BOOK+2CD - INDIAN TALKING MACHINE: 78rpm and Gramophone Collecting on the Sub-Continent SF099

Sublime Frequencies is proud to present INDIAN TALKING MACHINE: 78rpm and Gramophone Collecting on the Sub-Continent. Created and produced by Robert Millis, this 244 page full color hardcover book includes 2 CDs (46 tracks all previously unissued) and over 300 photos of 78rpm record collections, collectors and ephemera, detailed track notes, and essay. LIMITED EDITION ONE-TIME PRESSING OF 1000 COPIES.

True "record porn" (that is, shellac 78rp m record porn): photographs of shelves groaning under the weight of unimaginable titles, beautiful label and sleeve designs from long gone eras, wind up talking machines, crammed antique shops, forgotten artists, and more that somehow survived (often barely survived) the difficult "archival" issues of India--dust, heat, floods, rebellion, partition and war. Indian Talking Machine is the result of nearly a year in India photographing record collections, interviewing collectors, and visiting archives and record markets.

One of the earliest non-Western outposts of the "recording industry", the first recordings were made in India in 1902. This makes perfect sense as Indian music is as beautiful as it is complex, as subtle as it is profound and as divine as it is simple. Accompanying the over 300 photographs are two CDs of music from shellac discs spanning the years 1903 to 1949 collected in India and compiled by the author; virtuoso instrumental recordings, jaw dropping vocal renditions, folk music, comedy recordings, even animal impressions, none of which have ever been issued in digital form. The 78rpm records were transferred by Jonathan Ward (Excavated Shellac) and mastered by Grammy award winning engineer Michael Graves (Analog Africa, Dust-to-Digital, Hank Williams Garden Spot Recordings, and more).

Indian Talking Machine is a personal take on the vast worlds of Indian music and the intricacies of collecting sound.