Kosmik Music
Classical, 2003
The grandiosely-titled Sacred Chants for Stress Relief, Immunity & Longevity series, of which this CD is one of five, are devoted to creating a feeling of tranquility in the stressed-out listener. In the third volume, Uma Mohan and G Ghayathri put their voices to soothing and hypnotic chants of scriptural texts from the Sanskrit Stotras. Those are Hindu prayers, by the way, in case you’re wondering, and the language used in this made-in-India CD is Telegu.
I’m not Hindu or Indian, and I’m certainly not religious, but I nonetheless enjoy listening to this CD. The hypnotic chants are melodious and they are also evocative when it comes to creating an ambiance of tranquility in the room where I am playing this CD. If I want to, I can turn up the volume and enjoy the melodiousness of tracks like Mahishasuramardinistotram. If not, playing this CD in the background as music to soothe the raw nerves with works just as well.
Don’t expect melodramatic musical arrangement pandering to the exotic nature of Indian sounds though or you’ll be disappointed because this isn’t some New Age CD where the performer attempts to be the Indian reincarnation of Kitaro. Often the voices are accompanied only by a simple guitar and maybe some sparse drums. Sometimes there are strings and even a synthesizer, with the resulting track coming off like some theme song for a science-fiction movie. But all in all, there are no sitar explosions or any other kind of stereotypical Indian musical arrangements here. Were not for the Sanskrit chants, this CD could have easily been some generic easy-listening CD from any country, be it the USA or India.
If you like Adiemus, Enya, and heck, even Yanni and you need some nice music to calm down your nerves before a job interview, for example, or want some peace and quiet while being stuck in a noisy, crowded, and smelly bus, popping this CD into the portable player may not be such a bad idea. I found this CD at bargain price at the local “Indian Street” and so far it’s worth every cent I paid for it!
