Thursday, April 30, 2009

CD Review: Go Ga-Ga For Raga

Shivoham
Shankara
Silk Road Communications

For anyone looking for meditative or contemplative raga music, then stop no further. Shivoham is the name for Aparna Panshikar (vocals), Bhargav Mistry (sarod), and Debashish Upadhyay (keyboards). This album celebrates Shankara -- one of the great mystical poets and philosophers in India's history. There are 6 long tracks that feature sparkling and tinny sounds of the sarod, with the added beats of tabla, too. Aparna's glorious vocals add a nice touch to the music. Her voice fits quite naturally with the instrumentation and overall tempo. Shankara's 6 core beliefs of a worldview are included in the liner note book. In fact, there are nearly 50 pages of text, photos, and illustrations throughout the book. The liner notes contain song lyrics in Romanized Sanskrit and English, with commentary in English. Shankara is steeped in centuries-old tradition, but is nevertheless, a very original and contemporary album. If you want to relax, then you've come to the right place. ~ Matthew Forss

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