Deal of the week: original, sealed LPs on the Indian Records label

If you're an adventurous music fan, have interest in indigenous North American culture, or are simply interested in great LP jacket design, you might be stoked to know that one of the great record-buying deals of the decade is back. These are recordings of native ritual music, "pow wow" tracks, and story songs. Each is from a different tribe, and while there is minimal information provided with each record, it's easy to  search and find out more about each if you want to. 


I believe these are deadstock copies from the 1970s, and that some are represses of records originally issued in the '60s. The economically-produced covers are genius, to me. And the sound (glorious mono) is very clear; unlike with a Folkways release, there was no fetish at work to capture the action in situ. They're at the least captured with state of the art reel to reels, and might even have been done in a studio. Plus, they were created and released by Native Americans themselves.


You get 22 LPs for $50, with shipping included. I placed my order eight days ago, and they arrived today — with media mail shipping, that's remarkable. I can't vouch how quickly you'll get yours, of course. They really are very nifty artifacts/ documents/ objects.


The peyote record, sung by Grover Turtle and Arthur Madbull and recorded in Fay, Oklahoma (presumably at the label's headquarters there), is the clear winner of this bunch. The music is perfectly minimal and zoned out, while the rhythms employed are weirdly similar to those on the first record by the great synthpunk act Suicide. The label is still an ongoing concern, and you can buy all their releases on CD, here.