Mantrica

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CD Details

• By Anant Jesse

Music reviews of Mantrica

Music Review: a gleeful romp through the 60s. . .yoga-delic
Rating: 4 Stars

the five 8- to 13-minute long tracks consist of a gleeful romp through 60s psychedelia with moments of peter gabriel, george harrison, and deep forest tossed in. however, anant jesse does use many authentic indian instruments on the album.

unlike other sanskrit chant or "kirtan" cds, anant jesse doesn't play it serious. he goes right for the groove. if you're a 60s- or kirtan-purist, you probably won't like this album. on the other hand, if you're willing to toss your preconceptions to the wind and dance, this album is a lot of fun.

it definitely makes the chants accessible to a younger, more modern audience, who would probably just dance to it without any idea they were listening to sanskrit.

anant jesse chants the sanskrit verses in an ultra-reverb enhanced drone for a george harrison "within you/without you" (on the sargent pepper album) effect. unlike the wispy gossamer of that beatles' song, however, the vocals here feel muscular, sinuous, and sensual, serving to underscore the dance grooves. maybe the sanskrit pronunciation isn't perfect, but the steady rhythm of the voice weaves in and out of the music in a pleasing way.

my only criticism is aimed at the liner notes. while they do give the english transliteration of the chants, the very poetic interpretations of them may confuse people as to their meaning. i wish anant jesse had given a "plainer english" translation of the chants as well as his literary ones.

i find doing yoga to this music completely effortless. i highly recommend it for a vigorous, flowing yoga practice. actually i find it's pretty good to listen to on headphones at work as well.

if you *were* a fan of dramarama, you might like to buy this album just for a stroll down memory lane. however, it's much different than the kind of music they were playing in the late 80s and early 90s.

Description of Mantrica

Alternative Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Dance & Electronic
• World Music
• Jazz
• New Age
• Pop