I’ve been listening to Re-Covers, the 2005 album by Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha, all week—it may not be the prettiest or the catchiest music I’ve ever heard, but I can’t get enough of it. It’s a little bit as if someone had mashed up classic rock and my yoga class, with a healthy dose of salubrious grit.

Yat-Kha are a Tuvan band. For those who don’t know (hey, I had to look it up, too), Tuva is a republic of the Russian Federation located just north of Mongolia. Basically, if your predominant mental image is Siberia (it is, in fact, located in southern Siberia), you’re not too far off. (The Tuvan horsemen remind me somewhat of Genghis Khan and also of the Dothraki in George R.R. Martin’s ‎A Song of Ice and Fire, although this is most likely reductive in ways I can’t possibly know.) From a musical perspective, the Tuvans are most known for throat singing, an art form with which Kuvezin has a history. Kuvezin divides his time between Huun-Huur-Tu, which does more traditional Tuvan throat singing, and Yat-Kha, which pretty much blends Tuvan folk music with rock music.
 

Albert Kuvezin and Yat-Kha, Re-Covers
 
What makes Yat-Kha so cool is that Tuvans aren’t exactly the most represented ethnic group at your local record store, either on the shelves or in terms of the customers. So when they turn their attention, on Re-Covers, to Led Zeppelin (“When the Levee Breaks”), Motörhead (“Orgasmatron”), Hank Williams (“Ramblin’ Man”), Kraftwerk (“Man Machine”), and Captain Beefheart (“Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles”), you know you’re getting something a little more special than, say, Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive.” In fact, the songs are so interesting and strange that it sometimes takes a while for it to become apparent what song is being covered. (Occasionally Kuvezin sounds a bit like Tom Waits—but you saw that coming.)
 
Yat-Kha, “Black Magic Woman” (Carlos Santana version):

 
Yat-Kha, “Orgasmatron” (Motörhead):

 
Yat-Kha, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (Joy Division):