1 - Introduction, Downloading Help, and Armenia [Ocora 580005]

A modest beginning...

A possessive apostrophe can be placed in the blog title in either place. I will be posting other people's uploads or recordings of other peoples' music. Regarding the latter part, this means folk and art music outside of western and northern Europe.

As for the former: I will begin by saying there are some very good music blogs and YouTube channels out there, and I will certainly make explicit reference to them. But I have no intention to pass any work off as my own, and will merely direct traffic to these other places. There are many places on the internet, hopefully less widely known, that also have great music. In some cases, I will create my own download links to help make the material more accessible, while other times (like with the Internet Archive), I will assume people can find a way to download from the source.

The art used at the top is cropped from a public image photo from the Smithsonian archives. I like the image, but it's meant to be a little thought-provoking. There should always be some regret at seeing an instrument exhibited under these conditions, stripped of its being. The obscured picture at the bottom of the cabinet and the catalog number are both good touches. Much of the music posted here will be similarly disrobed, torn out of the ethnographic context and now on display. A sliver of ephemera may make an appearance here or there, probably at the bottom of the post. And it seems inevitable some sort of cataloguing mechanism will be found in many posts, even if the numbering has lost all its significance. Just something to consider.

Downloading Help for the Internet Archive

You can download the files in this upload individually from the Internet Archive in your browser by right-click + save-as.

But, you may want to find a way to automate this. Also, not every link at the Internt Archive will allow this right-click + save-as method, but these other methods will work. 

I'll suggest two different methods, mainly because they use different programs for those unable to use the first suggestion. I'd recommend trying to use JDownloader2 first.

1) JDownloader2:

This is a superb utility that is often the fastest way to download. In the program, load the archive.org link into the "LinkGrabber" tab. It will scan the site for available media links, which you can then choose to download. For archive.org, it will often be useful to sort the results by file type. Then, select all the mp3 or flac files, and download to the directory of your choice.

2) M3U File + Download Manager:

You can also choose to download the m3u file and import it into another program.

If you open it with a text editor, you will see it is nothing but a list of all the links. The m3u file can be imported into a download manager such as Internet Download Manager or GetRight. Depending on the program, you may need to rename the m3u file (.txt or .lst). 

If lossless files are available, as they are in this case, they can be downloaded by downloading the same m3u file. Open the file in a text editor. Do a Find and Replace operation, changing "mp3" to "flac". Save the altered file as a m3u/txt/lst or whatever is required, and import this list into a download manager.

Arménie: Musique De Tradition Populaire Et Des Achough [Ocora C 580005]

It seems fitting to begin with Armenian folk music on the Ocora record label. I was first exposed to Armenian music through radio programs of Charles Amirkhanian digitized for the Other Minds Archive. I had been listening to Amirkhanian for his Ode to Gravity series, which focused on twentieth-century classical music. His broadcasts of Armenian folk music began a really unanticipated love of a much broader range of music. I also wanted to select something from the Ocora label—a name that is synonymous with quality and also of considerable influence on my musical taste. There will be several posts from this label, and at the appropriate time will link to bloggers who have done tremendous work in sharing their high-quality rips with the rest of us.

While this is folk music, it is performed by professional musicians working for the Armenian Broadcasting Company in the capital. 

I recommend reading Ocora's liner notes, which are always informative. 

Tracklist
1 - Chant De Labour (Village De Choratyali)
2 - Chant De Moisson
3 - Air Du Berger
4 - Chant D'Émigré
5 - Air De Complainte
6 - Air De Danse
7 - Chant D'Amour
8 - Danse Des Montagnards
9 - Chant Épique
10 - La Grue
11 - Le Vent Tombe
12 - Voici L'Aras (Rivière D'Arménie)
13 - Complainte D'Une Mère
14 - Air De Mariage
15 - Clair De Lune
16 - Danse Du Village De Kami
17 - Kamantcha
18 - Toun En Kelkhen Imastoun Yes
19 - Mi Khost Ounim Iltimazor
20 - Poème Chanté De Chirin
21 - Poème Chanté De Tchivani
22 - Poème Chanté De Cheram
23 - Nazé-naz
24 - Que Dis-Je
25 - Il Était Ému
26 - Ma Bien-Aimée

Credits
Performer, Drum – Khatchadour Miguerditchian (tracks: 8)
Performer, Duduk [Doudouk] – Antranik Askarian (tracks: 5, 7, 11, 13), Antranik Sagarian (tracks: 14), Djivan Kasparian* (tracks: 13, 14), Khatchadour Khatchaturian (tracks: 5, 7), Vatché Hovsepian* (tracks: 11)
Performer, Percussion – Vladimir Ekorian (tracks: 7, 14)
Performer, Recorder [Chevi] – Antranik Askanian* (tracks: 3)
Performer, Vocals – Antranik Sagarian (tracks: 15), Arzas Oskanian* (tracks: 2, 10), Chara Dalian (tracks: 1), Chara Talian* (tracks: 19, 21), Chara Dalian (tracks: 9, 12), Hayrik Mouradian (tracks: 4, 6), Hovannes Patalian (tracks: 24), Khatchadour Miguerditchian (tracks: 16), Kouben Mateossian (tracks: 22), Loussik Kotchian (tracks: 7, 13, 25), Ophelia Hampartzoumian* (tracks: 23), Raffi Hovanessian* (tracks: 17), Roupen Margossian (tracks: 26), Serguey Assadourian (tracks: 16), Souren Haroutiounian (tracks: 16), Vagharchak Sahakian (tracks: 20), Vartouki Khatchatourian (tracks: 15), K. Zakarian* (tracks: 18)
Performer, Zurna [Zourna] – Serguey Assadourian (tracks: 8), Souren Haroutiounian (tracks: 8)
Recorded By, Directed By, Liner Notes – Robert Ataian*
Text By – Avedik Issahakian* (tracks: 13), Chahen Sarkayan (tracks: 25), Chahen Sakayan* (tracks: 26), Cheram (tracks: 22), Chirin (tracks: 20), Havassi (tracks: 23, 24), Hovannes Hovanessian (tracks: 12), Komitas (tracks: 4), Sayat Nova (tracks: 17 18 19), Tchivani (tracks: 21)
Photography By – Charles Duvelle
Artwork [Conception] – Délid'Art
Coordinator – Jean Laisné
Edited By [Editing numérique] – Pierre Guérineau
Executive-Producer [Secrétariat d'edition] – Joëlle Lapointe
Liner Notes [English Translation] – David Connaughton (3), Joséphine Bennett
Liner Notes [French Translation] – Ara Bartévian
Liner Notes [German Translation] – Volker Haller

FLAC and MP3 [Internet Archive]
Covers and Full Liner Notes (French, English, German) [discogs]

Covers and Full Liner Notes (French, English, German) [mega]