Customer Reviews

Trance Planet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This CD is cool. There is no other way to decribe it, it is just very, very cool. It's not pretentious like some compilations can be. In fact, it is very unassuming...it's like a great Presence...a Power...that doesn't care if it's not noticed and doesn't care if it is. To me, that's the ultimate in musical statements because I don't believe one should have to be clubbed over the head in order for one to notice the power and the intensity of the music. Music should grab you...gently....it should have its way with you...magically...it should give you a sense of direction without forcing you to go its way.

This is the kind of music that's perfect for a night of lovemaking. It works its subtle rhythyms through you and through the body of your partner bringing both of you to that place/that space where there is only the wholeness/the holiness of Spirit. It's not the kind of music for people who just want to exploit ritual and ceremony and connection and just want a ham sandwich and a soda 15 minutes later. It's all about depth, feeling,intimacy ...not for 20 year old hotshots with a brain full of baby-batter.

This music is smooth, kind, generous, and full of mystical properties. If you are willing to transform a leaden evening into a golden moment I suggest this soundtrack.

It's coooooool, man....

Agreed, there is no techno-style music here. But since when did the 1990s techno subculture become owners of the concept "trance"? This is a wonderful collection of gorgeous music aged over many centuries and from many different cultures. It spans soft East Indian drums played at the speed of butterfly wings to the rich polytonal harmonies of Pacific Island choirs. You will find yourself returning to this favorite over and over-- perfect during massage sessions, while relaxing in a hot bath, or any time you want a gentle journey through the world's music before it was trademarked as such. Namaste!

This is a wonderful compilation. It's warm, dulcet, laid back and good humored. From all over the world in all sorts of languages, and all of it a fantastic happy noise. If you like world music this is great on its own and as a lead-in to discovering the individual artists featured here. Put it on and it makes the room go all golden and cozy. I swear. It's magic.

"Trance Planet Volume 1" is one of those rare world music compilations that you can leave in your CD player from beginning to end. The range of cultures brought together here is pretty impressive: from Cape Verde to Tahiti, Mozambique to Argentina.

One of the standout tracks is the very first one: "Nwahulwana" by Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Mocambique, fading in with a simple guitar melody before the rich solo vocal begins. Other favorites of mine include "Two Lovers" by sitar virtuoso Ali Akbar Khan (a song which takes its time to build momentum, just like sitar playing itself), the melancholy acoustic guitar-driven Portuguese-sung "Sodade" by the 'Verdean Barefoot Diva' Caesaria Evora, and the outstanding oud-playing in Hassan Erraji's "Hammouda."

There are other tracks which I don't really care for and are too hackneyed in the "world fusion" genre for my taste, such as "Petition To Ram" by Jai Uttal, and the over-produced "The Game" by the late Pakistani qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (this track in true essence should be credited to the studio producer, since Khan's voice is completely underutilized and taken completely out of any true qawwali or raag context).

That said, even the lesser songs somehow work when the CD is played altogether on a rainy Sunday afternoon while you're reading the newspaper. It flows pretty well, which must be credited to Tom Schnabel for having a great ear to patch so many disparate sounds into one listenable disc.

Before world music compilations kicked it up a notch with the Putamayo and Buddha Bar series (and similar albums), Trance Planet was the best thing around. "Volume 1" isn't really anything you'd hear playing at any trendy "multi-culti lounge", but something you'd probably hear at the coffeehouse down the street. Definitely give this disc a shot if the global journey you want to take is a smooth and mellow one.

I bought this by mistake thinking it was something else (a similarly-titled psytrance comp), but ended up enjoying it enough to keep. Even if the music isn't trance in the sense that most people think of the genre, it certainly serves a similar calming, centering function. Also a good look at the forms trancey music takes in various parts of the world. Track 2 is haunting and beautifully done.

I love this cd..the variety of world songs, carefully chosen to create a collection both soothing and energizing. I do yoga to this CD, and chose this one to play as I gave birth to my daughter.

this cd has a a little bit of something for everyone. It is a wonderful collection.

If this selection of world music is typical of what Tom Schnabel (the compiler) plays on his radio station in Santa Monica then I'm sorry that I can't tune in. I am glad however that there are other volumes of this excellent collection, and that they are readily available.

The selections in Vol. 1 are varied. Go on a magical music journey through Africa, Central Asia, the Indian Sub-continent, the Americas and the Pacific Islands. It's not just beautiful, melodic sounds from exotic countries, it's various musical instruments, such as the Sarod, the Arabic lute and clarinet and tubular harps accompanying different cultural styles of singing or alone as instrumentals.

Listen to the unusual ululation as used by Vox, the throat singing of Sainkho and the qawalli or 'utterances' on 'The Game' and you will quickly appreciate what a wonerful world of music is out there. Perhaps the best selections though are the ones showcasing the vocal talents. From Orchestra Marrabenta, Mother Tongue and the Tahitian Choir to Cesaria Evora's 'Sodade' and Jai Uttal's 'Petition to Ram' we get the full range of plaintive and haunting yet soothing and relaxing sounds. The album closes with the strongest vocals of all and the most stirring track - a live performance of Mercedes Sosa singing 'Gracias a la Vida'. Gracias indeed.

If you are looking for trance techno, don't buy this CD. If you like lots of vocals, very slow beats, and lots of people singing in foreign languages, then you will dig the heck out of this CD. If you are looking for trance techno style then you will feel like you got ripped off, like me.