Two announcements today, along with the weekly post.
First, I’ve added a Resources page to the site. This contains a list of in-print CDs that feature international music culled from commercial 78rpm records. Despite the fact I’ve been working on this list for several months, this is definitely a work in progress. My goal is to have it as up-to-date as possible, and obviously I will need the help of contributors! Please don’t panic if you don’t see your favorite CD listed. Directions to contribute are found on that page. However, I can say for starters that the key phrase here is in-print. In this world, reissues sometimes disappear quickly – just as they might reappear out of the blue. Other sources cover out-of-print releases on LP, CD, and cassette. For now, I’m just trying to cover in-print material.
The second announcement is that Excavated Shellac is now on Facebook. If you’re into that, please look me up.
Excavated Shellac 
are th popular african music ngoma CDs still in print? if so they are a fantastic resource for congo
Ngoma, The Early Years, 1948 – 1960(Popular African Music/African Music Archive pamap 101. 1996)
Ngoma: Souvenir Ya L’independance (Popular African Music/African Music Archive pamap 102. 1997)
No, they appear to no longer be in print. They are indeed a great resource for Congo – though really for Congolese pop, as opposed to Congolese roots and more “ethnographic” music. Ngoma recorded quite a lot of the latter, though next to none of that has ever appeared on a CD.
How about you giving them a star system – one for interest/accuracy/information, and one for listenability/musicality?
One to five stars… it needn’t aim to be definitive, but rather offer one educated person’s take. It would offer a way in for us neophytes!
Sorry, to be clearer – I meant 1-5 stars for each category.
Man, that would be an undertaking, Patrick! I wish I had the time, but just doing the weekly posts can sometimes be a big undertaking. Also, a huge portion of these CDs I’ve not had a chance to hear personally (or own), so I’m afraid I’d come up lacking in that respect.
No, for starters I just wanted to come up with a reference guide. If I tend to like one disc or another, I try to mention those in the posts themselves.
That said, an online resource like that WOULD be a fantastic thing. I would consider adding a reviews page which had either links to reviews in Folk Roots or Musical Traditions (two places that would review CDs like these on a regular basis), or have encapsulated reviews by readers themselves.
… or maybe set up the Resources page to allow people to leave comments about the CDs, somehow? I realize that would be a lot of work too of course.
And thanks for all the time you put into this site, Jonathan.
Thanks for the good words!
I will seriously considering doing something like that, Patrick – it’s a good idea. I would definitely like to have it interactive. Hmmmmm…I will be thinking about this.
One of my blogs is devoted to present this kind of recordings issued on cd. It’s called “The World’s Jukebox”. Check it out.
I am an “Irish” (French-born) musician in the DC area, and I listen avidly to the “ancestors.” I have produced a few CDs of early Irish recordings, including two with Dick Spottswood for Rounder Records, called “From Galway to Dublin” and “Milestone at the Garden.” I have an Irish CD store online (www.celticgrooves.com) through which I sell mostly imports from Ireland, but if you look under “Catalogue by Instrument/Category” and then under “Early Recordings,” you’ll see those CDs listed, and a few others of the same ilk.