Sublime Frequencies

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 West Africa and the Middle East.

The releases are usually divided into four categories: field recordings, folk and pop compilations, radio collages from specific geographic locales, and DVDs. The label was founded in 2003 by Richard Bishop and Alan Bishop of the experimental rock band Sun City Girls, and Hisham Mayet. It is headed by Alan Bishop and Hisham Mayet. Its releases are produced in limited quantities, usually up to a thousand copies.

Its mission statement is: Sublime Frequencies is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. Sublime Frequencies is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research.

In 2014 Sublime Frequencies created a Bandcamp page where listeners can listen to and purchase digital copies of some albums or individual tracks, including some previously sold-out albums. In 2016 E. Tammy Kim and Michael E. Veal published Punk Ethnography: Artists & Scholars Listen to Sublime Frequencies, which is a collection of interviews and essays about the label.

Releases List up-to-date .

CDs SF 001 – Folk and Pop Sounds of Sumatra Vol.1 SF 002 – Radio 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 ANOM26 – Leaf Music, Drunks, Distant Drums SF 016 – Streets of Lhasa 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 Isan SF 020 – Radio Phnom Penh SF 021 – Radio Sumatra: The Indonesian FM Experience SF 023 – Radio Pyongyang: 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 Souleyman: 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 Agadez (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 – Proibidão 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-Rai 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 052 – Omar Khorshid: Guitar El Chark (Guitar of the Orient) SF 053 – Koes Bersaudara 1967 SF 054 – Dara Puspita 1966-1968 SF 055 – Omar Souleyman: 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 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 065 – Staring Into The Sun DVD/CD/Book SF 066 – Group Doueh: Zayna Jumma SF 067 – Erkin Koray: Mechul (Singles and Rarities) SF 068 – Omar Souleyman: Haflat Gharbia (The Western Concerts) SF 079 – CD Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock from Singapore and Malaysia 1964-1970 SF 081 – Ethnic Minority Music of Southern China SF 086 – Radio Niger SF 088 – 1970s Algerian Folk & Pop SF 095 – Radio Vietnam SF 099 – Indian Talking Machine: 78rpm and Gramophone Collecting on the Sub-Continent Book + 2CD SF 101 – Music Of Xinjiang SF 102 – Outlier: Recordings From Madagascar SF 104 – Burkina Faso: Volume 2 SF 110 – The Photographs Of Charles Duvelle: Disques OCORA And Collection PROPHET (2CD + Book) SF 112 – Deben Bhattacharya – Paris To Calcutta (Men And Music On The Desert Road) (4CD + Book) SF 113 – Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band – Sira Ba Kele SF 114 – Senyawa – Sujud SF 115 – Sound Storing Machines: The First 78rpm Records From Japan, 1903-1912 SF 119 – Baligh Hamdi* = بليغ حمدي – Instrumental Modal Pop Of 1970s Egypt SF 120 – Phương Tâm – Magical Nights: Saigon Surf, Twist & Soul (1964-1966) SF 121 – Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band – Sonbonbela

DVDs SF 004 – Nat Pwe: Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul SF 005 – Jemaa El Fna: 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 – Niger: Magic and Ecstasy in the Sahel SF 026 – Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan SF 040 – Sumatran Folk Cinema SF 041 – Musical Brotherhoods From The Trans-Saharan Highway SF 047 – Palace of the Winds SF 059 – My Friend Rain SF 065 – Staring Into The Sun DVD/CD/Book SF 073 – This World Is Unreal Like A Snake In A Rope SF 075 – The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry In The Sahel SF 080 – The Pierced Heart and the Machete SF 082 – Small Path Music (With Laurent Jeanneau) SF 089 – Vodoun Gods On The Slave Coast SF 094 – The Stirring of a Thousand Bells

LPs SF 001 – Folk and Pop Sounds of Sumatra Vol 1 LP SF 006 – Princess Nicotine: Folk and Pop Sounds of Myanmar (Burma) Vol 1 LP SF 011 – Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk & Pop music Vol. 1 2-LP SF 019 – Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan SF 025 – Choubi Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds from Iraq 2LP 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 Agadez (Music of Niger) SF 042 – Shadow Music Of Thailand SF 043 – Bollywood Steel Guitar SF 045 – 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground SF 046 – Group Bombino – Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 2 SF 048 – Group Doueh: Treeg Salaam SF 052 – Omar Khorshid: 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 SF 066 – Group Doueh – Zayna Jumma SF 067 – Erkin Koray: Mechul (Singles and Rarities) SF 068 – Omar Souleyman: Haflat Gharbia (The Western Concerts) SF 071 – Eat the Dream: Gnawa Music from Essaouira SF 074 – Staring into the Sun: Ethiopian Tribal Music SF 077 – Scattered Melodies: Korean Kayagum Sanjo SF 078 – The Crying Princess: 78 rpm Records From Burma SF 083 – Hassānīya Music from the Western Sahara and Mauritania SF 084 – Koudede: Guitars from Agadez Vol. 7 SF 085 – Choubi Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds From Iraq Vol. 2 SF 087 – Rajasthan Street Music SF 088 – 1970s Algerian Folk & Pop SF 090 – Folk Music Of The Sahel Vol.1: Niger 2-LP SF 091 – Omar Khorshid and his Group: Live In Australia 1981 SF 092 – The Traveling Archive- Folk Music From Bengal SF 093 – A Distant Invitation: Ceremonial Street Recordings from Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand SF 096 – Music Of Tanzania 2-LP SF 097 – Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band – Juguya SF 098 – Adnan Othman – Bersyukor: A Retrospective of Hits by a Malaysian Pop Yeh Yeh Legend SF 101 – Music of Xinjiang: Uyghur and Kazakh Music from Northwest Xinjiang (China) SF 102 – Outlier: Recordings from Madagascar SF 103 – Burkina Faso: Volume 1 SF 104 – Burkina Faso: Volume 2 SF 105 – Burkina Faso: Volume 3 SF 106 – Kwangkay (Funerary Music Of The Dayak Benuaq Of Borneo) SF 107 – Music Of The Bahnar People From The Central Highlands Of Vietnam SF 108 – Ishq Ke Maare: Sufi Songs From Sindh And Punjab, Pakistan SF 109 – Where The Mountains Meet The Sky: Folk Music Of Ladakh SF 111 – To Catch a Ghost: Field Recordings from Madagascar SF 113 – Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band – Sira Ba Kele SF 114 – Senyawa – Sujud SF 115 – Sound Storing Machines: The First 78rpm Records From Japan, 1903-1912 SF 116 – Natik Awayez – Manbarani SF 117 – Mien (Yao) – Canon Singing in China, Vietnam, Laos SF 118 – Gyil Music Of Ghana's Upper West Region SF 119 – Baligh Hamdi* = بليغ حمدي – Instrumental Modal Pop Of 1970s Egypt SF 120 – Phương Tâm – Magical Nights – Saigon Surf, Twist & Soul (1964-1966) SF 121 – Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band – Sonbonbela SF 122 – Madhuvanti Pal – The Holy Mother: Madhuvanti Pal Plays The Rudra Veena SF 123 – Hani Polyphonic Singing in Yunnan China SF 124 – The Handover SF 125 – Music for Shape-Shifters: Field Recordings from the Amazonian Lowlands, 1981-1985 SF 126 – Tsapiky! Modern Music From Southwest Madagascar SF 127 – Born In The City Of Tanta – Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore And Bedouin Shaabi From Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 SF 128 – Group Inerane – Marhajan Bianou SF 129 – Music From The Mountain People of Central Vietnam SF 130 – Pastor Chris Congregation – West Virginia Snake Handler Revival “They Shall Take Up Serpents”

EPs SF 069 – Group Inerane: Guitars From Agadez Volume. 4 SF 070 – Hayvanlar Alemi – Yekermo Sew SF 072 – Koudede – Guitars from Agadez Vol. 5 SF 076 – Koudede: Guitars from Agadez Vol. 6 SF 084 – Koudede: Guitars from Agadez Vol. 7

Books SF 099 – Indian Talking Machine: 78rpm and Gramophone Collecting on the Sub-Continent Book + 2CD SF 110 – The Photographs Of Charles Duvelle: Disques Ocora And Collection Prophet Book + 2CD SF 112 – Paris to Calcutta (Men and Music on The Desert Road) by Deben Bhattacharya Book + 4CD

Sublime Frequencies

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