Dust-to-Digital proudly inaugurates its vinyl imprint Parlortone with the earliest intelligible recording of the human voice: an historic 20-second version of "Au Clair de la Lune" made in 1860, 17 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. This single-sided 45rpm record comes complete with an etched back, a descriptive essay and a reproduction of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville’s original phonautogram.

Au Clair de la Lune by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

From the <a href="http://www.dust-digital.com/se-asia/">Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia</a> box set:

Tjikadjangan (pelog) 
Song in the Style of Cikajangan City
Performed by Oman, Doeleh and K.O.E. Sabri
Recorded in 1939

Tembang Sunda, which features sung poetry accompanied by kecapi (zither) instruments and suling (bamboo flute), is a classical vocal style originating from the Sunda kingdom of highland West Java. Developed in the court of the regent Kebupaten Cianjur in the late 19th century, the tembang Sunda is one of the most serene of Indonesian ensembles. The style began as an entertainment in which aristocrats would sing in poetic meters derived from West Javanese or Central Javanese vocal forms. A variant, kecapi suling, which arose in the 1970s and omits the vocals, is performed in restaurants and hotels in many parts of Indonesia due to its soft and mellifluous sound.

There are normally two kecapi: the lower-pitched kecapi indung and the higher-pitched and kecapi rincik or anak. Functioning respectively as mother (slower, outlining bridges and interludes) and child (faster, filling in parts), the indung has 18–20 strings and the rincik (which often plays at twice the density of the indung) normally has 15 strings. One to eight vocalists might participate in performances of tembang Sunda. Musicians traditionally hold performances in the evenings and are not paid for their services. Pieces begin with free meter and heavily ornamented songs (mamaos), followed by fixed-meter songs (panambih).

This piece, like most, features a vocalist singing poetry (tembang) in the Sundanese language. The tuning is pelog. The male vocalist sings in meter (panambih), and the kecapi players follow the vocal melody. The suling player, who opens the piece, intersperses melodies in between verses of poetry, thus never overlapping with the vocalist. Tembang Sunda serves as a sonic link to the past for aristocrats.

"Tjikadjangan (pelog)" by Oman, Doeleh and K.O.E. Sabri

From the <a href="http://www.dust-digital.com/se-asia/">Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia</a> box set:

Pleng Sen Lao, Na 1
Offering of Alcohol to the Gods, Part 1
Performed by the Thewaprasit Ensemble
Recorded ca. 1950

“Phleng Sen Lao, Na 1” (“Offering Alcohol to the Gods, Part 1”) is a phleng naphat (action tune) from the highest class of repertory played by the piphat ensemble. Normally played during a wai khru (teacher greeting) ritual, the composition is here played in the context of “reading” or “preaching” the epic story of Prince Wetsandawn, the penultimate life of the Buddha just before enlightenment. As such the story is a Jataka (Chadok in Thai). The reading of the story once a year throughout much of Thailand is an important marker during the Buddhist calendar, but in central Thailand, where it is called thet mahachat (preaching the great Jataka), it occurs during the middle of the year. In the northeast, where it is called Boun Prawet and remains very popular, it occurs early in the year, around February. In Laos such chanting is also prominent, enough so to have been among the early recordings from Laos featured elsewhere in this collection (see track B9).

The “reading” requires either a Buddhist monk, or a former monk, to recite the story from traditional palm leaf manuscripts, though in the northeast it is more usual now for monks or laymen to “preach” in a form of heightened speech called thet lae that resembles singing (Buddhist monks are not permitted to sing, they “preach,” however much it sounds like singing to laymen). Northeastern Boun Prawet involves no music but central Thai performance, at least in the past, required a piphat ensemble to play naphat compositions between sections of the story. In this case, the story comes from Part 5, “Chuchok.” It refers to an old man encountered by Prince Wetsandawn who requests the prince give his children to the beggar. This he does to show his utter generosity and obedience. Consequently, this is also considered the saddest section of the story, and the chants are sometimes given added emotional weight with elaborate melismas. The track included here, however, includes only the piphat ensemble, this being a “hard mallet” ensemble with both taphon horizontal drum and a pair of klawng that barrel drums. 

(Part 2 of this record can be heard on Dust-to-Digital’s <a href="http://www.dust-digital.com/black-mirror/">Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics</a>.)

"Pleng Sen Lao, Na 1" by the Thewaprasit Ensemble

From the <a href="http://www.dust-digital.com/se-asia/">Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia</a> box set:

Miss Whiskey
Performed by Myat Lay
Recorded in the 1930s

U Myat Lay, known as a charismatic actor in the 1930s, recorded “Miss Whiskey,” which was also the title of a movie in which he starred, produced by the British Burma Film Company. In the Burmese period of silent film, the wide distribution of 78 rpm records with their hit tunes were excellent promotional tools to bring in new audiences to the movies to see singers act. Frequently, the musicians who recorded a song would also perform when the movie was shown in the big city theaters of Rangoon and Mandalay. 

As for the intent of the song “Miss Whiskey,” Myat Lay’s character says, “Whether you’re pining after old things or looking for the new, kindness doesn’t show itself in this world where love is scarce. Miss Whiskey will show you kindness.” A trumpet, hne, pat waing, and sandaya spin into chromatic slides toward the end of this section (notably experimental and emblematic of Western music to the Burmese) of the song as U Myat Lay laughs in a pose of drunken stupor.

"Miss Whiskey" by Myat Lay

The Pal That’s Always True: Doc Hopkins

When I Went to Leland
Walter “Tangle Eye” Jackson, Willie “Hard Hat” Lacey,
Benny Will “22” Richardson, “Little Red”: vocals and axes. Recorded late 1947 at Mississippi State Penitentiary.

When I went to Leland I thought I was lost
I went around the corner, met my walking boss
Well, my old mister he promised me
When he die he gonna set me free
Before he dies, he gonna set me free

More info: http://www.dust-digital.com/parchman-farm/

Tangle Eye, Hard Hat, 22, and Little Red - When I Went to Leland

When He Died He Got a Home in Hell
Kid Williams and Bill Morgan (Walter Smith)
Recorded New York City
May 5, 1930

More info: http://www.dust-digital.com/lead-kindly-light/

Kid Williams and Bill Morgan – When He Died He Got A Home In Hell

Through the eyes, words and songs of its popular music stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, "Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll" examines and unravels Cambodia's recent tragic past. Dust-to-Digital is excited to release the soundtrack to such an important film. Compiled by the film’s director, the album is very cinematic in nature. The sequencing and newly-remastered audio transport the listener through the rock and roll history of Cambodia in a similar fashion as John Pirozzi’s documentary film. It is both entertaining and essential to hear so many tracks that are available outside of Cambodia for the very first time. More info: http://www.dust-digital.com/cambodia/

Chhuon Malay - The Story Of My Love

Sieng Vannthy - Console Me

Armed with bulky microphones, blank disks, spare needles, and cumbersome disk-cutting machines, several folklorists had the foresight to document and preserve a significant but overlooked part of the nation’s musical heritage, made by immigrant, Native American, rural and working-class performers. Almost all of these dance tunes, ballads, lyric songs, hymns, laments, versified taunts, political anthems, street cries, and recitations are being issued for the very first time.

This 5-CD set is teeming with African-American, Austrian, Belgian, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French Canadian, German, Ho-Chunk, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Irish, Italian, Luxemburger, Norwegian, Ojibwe, Oneida, Polish, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Swedish, Swiss, and Welsh performers.

Bonus DVD includes the new documentary film The Most Fertile Source: Alan Lomax Goes North with never-before-seen footage shot in Michigan in 1938. The accompanying book includes extensive liner notes, lyric transcriptions and translations by James P. Leary, co-founder of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. More info and to pre-order: http://www.dust-digital.com/folksongs/

Emily McClure & Mayme Doser - Když Jsem Šel Cestičkou Úzkou / As I Walked That Narrow Path

Joseph Accardi - Tiki - Ti, Tiki - Ta!

John Ciezczak - In The Style Of Sabała

The Balkan Troubadours - Alaj Gigi

Bessie Gordon - Gambler's Blues

Charles Cardinal - How They Sang The Marseillaise In Chippytown Falls

Wäinö Hirvelä - Kylläpä Kai / I Guess So

Winslow White Eagle - War Dance

Dust-to-Digital is excited to present the first in-depth look at the life of Ola Belle Reed, a groundbreaking artist who is one of the all-time greatest performers of authentic, old-time music. Ola Belle Reed’s 1960s recordings, some of the earliest she ever made and available here for the very first time, are counter-balanced by a disc of modern-day field recordings of her descendants and those within her Appalachian community that she inspired. This deluxe edition highlights Ola Belle’s deep repertoire – folk ballads, minstrel songs, country standards, and originals – and traces the impact her music made and is still making today. More info: http://www.dust-digital.com/ola-belle-reed/

Alex Campbell, Ola Belle Reed and Burl Kilby - Bringing in the Georgia Mail

Ola Belle Reed, Burl Kilby and John Miller - You Led Me to the Wrong

Parushev was a street-singer from the Thracian city of Plovdiv (one of the world’s oldest known inhabited places), and his instrument was the portable harmonium. What makes this instrumental unique is that Parushev is playing the harmonium in the upper register, coupled with the use of a drone stop on the instrument, making the piece an imitation of the Bulgarian bagpipe, the gaida. This ruchenitsa, a dance in 7/16 time, was recorded circa June 1927, possibly in Berlin. This recording appears on the new album Excavated Shellac: Reeds, more info: www.dust-digital.com/reeds/

Parush Parushev - Ruchenitsa (Bulgaria) from "Excavated Shellac: Reeds"

This rousing, if not downright relentless dance piece (oyun havası) with calls to the dancers, stems from Turkey ca. 1946, and features Mahir on the double-reed shawm known as the zurna (also spelled zourna, surna, etc.), accompanied by Ali the drummer on the double-headed davul drum. This recording appears on the new album Excavated Shellac: Reeds, more info: www.dust-digital.com/reeds/

Zurnacı Mahir and Ali - Karzana Oyun Havasi (Turkey) from "Excavated Shellac: Reeds"

Taken from the album 'Rawhead & Bloodybones' released as Double-CD and Download

Release date: November 20, 2015

Order here: www.dust-digital.com/rawhead/

Brian Harnetty - Merrywise

Music of Morocco: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959 
Release date: April 1, 2016
Silkscreened cigar box with foil stamping details throughout, 120-page leatherette book and 4 CDs containing 4 hours and 30 minutes of audio. Includes streaming / download code.
More info: http://www.dust-digital.com/morocco/

Order

Ouakha Dial Kheir Women's Chorus (Tahala) from Music of Morocco: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959

One of two bonus tracks from the expanded vinyl version of "Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll" - in stores on Record Store Day (April 16, 2016).

Ros Serey Sothea, Huoy Meas & Pen Ran – Three Maidens

From the 45rpm record featuring dance tracks by two of Cambodia’s most celebrated singers: Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea.

Available on April 22, 2017 in participating shops. More info at http://www.dust-digital.com/old-pot/

Sinn Sisamouth - Navy A Go Go

"Where did it begin? JUST BEFORE MUSIC. Did it begin with me sitting somewhere or my ancestors somewhere over in Africa hearing something fall and it thumped HMMMP or someone crawling CHKCHKCHKCHK or hearing a yell AYE AYE AYE? All of these things became JUST BEFORE MUSIC." — Lonnie Holley, Just Before Music http://dust-digital.com/lonnie

"Looking for All (All Rendered Truth)" by Lonnie Holley

"I Shall Not Be Moved"
Blind Pete Burrell, vocal and guitar
Bogalusa, Louisiana
March 31, 1969
Recorded by David Evans
"When I recorded him in 1969, Blind Pete Burrell was in his late thirties. Some years earlier he had gone blind suddenly while watching television, he says. He plays guitar for himself and friends and sometimes at gospel programs in churches."
From the album Sorrow Come Pass Me Around: A Survey of Rural Religious Black Music
For more information: http://dust-digital.com/sorrow

“I Shall Not Be Moved” by Willard Artis “Blind Pete” Burrell

"Kassidat", the Arabic word for poetry, is one of the essential ingredients in Moroccan song. Despite the bewildering array of musical styles in Morocco, the Moroccan sense of poetry is found throughout the music, regardless of the style or language. This isn’t the language of high art, but an often impenetrable vernacular poetry of oblique references, symbols, metaphors, and double entendres that describes the lives of average Moroccans. — from Kassidat: Raw 45s from Morocco
For more information: dust-digital.com/kassidat

“Kassidat el Hakka (The Poem of the Truth)” by Abdellah el Magana

This recording is the flip side of "Country Blues," which Harry Smith included on the 1952 compilation, "The Anthology of American Folk Music."

Both songs were recorded for Brunswick Records in New York City on March 10, 1927. Each song features Dock Boggs on vocal and banjo with G.H. Mahaffey adding guitar accompaniment on "Sammie, Where Have You Been So Long."

"The Harry Smith B-Sides" will be released by Dust-to-Digital on October 16, 2020. For more info, visit dust-digital.com/shop/harry-smith-b-sides

Dock Boggs - "Sammie, Where Have You Been So Long"

<a href="http://www.dust-digital.com/greek/">Greek Rhapsody &#8212; Instrumental Music from Greece 1905-1956</a> (out on June 11, 2013) is a two-CD collection featuring 42 tracks meticuolously remastered from 78rpm recordings of Greek instrumentals. Many tracks are rare and never previously reissued on CD or vinyl; some are taken from the only known copies, while previously reissued tracks are here offered in far superior sound quality. This compilation offers, for the first time, a unique panorama of the instruments and styles of the Greek music of the period.

The two CDs were compiled and the 152-page book was written by Tony Klein - a British musician, researcher, and writer, based in Sweden. He has played and researched Greek music for 40 years, and studied with, among others, the veteran Stelios Keromitis.

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