99
Gjirokastër Vocal Ensemble - Albanie: Polyphonies vocales du pays Lab
1995
Vocal Polyphony/Throat singing
Bewitching Albanian vocal polyphony. Basically, there's several blokes, but three main ones - two alternate on lead and solo duties, weaving intricate lines of dissonant melody around each other, and then there's that guy who sounds like he's got a frog stuck in his throat, popping up in between the breaks before dropping into a backing drone along with the other background vocalists - and then they all drooooooooooooooone, and it's pretty hypnotic. Once you get used to its starkness there's fun to be had in scouting the structure of these surprisingly rigid tracks; indeed, when I'm in a suitable mood I can find myself lost in the subtle, complex interplay between the voices. The trick to get maximum enjoyment out of this, I find, is to closely follow the lead vocalist down his chosen path. It's then that it'll wash over you - the way the songs loop around the pentatonic scale, notes reaching the hidden corners, the particularities of each voice and the ringing dissonance at every glorious moment the voices blend into a single drone - and you'll soon be on your way. Don't worry, I'm already there.