Brian Presents Some Far Out World Music

 

Mongolian - or more specifically Tuvan - throat singing is a form of vocals where the singer can create resonant additional tones by manipulating their air pathways while singing the fundamental note. It's almost like multitracking or harmonizing your voice. There are basically three forms of vocalizing: 1.) Khoomei, the standard mid-range form 2.) Sygyt, which enables the more nasal flute-like pitches, and 3.) Kargyraa, which is those deep, growling bass notes.

 

Huun-Huur-Tu has long been the flagship group of the style. They've toured the West, and the one guy from the group was in the documentary Genghis Blues, which I definitely recommend checking out. HHT emerged right at the time communism ended in Mongolia. With very strong ties to the old ways, they make great, picturesque folk music.

 

 

 

 

 

While their studio albums are great, it's live that they're really amazing. This file contains two albums: Best Live and More Live. They are alternately called Live1 and Live2, depending on which release you see. They were recorded in Moscow in front of rapturous audiences. The opening track of Live 2 (More Live), "Kagyraa", is one of the deepest, most amazing vocal performances ever. It's the ultimate WTF? track; guaranteed to make anyone crane their neck and look at the stereo bewilderingly. Great for testing bass response, too! All kidding aside, these are amazingly recorded and performed albums... definitely check them out if you call yourself a world music fan.

 

I never want to let just one group teach me about a style, though... so years ago I found the disc Voices From the Distant Steppe by Shu-De. It was released on P. Gabriel's world music label. Great stuff: the opening track clearly shows you examples of the three styles of singing, "Buura" has a great skittering rhythm, the "Jaw's Harp Solo" has a strange resonance too. Shu-De also features a female singer, which was odd to hear at first. A great group, and their only album available in the West.

 

 

 

Albert Kuvezin was once a member of Huun Huur Tu. He went on to form the group Yat-Kha in the 90's. While the group initially featured a Russian guy on electronics, later Kuvezin molded the group into more of a melding of Western rock/blues with the Mongolian singing and melodies. It really must be heard. The file contains two albums...

 

 

 

The first, Tuva Rock, is - I think - one of the best foreign rock albums ever made. There is singing in both Tuvan and English. With rock dynamics bolted onto these galloping rhythms, it makes some amazingly driving music! See "Langchyy Boom" or opening track "Come Along" for an example. And the amazing dirge of "Coming Buddha" sounds like a great song off of Earth's Hex album. In fact, I wonder why the guys at the Southern Lord label haven't approached this dude? Besides the rock songs though, there is a beautiful traditional ballad in "Amdy Baryp".

 

This last, Re-Covers, is their highest-profile album. If you've browsed strange online comps like the Cover the Earth series on the Music For Maniacs blog, you may have heard a few of these songs. One of them I put on that Stones comp. And besides that cover song, this disc reveals many diverse influences. There's covers of Joy Division, Zep, the Allman Brothers, Kraftwerk, Captain Beefheart, Bob Marley...this is a strange ride! You gotta have it if you're a fan of weird music.

 

If there's any demand, I also have other albums of theirs, like Bootleg and the very rare Yenisei Punk. And to the reader who asked for more Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain, there will be more ukulele stuff in the next post!