The first time I heard the music of Huun Huur Tu was in 1998. It was a deep musical epiphany that resonates with me to this day, and I look back with much joy at this moment and the group who so profoundly "opened" my ears. Overtone singing in it's many forms is a central pillar of the Tuvan music, and certainly in the modern world the area of Tuva can safely be regarded as the true home of overtone singing. Through the human voice, the music of Tuva connects man with his environment and with the unseen world around him.

Several years after this first encounter I met the group whilst taking part in a music festival in a wild nature park in Kenya along the Great Rift Valley. For over a week their overtones sung out amongst the animals and over the planes and it was here that I got my first taste of the deep connectivity between their music and the open landscapes surrounding us. They kept their singing art as a precious secret, but I remember clearly the last night when I donned my kilt and played my bagpipes before an open bonfire and Sayan, one of the Huun Huur Tu members, came to me and sung in my ear along to my pipes - his crystal clear overtones are still reverberating inside me to this day!

In 2008 Huun Huur Tu took advantage of a five-day break in their US touring schedule to record their most popular songs at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley CA. The group felt that over fifteen years of playing their songs had evolved significantly and deserved a new recording. The sessions were electric, and they decided to open up the studio doors for an invitation only performance and recording of their best songs.

The result is a spine-tingling film of Huun Huur Tu's performance at Fantasy Studios on November 20, 2008 which we are now delighted to present on Plushmusic. This was clearly one of those special moments when a band at the height of their creative power are blessed with a perfect recording environment and a wonderful audience to receive them. We at Plushmusic are immensely proud to present Huun Huur Tu.

Hayden Chisholm
Plushmusic Producer

1. Prayer/Oske Cherde
2. Sygyt
3. Chiraa-Khoor
4. Kargyraa
5. Saryglarlar
6. Kozhamyk
7. Kongurei
8. Camel Caravan Drivers
9. Sagly Khaldun Turula Boor
10. Eerbe Aksy
11. Orphan's Lament
12 Odugen Taiga
13. Aa-shuu Dekei-oo

Huun Huur Tu
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, lead vocals, Igil, doshpuluur
Sayan Bapa, doshpuluur, igil, acoustic guitar, back vocals
Radik Tyulyush, vocals, flute, byzaanchi, igil
Alexey Saryglar, traditional drums and percussion, vocals

Special Guests
Michael Manring - bass (Odugen Taiga)
Irina Mikhailova - back vocals (Odugen Taiga)

Executive Producer
Vladimir Oboronko

Plushmusic Executive Producer
Hayden Chisholm

Greenwave Music General Director
Alexander Cheparukhin

Fantasy Studios Location Producers
Vladimir Oboronko
David L. Brown
Dorian Maras

Location Producer / Director / Director of Photography
David L. Brown

Art Director
Kia Resnick

Camera Operators
David Brown
Steven Baigel
Garrett Low
Tom Anderson
Maya Sedgwick
Autumn Turley

Production Crew
Wendy Krueger
Autumn Turley
Michael Schrecker
Elisabeth Walter
Stan Ng
Dorian Maras

Sound
Recorded & Mixed by John Cuniberti
Microphones provided by Telefunken USA

Video editing
Matthew Jolly

Special Thanks to Jeffrey Wood, Amanda Howell and the staff at Fantasy Studios, Konstantine Baranov at Digidesign, Steven Baker