Search - Sainkho Namchylak & Ned Rothenberg, Sainkho Namchylar, Sainkho Namtchylak :: Amulet

Alien song

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 09/01/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A fascinating album, pairing the Tuvan throatsinger Sainkho Namchylak with the saxophonist (& shakuhachi player) Ned Rothenberg. Namchylak's singing is some of the strangest & most compelling to ever come from a human voice, with an enormous range & an uncanny ability to move from soaringly beautiful tones to birdlike flutters to unearthly rasps & shrieks. The material on this disc ranges from traditional Tuvan song to original compositions to two solo improvisations: Namchylak's solo, "Visions", is very impressive but likely to send the uncommitted running from the room (it consists of a low throb that is relentlessly pushed towards a throaty howl).Rothenberg's playing draws on the resources of "extended technique"--split tones, freak notes, &c.--but he is basically a melodic player, unlike the more abstract Evan Parker or John Butcher. I actually find this recording far more approachable & rewarding than Namchylak's _Mars Song_ encounter with Evan Parker (on Victo), which with the best will in the world I find unlistenable.This is not a disc that will appeal to everyone, but it's worth checking out. I once played some of the more songful material on a (jazz) radio show & got a few appreciative phonecalls, mostly from people who were interested in various kinds of ethnic & "world" musics. It's slightly disappointing that the disc contains virtually no instance of Namchylak's solo throatsinging (which involves the singing of a low drone & the creation of high-pitched overtones by using the throat & mouth as a resonator; one can hear an instance of this towards the end of "Low & Away" here). But it's still a compelling disc."