It's a catchy album title, promising ambience, peace, and the possibility of spiritual enlightenment by the time the CD's over. But life's never that straightforward, and while cuts like Shabaz's "Caravan" are relatively lush and relaxing, the opener, "Ramadan," is actually somewhat disturbing -- not a hopeful sign. Amina's take on Billie Holiday's classic "My Man," with swooping, brooding Egyptian strings, is a delight (even if it's not likely to cause inner peace), and the segue into Simon Shaheen's excellent "Saraab" is ...
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It's a catchy album title, promising ambience, peace, and the possibility of spiritual enlightenment by the time the CD's over. But life's never that straightforward, and while cuts like Shabaz's "Caravan" are relatively lush and relaxing, the opener, "Ramadan," is actually somewhat disturbing -- not a hopeful sign. Amina's take on Billie Holiday's classic "My Man," with swooping, brooding Egyptian strings, is a delight (even if it's not likely to cause inner peace), and the segue into Simon Shaheen's excellent "Saraab" is deft. Zohar's track is light and spare, a breath of fresh, floating air, especially when considered to the generic ad-campaign ambient tones of Transglobal Underground's "Air Giant," which follows it. T.J. Rehmi is full of Eastern promise (which he delivers), while Sdzihan & Kamien is pleasant -- sort of Windham Hill neo-new age with some beats from street cred. Alex Kid's "Fear in Flight" is a bit of a joke, with pretentious spoken word that's supposed to be deep, but takes itself far to seriously to be anything real. The vibe for the latter half of the album -- in some shifting geographical locale between the East and Middle East, with an eye on the chill-out room -- helps establish a mood. The overt spirituality (not religion) of Celloman and "Always" is a nice surprise, but it's let down by the stunning predictability of Badmarsh & Shri; at least the eeriness of Oojami's "Neyzen" lets things end on an ambiguous note. So, after 70-odd minutes, you still don't hit nirvana. But then again, Zen never said it would all be easy. ~ Chris Nickson, Rovi
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Add this copy of Zen and the Art of Chilling, Volume One to cart. $4.95, good condition, Sold by Bookmans rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tucson, AZ, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Mondo Rhythmica/Ark 21.
