Reviews
On this Nimbus release, 11 musical examples from Laos' southern region are presented.
Pneumatically expanding and contracting sounds from reedy khen mouth organs, scalding melodic runs on wooden ranat xylophones, sensitively plucked notes on the kachapi lute, and a bevy of timbres from a battery of percussion instruments all intermingle on the CD's tracks.The musicians heard on this CD immigrated to France in 1976. Despite this fact, the liner notes state that they are "the best musicians in Laos." Whatever their ranking in the Laos' hall of fame, Music From Southern Laos is a dazzling CD that encapsulates a specific cross-section of this country's extensive diversity of sound. -John Vallier, www.allmusic.com