For our Tuvan friends, a little thing called Perspective.

Yes, sure, there's something like 2,000 years' worth of history informing the art of the throat singers of the Mongolian, Siberian, and, since 1921, Tuvan regions of Central Asia - fine, you're right. Now get back in the basement and stop harshing our groovy.  You see, thanks to Albert Kuvezin and the band Yat-Kha, this deep cultural tradition has been solidly plopped into post-modernity, and FUN!

OK, a teensy bit of background: Tuvan throat-singers, such as the longstanding WFMU faves Huun-Huur-Tu and Sainkho Namtchylak, have long fascinated Western ears with their ability to sing multiple (and audible) harmonic overtones at once.  Oftentimes, their khoomei resemble the drone produced by that cornerstone of your more advanced hippie jam-circle, the didgeridoo.  And very often, their tones feature a distinct bird-like whistle.  You want to know more?  The web's full of it, go see - we've got some recontextualizing to do.

Here at WFMU, it takes a more refined novelty song to get us horny.  Song parodies and funny voices tickle us not.  But did you say "what would Perez Prado sound like playing Nirvana songs?"??  Talk to me, brother!  And really, who can resist this utterly choice nugget:

"I'd really love to hear a Tuvan throat singer do Joy Division" ("Love Will Tear Us Apart", realaudio from Stefan's "The Belly of The Beast")

And there we are.  Say, while we're at it, maybe throw in some Zeppelin?  Hey, make it topical - "When the Levee Breaks".(Realaudio from Ken's show)  Now We Are Talking!  And here comes the aforementioned Albert and his Yat-Khas, and they've got us covered with their new album "Re-Covers" - a collection of... yessssss, fave rock hits done in the Tuvan style!!

You know the Inuits?  Those eskimo people up north that Ken likes so much?  They've got a tradition of throat-singing too.  Though mostly they're about gamesmanship, and you're not going to hear them riffing a mean "The Man Machine" (Realaudio from my show) anytime soon.  But they're throat-singing, so they're in the continuum.  And thanks to Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha, we can see that road more clearly, and may readily note some formerly unlikely precedents to this Throat Singing jive:

Clarence "Frogman" Henry "I Ain't Got No Home" (Realaudio from Dave the Spazz)

Bent Bolt & The Nuts "The Mechanical Man" (Realaudio from Greasy Kid Stuff)

Billy "Froggy" Laughlin, of the Little Rascals / Our Gang comedies

Popeye (wav link)

Or maybe you respect tradition and history - fine, look below the fold and receive rich musical rewards. 

Some fine Realaudio examples from the WFMU Archives:

HUUN-HUUR-TU

• "Ancestors" (from Bill Mac's show)
• "60 Horses In My Herd" (from Stefan's show)\

SAINKHO NAMTCHYLAK

• "Lost Rivers" (from my show)
• "Mogeler Dugajinda Iri" (from Ken's show)

And some mp3s for you:

• Aldyn Ool Sevek "Demonstration of Kargyraa"
  • Kargyraa is one vocal style of khoomei
• Shaktar Shulban - "Demonstration of Sygyt and Kargyraa"
  • So's Sygyt, and this kid's like 11 years old.

Here's some Inuits:  Sample 1, and Sample 2.

Comments

[Pete]

RE: Bent Bolt & The Nuts "The Mechanical Man"

This was posted at Houseplant Picture Studio last year, and by the time I got around
to grabbing it, it was gone...thanks for posting a link to it again. The vocal reminds me of that old Gumby episode with the robotic Blockheads landscaping Gumby's house...
and screwing everything in the process.

As I recall, this was a promo single and the
flipside was a typical wacky company jingle
(the company being an industrial parts manufacturer)

thanks
Pete

[squinchy]

I remember a secret museum of the air show waaaay back when devoted to throat singing, or diphonic singing as Pat Conte or Citizen Kafka called it
and lo and behold, I think the link below is IT
there's one jazz number in there with this really great popeye vocal freakout! Shiver me timbers...but I don't know where exactly it is...
who cares, this whole show is great
http://wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=5311

[squinchy]

it's around 38-39 minutes in, the singer is billy costello

[Jeff]

Pete -

I was the source of the posting of Mechanical Man at the Houseplant Picture Studio - I had that 45 as a 4-year-old back in the mid-60s, it was my favorite record! Fortunately I digitized it before I somehow lost the record.. Anyway, you're confusing it with the STRAT-O-FLEX record as far as the B-side goes, which was in fact a corporate record. The B-Side of Mechanical Man was an instrumental tune by Teddy Randazzo, I believe, called Sweet and Sour.

According to http://www.chronoglide.com/WWWS_Show5.html , here's some more info about the record, which can also be heard there:

"Bent Bolt and the Nuts
"The Mechanical Man" 7" on MGM (K 13635), USA
Written by C.Astone, C. Mastren, L.Burgio, M.Gartman, produced by C.L.C.L. Productions for Teddy Randazzo Productions. b/w "Sweet and Sour" (Alessandro Mentrasti). A few copies were released in a picture cover.

I remember having the picture sleeve when I was a tyke, but it's long long gone..

[Dave]

Vanilla Ice of all people does some throat-scat in the middle of, or near the end of the song Havin' a Roni, which was on his album To The Extreme.

[Alexis]

I'm looking for some Tuvan House music played at the opening of a Gogol Bordello show. Any thoughts?

[Alexis]

I'm looking for some Tuvan House music played at the opening of a Gogol Bordello show. Any thoughts?