On March 20^th, UK label Death Is Not The End and Uzbek label Maqom Soul Records released their collaborative preservation efforts of a collection of works from various artists across the former Soviet states of Central Asia with songs that were originally released between 1978 and 1989. This mixtape offers a buffet of Central Asian tunes of a variety of genres and influences and is a follow-up of Anvar Kalandarov’s 2025 mixtape of the same name. Whether you are looking for something a little more psychedelic or a little more electronic, there is something for you on the Digging Central Asia: Musical Archaeology along the Silk Road.

This mixtape opens on a track that I can only describe as early folktronica – Nasiba Abdullaeva’s “Ona (Mother)”. It starts with a gentle, twinkling harp and soft stumming on a stringed instrument. Abdullaeva’s voice is ethereal, climbing high over the synth melodies and male harmonies, performing these melodic runs over the backing of Central Asian instrumentation – you can hear the complex drum rhythms behind Abdullaeva’s vocals throughout the song.

Following “Ona (Mother)” is “Hasan” by Koma Wetan – a Kurdish psych-rock group. Though this track is very much a psychedelic rock record, it feels far more gentle in tone than “Ona (Mother)”. Koma Wetan is said to have utilized psychedelic rock music as a vessel in which to preserve the poetry and folklore that may have otherwise been lost. I unfortunately don’t speak Kurdish, so I do wonder what they sing of; they sing these words with such emotion and reverence, and the melodies on the guitars and synths that support the vocals contrast each other. The guitars are constant, progressing between simple chords and strum patterns, whereas the synths cut in with a sharp, pitched tone at sparse points in the song and create an interesting shock melody to play along the low vocal harmonies.

A couple tracks down the line is “Kishlogimizga Keling” by Sintez, who later reamed themselves Navo. The guitars on this track take on a much more metallic, twangy sound. It’s an interesting element to take note of – I usually associate this sort of sound with more Americana or country-style music, yet we hear it here against a background of these complex drum rhythms, which seem to be a common trope among musical traditions of Asia that utilize hand drums. I find the track to be quite jovial and danceable – the rhythms and horns create an upbeat, funky groove in the later half of the song that really just makes me want to get up and bust a move.

The sixth track on this mixtape is the second appearance of Tajik group, Gulshan. This song, “Hey, Sanam!” opens on a low, groovy bass and synths playing a climbing melody that’s almost reminiscent of stereotypical surf-rock melodies. Strings come through, echoing the same melodies played by the synths. Rooted in folk tradition, this ensemble carefully crafted their arrangements, closely focusing on instrumentation and restrained use of pop music techniques to craft modern works from Tajik musical traditions. The dreamy effect created by the reverbed vocals playing over these flowy string and guitar melodies was a really interesting element of this track – it was completely unexpected from the opening of the song!

This mixtape closes on “Chever Yarim” by Yashlik, who you might be familiar with, especially if you’ve read our previous review of Yashlik’s self-titled album. Groovy, psychedelic, and a bit bluesy, too. Yashlik’s male ensemble vocalists create tight harmonies over funk guitar grooves, adding a distinct Uyghur folk flavor to the track. I always enjoy listening to Yashlik, since they create such an interesting contrast of these contemporary psychedelic influences and their folk traditions that they infuse into their music.

You can stream this mixtape or purchase a physical copy on Bandcamp.