Huun-Huur-Tu

Six or seven years after being completely knocked for a loop on first hearing the traditional music of the tiny Russian republic of Tuva, we’ve still heard nothing quite like it. Throatsingers, as they’re called, can produce up to four notes at the same time, layered one on top of the other, rumbling like an earthquake or whistling like a mutant cricket. It’s unearthly stuff, seemingly more likely to come from Mars than the open steppes north of Mongolia. Huun-Huur-Tu is only one of several Tuvan groups who’ve successfully conquered Western world-music stages, and they’re probably the ones least influenced by outside genres and electric guitars. For our money, the best individual throatsinger is Kongar-Ool Ondar—who, if you’re new to world music, you might know from the Mervyn’s ad he did awhile back. But the four fellows in Huun-Huur-Tu are all masters of the genre and have the advantage of numbers—to hear the full quartet boom out together into a reverberating, rich kargyraa will send a tingle up and down your spine.
Cedar, 416 Cedar Ave S., Minneapolis, (612) 338-2674, www.thecedar.org


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