Monday, October 22, 2007

I did not know it would be this good

Music For the Gods - The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition Indonesia



Mesmerizing, beautiful stuff. Indonesian Gamelan, which is something I've heard mentioned before but never had a chance to look into--turns out this was a fairly major mistake! This disc is a collection of recordings made by a pair of American brothers lugging recording equipment around Indonesia circia 1940, and apparently stands as one of the best documents of gamelan music as performed by the original masters. Gamelan was "forgotten" for a while before being rescued by various musical ensembles and cultural institutes. Whatever the backstory though, this is some seriously ethereal, stunning music. I've been listening to this a lot since I got it. Very peaceful trance-inducing music. I HIGHLY recommend a download (it's okay to like "world music" people, as terrible as that term is).

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