Ethnic Minority Music Of Northeast Cambodia

Rough and fascinating field recordings, untrained artists, real, raw indigenous music recorded in 2003-2005. Singers, flutes, percussion, gongs, bowed bamboo, strings – read the notes for descriptions on each track. Fascinating stuff, often with real life background noises such as crying babies, conversations, coughing, spitting, and other less-pleasant sounds. Every track is compelling in its own way, and the whole is an absorbing look at fast-disappearing ethnic culture.

*1. Like a capella throat singing, with kids in back, slowish.
2. Quiet gong, fem. singer at 1:25. Lots of village noise. Slow.
3. High-pitched a capella female singer, midtempo. Oh boy, spitting.
*4. Sweet, midtempo love song. Fem singer & a guitarist. Coughing.
*5. Solo strings. Midtempo, nicely melodic & very sweet.
*6. High flute, bamboo tube, male singer. Tripping vox, a fun sound.
7. Claps, gongs, flute, male & fem singers. Midtempo.
8. A capella fem singer, a whiney voice, claps, midtempo.
9. Solo, fuzzy-sounding string. A cool, mid/up drone.
*10. 6 gongs, 2 singers. Almost a steel-drum sound. Mid/up.
*11. Banjo-like strings, singers. Like Cambodian blues. Mid.
12. Strings, a high drone sound. Midtempo instrumental.
*13. Breathy flutes, light flute-percussion. Sudden end, too short.
14. Gongs, fem singer. Midtempo, laughter.
*15. Mid/up love song w/strings, fem vox. That almost blues sound.
*16. Instrumental strings. Midtempo, baby crying.