Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In summer they play 30-minute concerts every night in one of the restaurants owned by
11-454
www.modernnomads.mn
; mains T9000-24,000; 11am-midnight)
. The concert, which begins
at 7.30pm, is free to watch if you order something from the restaurant. You'll need to call
ahead to these restaurants to find where the band will be playing.
River Sounds
LIVE MUSIC
( 11-320 444; Olympiin Örgön Chölöö; admission T20,000; 6pm-3am)
This is one of the
best places to hear music as it's a dedicated live-music venue with jazz bands and the oc-
casional indie rock band. It's located behind the Foreign Ministry.
UB Jazz Club
JAZZ
(
9969 8146; Seoul St; admission free;
10am-midnight)
As the name suggests, this
is a dedicated jazz club, the only one in Ulaanbaatar.
MODERN MONGOLIAN MUSIC MASH-UPS
There is a thriving contemporary music scene in Ulaanbaatar. While you are in
town, make sure to pick up some CDs of the newest artists. Even better, try to
catch a live performance. You can hear live music at many downtown bars like
River Sounds (
Click here
)
or Grand Khaan Irish Pub (
Click here
)
. Popular music
genres include pop, rap and hip-hop, as well as a totally Mongolian brand of
folklore-rock fusion music that includes drums and guitars along with traditional
instruments.
For folklore-rock, Altan Urag (
www.altanurag.mn
)
is regarded as one of the best.
Their mash-ups of Western percussion and Mongolian string instruments will have
you entranced. Their website has a full range of videos (we like 'Raakh II' and
'Abroad'). We are also huge fans of the Boerte Ensemble, which fuses all sorts of in-
struments into a mellow sound good for long road trips. Their videos are available
on YouTube. Another band enjoying some success is Khusugtun
(
www.khusugtun.com
); they were recently recorded by the BBC's Human Planet
series.
If you are into hip-hop, look out for upcoming artists Opozit, Quiza, Tatar and
Tsetse. The emulation of American inner-city gangsta rap speaks volumes about
Mongolia's eagerness to embrace Western culture; however, if you can get
