Edition Telemark

V/A - Kparr Dire: Balafon Music from Lobi Country

"Kparr Dire: Balafon Music from Lobi Country is a single LP and includes a DVD with a full-length movie (125 minutes) of Balafon music by the Lobi people, recorded in and around Gaoua, Burkina Faso, on a two-week journey in June 2014, by Dirk Dresselhaus (alias Schneider TM), Julian Kamphausen and Arved Schultze. The Lobi are an ethnic group of about 180,000 people living in southern Burkina Faso and bordering regions. The primary instrument of their traditional music is the balafon, played solo or in a duet, usually accompanied by percussionists. Lobi balafon music serves as a complex language for communication with the audience but also with ancestors and spirits. Different kinds of music are used for different purposes and social atmospheres (birth, death, joy, hunting, war, etc.) At its core, this music is hundreds of years old and knowledge of its mastery is passed on from generation to generation, with different styles emerging in different regions and outside influences picked up on the way. The first well-known recordings of Lobi balafon music were made in 1961 and published on the Ocora LP Musiques Du Pays Lobi. While the tunes heard there clearly show their ancient roots, the music on this release is not isolated from current influences and carries traces of the modern African electronic pop music and contemporary R&B that is widespread in the region. This has led to a new minimalist, poly-rhythmic, and breakbeat-laden style prominent in Gaoua, to, recorded here for what may be the first time. Yet the pieces are the same traditional songs, played differently from generation to generation and from day to day. Musicians on the LP are Martin Kensiè (Da Toh Alain) with ensemble and Palé Goukoun. Their fathers -- Kambiré Tiaporté and Palé Tioionté, respectively -- had been recorded in the 1990s for the Ocora CDs Pays Lobi, Xylophone De Funérailles (1999) and Pays Lobi, Xylophones Du Buur (2006) that served as the starting point for this journey, The record is supplemented by numerous photos and an extensive interview with Dresselhaus. DVD features a full-length movie by Schultze, documenting the trip through various localities and villages, with numerous performances also including other musicians. Full-color gatefold sleeve with DVD tray [DVD is PAL format, region free]." - Edition Telemark .
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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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