Umm Kulthum - Rak El Habib

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320kbps MP3

Side A

01. Rak El Habib (Part 1)

Side B

02. Rak El Habib (Part 2)

The j-card has titles of praise inscribed on it: Star of the East and First Lady of Arabic Song.  They are well-deserved nicknames.  The lyrics were composed by Ahmed Rami and the music was composed by Mohamed El Qasabgi who composed many wonderful songs for Umm Kulthum and a few other singers.  This is one of Umm Kulthum's most famous and popular works, and for good reason.

There are a couple weird skips in Part 2 which must be due to some laziness during the process of abbreviating the recording (they weren't about to put a 2-hour song on cassette).

Special thanks to daretelayam for the translation.

Here is a sound sample from side A:

Umm (2/21/12) Side A samp by tapesssss

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - ISHQ

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320kbps MP3

Side A

01. Ay Athra Ishq Naeen Saun Denda

02. Jhalian Judaeyan Naeen Janian

Side B

03. Kee Janan Main Kaun Bhullia

04. Ban Ke Aya Sawali

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is the shit.  He recorded hundreds of performances all over the world.  He sang the religious music of the Sufis and was based in Pakistan.  This year marks the 15th anniversary of his death.  This music is energetic, soulful, and just plain great.  Enjoy it!

Here's a preview from track 1:

Nusrat (2/16/12) Tr. 1 Samp by tapesssss

Sekar Arum - Vol 1: Kembang Tanjung

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320kbps MP3

Side A

Bawa SA. RARABENTROK dhawah Gdh. GAMBIRSAWIT Ldr. KEMBANG TANJUNG, Pathetan JINGKING,

Side B

Katampen AYAK-AYAKAN, SREPEG dipun uran-urani PANGKUR SINOM WENIKENYA Slendro sanga. Bawa SA. SUDIRAWICITRA dhawah Gdh. BONDHET kalajengaken Ldr. TIRTAKENCANA Pelog Nem.

Some gamelan stuff.  Delicious.  I have two other tapes from this Sekar Arum group that will be coming up here sooner or later.  I'm starting to really enjoy these Lokananta Recording label finds.

Here is a preview from Side A:

Sekar (2/12/12) Side A Samp by tapesssss

Coming up next week: the undisputed queen of Arab music.

Rajkumar

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320kbps MP3

Side A

01. Bechain Hoon Main (Alka Yagnik & Udit Narayan)

02. Paayal Meri (Alka Yagnik & Udit Narayan)

03. O Mere Raj Kumar (Alka Yagnik)  *
04. commercial (?)
05. Aaja Aaja Tu Aanewale (Iqbal Afzal Sabri, Jayshree Shivram & Sukvinder Singh)

Side B
06. commercial (?)
07. Tu Bijali Hain (Udit Narayan)
08. Ye Khoobsurat Badan (Alka Yagnik)
09. Aankhon Ke Aage Peechhe (Kavita Krishnamurthy)
10. commercial (?)

* = double holy shit.  love this track.

This is a Bollywood soundtrack from a much more recent movie than I will usually be posting (1996).  The movie was a huge flop.  I guess it lost a bunch of money and nobody liked it.  Despite this, the soundtrack kicks ass.  Synth-laden pop tunes and slow love ballads.  Enjoy it, y'all!

Here is a sound sample from track 3:

Rajkumar (2/9/12) Tr. 3 Sample by tapesssss

Lata Mangeshkar - Meera Bhajans

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320 kbps MP3

Mediafire deleted these links.

Side A

01. Sanvaro Nandnandan

02. Kinun Sang Khelun Holi

03. Mhara Re Giridhar Gopal

04. Thane Kanee Kanee Sunava

Side B

01. Maee Mhano Supnama Parnare Dinanath

02. Oji Hari Kit Gaye

03. Ramaiya Bin Nind Na Aave

04. Sanvara Mari Preet

Today we have the magnificent Lata Mangeshkar singing Bhajans (Indian devotional songs).  This stuff really speaks for itself.  Mad props to His Master's Voice for cutting the j-card crooked.

Here is a sample from track 6:

Lata (1/27/12) Tr.6 Sample by tapesssss

Phong Nguyen - Traditional Music of Vietnam

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320 kbps MP3

Side A

01. Luu-Thuy, Binh-Ban

02. Kim-Tien

03. Hanh-Van

04. Phu-Luc-Chan

05. Thon Vi-Da

06. Nam Ai

07. Dem Buon

08. Qua Cau Gio Bay

Side B

09. Ba-Nha Tu-Ky

10. Tri-Am Tu-Ong-Ngo

11. Van-Thien-Tuong

12. Ngu Doi Ha

13. Ngam-Ngui

14. Ly Chim Quyen

This shit is bananas.  Phong Nguyen is a professor from Vietnam that specializes in traditional music and is a performer himself.  This tape is a recording of him with an ensemble of musicians on various traditional Vietnamese instruments.  I may have totally butchered the track splits since there are long pauses within songs.

Here is a sample from track 9:

Phong (1/22/12) Tr.9 Sample by tapesssss

S. Maridi Dkk. - Tari Merak

Download:

FLAC:   Side A   Side B

320 kbps MP3

Side A

01. Tari Merak

02. Beksan Lambangsih

03. Beksan Prawirawatang

Side B

04. Tari Kelinci

05. Beksan Wanara

06. Rantaya

Beautiful gamelan music from Indonesia today.  There is more information about which musicians are doing what on the j-card but I don't understand what any of the abbreviations are supposed to mean.  This release is about an hour of solid music.  The insert doesn't say anything about the year it was made or recorded.

Note: halfway through side B there is some crazy tape hiss action.

Here is a sample from track 2:

Tari (1/20/12) Sample by tapesssss