In our new podcast series, we’ve chosen to focus on who provide us with the precious “raw material” for our listenings and features: quality new music!

We are talking about those heroes who decided to launch, nurture and cultivate a record label (better if with an ‘independent’ in front of it). As the title suggests, Listen to the Label is our way to pay them a well-deserved tribute, disclosing and recognizing their invaluable work and letting them introduce it with words and tunes.

For the fifth episode of our Listen to the Label series, we wanted to pay tribute to one of the labels we are most fond of. A label that, in its seven-year story, has had (and is still having) a thoroughly positive impact, not only on the so-called world music scene, but on the music world at large.

Thanks to the dedication and taste of its founders (Chris Eckman and Peter Weber), team and PRs around the world, Glitterbeat Records is arguably redefining the idea of “world music”, making it more inclusive, helping to develop new musical “poles”, next to focussing the attention on and giving proper credit to the true architects behind the music itself: the musicians

It’s not by chance that the label has won the last five Womex Label of the Year Awards, and it’s not by chance that, exploring  Glitterbeat’s 80-title-rich catalogue, you’ll hardly find anything less than excellent.

So, we picked up the phone and reached  Chris Eckman to have a chat about the foundations and reasons behind creating Glitterbeat and its sister label Tak:til, about the term “world music”, visa issues for artists, as well as having him pick six fundamental tracks.

Tracklist:

Samba Touré – Fondora [from Albala; Glittebeat Records – 2013]

Tamikrest – Tisnant an Chatma [from Chatma; Glittebeat Records– 2013]

Noura Mint Seymali – Hebebeb (Zrag) [from Tzenni; Glittebeat Records – 2014]

Jon Hassell & Brian Eno – Delta Rain Dream [from Fourth World Vol​.​1: Possible Musics; Glittebeat Records – 2014]

AMMAR 808 – Boganga & Sandia (feat. Mehdi Nassouli) [from Maghreb United; Glittebeat Records – 2018]

Gaye Su Akyol – Meftunum Sana [from İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir; Glittebeat Records – 2019]