Traditional Ukrainian bandura music

I've been interested in Ukrainian folk music and culture for some years now, inspired by the Black Metal bands Drudkh and Hate Forest, both of whom have used samples and references of their traditional culture in their music. Trawling the net, I tracked down a number of albums of Ukrainian folk music, among the best of which are two albums of bandura music by Taras Kompanichenko and the late Mykola Budnik. The music is incredibly evocative and atmospheric, the spindly sound of the bandura at times strangely akin to that of the African kora.

I have also collected from various compilations two songs (dumas) performed by another bandurist Igor Rachok, the first of which was used (without the brief spoken intro) by Drudkh as the outro to their 3rd album "The Swan Road". I would love to track down some more of Rachok's recordings, as I find the slightly more lo-fi quality adds whole realms of atmosphere to the music; I imagine him sat by a fire in some ancient rural wayside inn, spinning tales of long ago to sombre-looking old men.

For a detailed look at Ukrainian folk traditions (not just music, but dress, architecture, crafts etc.) have a trawl around this slightly cumbersome website: http://www.ukrfolk.com.ua/index_eng.html

which includes some informative essays on:

songs: http://www.ukrfolk.com.ua/epos/eng/1.html

instruments: http://www.ukrfolk.com.ua/epos/eng/2.html

prose narratives: http://www.ukrfolk.com.ua/epos/eng/3_1.html

plus another essay on kobza and lyre-playing tradition in the Polissya region:

http://storinka-m.kiev.ua/article.php?id=783

Right, on to the music...

Mykola Budnyk -- Heigh, on the Black Sea

01. About Mazepa and Paliy

02. About Marusya Bogusiavka

03. About Sava Chaly

04. About Suprun

05. About Khvedor Bezrodmy

06. The Falcon Fraternized

07. A Snowstorm

08. I Will Go Through the Meadow

09. There's No Truth in this World

10. About Oleksiy Popovych

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Taras Kompanichenko -- Kobza and Lyre-Playing Tradition

01. A Dance

02. About Bondarivna

03. Snowstorm

04. Hey on the Sea, on the Black Sea

05. The Lament of the Earth

06. The Captive Girl

07. To Christ on the Cross

08. Don't You Hoot, the Owl

09. Oleksiy - a Man of God (To Aleksiy)

10. The Samara Brothers

11. Saint George the Snake Fighter (To George)

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Igor Rachok -- Dumas

1. About Extermination of Sich (aka "Song of Sich Destruction")
2. As Our Glorious Cossacks Were Advancing

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