Wednesday, July 18, 2001


i was never a fan of anant jesse's previous band, the alt-pop group dramarama. so when i first heard this album, mantrica, i was surprised at how much i liked it.

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 (aka john easdale) 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 sgt 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.

cheapest place to buy this album? i think it's at the ultimate band list site.

posted by fortune | 10:01 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments