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Makyo: Shringara (World Domination - 1998) While Shringara may be yet another musical marriage between Eastern aesthetics and Western beats/electronics, with Makyo performing this ceremony, it looks as if the genre coupling is going to get along quite nicely as displayed by this smooth honeymoon of matrimonially blissed tunes. |
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A woman's chant, softly whirring drone, twinkling bells and sparse drumbeats unlock the entrance of The Third Gate of Dreams... once inside a more insistent (but never overpowering) electronic rhythm propels everything headlong into the mix. Sliced and diced vocal snippets slip in and out hypnotically and the steadily pattering beats occasionally lull for freeform interludes.
Liberally applied beats and cymbals open Devadasi (Kif mix); vocal samples, sitar strummings and an electrically-charged synth burble add to the steadily pounding drumtrack, occasionally languishing in relatively quieter passages.
A smoother interlude awaits with Chandan; dreamier atmospheres are achieved through light cymbal taps, shapeless synth drifts and a soft, female voice. A more electronic riff begins to thread its way through the tune along with subtle bass and percussion, creating an electro-ethnic fantasy world.
In Drupak, violins, droney swells, beats and assorted Middle Eastern musical effects gather in a burgeoning sense of anticipation of some coming storm. Jittery bolts of electronic chaos are thrown into the mix, and all dissipates in the end. Much calmer atmospheres flow through Shringara (alaap, gat, dub, om) (16:20), which features Kieko's sultry "ahhs" over levitating synthwaves, a dubby bassline and other effects. The long-running track enters various distinct phases, all furthering the smooth Eastern-flavored groove, which blends into an eloquent vocal drone and bell ending. Curious samples of a curious girl pondering feelings of deja vu open A Curious Yellow... (4:02). The background electronics and flute mostly hover hazily, to be decorated by more sampled bits (including, if I'm not mistaken, Alice "Curiouser and Curiouser" in Wonderland) . Like banners fluttering in slow motion, drawn out vocals fluidly swoop and intertwine, to be joined by softly melancholy pluckings in the beautifully aching The Second Gate of Dreams, which grows stronger with additional layers of instrumentation. Another exercise in musical layering, Shanti Shanti expertly balances sheets of sound... whispy electronic meanderings, clay pot rhythms, and an Asian harp of some sort are luxuriously unfolded, then swathed again with bass, beats, e-piano and wordless phrases. Continual variations within the different sound strains make for an interestingly evolving endpiece, exemplifying the best aspects of this union of styles. |
| With an ambience of beat-driven World Music, much of Shringara focuses on Makyo's DJ influences (though I am told there are more ambient-oriented sounds being released very shortly), but even at their most aggressive, these compositions provide cool, relaxing grooves with a tasteful amount of ethnicity. At their most mellow, the subtle and exotic moods entrance, warranting an overall 7.5. |  |