Task 8: Golden Record Curation

My selection of 10:

1. Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08
2. Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
3. Japan, shakuhachi, “Tsuru No Sugomori” (“Crane’s Nest,”) performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
4. Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
5. Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30
6. Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20
7. Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57
8. Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
9. China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu. 7:37
10. India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30

This was a challenge; deciding what ‘we can afford to lose’ is a daunting task!

I tried to take a geographical approach to selection and cover major continents, as well as trying to temper this with a wider diversity of culture. I also leaned more towards selecting tracks that were less word or language-based and more instrumental. I was super-aware of my own biases during the selection process and this was in no way an ‘objective’ exercise with a definite preference for more tribal or ‘raw’ sounds over the more ‘classical’ ones.