Ethnic State Vocal-Choreographic ensemble “Russ” – Original Russia

The State Vocal-Choreographic ensemble "Russ" from ancient Vladimir, city of the Golden Ring of Russia, is comparatively young. It was 25 years of old in 1999. Since 1986 Mikhail Firsov is at the head of the ensemble. He graduated from the Gnesins State music university, he is an Honoured art worker of Russian Federation, a State prize winner of Russia.

The ensemble "Russ" is unique in its artistic face (what is always marked by the press and audience). Each artist of the group is a high professional dancer or singer. Using the richest traditions of the Russian musical culture "Russ" is an ensemble of a wide range of performance. The music of the ensemble has first of all the folk base with symphonic and rock elements.

Ethnic ensemble "Russ" - Original Russia

Music featured on his CD is a multi-moving creation for choir and folk instruments orchestra. The author, Mikhail Firsov, wrote this poem (as he defined the genre of this composition) for a concrete performing company - "Russ" State Vocal-Choreographic ensemble. His search of new performing forms and actual art conceptions, led him to a theme of Russia's historical fate since paganism till Orthodoxy.

His attention to the idea of historical Unity of Russian people isn't chance, it meets the present time. Besides, wide retrospective method of approach let the author cover and reproduce in colors of folk music art the variety of ancient Russian rituals.

Musical pictures are discovered consequently and figuratively in chronological order in the poem, each of them has its own meaning. The composition is opened with "Pagan Russia" showing the listeners pictures of wide steppes of old Russian Land. Unusual timbres of ancient wind instruments - ocarinas together with muffled sounds of kettle drums as background music, bring your mind to old times.

"Winter Road" going after "Whitsunday Round Dance" is a symbol of Russia with its wide, snowy landscape (you can feel it through "lonely" solo of Vladimir horn and jingling bells). In "Buffoons Have Come" the author longs to snow us the atmosphere of medieval Russia. "Bride's Lamentation" is a poetry of Russian wedding ceremony and image of Russian woman... "Vladimirka" called after the road to penal servitude, begins with bell chimes and old Russian anthem "God, Save the Tsar", which symbolizes faith of Russian people to their Motherland. But the finale shows us the ruin of the empire. Female choir "Oh, you, road..." recalls ruined fates and all people's sorrow. That is why the finale "Pledge of Russian Land" on M.Voloshin's verses sounds so up-to-date. The prophetic poet's words "Arise, Russia!" are heard as rhythmical counterpoint to the music. The pathetic reciting of Emmanuil Vitorgan inspires faith and hope, calls the contemporaries and makes you think not only of the historical fate of Russia, but of its future, spiritual Rebirth.

The musical group of the ensemble is very original. Eight musicians-virtuosos play skillfully three or four musical instruments. There are some unique among them: Vladimir horns, fifes, zhaleykas (kind of wind instrument), reed-pipes, bagpipes and welled lyre. And there are some traditional instruments: balalaika, domra (Russian stringed folk instrument), bayan (kind of accordion).

Track listing:

1. Pagan Russia.mp3
2. Old Poem.mp3
3. Buffoons Have Come.mp3
4. Whitsunday Round Dance.mp3
5. Winter Road.mp3
6. The Fiancee cry.mp3
7. Vladimirka.mp3
8. Pledge of Russian Land.mp3

Bitrate: 144 kbps, size: 45.6 mb

Download Ethnic ensemble "Russ" - Original Russia

Thomas Barcuee – Temple :: शब्द : The Essence of beautiful music

Thomas Barquee was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1963. At an early age, he studied classical keyboard and piano and became interested in pop music in his teens. Barquee formed his first band, Million Dollar Secret, in the early '90s and released one album, Under the Surface. Following the bands demise, Barquee released a solo album, Long Way to Go, which scored a European hit with "Girls Talk." While on a break from touring, Barquee released his second album in 1992, Dancing on My Own, followed in 1994 by Zulu Time.

After moving to Los Angeles, Barquee took advantage of freelance opportunities, creating music for film, television, and advertising. Gradually becoming disillusioned with contemporary pop music, he developed a spiritual interest in ambient and trance music, which culminated in Temple, released on the Hearts of Space label in 2000. Barquee recorded Temple utilizing his unique vocal applications while playing all of the musical parts with the exception of percussion.

Thomas Barcuee - Temple

For some time now it's seemed as if the realm of wordless vocal exotica has been ruled by women - what with Lisa Gerrard, Vas, Ekova, and Adiemus singing wordless hieroglyphics. But now, Thomas Barquee follows fellow German-born singer Thomas Otten in asserting a male timbre in the proceedings.

Barquee merges Gregorian ambiences, synthesizer framing, and what sounds like a glossolalia of Latin and Sufi phonemes. His attractive alto voice doesn't employ esoteric techniques. There's no harmonic singing, Mongolian throat growls, or Qawaali wails. Instead, he's like a choirboy in a state of ecstasy as he arcs across his chants, articulating an inner rumination. Favoring spare and resonant synthesizer orchestrations, distant hand percussion, and the occasional touchstone of piano and acoustic guitar, he gives his music an airbrushed sheen, creating a chromium cathedral. Though occasionally edging toward sweet sentimentality, Barquee always pulls back from the saccharin precipice.

Track listing:

• 01 La Buddha.mp3


• 02 Guru.mp3


• 03 Rasa.mp3


• 04 Maya.mp3


• 05 Lama.mp3


• 06 Lila.mp3

Bitrate: 320 kbps, size: 129 mb.

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Listen track sample:

Ottmar Liebert - Nouveau Flamenco | Download for free from Gusli

Ottmar Liebert - Nouveau Flamenco

Ottmar Liebert's most famous album gave a new genre its title, and the New Age market a new champion. Nouveau Flamenco represents a spirited new sound eminating from Santa Fe. Its magic blends the heart and soul of the Spanish gypsy guitar with a contemporary groove, a sound mastered by Ottmar Liebert.

Liebert's classical guitar training is flavored by jazz and pop influences, and his music expresses what is inseparably universal and deeply personal. The ancient dramas of sorrow and joy are released and artfully transformed for the listener of today. Nouveau Flamenco is truly acoustic poetry with elegance and passion.

Track listing:

01 - Barcelona Nights.mp3
02 - Heart Still - Beating (4 Berlin).mp3
03 - 3 Women Walking.mp3
04 - 2 the Night (Fast Cars) (4 Frank).mp3
05 - Passing Storm.mp3
06 - Santa Fe.mp3
07 - Surrender 2 Love.mp3
08 - Waiting 4 Stars 2 Fall.mp3
09 - Road 2 Her - Home (Bulerias).mp3
10 - After the Rain.mp3
11 - Flowers of Romance (4 Bok Yun).mp3
12 - Moon over Trees.mp3
13 - Shadows.mp3

Bitrate 320 kbps, size 107 mb

Listen track: Heart Still - Beating



Ottmar Liebert - Nouveau Flamenco | Download for free from Gusli

Rahim Alhaj - Home Again | Download for free from Gusli

Rahim Alhaj - Home Again

This is the most recent of Alhaj's CD (released after his Grammy nomination for best World Music CD) and is a beautiful and unique musical story of his first trip back to Baghdad, Iraq after 13 years in exile. His contemporary compositions, rooted in traditional Iraqi rhythms and modes show a masterly ability to communicate a wide range of emotions and moods including deep connection to his mother (Closeness), sorrow for American pain and loss after 9-11 (Gray Morning), horror at a close cousin's death in Iraq (Qassim), Compassion for all living beings modeled on Far Eastern styling, Tango rhythm and connection to a new favorite tree in a new homeland (Oak) and cowboy blues combined with Oriental structure (Baghdad, New Mexico).

Track listing:

01 Closeness.mp3
02 Iraqi Lullaby.mp3
03 Oak.mp3
04 Gray Morning.mp3
05 Qassam.mp3
06 Compassion (For Jackie & Michael).mp3
07 Trip.mp3
08 Fly Away.mp3
09 Baghdat , New Mexico.mp3

Bitrate: 192 kbps, size: 74 mb

Download Rahim Alhaj - Home Again

Listen track: Rahim Alhaj - Iraqi Lullaby

Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan - Alif: Love Supreme | Download for free from Gusli

Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan - Alif: Love Supreme

The latest release from Turkish-Egyptian multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek is all about love, and its sense of romance spills across all 12 tracks, from the lush "Gardener" to the heavy melodicism of "Lachin." The songs themselves are all traditional, but Tekbilek, a master of the flute known as the ney and many other instruments, brings a timeless sensibility to the music.

While there's a definite Middle Eastern underpinning to everything, in part thanks to percussionist extraordinaire Steve Shehan, whose remarkable senses offer the muscle behind the music, the melodies are sometimes sweetened a little for Western consumption, as on "Forbidden Love," where the voices rest on clouds of synthesizer, and at times the feel is pan-Mediterranean, bringing in strains of Greek and Italian feel to the mix. There's nothing wrong with that at all, and its heart's in the right place. The love songs aren't all romance - they're an exploration of the different forms of love, be it a love of life, or divine love (as exemplified by the epic title track, showing Tekbilek's Sufi upbringing), and Tekbilek brings in some excellent collaborators, both vocal and instrumental, including the flamenco guitar of José Rodrigues Muñoz, who brings in an influence that originated in North Africa before landing in Spain. The end result of all this is an album of beautiful songs, like the classic "Dark Eyes," performed with grace and sensitivity, and sometimes a sense of real adventure.

Track listing:

1. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Dulger.mp3
2. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Gardener.mp3
3. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Laundry Girl.mp3
4. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Dark Eyes.mp3
5. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Shinanay.mp3
6. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - On't Cry My Love.mp3
7. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Alif.mp3
8. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Dadash.mp3
9. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Take A Flight.mp3
10. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Ya Bouy Al Atrash.mp3
11. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Lachin.mp3

Bitrate 256 kbps, size: 116 mb

Download Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan - Alif: Love Supreme

Listen track Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Dadash

Tarika - Son Egal | Download for free from Gusli

Tarika’s 1997 album Son Egal was a further helping of the exuberant, infectious, buoyant music of Madagascar’s internationally popular roots music adventurers, brought to a new peak by sought-after producers Simon Emmerson (Baaba Maal/Afro Celt Sound System) and Martin Russell. But it also had powerful central themes about historic reconciliation and current political corruption.

Tarika - Son Egal

Track listing

01 - Tsy Kivy.mp3

02 - Avelo.mp3

03 - Voandalana.mp3

04 - Zotra.mp3

05 - Sonegaly.mp3

06 - Rafrancois.mp3

07 - Vavaka.mp3

08 - Ady.mp3

09 - Sento.mp3

10 - Raha Tiany.mp3

11 - Forever.mp3

12 - Diso Be.mp3

13 - Aza Misy Miteniteny.mp3

Bitrate: 192 kbps, size: 82 mb

Tarika - Son Egal | Download for free from Gusli

Listen track Tarika - Tsy Kivy:

Madagascar music

In the 19th century, the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar was already a highly developed civilisation, rich in human as well as natural resources - a desirable prize for European powers. In the mid 1890s, the French forcibly colonised the country, exiling their last queen in 1897. 50 years later there was a huge uprising which the colonial power put down. To do so, they used ‘Tirailleur Sénegalais’, African troops trained in Senegal. To the Malagasy, they were all simply ‘Senegalese’, and to this day the Senegalese are demonised because of terrible atrocities which took place.

Tarika’s leader Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo (Hanitra) realised that 1997 significantly marked both the 100th anniversary of the last queen’s exile and the 50th of the 1947 uprising. It’s a period of history that has almost been taboo, because of course some influential Malagasy co-operated with the colonial power and the affair coloured the rest of the indepence struggle up to its granting in 1960 and beyond. So while Tarika took a well-earned break in 1996 after 4 years non-stop touring, she set about researching what really happened in 1947. She made exhausting field trips deep into the Malagasy countryside to interview now-elderly first-hand witnesses, talked to historians and combed archives. She learned the true stories about the ‘Senegalese’.

Surely, she reasoned, after 50 years it was time for healing the wounds of history, for the sake of younger generations. But the lessons of history have been trampled by corrupt politicians and businessmen who have driven the country to its knees: it’s now one of the poorest on the planet. So Son Egal was inspired by all of this. It’s a plea for reconciliation that even had Senegalese musicians from Baaba Maal’s band guesting on it. It’s strongly critical of the men in suits. To say the least, it was a hot potato in Madagascar, gaining saturation airplay for quite a while after its release.

But being Tarika it was also business as usual. Even their songs that go for the political jugular make you want to dance like crazy. Those unmatchable harmonies piled on top of the energised sounds of updated Malagasy traditional instruments continue to make this one of world music’s most accessible bands.

Son Egal was a No.1 album on the European and U.S. World Music charts (the 3rd most airplayed for the whole of 1997), and received rave reviews all over, from The Times to Playboy, Billboard to Wired. It received the 1998 AFIM Indie award for contemporary world music album.

Nacho Sotomayor - La Roca Vol.7 (2009) | Download for free from Gusli

Nacho Sotomayor - La Roca Vol.7 (2009)

La Roca Vol.7 is a look back to renew a personal dialogue that began with the first rocks. Atmospheres become more leisurely, vowel sounds deeper and more widespread. Its exponents are the tracks "Lied" and the magnificent voice of Laura Moyano, "Interior", which was forced to leave the album with the same name in 2007, "Mykonos", which initially should have been called "Verra la Morte" and "Noises With Life", which radiates positivity for each and every one of the latter that form and you can download from the official website of Nacho (www.nachosotomayor.com).

Track listing

01 Nacho Sotomayor - Noises With Life.mp3
02 Nacho Sotomayor - Sono Qui.mp3
03 Nacho Sotomayor - Destino.mp3
04 Nacho Sotomayor - Unfinished Loop (part I).mp3
05 Nacho Sotomayor - Belle Du Seigneur.mp3
06 Nacho Sotomayor - Sunrise (Evening mix).mp3
07 Nacho Sotomayor - Mikonos.mp3
08 Nacho Sotomayor - To Dawn (part I).mp3
09 Nacho Sotomayor - Lied.mp3
10 Nacho Sotomayor - Unfinished Loop (part II).mp3
11 Nacho Sotomayor - Infinito.mp3
12 Nacho Sotomayor - E' Amore O Non E Amore.mp3
13 Nacho Sotomayor - Angels.mp3
14 Nacho Sotomayor - Interior.mp3
15 Nacho Sotomayor - To Dawn (part II).mp3

Bitrate 320 kbps, size: 148 mb

Download for free Nacho Sotomayor - La Roca Vol.7 (2009)

Listen track from this album:



Nacho Sotomayor - La Roca Vol.7 (2009) | Download for free from Gusli