What happens, when you get two composers to combine projects? Usually you get two people who are never on the same page but that is not the case here, this project worked well. How so? Read on to find out

Amanaska – Panorama (OneWorldMusic)

Amanaska is made up of Simon Lewis and Stephen Joyce. They met many years ago through various recording sessions for film, television and recordings that they had done for other artists. They became friends who both liked to incorporate different music traditions into their compositions. The idea for this project started a few years ago, when Simon Lewis went to Nepal. While he was there, he learned some new music styles from the people there and it gave him some ideas. At the very same time, Stephen Joyce was composing Albanian influenced music after he had just finished composing music for a television documentary set in Albania. The friends got together at some point after they had come back and Simon suggested they combine their projects together and from that Amanaska was created. Amanaska is a Sanskrit term, which refers to the perfect balance of restfulness, alertness and strength. The musical project tends to incorporate different music styles, different genres, and different instruments and to call it unique would be an understatement.

Tracklist
1.Kagbeni Girls
2.Meridien
3.Panorama
4.Easeback
5.Incantation
6.Baato Boy
7.Distant Worlds
8.Nomad
9.Dhyana
10.Pilgrem


1.Kagbeni Girls

We start off the CD with clapping and chanting in a foreign language. A jazz house groove then enters with an unknown male vocal then it goes to “I Like It”. A nice guitar enters and it gives this laidback feel. At this point, no vocals are heard then all of the sudden, a female vocal singing an unknown language enters. It goes well with the backing beat here. You realize this is truly world beat electronica and the producers are giving you something out of the ordinary. At one point, you have different vocals by different people overlapping, it seems to work then the track breaks down by using more instrumentation and they add more drums here. The female vocal re-enters at this point and the unknown male vocal re-enters, as does the “I like it”. This continues this way till the very end.

2.Meridien

Meridien starts with a piano line and you can tell it is going to pick up the pace, just by the feel of the piano line. A cello now comes into play here and the piano line has disappeared. A deep male vocal sample comes in saying “If you want to find yourself, think for yourself”. A few seconds after this, this male vocal singing in an unknown language comes in and he keeps repeating the same sentence. Some drums come in and some backing riffs come in. About a minute and half later, a nice soothing violin and viola come in and they add to the breakdown. Another deep male vocal comes in singing different words and then following it, the same male vocal singing, the exact same vocal as before. A brass instrument enters with an almost solo after the vocal is finished and it breaks down the track ever further. It enters a calm phase now and then it moves on to almost jazz sounding part, adding a wind instrument, maybe a clarinet and making the track go into a 1920’s jazz feel. Who said music could not be epic and take you places, well this track certain leads you that direction.

3.Panorama

Panorama starts with an eastern feel here with eastern instruments. A male vocal enters with the lay-a, lay-a, lay-a (repeated). They add some tambourines at this point and it continues the eastern direction. Amanaska is taking you across the world to different parts with the different influenced music. The track breaks down after about three minutes and adds a violin and a piano and nothing else. This goes for a while and then a cello comes in for a while and then it goes back to the violin solo working with the piano. What glorious breakdowns, this might scare some people because this is very different. The song then enters a jazz phase with the violin backing it and some other instrument and then you hear the chanting of the male vocal again and tambourines enter the mix and it reverts back to the eastern inspired feel. I sense this could be the Albanian influence that one of Amanaska had but it might not be.

4.Easeback

This song was remixed on Zen Connection volume one. So this is the original that the remix was based on. Easeback starts out very ambient like and then moves into an almost jazz like feel again with some drums and some male chanting. This is really a calm song here. A trumpet part is put in here with the track and it makes the song more relaxed. It continues like this to the very end, this is a jazzy track that would be played by Gilles Peterson.

5.Incantation

It starts with an African style background and a deep male voice saying something in an unknown language. It has some background singers just chanting and they sound like kids or early teenagers. A female voice comes in singing again in a foreign language but this is different from any language that has been used. It goes almost epic after that with the foreign sounds and the foreign language that they are singing in. It continues in the same mold for the next few minutes but Amanaska do give you the feeling of incorporating many different music styles, different languages, all seamlessly into an album. A little over five minutes in, a violin is brought in with the backing style background, same chanting and the same unknown language.

6.Baato Boy

This is the shortest song on the album and probably the most unique. It begins with a speech and the first part is difficult to understand but the second part ends with “Always singing a song”. A groovy drumbeat comes in with a female vocal singing an unknown language but it is a different language than the other songs. The vocal fits well with the music, even thought I have no clue what they are singing; it breaks down with a really addictive hook and you don’t seem to care that you cannot understand the vocal. This is world electronica at the peak of quality, they use a vocal that few understand but it fits so well with the music, you don’t care, you just move your head with the music. Nearly three minutes into the song, it completely changes, where it adds what sounds like African background singing with clapping and the original vocal comes in. It fits really well and it is the most unique and the best song on the album.

7.Distant Worlds

We start this song with a didgeridoo, which is an Aboriginal instrument that is made from a hollow tree trunk and it is cut to an average of 1.3 meters. It has the deep low pitch sound and it is played here and a male voice comes in and says “Oneness”. A female vocal comes in “A heart beating from a distant shore”. It has some drums enter after that and some vocal humming comes in and this is still backed by the didgeridoo at times and some electronic riffs. The female voices comes in at times, with the humming, the background and it leads you to conclude this is an epic creation. The song changes gears with some electric guitar riffs and a male vocal singing an unknown vocal but has the most of the same background. You have to hear this to believe it, the song is just incredible and this continues the amazing tunes. It continues with chanting till the very end.

8.Nomad

“Nomad” begins with a male vocal chant then moves into words but as usual, this is a foreign language. It is backed by a drum line and some foreign instrument that I’ve never heard. It gives you an Indian feel with the vocals and the instrumentation. This song is weird and I’m not a big fan of this tune, just the vocals and the backing does not appeal to me. The song keeps going with the same feel, drums, chanting and the Indian feel to the very end.

9.Dhyana

We start with almost silence and the sound of the wind creeping in and you hear a sequencer. This sounds like something from Nepal and maybe this is one of the field recordings that Simon Lewis did. A male vocal is singing an unknown language and is backed up by background singers who are chanting and not singing words. This is a very calming song then it picks up after two and half minutes in. It does take you on a musical journey around the world and this song adds to that cultural melting pot that the album contains.

10.Pilgrim

The final track on the album starts with an ambient feel, like you are inside a cave with dripping water. You hear a fade whispering voice that is not clear and then you hear some chanting, which I believe to be a hallmark of Amanaska. About two minutes in, we have a male vocal with a foreign language and he is backed by background singers who are chanting. We have some drum lines and chants, which continue through the rest of the song. It picks up with more drums, a few minutes later. “Pilgrim” is really laidback and almost sounds like a cross between an ambient song and a folk song in places. It is a nice way to end an album.

Conclusion:
The album is very solidly put together and it is one of the few albums that I have heard that has made use of so many influences and made the album listenable and enjoyable. The only drawback to this album is all the foreign vocals might put you off because there are so many and you have no clue what they are singing. The album takes you on a journey through many different cultures and many different backgrounds and you never have to leave your living room. If you enjoy “World Music” or enjoy “Electronica” then seriously consider picking this up.