This is pure gold for the jaded record collectors who think they've heard everything, that music has nothing new to offer, that nothing new is possible. The sounds, melodies, harmonies and rhythms on Ethnic Minority Music of North Vietnam will sound completely alien to most western listeners.
Rhythms so different that they will sound to new ears like they were created by chance, harmonies so microtonally dissonant that it's impossible to comprehend how they still manage to sound so peaceful, pleasing and organic. Vocal techniques that sound like they must be the result of complex electroacoustic sound processing algorithms. Truly exciting music to the exploratory listener.
This is one part of a series of remote tribal music recorded by Laurent Jenneau on Sublime Frequencies. The field recordings heard here were done in the Sapa area of North Vietnam and feature, for example of their regional obscurity, a rural tribe known as the Lu who blacken their teeth with 'a thick layer of black stuff', the liner notes tell us.
Ethnic Minority Music of North Vietnam is a beautiful and engaging collection of music that is almost guaranteed to sound completely new to even the most jaded of listeners. Featuring a satisfying spectrum of vocal and instrumental music, the collection will not appeal to ethnomusicologists alone. Listening to a women's friendly laughter to a friend's singing, you'll feel like you're right there with them at a social get-together.
