Gratitude Joy

Those seeking to escape the stresses of life and merge into the Universal were the target audience for this hypnotic 65-minute recording of devotional singing of Om created by the chants of Anand Anugrah, Paul Avgerinos (who also contributed sound design), and Rohin Khemani, who contributes the ongoing tabla and percussion patterns. The idea is that it's sung from the heart of the devotee, with harmonic layers of mantras interwoven with three simple expressions of gratitude and joy. Rather than simply run on as one extended track, the disc is, somewhat curiously, divided into ten tracks that all basically carry on the same hypnotic atmospheres and rhythm pattern. Flip forward and you hear the same "Om" — which is precisely the point. There are a few subtle vocal variations, but for the most part it's perfectly unified and symbolic of our being one with the universe. As background for yoga, meditation, or massage, it's a winner.