for �zili 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 Dant� resides. The second pilgrimage is for Dant�s' 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 (SF 065DVD), Olivia Wyatt's vision is always sharp, unerring and unobtrusive. 70 minutes/color; digipack; all-region DVD; NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1,000 copies.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Ethnic Minority Music of Southern China
Label:	SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SF 081CD

The fifth 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 six 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.

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