Albert Kuvezin (Альберт Кувезин) is a legend in the ethno-rock and World Music community. He was one of the founders of the band Huun-Huur-Tu, which brought throat singing into prominence. He went on to form his own band, Yat-Kha, who I came across in 1993. He was managed to meld together traditional Tuvan music (the region in Russia close to Mongolia and not so terribly far from China) with post-punk and even country music.
On June 21, Yat-Kha’s latest album, We Will Never Die, is due for release as a download and will be available on CD and vinyl.
The grooves on this particular album lean more towards a post-punk sound. Russia has a magnificent indie music tradition, but this sounds more influenced by British and German post-punk of the golden era, sometime between 1980-1985. The vocals are vintage Kuvezin, as they are husky, raw. This is one of the coolest releases of the year, and if you are fortunate enough to purchase this on CD, you will be happy to know there are two bonus tracks you’ll have that I don’t: Solitude by Black Sabbath and While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison.
Our dear friends at Lollipoppe Shoppe are owed big thanks for releasing this, and for continuing to blaze a trail since the early 1990s by introducing many new and interesting emerging East Asian rock music artists and experimenters.