Tag Archives: Ocora

OCORA Africa Mega Post

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don’t have time for cover art and little write ups, so you will have to deal with the list dump style of this post (cover art and sometimes scans of liner notes should be in most archives).   Includes 2 versions of the much sought after and rare Dogon vinyl, with substantial differences in tracklisting, which among the first wave of awesome recordings was never reissued on CD.

For the uninitiated, OCORA was one of, if not the, most well researched and presented labels which dealt with indigenous sounds from all over the earth, and i made the promise, which i still do intend on keeping, of making the entire past catalog of 500+ recordings available on this blog.  there has been quite a few South Asian and African posts already, just look for it.     To be continued.

For more Ocora awesomeness, head over to Aaseance.

OCORA INDIA – New Uploads 1

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Kushal Das – Sitar

From slow meditative burners to dizzying fast numbers, Kushal Das’ every phrase is clearly pronounced, the celestial and crystalline music has an orderly, intellectual feel – simply beautiful.

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Kushal Das – Raga Marwa

Sitar playing of a very different character than the above recording: in a lower register, much more visceral and emotionally expressive, with more grit and texture – alternating between long bluesy passages and crazy drunken (but always poetic) rants. (new 320k file added!  thanks to comrade Morgen)

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Mithila – Love songs of Vidyapati

A cappella songs of love and devotion by mainly male, and 2 femail, vocalists in a steady and evenly paced manner, never venturing into cries of passion or lapse into melancholy.  Not sure if the love expressed is sacred or profane, but it is for sure of an eternal nature.  (musically not one of my favorites)

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Voyage Intérieur – Sheila Dhar

Performed according to the principles of the Kirana Gharana school of singing, this amazing woman takes us on an epic dreamlike inward journey during the course of this double CD.

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Troupe de Kutiyattam du Kalamandalam – Kutiyattam

Kutiyattam is a 2000 years old form of Sanskrit theatre, traditionally performed in Hindu temples of the state of Kerala.  Musically this is pretty wild stuff: intense percussion with dramatic and often “dissonant” singing/narration.  Not for the faint hearted or those only looking for “beautiful” Indian music.

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L. Subramaniam – Le violon de l’Inde du sud

(this may be a re-post) Virtuoso violin playing by the master.  Enough said.

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L. Subramaniam – En Concert

actually on the whole a lot more relaxed and calm than the studio recording above, a superb live session.

Ocora Africa repost part 1

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A few out of print treasures from Ocora (RIP), probably the best global music label ever in terms of selection, recording quality, documentation and general dependable professionalism (The French perhaps always were the colonialists who paid the most attention to the cultures of those they conquered and continue to exploit, with Napoleon’s encyclopedia of Egypt still being the most comprehensive hundreds of years later), were first uploaded on my old blog a long time ago, and now have been revived by the kind soul who runs SEANCE (a place where you will find much more amazing gems).   I will also be re-upping many things from Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America, etc. in the days to come.

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Ocora: Tchad Percussion

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I really should continue the Complete Ocora Catalog upload Project from my old blog…  and maybe i will.  No, not maybe, i will.  It is too important and we can not let such a great body of recordings be lost just because the label went out of business in these stupid times.

But until then, Easy Jams has put up this rare 7-inch, one of the (i both hope and hope not) few missing from my collection.