Hanggai Mongolian folk and punk captures the WOMAD spirit
24 maart 2011
Hanggai Mongolian folk and punk captures the WOMAD spirit
Mar 22nd, 2011 | By Rodney Brown |
TAKE A BOW: Hanggai respond to the crowd at the end of their performance at WOMAD. Photo: Rodney Brown
THESE are the moments you live for – the feelings music can arouse, when the hairs on your neck stand up and pins and needles take control.
That was this reporter’s reaction to Hanggai, a band which captured the essence of WOMAD in New Plymouth at the weekend. The seven piece band that fuses traditional Mongolian folk with punk rock arrived relatively unknown but left the annual world music festival as one the clear crowd favourites. Hanggai shifted seamlessly between the two genres.
They combine string instruments used in folk music, with electric guitar and throat singing, to produce their distinctive sound. The show begins with the low haunting hum of throat singing, otherwise known as overtone singing. At least two of the band members have mastered this technique and it has become a hallmark for them. Back this up with some very smooth guitar and the intro was perfect.
After a short pause, those who were lulled into a sense of tranquillity by the first song were quickly awoken. Thunderous drums and heavy bass pulsated through the crowd, accompanied by the amazing vocals of the lead singer. This immediately had a group at the front of the crowd head banging and jumping. Nobody I spoke to could speak highly enough of them.
It is almost impossible to describe the sound of Hanggai because they capture the sound of a culture unknown to most of us. And for a moment, the crowd was transported to an alien land, where the blood of the great Khans lives on. RODNEY BROWN Newswire New Zealand
Nieuws
DeAntilliaanse percussionist Roël Calister is bezig met een verrassend nieuw project dat ontstaan is uit de kindervoorstelling Kuente i Tambú. Onder de naam KiT is een band ontstaan die de Afro-Antilliaanse ritmes in een zeer hedendaags dance jasje presenteert. De enkele gelukkigen die de afgelopen tijd de repetities hebben bijgewoond waren zonder uitzondering zeer enthousiast over KiT. Niet vaak zie je een band die echt iets nieuws brengt!, was een veel gehoorde opmerking.