V/A - Knudalini Remix: Yoga Mantras Revisited

[Lemmiwinks]

 

1. Snatam Kaur - Mul Mantra (The Sat Nam Remix by Cheb i Sabbah) 5:56

2. Gurunam Singh - Dukh Par Har (Desert Dwellers Breaks Remix) 5:38

3. Mirabai Ceiba - Gobinday (Drumspyder Remix) 6:04

4. GuruGanesha Singh with Snatam Kaur - In the Light of My Soul (DJ Sharu & Eugene Steele Remix) 5:30

5. Dave Stringer with Karanmrita Dasi - Aja Uttama (Duke Mushroom's "House Of Saints" Remix) 7:20

6. Gurunam Singh - Naam (Milly De Mori Remix) 7:54

7. Guru Singh - Wahe Guru (Mashti Remix) 6:50

8. Nirinjan Kaur - Jai Tegang (Ran Salman's Radio Remix 4:40

9. Thomas Barquee - Om Namah Shivaya (SonicTurtle Remix by Adham Shaikh) 10:28

10. Sat Kartar - Laya Yoga Chant (Makyo's Tantric Dub) 11:04

11. Snatam Kaur - Ong Namo (DJ Nartak & Five Seasons Rmx) 4:59

 

 

First of all, don't let the cheezy cover and title fool you, this is far from beeing new age... I stumbled on this by pure chance as it is not really targeted to psychill fans (even though a keen eye will recognize some heavy duty psychill artists on the tracklist), more to new age/ lounge music fans. I guess that with today's economy anything will be a good excuse to sell some records. But once the commercial considerations are set aside this is really one very surprising comp!

 

The main concept here is to take aeons-old mantra chants and make a modern version of them. This might sound extremely pretentious but the end result is interesting to say the least. First of all, even though I guess anyone with a slight interest in yoga will recognize some of these mantras, they are not sung the same way as we're used to hearing them, the melody arangements are extremely original and the electronic background is made to put the emphasis on the vocals. Again, I know this will sound odd but it works. Now for the tracks themselves:

 

Mul Mantra up first with a beautiful female voice and some very soothing pads, this would be the track that sounds most like lounge music here and a nice intro track, although it only sets the pace for thing to come.

 

Desert Dwellers' version of Dukh Par Har up next with their typical tribal oriental beats and an eerie make voice singing the mantra, this track is much more dynamic than the first although the best is still to come.

 

Gobinday now we're into outright 4/4 heavy kick dance music, actually a bit of electro-house influences as well as dubstep (hey wait, don't run off just yet! lol). But then a BEAUTIFUL female voice comes on top singing the mantra with a very original melody, I found myself pressing the repeat button a LOT with this one.

 

In the Light of My Soul comes in next with a more syncopated funky vibe and again an extremely beautiful voice melody singing the mantra. I though Gobinday was the best but after listening to this one, it sounds even better. So again, I have used the repeat button a lot...

 

Aja Uttama now we're outight in DISCO territory! Man, talk about surprises lol This is also the most commercial sounding track here and comes as a letdown after the previous 2 tracks, I tend to skip this one.

 

Naam also in 4/4 kick territory here with some sort of tribal trance, although not the one I apreciate most.

 

Wahe Guru again some very commercial tribal dance here, not quite my cup of tea...

 

Jai Tegang back into trance territory here, vocal trance to be exact, not psy. In parts it sounds good, yet in others too much like a travesty, ah well... NEXT!

 

Om Namah Shivaya aaah, back into chill mode here with the mantra I guess most people know but again, with a very different musical arangement to how we are used to hearing it. A beautiful male voice sconded by some djembés and soft synth melodies, and then a beautiful flute melody up next, I found this one extremely catchy and sad in some ways. Defintaley one of the best tracks here!

 

Then comes Laya Yoga Chant's interpretation by none other than Makyo! Hey it's been a while... As you can imagine, this is the track that sounds most like psychill here, a pretty different vibe to the other tracks. The beginning is actually a bit dissapointing but it slowly starts making sense after a while (after all, it's more than 11 minutes long so give it some time lol).

 

Ong Namo is the closer with a more new age vibe, but of the GOOD sort. Sure it's cheezy but at the same time the mantra is extremely catchy. I've found myself whistling the melody hours later.

 

Conclusion: I can understand why most people here would shudder just by seeing the cover but believe me, it really helps to put your preconceptions aside and listen to this with an open mind. I actually find it is one of the most original albums EVER (in any style) and the vocal parts are extremely catchy (well, they're mantras after all, they're supposed to be catchy lol). Of course, it's not all perfect, I guess that is always the price to pay for originality, not all songs end up sounding good. Still, this is definately the best chill-out I've come across all year. Faves: 2, 3(!!), 4(!!), 9(!!), 10 (!), 11(!!)

 

4,5/ 5