Japanese musician Koetsu Otomo travelled to Vietnam to write songs, record sounds and record with Vietnamese musicians. Playing guitar, he is joined by three singers, traditional flute, xylophone, monochord and fiddle players. Results range from motorbike and street sounds over vaguely Asian computer programmed rhythms, to more cohesive songs played by real musicians. Other sounds he recorded include outside a church, a railway station, a cafe, on a boat, at a club, creating a kind of travelogue of Vietnam. The most successful moments are when the Vietnamese musicians are allowed to shine, not becoming just another sound he recorded. These moments are however fairly rare, although overall an interesting enough album, and certainly original.
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