Album: Hanggai, Introducing Hanggai (World Music Network)

This is music from the Mongolian grasslands, yet it emanates from the hutongs of Beijing, where Hanggai are spearheading a Mongolian folk revival.

From the first bar of the first track, the rhythm of horse hooves pervades their music, either created by strumming on the lute or by simple percussion, while the horse-head fiddle spreads its warmth and the throat singers do their gravelly stuff. Some tracks have an urban atmosphere, but many exude the amazing calm that travellers on horseback experience, as they traverse the seemingly limitless steppes of Central Asia.

Pick of the Album: Get gently carried away by 'My Banjo and I'