From ChartAttack:

One of Old Time Relijun's biggest cult followings exists in picturesque Walla Walla, Washington, home to 57,000 people and an annual Hot Air Balloon Stampede.

"There were at least 150 kids who came to that show and at least 80 per cent of them were under 18," says OTR front man, Arrington De Dionyso. After playing a house show, indie kids picked up his records, began circulating and playing them on the radio. When he returned this year, he packed the club, whipping the teenage crowd into a frenzy. "They were singing along, requesting songs — all the ecstatic fan behaviour you get at shows. I think there's something about our band that elicits that response. There's something about our music that makes people feel really alive.

His interest in Tuvan throat singing grew from his tendency to make robot noises as a child and as an adult, he went to college for ethnomusicology. There he discovered the art and its roots in shamanism, nature and meditation while studying ethnomusicology, music therapy and butoh dance theatre at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He calls throat-singing another means of physically rendering the soul's voice as a musical instrument. He gives workshops every now and then, casting the potential of the singing voice in particular cultural contexts.

And this from 133th Street

He's [Calvin Johnson] on tour with Old Time Relijun, another K Records Olympia, Washington band. They're a lot of fun. The guitarist and lead singer wore nothing except a pair of boxers. My friend Katy claimed they were boxer-briefs, but I disagree. Whatever you think of their taste in clothing, though, this band is worth checking out. Their K records bio describes their music as "a nearly incomprehensible blend of primitive swamp stomp 'n swagger meets gutsy fucked up free jazz and throat singing punk gospel." That's a pretty accurate description.

I love throat singing. Did anyone else note the passing of Paul Pena last month?