LIQUID SOUND DESIGN Kumba Mela Experiment East Of The River Ganges 2001 1. East Of The River Ganges 2. Elephant Trax 3. Cleaning Fluid 4. Spiritual Journey 5. The Kumba Mela 6. Life After Death 7. That Which I Could Only Sense 8. Interstellar Hiss 9. Be Conscious 10. Outro

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An unusual album referring to an unusual event, some unusual names of its authors. A compulsory position if you search for sounds leading into some different states of the consciousness.

I leave the act of seeking all names to the listener, I will recall only that the authors of this album are connected with such projects as: The Orb, Dub Trees, Suns Of Arqa, Tangerine Dream, Dreadzone. Even Uri Geller, a famous spoons’ bender has appeared here out of nowhere and it is not known what for. We will not bother thinking about him.

The first title track is already leading us into the climate of Kumbha Mela – that is the most important pilgrimage of the Hindus. The original samples from Kumbha Mela, a splash of some ritual baths in Ganga (it is a woman not a man like in our language) and an accompanying festival of the sound. At such a party one would like to be. A few millions of people in one place – supposedly it is the only community of people which could be seen from the outer space. Almost seven minutes of an intro which is not boring and a hypnotic bass rhythm begins. I am not very fond of Hindu insertions in psybient (an extremely overused idea) but here it does not really bother, just the opposite.

ELEPHANT TRAX: kind of a simple idea, but actually it is a sensationally played dub mixture of a strong bass rhythm with the sounds of a sitar and some other Hindu disturbances. The electronics perfectly combined with some ethnic tones – the old joins the new, a wheel of the samsara rolls a new circle. CLEARING FLUID even more firmly goes in the direction of the reggae but fortunately not too far – the power of this music is the balance in the borderland of the cultures. SPIRITUAL JOURNEY is actually an interlude filled up with some melodeclamations in different languages, among others with some utterances from the cult film ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’. One I must quote here absolutely: ‘I don’t know what I want, but I want it now!’. One could describe it as the essence of a modern consumer ‘spirituality’. Then THE KUMBA MELA, that is the return to the dub bass and wailing of some saint guru. LIFE AFTER DEATH – then again kind of a simple rhythmical idea but played greatly and sensitively. The perfection of the arrangement is one of the major advantages of this album. Another one, for me not less important, is the association of the mystical transmission to the intense bodily rhythm instead of ambient jangling or some angelic chants.

THAT WHICH I COULD ONLY SENSE – the next variation on a theme of the Hindu dub. And it is time for INTERSTELLAR HISS. One can feel the hand of Klaus Schulze from the first seconds, although the connection of his space pads with the dynamic pulsing bass is performing surprisingly. BE CONSCIOUS. Oh yes, I agree with this appeal. Here we more firmly take the direction to Jamaica, but it is waking us up pleasantly from the previous trance. It only remains to listen to OUTRO and get the final appeal of Terence McKenna: ‘there is no reality… only people who KNOW this… and people who DON’T KNOW this who are therefore manipulated by the people who DO KNOW this!’. Amen.

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9 / 10
Swen (dzoncy) Stroop