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Aluna \"For The Love
Aluna - For The Love Of The Deep Blue Sea (Optica Records 20
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Author:
Death Posture
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Time:
06.03.2004 12:04
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Text:
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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Death Posture
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06.03.2004 12:04
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New album 
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