Fonotopia Shorts: Marika Papagika

In this Fonotopia short, Ian cops to a penchant for hyperbole. But…

…could Marika Papagika actually be one of the greatest singers who ever lived or recorded?

Find out for yourself, in this new Fonotopia short about a woman who made it from the tiny Mediterranean island of Kos to owning her own music club in midtown New York City:

Fonotopia Shorts: Actual Psychedelic Music

A Huichol Indian peyote ceremony, recorded in Central Mexico in 1944 for the Library of Congress by folklorist Henrietta Yurchenco. As Ian says, “Sounds pretty normal, nourishing and human to me. But then, I’m not a psych collector.”

Fonotopia Shorts: Obed Pickard

Jew’s harp, guibarde, munnharpe, moorsing, dan moi, khmous, genggong–call it what you will, the modest instrument is about as universal as they come. Here, Ian serves up a 1927 recording of American practitioner Obed Pickard. The guy who introduced Ian to the record said “If you like weird records, there’s a real weird one over there.”

Fonotopia Shorts: Yahya Zarpanje

The sitar and the guitar derive their names from the Persian word Tar, which means “string.” Tar is also the name of a Persian stringed instrument. Ian likens the guitar pyrotechnics of Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix to the virtuosity of tar player Yahya Zarpanje, the subject of this Fonotopia Short. We think you’ll agree.

Fonotopia Shorts: Hirabai Barodekar

She was an innocent young woman, a member of the court of Baroda. He was a lowly court servant from a tribe of rural musicians. I think you know where this is going.

In this second Fonotopia Short, Ian brings you the story and the music of Hirabai Barodekar, the daughter of those two star-crossed lovers.

Fonotopia Shorts: Rev. Kelsey

We’re going to get you some more full-length Fonotopias as soon as we can, but right now we’re trying to get this thing up on the airwaves. In the meantime, we’re going to bring you one song at a time.

In this first Fonotopia Short, Ian introduces us to the electric Reverend Samuel Kelsey, recorded in Washington, D.C. in 1947. Listen for that magical moment when sermon becomes song.