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Tri Atma

Tri Atma

Review by Gary Hill

I thought about landing this under progressive rock. There are some songs that fit, but even those tracks land closer to an exploratory world music style. This has a lot of psychedelia, along with traditional world music, non-English vocals, world drums and more. There are quite a few instrumental tunes, but also several with voices. All in all, this is an intriguing ride.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

Track by Track Review
What Are You Waiting For
Acoustic guitar starts the album. The opening bit is a mellow, acoustically driven groove with world music and psychedelia built into it. After a time this works out to more of a playful kind of groove. While the elements of the first part are still present, they are joined with some jazz and a bit of a folk rock groove. This instrumental is playful and tasty.
Tri Atma
World music, folk and jazz all merge on this. There are vocals here, but they are either non-lyrical or in another language. The percussive elements really drive this thing. the sitar playing is quite cool, too.
Sohag Chand (Folksong)
World music vocals (in another language) are all over this cut. It has a cool world groove to it, too. The percussion is tasty, and we have sort of a folk meets world psychedelia feeling to this number.
Sometimes I'm Happy
We get into some real rock music here. Sure, there is still plenty of world and psychedelic stuff here, but this energized instrumental is the first thing here to really earn the rock label.
In the Beginning
Another energized acoustic rocker, there is some blues in the mix here amidst the world and psychedelic elements. In some ways this feels a bit like early Hawkwind at times to me, too. It's another that brings the rock label home to roost. The flute work calls to mind Ian Anderson.
We Are Just Walking
Coming in trippy and spacey, this shifts toward psychedelically tinged acoustic based prog rock very early. This instrumental works toward some jazz textures, too. It's a killer groove.
Nritya (Dance)
There is a lot of jazz rock merged with the world music elements here. There are non-lyrical vocals, and this has some great energy. It really is a full jazz treatment in a lot of ways.
Rain
A mellower cut, this has a lot of world music at its core.
Ajit
Another piece with a lot of world music at its core, there are vocals in a language other than English. The cut starts on the mellower side, but gradually grows outward. The percussive element is out front, but there are plenty of melodic things underway, too. This is quite dynamic and diverse.
Ramu Ka (Folksong)
World music, folk rock and more are on display here. Again, this has non-English vocals. It's an energetic and bouncy piece with some tribal percussion.
Swabna (Dream)
This short piece does feel like a world music dream in a lot of ways.
 
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