Tengir-Too plays folk music from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan (be tween China and Kazakhstan). If you've opened your ears to the sounds of Tibet, Mongolia and Tuva, Kyrgyz music won't present too much of a leap. The disc opens with an "experimental" piece for a Jew's harp trio. That's right Jew's harp trio. The effect is insectoid, somewhere between the twanging of the Brazilian berimbau, the didgeradoo and throat-singing. The members in Tengir-Too products of the conservatory who have investigated their folk traditions. These aren't field recordings. A performance DVD is included.

-John Adamian