Customer Reviews

Back Tuva Future

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My system was in shock at first but it didnot take long for me to embrace it totally! My teenagers want to take the CD to a school dance and play Tuva Groove and Kargyraa Rap. I almost cried listening to Where Has My Country Gone done by Ondar and Willie Nelson. This is not your traditional Tuvan music! There is also a hidden 12 th track on this disc. Its wonderfully insightful and funny. I Love this disc! I understand this is the way the shamans sang in Siberia. ENJOY

A lot of people really can't handle field recordings or raw international music.

Too rough for them perhaps, too inaccessible to where they stand at the moment. And you can't really take this kind of uncouth noise seriously on its own can you? You have to ADAPT it. You have to DO SOMETHING with it! A century ago the answer was to adapt (and usually water down) any folk or foreign music you liked into symphonic form. As is still done.

So David Hoffner has created a pop mix of Ondar's Tuvan throat-singing with added background instrumentals, and bits of Willie Nelson, Randy Scruggs, and physicist Richard Feynman recounting stories. Golly kids, you can even send in for a free SECRET DECODER CARD for Tuvan Throat-singing and for Feynman diagrams! And there's a neato, keeno hidden track on the CD (giving a Dummy's Guide to Tuvan throat-singing and SECRETS of how the album was produced and where some of the background noises came from). So COOL! Or perhaps "KOOL!"?

I tend to be a bit of field recording snob. Yay Seamus Ennis, Peter Kennedy, Alan Lomax, Eduard Alekseev and so forth! And I'd already come across other records of Tuva throat-singing which I'd enjoyed.

But I can't help liking this silliness also. Let's have FUN WITH MUSIC, kids! The background music and noises emphasize or create links with other music sounds, often pop music. Why not? The similarities of style or emotion were there already waiting to be pointed out. Simultaneous punctuation and interpretation by the background music does more than pages of written critique would, with probably no more distortion.

But the album is not a teaching album per se. David Hoffner obviously intended the album to be zestful, interesting, entertaining, and artistic on its own merits, having fun with Ondar's talent, but not at the expense of it. He enjoys Ondar's throat-singing very much and wants to tell everyone. Yet _Back_TUVA_Future is designedly Hoffner's album as much as Ondar's, so the result is a fusion intended to enhance Ondar's throat-singing in ways that Hoffner sees as true to Ondar.

For me it works. I've played _Back_TUVA_Future_ many times! It's fun! It's exciting! It never lags! It points ways to listen to unenhanced throat-singing. It does what David Hoffner wanted it to do. I would probably have enjoyed it even more had it been my introduction to Tuvan music. This creative mix certainly doesn't hinder enjoyment of more traditional presentations of Tuvan music, nor does a liking for the unadorned Tuvan music prohibit a taste for Hoffner's smorgasbord. The kind of enjoyment is just different, in part. If anything, _Back_TUVA_Future_ has increased my appreciation of the unenhanced music.

Last week in a fit of selfish consumerism, I picked up a copy
of "Back Tuva Future". It's a disc made from studio recordings of Kongar-ol Ondar's Tuvan throat singing & "banjo" [not unlike a samishen] playing, several brand-name performers working with him, and old recordings of Richard Feynman telling stories and drumming. It's as much a testament to the vision of David Hoffner's producing and mixing skill as much as it is to the excellence of the raw material he started with.

After playing it over and over again during my commute for the past week, it seems more like a concept album from the seventies than a mere collection of songs that happened to be ready to be pressed at the same time. It hangs together well with one piece leading to the next, even though the musical styles are spread all over the map, including a rap number by Ondar.

It's infectious fun music, and if I wasn't driving, I'd probably be dancing. As it is, I've a running soundtrack in my head of some of Ondar's banjo playing and it's been three hours since I left the CD in the truck. Also as a result, I've been trying to imitate some of the sounds Ondar makes, seeing if I can figure out this throat-singing thing for myself.

Five of five stars from me.

Who'd guess that cowboy music is similar whether from the mesas of Wyoming or the steppes of Tuva, a remote country near Mongolia? The same horse-clopping rhythm and even--yeah, banjos. But Tuvans have "throat singing" --the ability to create an overtone along with a bass monotone. The overtone is manipulated to make a whistling tone--that tone you hear is NOT a separate instrument; it's the singer's voice doing two tones at one.

Along with the mysterious sound of throat singing (which is somehow addictive once you hear it) the rhythm and joy of the Tuvan music can't be beat. Artist Kongar-ol Ondar is known for his role in "Genghis Blues" and is a master oft throat singing. The best cut is the opening "Tuva Groove" but I also love the popular "Big River" which has been recorded by other artists from Tuva as well.

A truly wonderful fusion of traditional Tuva throat singing and various American music forms. It's amazing how naturally Ondar's vocalizations fit with Bush and Scaggs bluegrass. I've made everyone I know listen to this one.

I was really disappointed by this disk. I wanted to hear Ondar's voice, but what we have here is poorly recorded instrumentals with a singer somewhere in the background. Requires a real boost to the mid-range to get his voice to come out. I'm particularly disappointed, since both the Late Night with David Letterman Show and Millenium captured Ondar's voice very nicely. Especially Millenium - they placed Ondar in a mock-up monastery with very interesting echoes. The recording engineer here should really get some instruction.

On the brighter side, this is one amazing throat singer! At one point, Ondar produces three notes at once. One does not get to hear that in everyday life.

The producer has made an attempt at popular appeal by having Willie Nelson and a few others contribute to this recording. I personally think they could have saved the money - Willie's voice makes for nice vocals, but as a speaking voice, I don't think so.

Tuvan throat singing is something of an acquired taste. Having said that, Ondar's willingness to bring this shamanic ritual that dates back to the Ice Age into the 21st century makes it easy to forget that odds are you won't understand a word of it (except where Willy Nelson gives us a kind translation.) We're treated to a song with banjos, an actual rap in Tuvan, and the theme from Little House on the Prairie translated. How Ondar does some of those vocal tricks, including a whistle that gave my cat a headache, is beyond me. Good place for anyone interested in the genre to get started.

I first heard of Tuva through an NPR special. I was so amazed by it that I rushed out and bought it. Well, all I have to say is WOW!. It's a really wonderfull experience, I highly recommend it.

3 distinct tones, each moveing at their own pace, and all from one throat. I think if I tried something like that, I'd end up in the emergency room, but Ondar is simply amazing.

Big points here!

Be Good, Be Safe

Arclight

This CD is quite worth it. Even if it dosn't seem like something you might like, you will probobly grow to love it. The upbeat songs make you want to get up and dance. Ondar really has a lot of talent and can make wonderful music. The drumming by Richard Feynman is exellent too.

I bought this CD with the expectation that it would be a very interesting well done recording (I know Dave Hoffner's work and I'm a Richard Feynman fan) that would introduce me to something new. What I got was much more! I got a collection of music that I play as often as any of my other favorite recordings.

Ondar's singing of three notes at the same time is incredible (easy to make out on the opening to "Two Lands, One Tribe) but the biggest surprise was how rhythmic the music is.

I love this CD