***For the first time ever from this part of the world, here is a recording that documents the ceremonial animist music from the mysterious tribal villages of Northeast Cambodia. The Tampoans, Krungs, Kavets, Braos, and Jaras of Ratanakiri Province and the Phnongs in Mondolkiri Province have been living amidst each other in this region for centuries, preserving and expanding their unique cultural heritage, sometimes at peace and other times in conflict with one another or with foreign invaders. The music includes hypnotic gong ensembles, guitar ballads, bamboo flute and unique local instrumentation such as the gungteng (a 10-string instrument comprised of a bamboo tube holding 10 metallic strings with a dried gourd as resonator) and the mum (a unique one-string Krung instrument bowed with a bamboo using the mouth as a resonator, attached by a string between the instrument and the mouth). The superb singing styles and vocals present throughout are absolutely mesmerizing. These tracks sound like nothing you've heard before, all magnificently documented, transporting the listener into the heart of each performance. Recorded on location by Laurent Jenneau over a 2-year period from 2003-2005 with his revealing liner notes and a detailed tracklist included within.