Globalarium

James Asher | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 31, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Silver Wave
• ASIN: B000000POR
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,407 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars New Age music gone native, January 18, 2011

By 

Akashic Recordings "Akasha" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Globalarium (Audio CD)

Globalarium (1993) is a blend of standard, tranquil New Age music accompanied by a handful of tracks altogether different in sound - songs that spice things up with their deliciously exotic flavor.

Track 1 features flute, come-hither shakuhachi, backed by a wallpaper beat. It's your traditional New Age recording; typically pleasant enough: comforting, away-taking, but nothing that will prepare the listener for three spectacular tracks that follow.

The didgeridoo makes an appearance on track 2, but for me it's the groovy trumpet that's most intoxicating. With hand-drumming and a shuffling rhythm; the song is locomotive, feet-happy. It easily could lead a procession of cake-walkers if it wanted to. One can also shimmy to track 8; here again, a funky growling didgeridoo gets down alongside a slick, urban, back-alley trumpet-sound. Join the jig!

Suzanne Bramson's seductive vocal style makes track 3 an interesting departure. The keyboard on track 4 reminds me a bit of Suzanne Ciani's. Track 5 is low-key and mentally drift-inducing.

The first time I played Globalarium I remember thinking after half the album was over - this is not bad, not bad at all. But that was before I heard tracks 6, 7, and 10, and after I did the album for me went from merely above-par to being exceptional. These three tracks are my favorites. I find them distinctive; they stand apart from the other seven.

Bushwhackers: What a joyous and consonant concoction this is. Harmoniously multi-instrumental. A visualization pops into view on my mind-screen when I hear this, of a group of diverse musicians all happily playing in unison this roundelay about an outdoor circle of sorts; say, somewhere in the outback.

Send In The Tribes: A most-notable and quaint track for sure, exquisitely evocative of remote Eastern regions; in my mind's eye I see the Himalayas. It's reminiscent of and right up there in numinous aura with Dadon's enchanting, Bumblebee, off the impressive Samsara soundtrack (an excellent film, by the way).

Campfire On The Dunes: The ten-minute-long saltatory capper. What a way to close out an album. Globalarium goes out in style. Asher cuts it loose here. According to the CD's liner credits, the musician also plays the "bottle" and the "handclaps." I'm pretty sure the latter can be heard here. Or is that the castanets? Campfire On The Dunes is a festive, whooping rave-up. It makes you want to get up and hoof ... or do some erotic belly-dancing if you're an attractive woman with a voluptuous figure!

Globalarium (10 tracks; 67:13) is at times tranquilizing, at times exhilarating. I liken it to a mix, as if a compilation CD comprising both New Age and World. Radio-wise it's pleasantly non-mainstream and worth checking out if you like this sort of thing. I also recommend it to anyone wishing to further expand their musical horizons as an auditory cosmopolitan.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystical and haunting, February 4, 2007

By 

Terri DuLong "Author of SPINNING FORWARD rele... (Cedar Key, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Globalarium (Audio CD)

I'd had this music on a cassette a few years ago and the tape broke.

I was thrilled to be able to find it now on a CD. Light some incense, put this on your CD player and I guarantee your stress will disappear.