Nonesuch Explorer Series: S/D

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I love the two Mbira ones and I just go the South Pacific Island Music one, where to go next? I've been a bit hesitant to jump into the Gamelan ones, just beacuse I have no idea where to start.

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

start with GOLDEN RAIN.

― ddb, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I find gamelan accessible enough and mostly easy to like, up to a point, but I feel very little real connection to it. I regret slightly that I bought three of these Nonesuch gamelan CDs last year (but that's just me).

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Witchcraft & Ritual!

― sexyDancer, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

hamza el din - the water wheel

― autovac (autovac), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, i was like, so totally just listening to Ramanad Krishnan a minute ago. If you like Indian classical i highly recommend it. Dunno if its on CD. Is everything ever put out on the explorer series on CD? If so, pick it up. It rocks. Kaccheri (A Concert Of South Indian Classical Music) (H-72040)

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't forget the "American Explorer" series too. Jimmie Dale Gilmore's first album came out on it. So good.

― frankE, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I got a free sampler of the gamelan stuff and the Golden Rain stuff is truly amazing... I've heard the South Pacific Island one is amazing - I want to know more about it!

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The South Pacific Island comp is 28 tracks (basically little samples ~a minute and a half each) split up between Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands, Tahiti and Samoa. There's a lot of chanting and celebration type stuff, but the most interesting tracks are the Solomon Islands Pan Pipes ones.

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

there has been like, a 400% increase in gamelan talk lately. for my part, i like the javanese stuff most; it is CLANKY and HARSH whereas a lot of the stuff from bali is almost ambient. the rhythms are amazing; i was reading something yesterday about cyclical mapping of the pieces, like with clocks circling into themselves. brutal.

― i4n j0hnson, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i like the javanese stuff most; it is CLANKY and HARSH whereas a lot of the stuff from bali is almost ambient

This sounds backwards.

― Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll second "Withcraft & Ritual" -- some amazing stuff on there. I rate "Gamelan of the Love God" precisely because of its ambient, hypnotic qualities.

― briania, Wednesday, 21 April 2004 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't forget the "American Explorer" series too. Jimmie Dale Gilmore's first album came out on it. So good.

his third album, actually. his first two came out on hightone.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 21 April 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

hamza el din - the water wheel

this is really really good. i have the court gamelan vol. 2, i think. next, maybe another gamelan one or one of the mbira ones. im sort of excited about these right now.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

more talk plz

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 22:59 (eighteen years ago)

i love:

gamelan semar pegulingan - of the gamelan i have heard this is the best by a longshot

pallavi - beautiful south indian flute music backed by sitar, tabla, and vocals and maybe some other instruments

kalpana improvisations - improvisational indian dance music using sitar, tabla, and a dancer with bells on his feet. extremely amazing.

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:00 (eighteen years ago)

oh the pallavi also has violin, duh

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:01 (eighteen years ago)

okay, pallavi is: flute, violin, mdrangam, tambura, sruti-petti

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:49 (eighteen years ago)

some of my faves:

Bengal Minstrels: music of the Bauls
Kashmir
A Bell Ringing In The Empty Sky (shakuhachi)
China: Shantung Folk Music
The Pulse Of Tanam (India)
that Japanese Folk Melodies one

I pretty much buy every one of these that I see, I haven't been disappointed yet!

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:37 (eighteen years ago)

I know a lot of people bang on about the fast Gamelan from Bali, I really love the ethereal Court Gamelan from Java series.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:44 (eighteen years ago)

i feel the same towards most balinese gamelan, but i think gamelan semar pegulingan bridges the balinese and javanese tendencies well. slow, deliberate, shimmering melodies.

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:21 (eighteen years ago)

i'm curious about the chinese folk music... i really have no idea what chinese music sounds like.

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:22 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.asianclassicalmp3.org/amoy.htm

― milton parker (Jon L), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:30 (eighteen years ago)

Sundanese Jaipong and Other Popular Music is the pinnacle of human achievement.

― Django Blowhardt (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:31 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

Just got an unplayed Lp of "The Jasmine Isle", Javanese gamelan, it's grouse

― 808 the Bassking (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 18 November 2006 02:37 (eighteen years ago)

these lps are priceless

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Saturday, 18 November 2006 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah. I've listened to it three times in a row now. Gorgeous. $2!

― 808 the Bassking (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 18 November 2006 04:18 (eighteen years ago)

Sundanese Jaipong and Other Popular Music is the pinnacle of human achievement.

This is the real sleeper of the series, of the couple dozen I've heard. Can someone please, please tell me where to find more of this stuff?

I love every one of the gamelan discs, and almost all of the African discs (though I favour the slightly later discs recorded in stereo--the sound staging they achieve can be phenominal).

― I.M. (I.M.), Saturday, 18 November 2006 16:32 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/374531/

"Nonesuch has been reissuing its prestigious and influential Explorer series of world music collections."

Other than that, used record stores are your best bet.

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Saturday, 18 November 2006 19:40 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, I meant more Jaipong. But thanks.

― I.M. (I.M.), Saturday, 18 November 2006 20:50 (eighteen years ago)

Those Smithsonian Folkways 'Music of Indonesia' series are really worth a look. From the couple of discs I own I get the impression that its more varied, its less ceremonious and the recording does a good job of matching that by sounding a bit grittier than you would expect for world music.

Which is something I can get along with even more.

― xyzzzz__ (jdesouza), Saturday, 18 November 2006 21:29 (eighteen years ago)

Oh man, WANT.

― Joe Isuzu's Petals (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 18 November 2006 21:38 (eighteen years ago)

eight months pass...

the mexico..fiesta of chiapas and oaxaca one is really nice

― Filey Camp, Sunday, 22 July 2007 20:52 (eighteen years ago)

i want to give props to Kalpana again. it is one of my favorite records, period. nothing compares.

― the table is the table, Sunday, 22 July 2007 21:59 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

hamza el din - the water wheel

this is really really good. i have the court gamelan vol. 2, i think. next, maybe another gamelan one or one of the mbira ones. im sort of excited about these right now.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, February 8, 2005 6:47 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark

LOL 4+ years later, today i listened to the JASMINE ISLE javanese gamelan LP and both mbira comps. i like the first mbira comp way more than SOUL OF THE MBIRA, which seems to be the more-lauded one. i like the BAUL MUSIC LPs too...

and yeah ian, your five-year-old description of bali/java gamelan style seems reversed.

― 69, Friday, 7 August 2009 23:36 (sixteen years ago)

my favorites are the two "real bahamas" LPs.

― amateurist, Saturday, 8 August 2009 01:36 (sixteen years ago)

does anyone know if the missing catalog #s here are actual releases?

I made a list last week, will post soon.

― sleeve, Saturday, 8 August 2009 01:41 (sixteen years ago)

eight years pass...

lol dead link

there is no catalog # 72001, right? the series starts at #2 and ends at #94 afaict

― sleeve, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 03:18 (seven years ago)

Maybe some insight here: https://www.discogs.com/label/221084-Explorer-Series

― (V) (°,,,,°) (V) (Austin), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 04:03 (seven years ago)

that's what I was specifically referring to, sorry for being unclear.

― sleeve, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 13:58 (seven years ago)

there doesn't seem to be anything of substance written about this sublabel or its history, very frustrating

this article says there were 92 of them but the Discogs entry def has 93 and 94 listed, so maybe they started at #3? the flamenco album at #2 originally came out in 1958, before the series started.

http://archive.rockpaperscissors.biz/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.alt_press_release/project_id/1/alt_release/16.cfm

any more detailed info/links would be fantastic!

― sleeve, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 14:03 (seven years ago)

here's a short interview with David Lewiston about the label that fills in a few things, and it alleges that Lewiston's first "Music From The Morning Of The World" was the first true release of the series, jeez that's #15.

http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/lewiston.html

also seemingly confirmed here

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/arts/music/05pare.html

― sleeve, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 14:12 (seven years ago)

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