The Old World Music Shows
This page introduces the Old World Music shows- c.30 minute broadcasts devoted to a particular country or tradition.
I created these shows back in 2012 and 2013, under the Un-Popular Music name. After ten shows, I ran out of energy, and struggled to get anyone to pay attention. I think the shows stand the test of time, and I am reissuing them here.
Each show features three recordings- those that in my view are the most outstanding examples that I’ve found in my 20+ years of collecting. The selection may include 78s, LPs, tapes and CDs, originals and reissues, and some tracks familiar to enthusiasts, if not to anyone else. The idea is to focus attention on a small number of exemplary tracks from a specific country/tradition, and not perpetuate the jumble of styles and lengthy listings that characterize many reissues, exhilarating though that approach can be.
The show format is designed to break away from often ponderous, reverential treatments of old world music. Each show opens and concludes with a piece of music as far removed from the country/tradition at hand as can be imagined (and I mean Judy Garland or Kanye West, not Madagascar). The aim is to build bridges and creativity, and refuse to keep everything segregated. Where available, information is provided on dates, labels etc, but the goal is to clear the way for delight in the music itself, not get distracted by technical details.
The shows start in England, where I’m from, and continues through Europe and around the world. Each show’s page lists additional tracks from that country/tradition which I regard as outstanding; the aim being to build the kind of resource outlined on the Ambition page. Some may disagree with my selections, but that is the point. Others are encouraged to contribute their own comments and track suggestions to make the listings as comprehensive and compelling as possible. If a track is available on a contemporary format, a link is provided
to the label’s website.
However extensive a single collection might be, the vision of Old World Music is to use the power of the Internet to build awareness and access that no one person could ever achieve, and make this much neglected, unpopular music popular once more.
This page links to every U-PM Music Show released to date.
#10- Sweden (May 2013)
The beguiling pastoral call of Elin Lisslass (1950s?), a fiddle duet from Pers Erik and Pers Hans (1960s?) and the Chicago Premier
Kvartet from 1923.
#9- Norway (March 2013)
Some dazzling hardanger fiddle from the 1940s(?), four short pieces from Sigrid Faremo (1950s) and a folk song from Carsten Woll (1918).
#8- Switzerland (January 2013)
An alp horn, a field recording of "going up to the alp"- both from the 1930s- and something from Gebruder Moser (1925).
#7- Austria (December 2012)
Here we have a field recording from Johnny Parth's Austrian travels, the Original Wiener Schrammel-Quartett from 1910 and some folk Mmsic of the Tyrolean Alps.
#6- Germany (November 2012)
Three beat up 78s for this show- a hymn, the Manhattan Quartet and some yodeling.
#5- France (May 2012)
France is also tricky when it comes to vintage recordings. I've picked an epic ballad sung by Marie-Josephe Bertrand (1959), pipes and accordion from Martin Cayla and Adrian Bras (1928), and an air from Jean Renaud (1951).
#4- Ireland (May 2012)
This show kicks off with a stirring classic from uilleann pipes master Leo Rowsome, a charming fiddle turn from Paddy Killoran (1928) and Margaret Barry on banjo from 1955.
#3- Wales (April 2012)
It's tough to find many vintage recordings of vernacular music from Wales. I selected a Welsh Quartette from the 1920s(?) singing Y Delyn Aur, a ballad from Meredydd Evans from 1954 and a piece from harpist Nansi Richards.
#2- Scotland (April 2012)
Features unaccompanied Gaelic singer Archie Grant (1940s?), psalm line-singing from the Isle of Lewis (1969) and Jane Turriff (1967) on piano.
#1- England (April 2012)
Includes tracks by Billy Pigg (1950s?) on the Northumbrian pipes, Billy Cooper (1962) on the dulcimer and May Bradley (1959).
Ranking Old World Music
An Old World Music Ranking is completely ridiculous. In fact, I've found scoring and ranking this music very illuminating- and scores and ranking make up part of these shows.
In 1996, to help manage my growing collection of old recordings, I started to score reach track. With so many unfamiliar languages and styles, it was hard to remember what I liked and why. As time went on, scoring became a fundamental part of enjoying the music, and prompted questions about why some regions and traditions appeared to have more recorded output than others, or scored more highly. Scoring helped distill what I liked, what I didn't have and what I might look for. I've scored ever since.
Each country/tradition is shown with an average score out of four (with four being the highest). Scores reflect my perception of relative musical quality from a non-technical, contemporary perspective. Since these shows were made, I've collected many more recordings. Average scores and rankings have moved accordingly, but once a country is represented by a reasonable number of tracks, it is rare for its position to change dramatically.
For the shows, the recordings tend to be lumped together by country- rather than style or sub-region- which often reflects both patchy coverage and my ignorance of stylistic and regional variation.
If you're thinking "What's this guy talking about?! He clearly knows nothing!", please get in touch to point out how misguided my ranking
of country x, y or z appears to you. I'd very much welcome your suggestions for tracks I've not come across that would improve a
particular score, or your perspective on tracks I dislike. Moreover, why does a particular country/tradition rank where it does? Does the
ranking reflect purely my perspective, or something broader? In what ways do the performers, cultural insiders and the contemporary
listener hear things differently?
Why am I treating this music as if it was Taylor Swift or Led Zeppelin? Because it's all popular music, and ranking makes the music more
accessible, even if the starting point is that you disagree with the ranking. Old world music is a vast treasury of diversity and innovation,
and we have access like never before. Let's embrace this gift, not just preserve it without anyone noticing. Let's not end up with just Taylor
Swift and Led Zeppelin (and Mozart).