Sublime Frequencies
Encyclopedia
Sublime Frequencies is a record label
based in Seattle, Washington that focuses exclusively on "acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers," mostly from Southeast Asia
, North Africa
, and the Middle East
. The releases are primarily divided into four categories: field recordings, folk
and pop
compilations, radio collages from specific geographic locales, and DVD
s. The label is headed by Alan Bishop
and Hisham Mayet. Its releases are produced in limited quantities (usually 1,000 copies), and are usually not reprinted after these copies sell out; thus, some of the label's releases are out of print.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
based in Seattle, Washington that focuses exclusively on "acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers," mostly from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The releases are primarily divided into four categories: field recordings, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
compilations, radio collages from specific geographic locales, and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s. The label is headed by Alan Bishop
Alan Bishop
Alan Bishop is an American musician, most famous for being the bassist and vocalist of experimental rock band Sun City Girls. He has also released solo material under the aliases Alvarius B. and Uncle Jim...
and Hisham Mayet. Its releases are produced in limited quantities (usually 1,000 copies), and are usually not reprinted after these copies sell out; thus, some of the label's releases are out of print.
CDs
- SF 001 - Folk and Pop Sounds of SumatraSumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
Vol.1 - SF 002 - Radio JavaJavaJava is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
- SF 003 - Night Recordings From Bali
- SF 006 - Princess Nicotine: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma)
- SF 007 - Radio Morocco
- SF 008 - Radio Palestine: Sounds of the Eastern Mediterranean
- SF 009 - I Remember Syria 2-CD
- SF 011 - Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk & Pop music Vol. 1
- SF 012 - Bush Taxi Mali: Field Recordings From Mali
- SF 013 - Brokenhearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica from Southeast Asia
- SF 014 - Radio India: The Eternal Dream of Sound 2-CD
- SF 016 - Streets of LhasaLhasaLhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
- SF 017 - Harmika Yab Yum: Folk Sounds From Nepal
- SF 018 - Folk and Pop Sounds of Sumatra Vol. 2
- SF 019 - Molam: Thai Country Groove From IsanIsanIsan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
- SF 020 - Radio Phnom PenhPhnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
- SF 021 - Radio Sumatra: The Indonesian FM Experience
- SF 023 - Radio PyongyangPyongyangPyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
: Commie Funk and Agit Pop from the Hermit Kingdom - SF 024 - Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar Vol. 2
- SF 025 - Choubi Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds from Iraq
- SF 027 - Ethnic Minority Music of Northeast Cambodia
- SF 028 - Radio Thailand: Transmissions from the Tropical Kingdom 2-CD
- SF 029 - Radio Algeria
- SF 030 - Group Doueh: Guitar Music From The Western Sahara
- SF 031 - Omar SouleymanOmar SouleymanOmar Souleyman is an Arab musician from Ra's al-'Ayn, Syria, in the north eastern region of Syria. He began his career in 1994, working with a number of musicians with whom he still performs, and around five hundred studio and live albums have been released under his name...
: Highway to Hassake (Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria) - SF 032 - Thai Pop Spectacular (1960s-1980s)
- SF 033 - Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan Vol. 2
- SF 034 - Group Inerane: Guitars From AgadezAgadez-Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...
(Music of Niger) - SF 035 - Music of Nat Pwe: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar Vol. 3
- SF 036 - Ethnic Minority Music of Southern Laos
- SF 037 - Ethnic Minority Music of North Vietnam
- SF 038 - ProibidãoProibidãoProibidão, which literally translates to "strongly prohibited," is a genre of Brazilian funk music originating from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where it began in the early 1990s as a parallel phenomenon to the growth of drug gangs in the many slums of the city...
C.V: Forbidden Gang Funk From Rio de Janeiro - SF 039 - Latinamericarpet: Exploring the Vinyl Warp of Latin American Psychedelia Vol. 1
- SF 043 - Bollywood Steel Guitar
- SF 044 - Radio Myanmar (Burma)
- SF 045 - 1970's Algerian Proto-RaiRaïRaï is a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s....
Underground - SF 049 - Omar Souleyman: Dabke 2020 (Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria)
- SF 050 - Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular Vol. 2
- SF 051 - Singapore A-Go-Go
- SF 053 - Koes Bersaudara 1967
- SF 054 - Dara Puspita 1966-1968
- SF 055 - Omar SouleymanOmar SouleymanOmar Souleyman is an Arab musician from Ra's al-'Ayn, Syria, in the north eastern region of Syria. He began his career in 1994, working with a number of musicians with whom he still performs, and around five hundred studio and live albums have been released under his name...
: Jazeera Nights - SF 057 - Ethnic Minority Music of Northwest Xinjiang (China)
- SF 058 - Koes Plus Volumes 1 & 2 (1969-1970)
- SF 059 - My Friend Rain
DVDs
- SF 004 - NatNat (spirit)The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest . Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths . They may thus also be called nat sein...
Pwe: Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul - SF 005 - Jemaa El FnaDjemaa el FnaJamaa el Fna is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter . The origin of its name is unclear: Jemaa means "congregational mosque" in Arabic, probably referring to a destroyed Almoravid mosque...
: Morocco's Rendezvous of the Dead - SF 010 - Folk Music of the Sahara: Among the Tuareg of Libya
- SF 015 - Isan: Folk and Pop Music of Northeast Thailand
- SF 022 - NigerNigerNiger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
: Magic and Ecstasy in the SahelSahelThe Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.... - SF 026 - Phi Ta KhonPee Ta KhonPee Ta Khon is the most common name for a group of festivals held in Dan Sai, Loei province, Isan, Thailand. The events take place over three days some time between March and July, the dates being selected annually by the town’s mediums.The whole event is called Bun Luang...
: Ghosts of Isan - SF 040 - Sumatran Folk Cinema
- SF 041 - Musical Brotherhoods From The Trans-Saharan HighwayTrans-Sahara HighwayThe Trans-Sahara Highway is a transnational highway project to pave, improve and ease border formalities on an existing trade route across the Sahara Desert...
- SF 047 - Palace of the Winds
- SF 059 - My Friend Rain
LPs
- SF 030 - Group Doueh: Guitar Music From The Western Sahara
- SF 031 - Omar Souleyman: Highway to Hassake (Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria) 2-LP
- SF 034 - Group Inerane: Guitars From AgadezAgadez-Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...
(Music of Niger) - SF 042 - Shadow Music Of Thailand
- SF 045 - 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground
- SF 046 - Group BombinoGroup BombinoGroup Bombino were a music group of Agadez, Niger led by Tuareg guitarist Omara Moctar and including some of the members of their associates Group Inerane....
- Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 2 - SF 048 - Group Doueh: Treeg Salaam
- SF 052 - Omar KhorshidOmar KhorshidOmar Khorshid . Movie star and famed guitarist of the Middle east, he composed the music for thirteen films...
: Guitar El Chark (Guitar of the Orient) - SF 056 - Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna
- SF 060 - Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974
- SF 061 - Group Inerane: Guitars From Agadez Vol 3
- SF 062 - Hayvanlar Alemi: Guarana Superpower
- SF 063 - Group Doueh: Beatte Harab
- SF 064 - Pakistan: Folk & Pop Instrumentals 1966 - 1976
External links
- Sublime Frequencies homepage
- Dusted magazine's early profile of the label and review of its first batch of releases
- Conversation with Mark Gergis (Sublime Frequencies collaborator) on his sound collection (2011)
- Interview with Mark Gergis (Sublime Frequencies collaborator) on his sound collection (2011)