Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
David Parsons is a New Zealand veteran of deep-space music. But for the last decade, he's been traversing Indonesia, India, Armenia, and the Middle East. From his travels, he's recorded and compiled definitive collections of traditional music, among them the 17-volume Music of Islam series. Now Parsons has returned to New Zealand, cranked up his synthesizers, and put out three albums of his own music in little more than a year, all of which draw from his travels. Parikrama is his latest and most difficult to enter. A soundscape work on the order of his 1992 Dorje Ling CD, Parsons creates a trans-Asia electronic world. Mixing synthesizers with droning tambouras, chanting voices, and whining bowed strings, Parsons orchestrates what he calls a "parikrama" or circumambulation of Mt. Kailas in Tibet. Judging from the music, this must be a foreboding place and a perilous trek. Of his recent albums, Ngaio Gamelan and Shaman, Parikrama is easily the most inhospitable, lacking the melodic and rhythmic signposts that guided you through those albums. He doesn't hit a groove until 50 minutes into the first disc and it's a welcome contrast. Parsons moves from densely packed soundscapes like "Darshan" and "Kang Rinpoche" to airy echoes of Tibetan singing bowls on "Inward Journey" and dream-state synthesizers on "Gurla Mandhata." Parikrama is a fascinating, richly textured trip, but perhaps one for the initiated. --John Diliberto
Parikrama,David Parsons,Celestial Harmonies,Contemporary Instrumental,Ethnic Fusion,New Age,New Age / Meditation,Pop,Progressive Electronic
Parikrama
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Parikrama
David Parsons Manufacturer: Celestial Harmonies ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B00005081L Release Date: 2000-10-24 |
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Amazon.com
David Parsons is a New Zealand veteran of deep-space music. But for the last decade, he's been traversing Indonesia, India, Armenia, and the Middle East. From his travels, he's recorded and compiled definitive collections of traditional music, among them the 17-volume Music of Islam series. Now Parsons has returned to New Zealand, cranked up his synthesizers, and put out three albums of his own music in little more than a year, all of which draw from his travels. Parikrama is his latest and most difficult to enter. A soundscape work on the order of his 1992 Dorje Ling CD, Parsons creates a trans-Asia electronic world. Mixing synthesizers with droning tambouras, chanting voices, and whining bowed strings, Parsons orchestrates what he calls a "parikrama" or circumambulation of Mt. Kailas in Tibet. Judging from the music, this must be a foreboding place and a perilous trek. Of his recent albums, Ngaio Gamelan and Shaman, Parikrama is easily the most inhospitable, lacking the melodic and rhythmic signposts that guided you through those albums. He doesn't hit a groove until 50 minutes into the first disc and it's a welcome contrast. Parsons moves from densely packed soundscapes like "Darshan" and "Kang Rinpoche" to airy echoes of Tibetan singing bowls on "Inward Journey" and dream-state synthesizers on "Gurla Mandhata." Parikrama is a fascinating, richly textured trip, but perhaps one for the initiated. --John DilibertoCustomer Reviews:
Journey within.......2004-04-04
spiritual journeys in music.......2002-10-09
difficult listening hour? not for me..........2002-06-29
I've investigated Parsons' other work (both via the snippets available on-line at amazon, and at listening stations at record stores) and I strongly suspect Parikrama will be my favorite of his. The "groove" mentioned by the Editorial review is my least-favorite moment on the album--though it's followed up by some wonderful tribal percussion, so I don't mind too much. But I definitely prefer my synthesizer sounds to be slow and sonorous, not quick and shimmery.
Can anyone recommend similar-sounding CDs by other artists? Maybe traditional Tibetan music? I'm not too fond of chant, though I make an exception for Sufi chants...could be Tibetan chants aren't so bad either. (In general, I prefer my non-rock music to be vocal-free, with significant exceptions such as Sheila Chandra.) If you have some suggestions, you don't need to write another review, you can just e-mail me...click on the link above to get my address.
Exceptional.......2000-11-20
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