Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tastefully atmospheric, September 28, 2005
I've become quite a fan of Ravi and Anoushka Shankar in the last few years and have seen them perform a couple of times. I was slightly reticent about this album because of a skepticism towards "world music" in general (which is sometimes a cheesy fusion of the most plastic of western pop and the music of another culture). However, Anoushka exhibits taste with her considerable composition skills. She nicely integrates electronics with traditional instruments such as didgeridoo, South American vocal percussion, piano, cello, violin, and, of course, traditional Indian instruments. The release feels fresh because of its being informed by modern electronic music (Anoushka is a big fan of trance, for one), yet retains an organic feel that keeps it grounded.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Magic Carpet Ride..., January 2, 2006
I was in Sound Spectrum in Laguna Beach, California a couple of days ago where the owner Jim had Anoushka Shankar's album Rise playing. Wow, it sure got my attention. Anoushka is the daughter of legendary Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar and along with her famous half-sister Norah Jones is heir to one of the world's great musical legacies.
As one of only a handful of female sitar players in the world, Anoushka could well be thought to be trading on her uniqueness in the male-dominated culture of sitarists and on her father's famous name. But that's definitely not the case here. She's an accomplished sitarist, musician, composer and director in her own right with an impressive list of awards and credits for someone in her mid-twenties.
Rise is a luscious, evocative album that features Anoushka's traditional Indian sitar playing set amidst richly textured arrangements, instrumentations and vocalizations. The compositions and arrangements are hers and they float magically out there somewhere in the ethers between the ancient sounds of Indian music and rhythmic contemporary stylings. Anoushka's music on Rise is both haunting and liquid, beguiling us with a mystical magic carpet ride and then seducing us with its colorful gems along the way. (When was the last time you heard a sitar and a didjeridoo making music together?)
For those familiar with the music of Spain's Ojos de Brujo there's some vocalizing on Anoushka's song Red Sun that's highly reminiscent of the vocalizing on Brujo's Gypsy Party. I was excited to hear this unusual vocalizing again - it's electrifying stuff and makes me think that this is what a human voice would sound like if it morphed into a percussion instrument. Though Anoushka's music is truly Indian at its core and Ojos de Brujo's decidedly Spanish, both share a common thread in the way they blend traditional music with contemporary stylings and do it so well; a telling hint as to the evolution of music.
I like Anoushka Shankar's music on Rise a lot. It has a haunting, seductive quality to it that stirs the imagination and inspires a meditative, trance-like stream of consciousness that makes me want to dance and dream all at the same time.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
New age Hindustani Trance Classical music for modern times, November 28, 2005
I picked up this album in a music store on a whim. I must admit that I was filled with a sense of trepidation. I am very, very skeptical of star children as a rule and I was afraid that this album would be another example of progeny cashing in on `illustrious lineage'.
I am happy to report that I was proved wrong. To begin with Anoushka demonstrates a good understanding of Indian Classical Music. Her `chops', as somebody here has said are impressive. This kind of music is very difficult to get right. Not handled well, it can end up becoming a complete mishmash. Like a lot of the lounge music out there - completely soulless and absolute wallpaper. But not here.
The blend of ambient atmospherics and Indian Classical is just so. Neither overpowers the other. The other treat in this album is the impressive list of master musicians - Vishwa Mohan Bhatt of `Meeting by the River' fame, Bikram Ghosh, that hyper percussionist, Ritesh and Rajesh Mishra, sons of Rajan Mishra...
This is intelligent, sensitive Indian Music for the Global Age. Recommended.
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An Amazon.com Best of 2005 selection.
~ Anoushka Shankar
~ Ravi Shankar
~ Ravi Shankar
~ Anoushka Shankar
~ Ravi Shankar
by Anoushka Shankar 
