Aluna "For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea"
Top level Music reviews Chill out/ambient reviews

Author: Per Kristian Slagsvold

Publishing date: 15.09.2003 07:41

Review by PKS
Something different this time from Optica Records...

Optica Records (side label of Ajuca Productions) is out with a pretty special chill out release. Aluna has recorded music from all over the world, mixed it with electronic music and created an album. You can read about the meaning of the word Aluna inside the cover.


Aluna "For the Love Of The Deep Blue Sea" Optica Records 2003 (OPTICD003)

1. For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea
2. Albazin
3. Whirlpool
4. Autumn Song
5. Shae
6. Border Crossing
7. Holos
8. Song To the Steppes
9. Sahara Ecstatic
10. Atum
11. Massai Meltdown

The first track is a relaxing track with a lot of whale song dominating most of the track. In the beginning you also get some Mongolian singing! The electronic chill mixed in makes it pretty relaxing. Track two is really slow going with a very tribal feeling of instruments, just floating. It sounds very Arabic, especially when a violin starts playing. Track 3 is really beautiful, with acoustic guitar through the entire track. It sounds pretty happy, but sort of sad at the same time. Nice one. Track 4 is happier, with a nice violin and some transcendent singing. Track 5 is totally relaxing with the sound of a waterfall in Spain and tribal rhythms from Scandinavia mixed with floating electronic ambient. Track 6 sounds pure Arabic, with Arabic flutes and acoustic guitar. I really like Arabic music, so this is pretty nice. Track 7 is very special with musical influences from all over the world. Here you get sounds from sahara, South Sudan, Venezuela, Brazil and Baghdad! Pretty cool with a mix like that, but I think it sounds a bit messy. Track 8 is pure Mongolian folk singing! It will for sure not fit to every bodies taste, but I think it sounds pretty nice. They have added some tribal drums and electronic sounds too, to vary it. Track 9 has a very pleasant tribal rhythm tempo, some jazzy piano and singing from a women in Mali! I really liked this one. In track 10, we get hindi temple chants and a lot of female singing. This track sounds pretty weird and different from most chill out being released these days. The last track on the album sounds almost sad, with a Massai women singing about found and lost love.

This album is one of the most different chill out albums I have ever heard. Really interesting to here influences of music from so many parts of the world. Pure tribal relaxing chill.
PK


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Aluna - For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea (Optica Records 20
Death Posture 06.03.2004 12:04
Aluna – For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea

Cover: http://217.160.164.51/pic/opr1cd003_b.jpg

Format: CD
Artist: Aluna
Title: For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea
Label: Optica Records, U.K.
Cat. #: OPT CD 003
Year: 2003

Track listing:

01. 09’06” For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea
02. 06’02” Albazin
03. 02’51” Whirlpool
04. 06’40” Autumn Song
05. 04’17” Shae
06. 08’08” Border Crossing
07. 08’51” Holos
08. 07’36” Song To The Steppes
09. 08’19” Sahara Ecstatic
10. 07’55” Massai Meltdown
11. 07’43” Atum

Review: Ambient territory

Again, an older release which shun my attention when it was released back in 2003… Do you know this feeling: You’re about to put on a CD; you’ve never heard about the artist or the music, but somehow you just know “this is going to be good”!? That was exactly the feeling this piece of plastic gave me, and my feelings were right… This is a magical album!

This is truly something outstanding. Producer Paul Roberts travelled the world for 3˝ years gathering inspiration and recording tracks from all corners of the world: Africa, South Africa and Asia… He has collected magical, beautiful sounds from the deepest recesses of ancient cultures…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: This is an instant classic! Native chanting on top of smooth, floating ambience… You get all kinds of bells, whistles, sitars, birds singing and even whale song - Recorded at a massive depth by a Nasa submarine – how cool is that? ;o)… This will fit in perfectly on a Mystery of the Yeti compilation… Subtle grooves, deep relaxation… Mmm… Wonderful track!

#02: Thick Arabian influences on this second track to grace our ears… Emphasis is on the slow melodies, flute, violin, harp and acoustic guitar… Oh, and we get more bird action, this time the swallows of Granada! The ending is a bit abrupt, but still a nice track!

#03: A short little guitar-driven track, a bit faster now, but only a little… Sadly this disappears as quickly as it surfaced… This is a bit too short, but you’ll enjoy it while it’s there… Nice!

#04: More violins now, the “pace” from the previous track is intact and we get some really amazing violins along with accordion sounds… This sounds almost “Irish” if you know what I mean… Also, we get Vicky Rainbow singing which fits in nicely. I can see why this is called Autumn Song… When I close my eyes and listen to this, all I see is the golden colours of autumn… Cool track!

#05: Wow, hang on to your hats and specs; you’re in a boat approaching a waterfall now! But you somehow manage to avoid getting wet and just float in the air absorbing the true beauty of electronic ambient music. Wonderful track!

#06: Let’s cross the border into… Arabia! The middle-eastern melodies are back… Flutes and acoustic guitars control the pace… You get the world’s shortest fiesta in the intro, but mellowness soon takes over, giving your more mind-expanding brain food… But the fiesta balance is equalled out for the last three minutes… Get your Latin groove on! Nicey nice!

#07: Now be prepared for Holos! More Arab chants, crowd cheer, hectic percussion, bongos, bells, Raja Ram-like flute, subtle synths, etc. - It’s all here… This is a feast for the senses, a big mash-up of all kinds of emotional sounds… Kinda intense, but still very lovely!

#08: Wow, high pitched female chants from the get go, carefully mounting a deep, slow bass line… A jazzy, dusty saxophone is also present along with an acoustic guitar – Both give me a huge smile on my face… And someone’s packing a panpipe! Nice track!

#09: Let’s get ecstatic in Sahara! Tribal feel throughout nicely mixed with a smooth old fashioned piano… The jazzy touch from #8 is still very much present… And when was the last time you heard jazz from Sahara? This is not my fav’e here, but it’s still very interesting. Decent track!

#10: Atum – no idea what that means in Hindi, but this should satisfy any lover of Eastern influenced atmospheric chill out… This is one for the weekend Hindus! ;o) More beautiful singing by Vicky Rainbow… So many bells and whistles and flutes and all kinds of percussion… Is there a genre called ambient-fusion? If so, this is it…Deeply trance inducing… Brilliant!

#11: Massai Meltdown… Ha ha! So we get a lot of singing on this last track… A Massai warrior singing about battles won and lost, alongside a Massai women singing about love lost and found… How poetic… There’s this very melancholy feeling in this track, but I guess that suits the topic… I have mixed feelings about this track… I mean, it’s so well crafted, but at times it gets too damn weird, even for my taste. But it’s by no means bad. Decent track!

From the cover notes: “The word Aluna comes from the Kogi Indians of Columbia. It has no direct Western translation, it is their word for both the spirit world and the trance state” … How nice. I’m not a spiritual person, but I have to surrender myself to this CD….This is music for dreams… Gathered from all over the world… I’ve been truly surprised positively by this … There is a lot of great ambient out there, and this definitely deserves a place up there with the greats… As most music, this gain even more when listened to in headphones, so I’d recommend that… The simple cover provides you with just the right amount of information about the artist and the tracks. Nice.

If you haven’t already checked this out, I strongly encourage you to do so!

9/10

Favourites: 1(!!), 4, 5, 7, 10

DeathPosture

External links:
Ajuca Productions: http://www.ajucaproductions.co.uk
Chaos Unlimited: http://www.chaosunlimited.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.asp?LR=OPTICCD03 (soundclips available)
Psyshop: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/opr/opr1cd003.html (soundclips available)

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