Bickering Bray John Miller -: A description of the movement of the sun : two ragas (US,2007)***'
To some degree, for the first track, I can approve that with a certain simplicity but with the right sensitive moves this kind of performance of a raga can have as much if not even more effect as a well performed Indian classical music sitar raga, but I need to add immediately that if one uses this as a background and don’t listen too closely to eventual achievements over a range in time, this music works pretty perfectly. A bowed steel-string droning tone takes care of the tambura effect (as the instrument which is usually accompanying with a melodic drone to a classical sitar performance). The lead instrument for the raga mood is a contemplative fingerpicking acoustic steel string guitar. At first this evolves in a perfectly organic way, with drone and raga guitar in close harmony, and with pauses by the bass drone. Some extra ritualistic bells accompany as well. After the third pause a part with bowed strings of higher tones lead instead to a build up harmonically, in development with the looped bass strings. Some finger cymbals are used as well. But with clear listening attention it is more clear how the consciousness slumbers slightly with monotony, showing how the bass strings are just looped, and improvised upon, with some doubts what to do next after some while, making it a bit too improvised, as I let it go for the moment, a little bit too unprepared to be completely one with the now moment, as if a being prepared in what could happen wasn’t necessary, and thus this leads us to not much else,... still it is a nice 30 minute excursion/improvisation, without highlighting anything it remains like just nice background music. The second track’s title sounds like a humoristic Buddhist wisdom : “painted cakes do not satisfy hunger”. But here I am even more left with my hunger. The still naturally sounding and beautiful drone loops forever and only bits of simple handpercussion are added, almost like a none-performance, close to nothing, as if nothingness means that nothing should be done any longer. As a combination of tracks it is more simplified music as it could be, but it still remains a really nice background cd to work as an accompanying something for various sorts of occasions. 50 copies were printed only (my copy is number 50).
