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Here is a selection of new recordings for you to enjoy. As always, if you have trouble finding these or any music recording reviewed in The Monthly Aspectarian at your local retailer, please call the phone number listed next to the record company's name for more information.
Nikkos
ANGELS DREAMING
(Nikkos Music c/o 4th Way Fulfillment 805-278-9400)
In his homeland of Italy 18 years ago, flutist-pianist Nikkos dreamed of a Japanese angel. Against all expectation almost a decade later, he moved to that island nation and the girl of his vision actually walked into his life! "So, anyone can find their angel," Nikkos explains, "and this music is dedicated to those who follow their heart's desire." Charming, refined and utterly beautiful, ANGELS DREAMING is overflowing with heavenly melodies perfect for massage, contemplation and pure listening enjoyment. Featuring Nikkos' gorgeous solos accompanied by acoustic bass and gentle percussion, each sonorous song instantly banishes stress and worry, replacing those negative emotions with a total sense of serene wholeness while evoking colorful imagery and deep emotion. When Nikkos adds accents of recorder and harpsichord, as on "Natsuno Melody," the music takes on a Renaissance feel. His heart-soaring solo during "In the Paradise" is as profound yet calming as a Zen meditation garden. Overall, ANGELS DREAMING is timeless music that makes for much happy listening.
Eckart Seeber
ECKLECTICA
(Mantra Entertainment Group 909-886-4622)
This is music for adventurous ears and vivid imaginations, a movie for your mind and a soundtrack for your soul. Drawing comparisons to film composer Ennio ("Twin Peaks") Morricone, rhythm maestro James Asher and, surprisingly, classical pianist Franz Liszt, the music of ECKLECTICA blends tribal rhythms with symphonic orchestrations and traditional ethnic voices through a wide variety of tempos and musical colors. A phenomenally deep and satisfyingly complex recording, it offers an eclectic aural odyssey influenced by African, Chinese, Greek and Celtic cultures that is perfect for reverie, daydreaming or inner journeys. The album starts with the poignant sound of the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), then progresses to include melodic material from the traditional pentatonic scale, plain chant inspired by Gregorian liturgy dating from the 9th century, Inuit throat-singing and contemporary African choir. By combining choice elements of early music and chant with contemporary dance beats performed on skin drums and ethnic percussion, ECKLECTICA explores familiar sounds in an innovative, deliberately eclectic manner that makes for a refreshing listening experience.
Lilian Verner-Bonds and Llewellyn
COLOUR HEALING
(New World Music 800-936-7321)
Are you feeling blue or seeing red? Then listen to the rainbow on this unique album that blends the science of sound with the potency of vibrational medicine: a non-invasive, natural healing method taught by color therapist Verner-Bonds and practiced in wellness centers worldwide. Each selection communicates the characteristics of an individual color on mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels. For example, red is a very exciting color that physically uplifts the spirit with great zest, so "Red" should be played when one needs to energize, to get up and get going onto bigger and better things. "Silver" is the color of illumination; it is also a natural tranquilizer, so should be played during times of stress or anger. The colors "Green," "Blue" and "Purple" are quieter, gentler, but no less profound. Llewellyn has created inventive arrangements of piano, keyboards, guitars, flutes and skin drums to realize these brilliant sonic vibrations; noted ambient-electronic musician Kevin Kendle contributes additional keyboards on "Indigo." Positive and negative key words, healing uses, associations to parts of the body and other insights are presented in the comprehensive liner notes for the seven colors of the rainbow plus gold and silver. Listen, and you'll soon be feeling in the pink in no time!
Seba
EWA!
(Tinder Records 415-491-0733)
After their U.S. live performance debut in March, the six French-Arabian brothers known as Seba (meaning "lion" in Arabic) make their international recording debut with EWA!, a truly fresh take on contemporary world music that fuses acoustic Algerian bendirs with hip-hop rhythms, reggae, flamenco and funk. Having successfully toured with Sting's fave rave, legendary Algerian singer Cheb Mami, this Paris-based family band is ready to let the good times roll with their happy grooves. Singing primarily in Arabic with French language accents, lead vocalist Abdel-Ouab Seba and his brothers strike a chic and sophisticated sound that remains firmly rooted in the mountainous village of M'Sirda in western Algeria, where the family of Seba has for five generations performed village concerts. These intoxicating and timeless rhythms ground EWA! and are well balanced by guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion and drums with violin, flute, turntable and ethnic instrument accompaniment. What a joyful noise this is, and one destined to have your toes tapping all day long!
Medwyn Goodall
ESSENCE OF MAGIC
(New World Music 800-936-7321)
Inspired by the many dramatic weather events Goodall has witnessed from his rural Cornwall home and influenced by the ancient druid heritage of that sacred land, ESSENCE OF MAGIC perfectly captures the majesty, power and awesome beauty of nature's essential alchemy. Here, the tonal palette embraces electric guitar, grand piano, sax as well as Goodall's signature synthesizer style. But what gives this album its uniquely textured ambience is the integral interweaving of authentic natural sounds including rain, hail, thunder and wind. To fully apprecisate this spine-tingling music, try closing your eyes and imagining yourself as a young Druid priest, a wizard or practitioner of white witchcraft. You stand at the summit of a mountain; the air is positively electric as thunderclouds gather and lightning cracks. Your feet are rooted in the earth; you can feel its power surging up from the ground, filling your body with a sense of unity with the elements. Now, it's time to harness the limitless power of nature for the first time, and you raise your hand, chanting a magical spell under your breath, and the heavens respond. ESSENCE OF MAGIC is a contemporary pagan melding of acoustic and electric, ambient and melodic; its enticing instrumental phrasing and rich textures could only have been created by a truly consummate composer who himself is in touch with timeless earth mysteries. It's a winner.
Submissions for review consideration may be sent to: PJ Birosik, MUSIK INTERNATIONAL CORP., 154 Betasso Road, Boulder, CO 80302-9606. Since 1977, Birosik has been a music industry consultant specializing in marketing, promotion, publicity and A&R/foreign licensing; she is a member of NARAS, NARM, NAIRD, CMC, IMA, and a past member of the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Women In Music who has been profiled in 11 international editions of Who's Who. Calls may be placed to her at 303/444-9575 between 9:30am - 5pm MST regarding review criteria, consulting services for signed & unsigned musicians, and data list rentals.
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