Adham Shaikh - Fusion

[Mergi]

Artist: Adham Shaikh

Release: Fusion

Year: 2004

Label: Dakini Records

Cat-#: DAK2114

Rating: 4.5/5.0

 

Tracklisting:

1. Opal

2. Flying Beyond

3. Dubfire

4. Infusion ( Bombay Mix )

5. Ohm ( Transfix Mix )

6. Gayatri Mantra Shuffle

7. Somtin Hapnin ( Ganesh Mix )

8. Krishna Raga ( Dakini Dub )

9. Shake It ( Shaikh It )

10. Newborn Shuffle

11. Rabbit Hole Raga ( Spore Mix )

 

A very stunning listening experience. There's very much here to just immerse yourself in. Very good drum programming throughout, with all the percussion and the dub this album truly becomes one really nice rhythmic journey. Keep on adding here with guitar, vocals, flutes, sitars... there is no possibility to be bored. A really great fusion of instruments and music styles.

 

Opal is a fast paced piece with a nice warm atmosphere, it's quite laidback yet still bodymoving, very feel good kind of track with nice uplifting flutelines. Flying Beyond keeps the flute and the 4 by 4 beat but now a lot more dreamy and slow. No busy percussionwork in this one, only sweet drifty melodies. We're going real slow and dubby with Dubfire and now things are really drifting, it's like it wants to put me to sleep with it's piano lulls. Things get a bit more headnodding (and I don't mean falling asleep) with Infusion, a nice beat with a nice drizzling guitar riff. Tim Floyd on bass and guitar all combined to one very listener friendly laidback track, yet again very dreamy. Ohm, things are speeding up again but it's not stressing in anyway, the vocals, melody sequence and the flute takes care of weaving an intricate yet relaxing atmosphere.

 

Gayatri Mantra Shuffle is the track that made me buy the album, after I heard this track there was no reason not to have the damn record. Brilliant vocaldrone input, mesmerizing to say the least. Very nice dubby percussion-filled environment, all fits perfectly. The melodic climax in the end is indeed also an experience. All in all, in my opinion, a brilliantly produced piece of music. Then we're suddenly back to Essence, an excerpt of Somptin' Hapnin'. A dreamy interlude. It's featured in an imax film called Sacred Planet, I don't know what the film is about but the track does indeed sound very soundtrack:ish. It fades out and leave room for the very long build up intro of Krishna Raga, a very eventful track once it gets started. The intro is almost a song of it own filled with rhythmic vocal exhalations, chanting and percussion, the track explodes somewhere around the 5 minute mark with a sitarsolo and a steady 4 by 4 beat. The sitar fades out quite quickly to be replaced by Adhams synths and emphatic beat but returns as suddenly as it disappears. Then a break in the frenzy a few minutes later and the first part of the track is incorporated.

 

Shake It is a fast paced dubby tribal workout track... it's way too long to just listen to, maybe this track could be used rather effectively in DJ-sets. Does sound like a track you're suppose to play around with. Newborn Shuffle is an unpolished acoustic piece, while it's nice and catchy I think it shuffles about a bit too much. The track goes pretty much nowhere. The record ends with Rabbit Hole Raga, more dub accompanied by a sweet melody synth-sequence and a dreamy windy flute. Very nice ending track in typical Adham style.