Shelter
Rarely have prayers to Krishna sounded so serene and so sensual at the same time. This is the fourth album from Rasa, the duo of singer Kim Waters and multi-instrumentalistHans Christian. Overall, there's little to differentiate this disc from the other three. Waters sings Indian chants and prayers in a voice that is soothing and serene, like velvet smoke curling around these adapted melodies. Using sophisticated programming, cello, electric bass, Indian sarangi, and Swedish nyckelharpa, Christian embeds her voice in translucent layers. Each time he touches an instrument, adding it to his textured arrangements, it's like unlocking the key to a serpentine journey. He also brings the rhythms slightly to the fore, reinforcing the tablas of Girish Gambhira with subtle electronica grooves. But there's no thud-thud, four-on-the-floor sell-out to a dance music subset. Waters's voice is so serene and the grooves so relentlessly languid thatShelterbecomes like a long bath. Soothing, even enlightening, but the skin gets wrinkled if you stay with it too long. --John Diliberto