Hermetic Journals - Ocora Records Special Music
My first encounter with "Hermetic Journals" is a beauty. This 1 hour "Ocora" session is an excellent guided trip through a small part of the immense and wonderful Ocora label. And what a nice surprise, almost at the end i hear "Gagaku • Ono Gagaku Kaï", one of my all time Ocora favs.
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This episode of Hermetic Journals is dedicated to the brief exploration of the amazing French ethnomusicological label Ocora. Their catalogue is vast; so many more hours are required to make a comprehensive introduction. Therefore I resort to selection of my personal favourites. Structure-wise I dedicate roughly similar sections to the music of African continent, Western + South Asia with the final 20 minutes or so spent in East / Southeast Asia. It felt appropriate to bookend this ‘journey’ with a beautiful and timeless sounding overtone singing – an almost universal singing practice that coincidentally exists in traditional music of many cultures, eras and ethnic groups - by David Hykes and his Harmonic Choir.
Artwork by Andrew William Elvish