A handful of albums and archival collections stand out as true touchstones for anyone wanting to dive deep into Baul music’s ecstatic current.

• Alan Lomax’s field recordings (1950s–60s)
The American folklorist wandered through rural Bengal capturing raw sessions on 78 rpm discs. Those crackling voices and ek­tāras remain priceless glimpses of Baul life before global spotlight. Many tracks resurface in Rounder Records compilations and online archives.

• “Songs of Lalon Fakir” (Soundscape, 1977)
A time-tested vinyl release gathering the evocative poetry of Lalan Shah. His humanist verses on love, death and the divine still cut to the chase—remastered editions pop up now on vinyl reissues from boutique labels like Dust-to-Digital.

• Smithsonian Folkways’ “Bauls of Bengal” (SF 40010)
Curated by John Levy in the mid-1970s, this collection presents six master singers, each pouring heart and soul into folk riffs. Latest streaming versions include detailed liner notes on tune structure and spiritual context.

• Paban Das Baul’s “Inner Knowledge” (Piranha, 2000)
A bridge between tradition and contemporary world music, this album (and its 2022 remaster) offers an electrified take, weaving dhol and khamak with synthesizers. Often featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk series, its tracks regularly appear on Global Roots playlists.

• British Library Sound Archive: Bengali Folk (BL C85)
Digitized sessions from Visva-Bharati University in the 1950s capture Baul performances alongside Tagore’s disciples. These recordings are a real treasure trove, full of spontaneous storytelling and off-the-cuff verses.

• “Baul: Mystic Melodies” by Shanti Swarup (Real World Records, 1998)
Produced by Peter Gabriel’s label, this album elevated Baul to festival stages from WOMAD UK to South by Southwest, blending traditional instrumentation with worldbeat pulses.

Streaming platforms now curate Baul playlists updated in real time—Spotify’s “Global Folk Roots” often flags new field-recording uploads. Meanwhile, the upcoming 2025 Baul Mela in Kolkata promises fresh live recordings that may well shape the next “definitive” anthology.