|
Al Gromer Khan & Amelia Cuni
Al Gromer runs his instruments through transformative delays, loops, and other signal processing to emerge with a deeply layered, highly textured, often hauntingly melodic sound to form a musical bed for the caressing vocals of Amelia Cuni. The music can be seductively slow and elegiac. The album seems to unfold like a dark-hued flower, shimmering in the tremulous daylight of the artist's echoes, casting a slow-motion net of glissando sustains and overtones. This album feels like background music to me, as it changes very subtly over its long, slow journey. It is a perfect accompaniment for bodywork or meditation. As a matter of fact, that is precisely how I was introduced to this album, which made the massage one of my most relaxing and memorable experiences ever. The vocal tones and lyrics produced by Amelia do not give up their origin as they are processed to create intricate harmonies and timbres not usually associated with traditional vocal accompaniment, and at the same time being steeped in the tradition of Dhrupad music. Dhrupad is the most ancient style of northern Indian classical singing still being performed. As a musical genre, it flourished in the Hindu Temples and Mughal and Rajput courts as far back as the fourteenth century. It is rooted in the ritualistic chanting of the Veda and Nadayoga practices while influenced by the regional artistic expressions of the time. Andreas Cåmmerer does a splendid job with sound treatment and final mastering. The duo's triumph here does not lie merely in the technical but in the emotional aspect of their music. United by their austere simplicity, these diverse elements of technology and human voice flow together beautifully for an entrancing journey. The album possesses a timeless quality like it's inspiration, ... the ancient Dhrupad music, and will probably sound as good today as it will ten years from now."
Review by Ben Kettlewell information: |
 BACK TO REVIEW DIRECTORY |
          
|
<
This
is a masterfully done combination of ambient synth and
sampler textures mixed with Indian Dhrupad singing. Fans of
Sheila Chandra's drone series on the Real World label will
fall in love with this mezmerizing album.