And now, as they say, for something completely different.  Take the Dog Sled is a short piece in eight movements by Canadian composer Alexina Louie scored for instrumental ensemble and Inuit throat singers.  The movements have titles like Bug Music and Sharpening the Runners on the Dog Sled.  The style is mostly a kind of high energy playful minimalism with quite a lot of percussion and percussive effects from other instruments.  It’s often quite onomatopoeic.  There are also some quite beautifully, hauntingly evocative passages.  The throat singers are used sparingly but to good effect.

The recording features the Esprit Orchestra with conductor Alex Pauk and throat singers Evie Mark and Akinisie Sivuarapik.  It’s very well recorded; clear and crisp.  The only thing that might put me off buying the CD is that it’s only 22 minutes long but the 22 minutes are a fun ride.