As recorded music developed in the early part of the 20th century, there was more and more pressure on commercial record labels to capitalise on indigenous music in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean. This was not some sort of altruistic exercise, rather a market that was open to exploitation. On the East African coast, site of the present day Tanzania and Kenya, there was a "gold rush" fever in the 1930s to record the local music stars. The music recorded was mostly "taarab", sung poetry accompanied by an ensemble that played with both traditional African rhythms with Arabic influences and used Arabic and Indian instruments. This exciting music is being here released on CD for the first time and has been remastered to produce outstanding sound quality from the original 78 rpm recordings.

Georgia lies to the south of Russia, bordered by the Black Sea to the west and by Turkey and Armenia in the south and Azerbaijan in the east. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Georgia is a small, very mountainous and poor country with a population of under five million but with a rich and ancient cultural life, mainly centring around music. Considering itself European, Georgia is at the crossroads of the east and west, a Christian country influenced by its Muslim neighbours.

Songs of Survival is a comprehensive survey of the traditional music of Georgia with well over two hours of mostly vocal music celebrating the three part polyphonies that lie at the heart of its musical life. There is a 28 page illustrated booklet with copious background notes as well as notes on the songs and performances - hymns, carols, lullabies, work songs, wrestling music, wedding songs, healing songs, city songs.

Georgia’s male polyphony is one of the musical wonders of the world. Both archaic and modernist, and melding influences from east and west.

In this first ever survey of the music of this was torn region, Michael Church lifts the veil on a vibrant musical tradition. The small but troubled Republic of Chechnya is a member of the Russian Federation, located in the North Caucasus Mountains between the Black and Caspian Seas. With a population of a little more that one million, its fierce fight for independence has kept it in the news and kept visitors out. A beautiful but harsh mountainous landscape has made for a traditionally hard and resilient people whose culture has rarely reached the outside world. Michael Church has recorded and compiled the stunning music on this disc partly in Chechnya itself and was held by the Russian police for his efforts. Some of the tracks are love songs and circle dances, others are living history, accompanied by balalaika, violin, drum and accordion, these songs celebrate heroes and denounce genocidal crimes.

This acoustic journey starts in Eastern India, and travels up the Ghat mountain range, into the plains of Western Bengal. In the North East it enters the Assamese river delta and finally climbs up to the Himalayan highlands. This musical journey roughly follows the real journey of the sound recordist Rolf Killius, who has been documenting Indian music for the last ten years.

This selection comprises regional music cultures (bargit, odissi, bhajan, Baul and loko geet), music of the minstrel balladeers (Daasari, Maasti and Baul) and music of the Adivasi cultures (Saora, Deori and Monpa).The collection focuses on what many believe to be India’s primary melody instrument - the voice. It includes many incredibly rare performances including those of the Adivasi, the original inhabitants of India. Most of the performances are accompanied, variously, on thumbra (3 string lute), drums, jenjurungrai (lute), cymbals and other percussion, violin, tambura, murali flute, etc etc.

Falak, (literally "sky" or "destiny") is a characteristic musical genre of the rural mountain regions of Tajikistan in Central Asia. Falak songs "cry to the sky" of the transient nature of life and separation from loved ones induced by a perceived inescapable fate. Tajik mountain music also comprises folk, dance and wedding songs, as well as a tradition of epic singing and settings of Persian classical poems.

This double CD highlights the crossover - the continuity and change - between rural and urban, traditional and modern, old and new, and includes exciting contemporary popular and symphonic music. Whether rooted in local practices or borrowed from elsewhere, all these musical expressions belong ultimately to the Tajik people and forma fertile musical world with a distinctive Tajik character.

A CD compilation of fantastic Arab women, stars of Egyptian theatre and song who recorded in the nineteen twenties and early thirties. Taken from original 78rpm recordings of the time and remastered to the highest standards, this collection features among others the legendary Umm Kulthum.

Between 1890 and 1920, theatres and European-style cabarets sprang up all over Egypt. Performers flocked there from all over the Arab world and from Europe. Isadora Duncan, Pavlova and Mistinguette included Cairo in their world tours. At their peak, the most famous female Arabic women singers were earning as much, if not more, than their male counterparts. The 1920s was the heyday of this music and its recordings and these performers can be seen as having struck a blow for the emancipation of women.

An exciting collection of authentic Greek bagpipes recorded across the entire country over the last thirty years or more. Many of the musicians are shepherds and peasants and have been recorded in their homes or local environments. Currently, Greece appears to have no bagpipe revival (perhaps due to the lack of bagpipe makers) so these recordings chronicle a rare traditional culture.