Mantrica

Exceptional album - very unique. The right blend of chant (vedic?), middle/far-eastern instrumentals, & underground beats. Entrancing...I'm hoping this artist will release a part 2 someday.

Excellent Cd. I play it in my shop and would buy another one!

ong namo - truly great, only i wear the cd out too soon, two of them - the last one is enchanting and great dream and meditation music

The most original, rich, deep and complex sound and vocals across the album, with each piece conveying its beautiful message through the heart of the artist. Every time I listen to this CD, there is more beauty and mystery to be discovered.I would rate it 1,000 stars, at least!

I love this album! It invigorating and contemplative at the same time. Anyone who loves mantras will love this music. Just my opinion :)

Anant Jesse is one of the most beautiful souls on the planet, and as such has created a most beautiful expression of purity and love through his music.

As a recording engineer/producer, I have a fair amount of experience working with "X meets West" music (i.e. toured with Sandip Burman's 'East Meets Jazz', and recorded/produced many "World" music performers.)I recently returned from a one month trip to India where I bought music in droves. I heard nothing like Mantrica while there. I purchased it just a couple of days ago here in the States. It is trance inducing and dance inducing at the same time! I have found it quite addictive.It builds to a middle rhythmic climax with 'Maha Mrtyunjaya Mantra', which smokes. This piece would not be out of place in any dance club that plays trance or house, nor on any late night rock show on FM. It then spools back down, finally arriving at 'Savasana', which translated apparently means Supreme Stillness. Indeed. This mededtative drone piece induces altered states of deep relaxation, but not no much so that you pass out while driving ;-) The entire CD could be used as meditation music though.AJ uses many authentic Indian instruments and as stated above speaks Sanskrit for lyrics. You don't have to understand Sanskrit to feel the energy provided by the songs. I give this CD 5 stars because the East/West blend is so good that it provides access to Indian music for many people who may have pooh-poohed it had they not heard how much it ROCKS!Excellent. I can't take it out of my player!

i was never a fan of anant jesse's previous band, the alt-pop group dramarama. so when i first heard this album, i was surprised at how much i liked it.the five 8- to 13-minute long tracks consist of a gleeful romp through 60s psychedelia with moments of peter gabriel, george harrison, and deep forest tossed in. however, anant jesse does use many authentic indian instruments on the album.unlike other sanskrit chant or "kirtan" cds, anant jesse doesn't play it serious. he goes right for the groove. if you're a 60s- or kirtan-purist, you probably won't like this album. on the other hand, if you're willing to toss your preconceptions to the wind and dance, this album is a lot of fun.it definitely makes the chants accessible to a younger, more modern audience, who would probably just dance to it without any idea they were listening to sanskrit.anant jesse chants the sanskrit verses in an ultra-reverb enhanced drone for a george harrison "within you/without you" (on the sargent pepper album) effect. unlike the wispy gossamer of that beatles' song, however, the vocals here feel muscular, sinuous, and sensual, serving to underscore the dance grooves. maybe the sanskrit pronunciation isn't perfect, but the steady rhythm of the voice weaves in and out of the music in a pleasing way.my only criticism is aimed at the liner notes. while they do give the english transliteration of the chants, the very poetic interpretations of them may confuse people as to their meaning. i wish anant jesse had given a "plainer english" translation of the chants as well as his literary ones.i find doing yoga to this music completely effortless. i highly recommend it for a vigorous, flowing yoga practice. actually i find it's pretty good to listen to on headphones at work as well.if you *were* a fan of dramarama, you might like to buy this album just for a stroll down memory lane. however, it's much different than the kind of music they were playing in the late 80s and early 90s.

Excellent