Search - Various Artists, Mother Tongue, Erraji :: Trance Planet

Welcome to Trance Planet

John P. Morgan | Beautiful San Dimas, CA | 12/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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...."

Pleasantly surprised

juno_luciana | Pittsburgh, PA United States | 08/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Good sampler of diverse world music

pma | 02/23/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""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."