HOSIANNA MANTRA

This is a bit of a tough cookie, but this cookie tastes really good. 4.0 stars. If you want virtuosity on one dish and sparse and rich textures on another dish with some sitar and oboe notes sprinkled on them, get this album.

Side one is almost full of delight. It opens with a slightly annoying and yet at the same time mad and memorable 'Ah!', followed by a miraculous 'Kyrie' where the Japanese soprano singer Djong Yun reaches an unbelievable height of musical aesthetics. After that here comes the epic title track, where Yun repeats her impressive vocal effort and the band focuses on minimalism in a few slightly different musical ideas. But it's the synergy of all parts, not just the parts alone, that really define the high quality of this masterwork.

The rest of the album took some time to grow on me. 'Segnung' will demand some patience before you can walk through some of the filler on it. Other than that, it has some pretty neat, melodic ideas. 'Nicht Hoch im Himmel' is even harder to get into, but if your brain does mature enough for the stuff to be emotionally tangible, the experience is really rewarding.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'Ah!' - ****

2. 'Kyrie' - *****

3. 'Hosianna Mantra' - *****

4. 'Abschied' - **

5. 'Segnung' - ***

6. 'Andacht' - * (To be honest with you, I don't feel any kind of rapture or hear any kind of prayer there, as the title suggests.)

7. 'Nicht Hoch im Himmel' - ****

8. 'Andacht'' - *

Stamp: "I like it."