Playlist: music reviews
by Bill Binkelman
 Reiki Healing WavesParijat New Earth Records, www.newearthrecords.comNew Earth Records has a knack for releasing great New Age music, but even by its high standards, Reiki Healing Waves is a particularly excellent piece of work. Playing guitar, piano, keyboards, bells, and percussion, Parijat paints one peaceful musical landscape after another. Soothing synthesizers flow beneath a pastoral guitar refrain on the opening “Hearts Awakening,” while piano and guitar plaintively duet on “Healing Senses.” Lush keyboard washes fluidly flow under piano and guitar on “Forgiving” and the title track features soft but insistent Gamelan-like rhythms percolating gently over somber keyboards. “Return to Yourself” lightens the mood with cheery plucked string keyboards, sunny guitar, and lilting flute. As is the case on many Reiki recordings, a struck bell tone signals the time period to change positions and these are incorporated into the music flawlessly. Your reiki masters and practitioners should consider this a “must have,” as should anyone who enjoys warm, accessible New Age music for relaxation and de-stressing.  Mandala: Circle of Chant
Terry Oldfield and Soraya New Earth Records, www.newearthrecords.comThis being a Terry Oldfield CD, you know you’re going to get superb instrumentation played by a real master musician. You’re also going to get great production values, as is to be expected from this label. On Mandala: Circle of Chant, Oldfield and vocalist Soraya perform eight Sanskrit Mantras and their voices seamlessly blend with Oldfield’s solid musical talents on bansuri and silver flutes, percussion, and keyboards (Soraya also contributes on tempura, harmonium, and percussion). Their vocals are lushly multi-tracked, so for chant neophytes who enjoy Enya, this might make a fine starting point in the genre for them. From the joyous “Sri Krishna” to the haunting “Sri Ram” to the gently flowing “Twa Meva,” the two artists weave a gentle melodic blend of instruments and voices. New Earth Records recordings are frequently a great soundtrack for yoga and this CD is no exception. Recommend this one without reservation.  Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing SongsVarious Artists Silver Wave Records, www.silverwave.comMining the musical tradition of a number of Native peoples—Lakota, Ojibway, Inca, Navajo, Algonquin, Kiowa, and Blackfeet—the singers, supported by instrumentalist Tom Wasinger, offer eight songs intended to exude a healing effect on mind and body. Some of the lyrics are translated into English in the liner notes, a nice touch indeed. Instrumentation includes drums, flute, rattles, percussion, and subtle, discrete electronic keyboards (however, make no mistake, this is traditional music and the synths only flesh out the pieces; this is not fusion music). Even when drumming and percussion is present, I’d still characterize the music here as low-key or at least subdued in nature. All the singers—Thirza Defoe, Doug Foote, Lorain Fox, Allen Mose and Dorothy Tsatoke—have wonderful voices. I was particularly enchanted with Dafoe, who sings both the Ojibway title tune and the Algonquin “Calling to the People.” This album is an outstanding effort by all the musicians involved.  Yoga PlanetThe Gordon Brothers Sequoia Records, www.sequoiarecords.comDavid Gordon and Steve Gordon have recently turned their attention to the downtempo/chill-out genre and are making it their own with this release, one of the strongest efforts I’ve heard in this category of music in a while. The Gordons incorporate their signature world beat elements with the smooth grooves and lush melodies of contemporary chill-out and lounge. The results are uniformly stellar, surprisingly accomplished, and quite varied for this particular genre. Unlike many of these types of albums, each song offers the listener a different take on the “theme,” while maintaining continuity of mood—a requirement for a good chill-out album. Check out the bossa nova-ish “Luminous Sunset,” the trippy-jazzy “Gliding in Azure,” the Ibiza-tinted exotic world flavors of “Asana Lounge,” or the laid-back funkified “Soft Landing” to sample the assortment of grooves and beats that awaits you and your customers. The CD is a solid bet for in-store play generating interest as the infectious beats and smooth melodies get inside you quickly. |