Rajna: Ishati Rajna: Ishati (Projekt - 2001) Sometimes when musical worlds collide, it's not with a bang... In Rajna's case, it's with seductive foreign atmospheres which should thrill the heart of any (non-purist) ethnoexplorationist. Jeanne Lefebvre, Gérard Chambellant and Fabrice Lefebvre entwine occidental, oriental, Tibetan and Indian stylings into the undulating fabric of Ishati... entrancing stuff! Simultaneously brooding and uplifting, Kahar boils up like an angry cloud; ominous lows are stroked by sparkling mandolin strings. Ethereal wails loft above the moodily subdued tumult of Yak. In Rajna, bamboo flutes and female voice ululate amid a deep surging stream of sonorous tones, rhythms and rainsounds. Dappled with chimes and low drumming, the jangling strings from some Asiatic dulcimer traipse around Bilaki (2:22) in a light-hearted dance. The hypnotically thudding framedrum of Lahul Nati wavers as if floating on a heat haze of rising metallic strums. According to the notations next to the song titles, the buzzy drone which swarms around Sién must be a swara tampura; tapping cymbals and Jeanne's hushed croons follow suit. Wordless vocalizations warble above the sweltering expanse of Traghodhia (4:55) as quietly explosive gongs spread into a mesmerizing backdrop. As if searching high and low, the brassily twanging instruments of Sharanghi meaner through sparse-but-thunderous drums. Now I know how the charmed snake feels... Ishati's 13 pieces add up to 50 minutes of transportive exotica... and to think, Rajna created these mysterious zones "at home"... I'm picturing a living room that looks like Morocco! If you're tired of waiting for Dead Can Dance to re-emerge, these darkly appealing 8.7 otherworlds will surely beckon to you... See the Projekt and/or Rajna websites. This review posted June 30, 2001 AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).