DW Rhapsody
New Age, 2004

Antarssukha is described as “an instrumental journey for the soul”. This Malaysian duo have come up with a collection of mostly instrumental pieces with the occasional vocals here and there to liven up things.

There are ten tracks here, all featuring the bamboo flute and membranophone and backed by a variety of ethnic Asian instruments like the sitar and gamelan. I bought this CD from the booth at the National Arts Theater after watching a live performance by these fellows alongside the National Symphony Orchestra. However, I must say that the magical effect of watching and listening as the guys play is vastly diminished in the studio recordings.

Lacking the orchestral grandeur of a live performance, the tracks here are vastly pleasant on the ears but they are also very forgettable. You know what they say: in one ear, out the other. Maybe it’s because I’m a philistine, but I never fail to feel sleepy by the seventh track, Rimba, because all these tracks tend to blend together into elevator muzak after a while.

Perhaps a little more uptempo rhythm and groove would have given this collection the zest it desperately needs.