6/4/2023 0 Comments Opika pende![]() 78's made of this substance are brittle (hence the switch to more pliable vinyl), making Ward's many discoveries even more remarkable. Shellac, Ward explains, is a resin secreted from the lac beetle and dissolved in alcohol. All these recordings, which the record companies thought of as disposable, are in fact invaluable. In Shellac's informative introductory essay, Ward explains that he decided to refer to this music collectively as "global" because both "ethnic" and "world" music historically imply nonwhite, non-Western repertoires. This endlessly fascinating collection, which can be downloaded as 16/44.1 WAV, FLAC, or MP3 files plus a 186-page PDF book, has been nominated for a Grammy Award, an honor already bestowed on Ward's 2013 compilation, Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM. ![]() His work lays bare a rich, hidden world of recording. On his blog Excavated Shellacand now on a 100-track compilation, Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World's Music (1907≡967), curated and produced by Jonathan Ward and remastered by Michael GravesWard has lovingly plucked a selection of these artifacts from music history's rubbish heap and unearthed background information on each in a herculean feat of research. With manufacturers hoping to expand their sales globally, demo records featured regional music aimed at appealing to regional. Thousands of early 78rpm recordings were made not to preserve music but as disposable materials for selling gramophones. ![]() Jonathan Ward, a historian of recorded sound, has some surprising news. ![]()
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