Otyken

A suggestion by Dr. Lee, Otyken sounds a bit like Bjork if she was from Siberia.

Otyken is a group that plays Siberian indigenous music mixing local folk with modern pop on mainly traditional instruments, although they do throw in some bass, keyboard and saxophone occasionally. Throat singing is also used in the lot of their compositions. It’s all an attempt to sound like nature and animals, with the lyrics telling the indigenous people’s stories of their practices and beliefs. Some songs are sung in Russian, but mostly they’re in Chulym Tartar, which only had about 25 speakers in 2020.

Formed in 2015, the band hopes to help preserve this way of life before it goes extinct. There are about 10 main members, although, depending on availability, fewer participate in concerts. They’re all Siberian ethnicities from tiny villages and all have other jobs. As Dr. Lee pointed out, all the girls are pretty cute. We kind of focused on the lead singer, Aztan just because she was the first one with whom we fell in love. Otyken had plans to perform in the US in 2023, including on the show America’s Got Talent, but unfortunately the government won’t let them enter the country, almost certainly due to frosty relations. Thanks a lot Vladimir.

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