These three minute snippets from a lost world are fascinating, a daily treat An Alternate History gathers 100 of such from what website founder Jonathan Ward says of a record collection that “slowly and constantly both grows and shrinks, regularly accessioning and deaccessioning.” Avoiding Robert Johnson and Geeshie Wiley and other such blue chip 78-era collectibles, Excavated Shellac focuses on music recorded across the non-Anglo world, offering a taste of the music being made in myriad communities at the dawn of recorded sound. This digital-only release is the work of Excavated Shellac, a website that began in 2007 with a 78-collector doing a daily-post (it's worth following Excavated Shellac on Instagram, Facebook et al for the extraordinary music and info’ posted regularly). Ever wondered what the Crimean Tartar Orchestra might sound like? No? Fabulous (raucous, minor key, brass party music) in fact. Instead, a sonic smorgasbord from across the globe unfolds: Afghanistan, Sudan, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Uganda, Spain, Albania, Mongolia, Mexico and onwards and onwards. Well, let’s start with what’s not: no jazz, blues, country, gospel, pop, crooners, classical, opera - you know, the usual suspects when it comes to 78-era reissue projects. The provocative title is there to make interested parties wonder just what is contained within. To kick 2021 off and save us all from drowning in the lockdown blues, Dust-to-Digital have gone and issued a stunning package called An Alternate History Of The World’s Music that contains 100 previously un-reissued 78-era recordings and a beautifully illustrated 186 page book (every tune gets discussed - the first is a South African miner’s protest against police brutality, the last a dreamy Cuban innuendo).
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