abasio Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Makyo Swara Mandala Dakini Records Released November 1st 2005 Tracklist Clarity (Soft Prana Mix) 10.14 Laundry Girl (washed out remix) 8.07 Nourah 6.52 Shalale 6.42 Obsession 11.20 Clarity (Melting Snow Mix) 11.15 Skin As Soft As Starlight 10.06 At the centre of a mandala is a dot, or bindu, that represents Mount Meru (the mythical mountain at the centre of the Universe). The meditator should then enter the mandala, following the lines of power that lead towards Mount Meru. Once Entering the sacred space within the mandala, the individual is dissolved into the greater self... - Richard Waterstone 1. Clarity (Soft Prana Mix) A slow but heavyish start to the album. Some nice sounds used throughout the track and nice vocals sound very sensual but the first 7 minutes of the track are a little repetitive and it's only towards the end that it really gets going for me. 2. Laundry Girl (washed out remix) Nice underlying synths start this one off with nice percussion. Male vocals (don't know what they're saying or what language, something budhist?) sound okay at first but are a little to high pitch at times and can grate on your nerves after a while. These make way for a better finish again, with nicer, software sounds. 3. Nourah Some kind of flute melody kicks this track off and it sounds more promising. The vocal sample in this one is better and I like the baseline a lot. Much nicer sounds used in this one, strings along with the vocals give this track a more dreamy relaxed feel than the previous 2. This one progresses better so it stays interesting until the end. 4. Shalale Sounds like the deserts you see in movies. Very middle eastern vibe here. I can imagine walking through the desert, finding the oasis and watching belly dancer's. An instrument called a Saz is very prominent giving it this vibe. This track is much more vivid than the 1st 3 and has some really nice female vocals in it, occasionally slightly twisted and drawn out. 5. Obsession This one is more chilled. Much more spacey and dreamlike than anything before on this album. Subtle vocals at the start and keyboard sounds lie under the soft beat, soft synths. Later the vocals become more sensual like in Clarity (same vocalist Nona Kalra). I keep expecting a melody to come in, that I was sure was from this track and I thought I remembered when it started but it never really comes. It threatens but never rears itself. Shame, because that's just what this track needs, a clear melody through it. 6. Clarity (Melting Snow Mix) A different mix of track one and I must say I much prefer this one. It's softer and it has a nice piano melody, a better baseline and the same vocals (the best thing about track 1) as the soft prana mix. A similar feel to Obsession with some nice chilled ethnic beats and a dreamy feeling. The vocals give this track this feeling where they didn't in the 1st mix. The beat stops in the last 3 minutes (well becomes very very soft) and you can feel yourself drifting off to dreamland. 7. Skin As Soft As Starlight Stand out track on the album. Starts of with nice strings and floaty sounds and sexy dreamy vocals (again by Nona Kalra, great voice). Beatless it continues where the last track left off. It's the sort of track that you can fall asleep to. When you hear it in a half asleep state it affects your dreams in a really nice way. Overall then this album is alright. It gets more and more chilled as it goes and in my opinion it gets better as it gets towards the end. I sometimes skip the 1st 3 tracks and start straight on Shalale. It's the sort of album that's good to play as your going to bed and fall asleep to, as it gets slower and slower it kind of pulls you down into sleep and I usually dream well when I nap to it. If you like Makyo then this will be a good buy for you but if you are going to buy just one dakini release from 2005 I'd go for Puff Dragon's Sazanami which has a remix of Skin as soft as Starlight on it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted November 8, 2006 Author Share Posted November 8, 2006 I listened to this agian recently after quite a while & I still say it's really good. I like Makyo. Definately one of the leaders in non shit ethnic music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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