Hamt Zamin Hümüs

The morin khuur or two-stringed horsehead fiddle is pretty much the only traditional Mongolian instrument on Hamt Zamin Hümüs. NaraBara are a collective born in the musical melting point of Beijing and this is reflected in the highly-produced sounds of ‘Üg Hürhgüi Gazar (The Silent Land)’. Yider, the lead singer and morin khuur player from Inner Mongolia in China is backed by jazz/pop/groove-inspired drums, electric bass and piano. There are loops and samples of Moroccan gimbri bass lute. ‘Asuu (Ask)’ has a similar feel with a great morin khuur interlude. ‘Üher (The Cows)’ tells of ‘Yider and his friends getting lost during a night drive in the grasslands and running into a herd of cows that were equally lost!’ It starts with an electric piano groove while Yider relates the story in a speaking style. Then it morphs into a jazz/electronic dance track with samples of Yider followed by some cow lowing and a verse in a more throaty voice followed by a sweeping synth solo. It all ends with sounds of nature. Hamt Zamin Hümüs is destined for the cosmopolitan youth of China and a more ‘western’ audience.