This is the third blog post in a new series featuring behind-the-scenes discoveries from the Ethnomusicology Archive & Lab at UT Austin’s Butler School of Music.

BY DIMITRIS GKOULIMARIS, PHD STUDENT

Welcome back to our exploration of commercial LPs found in the UT Ethnomusicology Archives. In Part I of this post, I examined the history of Nonesuch Records’ Explorer series in the context of the world music industry, and showcased two fascinating LPs.

As I continued to peruse the records of the Explorer series, I began to notice a pattern: many LP titles referenced a particular place — and I do not mean a mere location on the map.  For instance, titles like Village Music of Yugoslavia and Turkish Village Music signify not only the country of origin of the recordings at hand, but also the sound’s rural origins, thus “placing” the listener in an imagined village.

Continue Reading Imagining Place in Commercial LPs

This is the second blog post in a new series featuring behind-the-scenes discoveries from the Ethnomusicology Archive & Lab at UT Austin’s Butler School of Music.

BY DIMITRIS GKOULIMARIS, PHD STUDENT

When I began to explore the Ethnomusicology Lab’s collections, among the first things to draw my attention was the stack of LPs located to the left of the computer desk. Flicking through the LPs, I saw titles representing music from different corners of the world — though not all places received equal representation, with the Indian subcontinent an especially popular choice, given the expertise of previous faculty. I also noticed a consistency in the cover art: many LP sleeves featured sketches that blended hipness with exoticism.

Continue Reading Exploring Commercial LPs

By Dimitris Gkoulimaris, PhD student

 In the Butler School of Music’s older, western wing, confusingly termed Music Building East (MBE), there is a small room, no larger than 250 square feet, discreetly located in the third floor corridors between faculty offices and a seminar room.

On its door, a sign that reads “Ethnomusicology Lab” is placed underneath a black-and-white picture of two men listening attentively to a vinyl record. Few music students may be aware of what lies behind this door – that is, the vast collections of the Ethnomusicology Archive.

Continue Reading Welcome to the Archives!