Egschiglen - Sounds of Mongolia
ARC Music

By Ben Ohmart (more articles from this author) 2001-05-29

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Artist: Egschiglen
Title: Sounds of Mongolia
Label: ARC Music (www.arcmusic.co.uk)
Genre: World

World music is the one genre that deserves greater financial rewards than ANY other. Bob Dylan's a rich man, so forget folk. Paul Simon has made millions out of digging up the flavors of other cultures and putting a pop spin on them; so have other artists. Now it's time to give back and recognize the musical origins of other lands for what they are. Greatness, regulated with swift and unerring skill by groups of professionals who learn the best and only way possible: in the field (literally), through constant repetition.

Therefore, I urge you to check out the website www.arcmusic.co.uk and acquaint yourself with ARC's very generous set of sampler cds. From Africa to Russia to Australia to Latin American and everything that isn't Paul McCartney in between. Looks like you'll get all 10 cds for $17 plus $4 postage. But check the site to make sure this is right. If it is, you can't beat that deal.

Commercial ended.

Perhaps like many of you, this is my first excursion into the music of Mongolia, and it shan't be my last. This is a majestic, ancestral set of 17 tracks, tinted like Chinese (indeed it should, as Mongolia sits between Russia and China) beauty, but more accessible to Western ears. The folkloric and more modern tunes are let loose here, flowing into themselves so well, you'll have trouble discerning the new from the ancient.

Founded in 1991, the Ensemble Egschiglen, which translates as Beautiful Melody, was comprised of students of the Conservatoire of Ulaanbaatar, with 4 of the founding members still performing. Mongolia is in the heart of Asia, being 5 times the size of Germany. I'm not an egghead, merely quoting from the vast storehouse of info within this thick cd booklet. Pictures show Egschiglen's very fine stage presence, draped in costumes of old. They have toured the world with their odd brand of throat singing and horsehead violins.

The overtone (throat) singing is very guttural, a 'co-action and control of the peritoneum, the diaphragm and the lungs, of the vocal chords, larynx, tongue, lips and oral cavity.' Never does it reach such frenzy of tonal control as in 'Durvun uul siilen buur,' noted as a Khoom-Improvisation. Strange to the ears of tv consumers, but highly talented, and a wonder to hear.

For me, I much like certain instrumentals, like the said 'improvisation' of 'Ayaz.' This has a 'traditional arrangement,' so I'm not sure how improv can be 'arranged' unless it is the basic structure of the piece, in which chords and timings are discussed beforehand (like jazz), before the specifics of solos are achieved. In any case, it and the China-like 'Taivan namar' are the tracks I shall go home with, etched into my grateful soul with metal.

Bottom line: grab the cd if you truly Do want something different. Stop griping about pop radio and take a chance on something in which a true individual will relish.

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