The new Musical Explorers series from ARC Music makes available, often for the first time, a valuable range of historical films and audio recordings gathered from all over the world. The next release on this series is Music of Tibet, curated by Simon Broughton. Accompanying the album is Deben Bhattacharya’s film, Echoes from Tibet, which was shot in 1979 in Ladakh, Darjeeling and Dharamsala. This is where many Tibetan exiles and the Dalai Lama (who appears in the film) are based. The music on the accompanying album was recorded in 1975 and 1979 in the refugee communities of Ladakh, Himalchal Pradesh, Sikkim and Darjeeling, and also in Sarnath, close to Varansi where The Buddha gave his first sermon. The music on the album was recorded by Deben Bhattacharya on his Nagra in 1975 and 1979. “For the new Musical Explorers series by the British label, the world music expert Simon Broughton has raised a real treasure.”

Spirit of Ecstasy has been out-of-print for more than two decades which makes this reissue highly important. The album consists of the works Spirit of Ecstasy (1977) and the Way to Nepal (1971). Spirit of Ecstasy is lively, being serious and humorous at the same time - ingeniously dramatized and well constructed, the history of the car is used to tell of the most important events in the history of the 20th century. The Way to Nepal (1971) is an exploration in sound, which confronts the listener with a dramatic process shifting between a meditative soundscape and disturbing motor noise.

Chinese pipa virtuoso Gao Hong and Indian multi-instrumentalist Baluji Shrivastav OBE unite their rich musical traditions in a cross-cultural collaboration that shines with emotional depth. Alongside Yousef Ali Khan on tabla, Baluji's expressive Indian raags provide a spacious foundation for Gao's intuitive improvisations - at times echoing his motifs, at others soaring freely.

Folk songs are the songs of the people. From ancient times to the present, regardless of location, each era will inevitably produce a unique historical story, due to differences in culture, language, and religion. Most Chinese love songs are about human emotions and reflect the culture and tradition. In a conservative culture with generational differences, true love was not always easy nor always had a happy ending. Sometimes young lovers needed to fight their way through. This release is a stunning collection of Chinese love songs, including well-known traditional folk tunes and new compositions based on famous poems from dynasty poets. The works are performed by the renowned Heart of the Dragon Ensemble and played on traditional instruments with both male and female voices.

David Fanshawe (1942-2010) was a composer, ethnic sound recordist, photographer and TV personality. His ambition to record indigenous folk music began in the Middle East in 1966, and intensified on subsequent journeys through North and East Africa (1969-75).David's legacy is cemented in the Fanshawe Collections, some 3000 tapes and 60,000 images recorded on his travels in Arabia, Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific between 1967-94. This colorful album of exotic and beautiful music from Thailand and Laos, recorded by Mr. Fanshawe, is enchanting, hypnotic and full of charisma.