Nature Ganganbaigal – To Where Tengger Leads Me
- Written by Julia Lamb
Meet Nature Ganganbaigal, the film and game music composer translating traditional Mongolian music through a new-age lens. Through his eclectic fusion of electronica and orchestral, Ganganbaigal creates epic scores fit for Hollywood blockbusters – it’s the kind of music that conjures images of galloping stallions and riding warriors in the age of the Mongol Empire.
To Where Tengger Leads Me is Ganganbaigal’s latest album. The record reaches glorious heights across 12 sweeping tracks, burning with an energy that feels nothing short of cosmic. Opening track ‘The Expedition’ sets the blueprint for an epic album to follow. Amongst its many different vibrant textures, the track is spiced with a traditional Asian flavour by way of Ganganbaigal’s horse-head fiddle - an ancient string instrument of the Mongolian people. The horse-head fiddle reveals itself in different ways, shapes and forms throughout the album, yet always comes as a familiar voice. Aptly titled ‘Galloping Steeds’ slams the foot on the accelerator and drives into a mad frenzy with elaborately interwoven rhythms that crawl under your skin as they hasten.
Just before the album’s half way mark is ‘The Ritual’, which grows from eerie to haunting to downright menacing, but closes with a conversely tranquil last few moments: like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. ‘Symphony Of Steel Pt. 1’ is an epic five minutes, featuring warrior-like chants amidst an orchestra of booming percussion and harmonious strings. There is a brief while where the swelling intensity dissolves into a stripped back interlude, but it’s not before long when the track gathers itself and is up and running once again. Arriving at its counterpart a few songs later, ‘Symphony Of Steel Pt. 2’ completes the journey with a brewing sense of anticipation, before bursting into a borderline R&B beat at around the four-minute mark. It’s sure to catch you off-guard. Closing number ‘Homeland Song’ is the only track on the album with vocals. Ganganbaigal opens with a softly strumming guitar, a foundation on which he creates a rich tapestry of soothing, ethereal harmonies and feathery glockenspiel sounds rising high above.
To Where Tenggar Leads Me is a larger than life album from a masterful composer.
To Where Tengger Leads Me is available from Amazon and iTunes.