a r t i s t : Erik Amlee
t i t l e : Sitar
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : Mandragora {MRO21}
g e n r e : Instrumental
r l s. d a t e : May/2006
t r a c k s : 05
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 50.8 MB
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We've been trying to list these Amlee discs for ages but we can never
seem to keep enough in stock. Everytime we play them in the store,
someone, sometimes several someones, always buys 'em. That's usually the
truest barometer for how good a record is. And these discs are soooo
good. Both of these discs feature Erik Amlee on sitar, the fact that
Amlee is not a trained sitar player is part of what makes these discs so
cool. The other being the totally bad ass drone and buzz of the sitar.
We're beginning to think the sitar is the coolest instrument there is.
It's like a guitar, but with way more buzzing and vibrating and droning.
We can totally picture the heaviest metal band in the world with no
guitars, just with electrified, amplified sitars. That's the same metal
band that would have to have a Tuvan throat singer on lead vocals, but
we digress. These lengthy improvisations are dense with buzzing
overtones, haunting melodies, still very Eastern, as that's the nature
of the instrument and its tuning, but also kind of spacey and blissed
out, druggy and psychedelic. The whole thing is thick and soft and
swoonsome, longform subtly shifting ragas, drowsy and fuzzy, all sepia
toned and sun baked, rife with dizzyingly buzzy melodies and simple
subtle percussion, and occasionaly electronic glitchery, but not so it's
noticable, just adding more texture. And the recording is super casual
and a bit lo-fi, you can hear shuffling feet, instrument buzz, every
little nuance is just sort of captured and woven into the blurry dreamy
sweetly torpid soundscape. So totally captivating. These records make
the perfect late night listening, all thick and drifty and suffused with
a soft rich glow that just sort of washes over you. Both volumes are
equally amazing, and they're cheap too so there's no reason not to pick
up the set!
http://www.aquariusrecords.org
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01-Awakening [04:35]
02-Too Far Gone [07:12]
03-Glassy Noel [11:23]
04-After The Breakdown [03:58]
05-Raag Jhaani [13:24]
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40:32 min