Uneasy Rhetoric

I heard the band Hanggai on National Public Radio this morning and the little snippets were enough to pique my interest.  I just bought the album and I’m completely blown away.

There’s something vaguely fanboy about buying new music because I heard it on NPR. In part, this is because I know too many people who think NPR is the be-all, end-all of American Media and tend to give music more credence because NPR featured it. On the other hand, you have people like me who instinctively turn on NPR when we get into our cars and we become its captive audience.  No doubt moderate to highly educated people all over the country are buying Hanggai’s music because it makes them feel special–because they heard it on NPR.

Good.  They should be listening to this. And not just because its in Mongolian. Because it rocks.  Seriously. It’s folk, and the Asian influence is obvious, but the combination of deep drum beats, throat singing, and Mongolian instruments with Western production works and works well.