Artist: Gangzi
Album: 我是蒙古人
Year: 2012
Line-up: Tulegur - guitar & vocals
So folks,
the year 2013 is just around the corner as we are spending our last day of 2012
today. We thought with my colleague that for new year’s eve it might be fun to write
about an album published during the year that is about to end: meet the aural
obscurity of the year 2012.
In the
summer of 2012, I travelled from Finland to Southeast Asia by land from
Helsinki with a friend of mine. During our travels, we passed through some
rather interesting cultures, including western (European) Russia, Siberia,
southern China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, but the place that really stayed in
my heart was Mongolia and northern China. The vast landscapes of Gobi with all
the camels and sheep were an astonishing beauty. North of Beijing and just
south of Mongolia, there is an autonomic region called Inner Mongolia. That is
the place from where the artist Gangzi, also known as Tulegur, comes from.
from Gobi, Mongolia
A few
months ago, I saw an advertisement of a cultural event in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki.
It was a one man show combining traditional Mongolian throat singing and vocals
with western rock-music. I immediately became interested and we went to see
Gangzi perform with some friends of mine. The show was intriguing; in the stage
there was a seat, which Gangzi took as the show started. He played rather
simple rock’n’roll riffs and fingerpicking and used overtone singing as a
device. Some of us feared at the beginning of the show that the setup would not
be enough to seize the listener, but at least for me, it was pretty engaging
and mesmerizing. Tulegur was charming and sympathetic character and the
combination of the vocals and the energetic guitar playing worked nicely.
I bought
the album after the gig, along with a traditional Mongolian scarf. The album
and the additional information are in Mongolian and Chinese. It is actually
pretty interesting that the traditional Mongolian script is an official writing
system only in Inner Mongolia, China, as Mongolia is using almost entirely
Mongolian Cyrillic alphabets, which I think is pretty sad, because the unique
and truly beautiful script that looks kind of like vertical Arabic is vanishing
as the capable readers and writers are shrinking.
Yes, this
is another concept, where the West meets the East. If you are into throat
singing, exotic cultures or even in guitar music, Gangzi will have a place in
your heart as well. I have no idea how and where to purchase this album, so it
is truly an aural obscurity.
Written by:
Oz
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