In the liner notes to these carefully packaged reissues, all four of the Incredible String Band principals– co-founder Clive Palmer, core duo Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, and Elektra records executive Joe Boyd– offer their insights in separate essays. Three of them mention the smell of patchouli. Such were the times, certainly, but the ISB are loved equally by avant-garde musicians, psychedelia enthusiasts, and those slightly dweeby young gentlemen who hang around music shops on college campuses. The reissue of their first four albums probably put to rest any notion that the ISB were a properly great band, releasing just one true classic, but they were rarely anything less than brave, inspired, and profoundly weird.

Somewhere in a Dream is the stunning debut album from Hisham, blending atmospheric New Age soundscapes with rich Middle Eastern musical influences and sophisticated electronic production. Released in 1993 on Real Music, the album creates an immersive sonic journey filled with emotional melodies, cinematic arrangements, and hypnotic rhythms. Hisham combines synthesizers, samplers, orchestral textures, flamenco-inspired guitar passages, deep basslines, and traditional Arabic percussion to craft a unique and memorable listening experience. Tracks such as “Blue Nile,” “Sarajevo,” and the title composition demonstrate his ability to merge spirituality, world music, and ambient electronics into a fluid and emotionally resonant style. The album carries a dreamlike atmosphere while maintaining strong melodic identity throughout its runtime. Critically praised for its originality and lush production, Somewhere in a Dream remains a standout release in the ambient and New Age genres, appealing to listeners who appreciate relaxing, cinematic, and globally inspired instrumental music.

Passion Congo is the latest project and album by the legendary Congolese musician Ray Lema, released in April 2026. The album launch coincided with celebrations for Lema's 80th birthday on April 3, 2026, which featured a special performance at the Studio de l'Ermitage in Paris. This work is a collaboration with the Ensemble Partage, blending Ray Lema's deep roots in Congolese Rumba with jazz and chamber music elements, including a string quartet. The project is described as a tribute to the "golden age" of Congolese music, revisiting classics from legendary figures like Franco Luambo and Tabu Ley while continuing Lema's lifelong mission of bridging Western and African musical traditions.

In 1968, as young America’s interest in Indian classical music was surging to its peak, Alla Rakha made a landmark record with the big band jazz drummer Buddy Rich. Rich, like Alla Rakha, is an icon, often ranked very near the top of any list of ‘greatest drummers’ regardless of genre. Rich was an exuberant, hot tempered man who frequently alienated friends and peers but, at the same time, “was one of the most technically gifted drummers to ever walk our planet. He had incredible speed and control, power and touch.”

Bossa Nova translated as the "new beat" or "the new style", grew out of Rio De Janeiro in 1958. The instigators were a handful of artists with a desire to break from tradition, developing the samba rhythms with the influence of cool American jazz to find a music with such a warm soul and natural rhythm that no-one can help but tap and sway to its beat. Bossa Nova is palm trees swaying, it is like melting sugar in hot coffee, it is the setting sun and warm sand underfoot. It is the sound and beat of Brazil, it is one of the world's coolest musical styles and it remains to this day one of the world's great musical treasures.

This release is the first installment in the Ethnic Sound Selection series, a multi-volume collection of traditional and world music recordings selected by Hosono to explore various cultural and experimental themes. The title of this volume, Atavus, refers to "ancestors" (祖先).