As percussion-heavy experimental ambient works go, it does not get much better than this. A collaboration between artists Alone In The Hollow Garden and Nam-Khar, Antariksha is an organic and richly intoxicating set of five long and meticulously-crafted tracks.
The rhythmic instrumentation includes bongos, shakers, sistrum, floor tom, tambourine, gongs, bells, singing bowls, rol-mo cymbals, metal percussion, self-made piezo percussion, and bowed metal devices. Atop this are chant-based vocalizations, Arabic flute, digital and analog synths, and stringed instruments.
While the percussion is pleasingly varied in sound and texture, repetition is used to good effect. Case in point, the 16-minute Prithvi begins with echoing patterns over atmospherics that slowly evolve into a five-beat structure that is accompanied by a wide variety of foreground drumming, shaking, and rattling, along with echoes and other effects. Other pieces are slower and more clearly ambient, with restrained percussion.
Antariksha is a mysterious and hypnotic offering that evokes dark ceremonies, as well as ancient non-Western mythologies and stories. It showcases complex layers of sound in an auditory experience that engages the listener’s concentration while establishing a meditative – yet dynamic – mood.
Avant Music News 