Nectar: Live Kirtan & Pagan Remixes
Kirtanis the communal call-and-response chanting and  singing, over and over, of the many names of the Hindu gods and  goddesses. The practice is intended to invoke these deities, and by so  doing, make the participants become one with them. It is an offering of  spirit and feeling, a prayer; a devotional practice set to music.  UnlikeKrishna Das's  excellentLive on Earth  (For a Limited Time Only), a live recording of kirtan sessions  that's easy to chant along with at home, Jai Uttal'sNectar: Live  Kirtan & Pagan Remixesis headier--more of a listening experience.   Interspersing street recordings from India and electronica-infused  remixes, along with live kirtan recordings, Uttal offers a devotional  and intense musical experience. The 25-minute trance-inducing "Om Namah  Shivaya" alone is worth the price of the CD for the inner journey it  will take you on. Another highlight, Ben Leinbach's "Radha (Remix),"  samples vocal elements of the Radha mantra and beautifully places them  in a hypnotic and pulsating electronic world-music bed. "Big Wheel  (Remix)" masterfully reworks more of the Radha chant in a surprising  dub-heavy arrangement. With the exception of the wailing vocal  supplication, "Opening the Gates," which will probably appeal to mostly  hardcore chant fans,Nectaris accessible and moving. Uttal, who  has been leading kirtan sessions for 30 years, likens kirtan to "an oil  well digging deeper and deeper into the heart. A power tool of love and  longing." While some devote hours, years, or a lifetime to the practice  of kirtan, the sweet spot, or nectar, of this CD is that it can give a  glimpse of the union with spirit--and what a sweet spot that is.--Kevin Cole