[Music] Various Artists – Don’t Let Me Be Lost To You B​-​Sides: Albanian, Armenian, Greek, Jewish & Turkish Music from the Me Re, Balkan, Metropolitan & Kaliphon Labels

Canary Records owner (and a rather fine experimental musician himself) Ian Nagoski should be commended for his work in bringing to life so many wonderful albums from the turn of the 20th Century cut by Balkan and Jewish musicians who left their home countries and made quite good names for themselves in places like New York City. These recordings are lovingly restored, and apparently are leftover tracks transferred from 78rpm discs for a forthcoming 5-volume / 6-LP series to be issued in early 2019. Considering how lovingly Ian treats this material, this upcoming collection sounds like a grand project!

[Music] Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz, & Electric Folklore from Haiti 1960 – 1981

It’s not often that I get to post on a release from Haiti, as I’ve never really had reliable contacts who could guide me to what treasures lie underneath that island which suffers so much.  This release from Ostinato Records, a small label out of New York who are doing some incredible reissues from various parts of Africa (think Somalia and Cape Verde for starters), put together this remarkable collection of tracks recorded not only in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, but among the expatriate community residing in Brooklyn, New York.