Shabda : शब्द

Rudy Adrian’s Lotuspike debut, MoonWater, was a beautifully crafted study in deeply serene and contemplative soundscapes. His new release, Desert Realms, follows that same stylistic path, exploring the spectacular stillness and vast landscape of the American Southwest desert.

Max Corbacho’s first CD drifts over the listener like soft sand and silk, weightless wafts and gossamer veils of synthetic tone rising and falling in delicate harmony. The tone is light and dreamy, floatational and airy – atmospheric rather than oceanic, skybound rather than subterranean.

Century Seasons is a two-disc compilation in which tracks from earlier Serrie albums have been remixed and woven together to create a lengthy journey through musical space. There are two newly written tracks that fit in well with the rest. The result is an album that blends familiar sections in new contexts with previously unheard efforts.

Barquee merges Gregorian ambiences, synthesizer framing, and what sounds like a glossolalia of Latin and Sufi phonemes. His attractive alto voice doesn’t employ esoteric techniques. There’s no harmonic singing, Mongolian throat growls, or Qawaali wails.

A fantastic album of dreamy instrumental music. Somehow this album encapsulates alot of Phil Thornton’s styles, as each track has a different feel – some ethnic, some romantic (the almost classical, piano-based feel of the last track), others drenched in flutes. The flutes really are to the fore in this recording; a few are played by Nigel Shaw. The production is top quality, clear, uncluttered, yet also full. Definitely one of his best works.

La Roca Vol.7 is a look back to renew a personal dialogue that began with the first rocks. Atmospheres become more leisurely, vowel sounds deeper and more widespread. Its exponents are the tracks “Lied” and the magnificent voice of Laura Moyano, “Interior”, which was forced to leave the album with the same name in 2007, “Mykonos”, which initially should have been called “Verra la Morte” and “Noises With Life”, which radiates positivity for each and every one of the latter that form and you can download from the official website of Nacho (www.nachosotomayor.com).

Although this beautiful CD is a relaxing accompaniment to whatever you are doing, I like playing it during reiki sessions. The ethereal music is conducive to both client relaxation and my own meditative experience. I particularly enjoy the exotic percussion overlays and hypnotic rhythms found in Magic Flow by Anugama and Dreamcatcher by Kamal. Being able to listen to sample tracks beforehand on Amazon.com inspired me to purchase this CD. Two thumbs up!