Artists | Issues | CD Reviews | Interviews | Concert Reviews | DVD/Video Reviews | Book Reviews | Who We Are | Staff | Home
 

L. Shankar

Full Moon

Review by Gary Hill
This set is clearly not progressive rock music. In fact, it’s not rock music at all. It is definitely art music, which is why I have landed it under the prog heading. This is world music with an Indian angle to it. A lot of it is instrumental, but there are some tracks that have some non-lyrical world music vocals built into them.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2025  Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2025.
Track by Track Review
Darlene’s Wish

Traditional musical styles with some real art music built into it are on the menu here. This gets more energized as it continues and some definite world music themes are at play. It really gets driving before it’s over.

Dancing Beauty

This number has some world music styled vocals in the mix. This cut has a good flow and plenty of artsy sound at its heart.

Aberi Fantasy, Pt. I

More traditional world music with vocals is on the menu here. This loses me to some degree on the vocal heavy sections. It’s just something I can really get into. The instrumental section after that drops away is so cool, though. That movement is extensive and really works so well. While this isn’t the longest thing her, at almost ten-and-a-half minutes long, it’s the second longest.

Aberi Fantasy, Pt. II

I really love the instrumental exploration on this track. It’s extremely cool. This one really explores some great art music territory and is one of my favorite pieces here.

Aberi Fantasy, Pt. III

Clocking in at close to 15-and-a-half minutes long, this is the epic of the disc. It’s also has some great world art music vibes. The percussion is really cool, but so is everything else here. This is definitely another standout.

Around the Corner, Pt. I

The vocals return on this one. The cut has plenty of traditional sound in the mix and the instrumental accompaniment is incidental and barely there as those vocals continue to hold the piece. Eventually it shifts to strictly instrumental, and the cut elevates as it does.

Around the Corner, Pt. II

This comes in purely percussive and it remains that way through to the end. This is an intriguing number, but not one of my favorites here. 

Darlene’s Wish (Radio Edit)

When you edit a track that’s nine-and-a-half minutes to get it to two-and-a-half, that’s a lot of editing. Yet somehow this works in both versions.

 
Return
 
Google

   Creative Commons License
   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

    © 2025 Music Street Journal                                                                           Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com