Excavated Shellac: Reeds

The Excavated Shellac series from Atlanta-based archival label Dust-to-Digital offers up rare, previously unreleased 78-rpm records from around the globe that are focused around a unifying theme. Following their inaugural collection, Strings, they've added a second volume focused on reeded instruments. Culled from a wide variety of international cultures, the Reeds collection is filled with the exuberant, expressive tones of the zurna, duduk, shehnai, piri, and myriad other instruments, with the accordion being the most recognizable one to Western ears. This music is often loud and shrill with a sound intended to carry outdoors. These songs from the dawn of the recording age hail from France, India, Kurdistan, Turkey, North Korea, Tanzania, and various other countries throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. ~ Timothy Monger