Christmas Gifts

Directed by Ed Gillan, Desperate Man Blues tells the story of self-proclaimed king of record collectors Joseph E. Bussard, Jr. of Frederick Maryland. Joe has amassed probably the greatest collection of 78 rpm recordings of country, blues, jazz, cajun and gospel music in the world. He has spent most of of his waking hours in pursuit of old 78s. To call it a hobby would be an insult: It's his life.

Check out the DVD Desperate Man Blues. Joe's an eccentric record collector who's preserved all sorts of magical corners of music ' although he says things like 'There are no good jazz records made after 1927.' '? Elvis Costello

It's nice to have a DVD of this great documentary on Joe Bussard, plus another featurette, King of All Record Collectors, and other bonus stuff. Bussard is a stone gas, grooving around his basement amidst one of the finest collections of pre-war 78s ever assembled. A few nice archival shots of Fahey, too. And the stories are hilarious.
'? Byron Coley and Thurston Moore, #4 on their Top 80 of 2006

Blog Critics: Art Of Field Recording Volume ll is an amazing collection of music and people that can't help but make you feel better about the world. There are fewer and fewer people today who play music because of what the song means to them in terms of their family's history or the people who taught it to them. To have the opportunity to experience listening to that type of music is a rare treat and one that might not be available to us for that much longer..

Pitchfork: ¦Rosenbaum's work will make you yearn for childhood lullabies, for'? precious as it sounds'? the songs that you keep in your heart.

Side A:
1. Mohamed Bergam ' Zine Mlih (Sublime Beauty)
2. Rais Haj Omar Wahrouch ' Aksaid Wili Moudanine (Ask Our Brothers the Immigrants)
3. Abdellah el Magana ' Kassidat el Hakka (The Poem Of The Truth)
 
Side B:
1. Jmimi, Lekbir and Fatma Anounya ' Makh-Makh (Why, Why?)
2. Bennasser Oukhouya and Cheikha Hadda Ouakki ' Ha Howa Ha Howa (That's Him)
3. Cheikh Mohamed Riffi ' Sidi M'Bark (Mr. M'bark)

65 antique photographs from such noted collectors as Sarah Bryan and Jim Linderman.

40 recordings from 1927-1956 from such esteemed 78 collectors as Joe Bussard. The songs on the first disc describe mother's activities on earth: kindness, discipline, teaching and love.

The second disc's songs deal with the coping involved with a mother's death and the emptiness it creates.

Foreword by Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is a Grammy-Award winning singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin.

Essay by Sarah Bryan. Sarah Bryan is the Editor-in-Chief on The Old-Time Herald magazine. The magazine casts a wide net, highlighting the Southeastern tradition while opening its pages to kindred and comparable traditions and new directions. Sarah is an antique-photograph collector and contributed several images to Never a Pal Like Mother. 

Compiled by Chris Menist, Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen features vintage oud and vocal music inspired by the qat-chewing, coffee-sipping, qambus-playing culture of Yemen.

Although part of the classical Arabic musical tradition, the music of Yemen takes its rhythmic lead as much from the East African coast (a mere 20 miles across the Red Sea) as the surrounding Arab Peninsula.

Little has been written about the music and culture of one of the world's oldest civilizations, and each 45rpm disc gives a small glimpse of the poetic tradition, the unique local oud styles as well as an insight into people's day-to-day lives, or the highs and lows of human relationships.

Overall, the compilation gives a flavor of the sights and sounds of Yemen, with detailed notes that tell the story of the hunt for music that has mostly lain forgotten in the antique markets of the capital, until now.

For most of his life, collector Jim Linderman has searched high and low for authentic things'?unique and special objects that define the artistic culture of the American experience. From folk art to popular culture, from pulp fiction to Delta Blues'? Jim is a walking authority on so many things American they are too numerous to mention.

One thing is certain'? his collecting interests are for things that have fallen through the cracks, those things lost and forgotten'?the box of material under the table at the flea market booth. If it wasn't for dedicated collectors like Jim Linderman'? so many important objects about our culture would have surely been lost to time and indifference.

Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950 is Linderman's first book. The 96-page hardcover book (8.75 x 6 inches) has 75 sepia photograph reproductions from 1890-1950 and is accompanied by a CD of rare gospel and folk recordings from original 78-RPM records (1924-1940).

It features recordings of artists like Washington Phillips, Carter Family, Tennessee Mountaineers, and lesser known and rare groups like the Belmont Silvertone Jubilee Singers, a vocal quartet in 1939.

Included as well are rare vocal recordings of sermons and preaching which highlight the fervor leading up to the moment of cleansing one's soul in immersion baptism. '? John Foster, Accidental Mysteries

Aquarius Records: ¦the bulk of this handsome book is made up of gorgeous archival images, 78 labels, old record tins, posters, pamphlets, old greyed photographs, mailing labels, instruction booklets, all sort of Victrola ephemera. It would be well worth it just as an art book. Makes you dread the oncoming MP3 takeover, what will future generations discover of our music, old busted hard drives? None of these cool old sleeves, decaying from years of moisture and insects, gorgeous little visual artifacts offering clues as to the music contained inside¦ So absolutely recommended.

Village Voice: Victrola Favorites features a bewildering array of exotica, religious chanting and barroom bawls from an equally bewildering array of countries '? India, USA, bamboo flutes in Korea, Chinese Buddhist monks chanting in Hong Kong circa 1915, Thailand, bamboo xylophones from Japan circa 1910, Zulus, Persia¦ We're talking about field recordings and beyond from the dawn of recorded music, pretty much. And yes, it totally is the s**t¦ you get a sensation of what the original recordings sounded like¦