Buddha-Lounge 4
"...another enticing blend of chilled world music with a euphoric flair...the best album in the series yet!" --Music Design In Review"Intoxicating grooves continuously mixed for maximum chill…" --All Music Guide"Yet another great CD. A fascinating blend of flutes, percussion, vocals and techno go into creating this ultra chillout CD." --NAJThe Gordon Brothers, David and Steve, deliver another carefully crafted collection of world music grooves, calculated for ideal postcool relaxation with Buddha Lounge, Vol. 4. There are so many different hotel bar¬-lounge mixes available, trying to find the right one can be like walking through a crowded Marrakech bazaar at mid-day; a lot of them don't hold their style all the way through, or hold it too much, or make a late-inning switch to up-tempo house music, or, worse, plot through the same track after track. The Gordon brothers are in a class by themselves in this regard; they weave a continually moving and flowing mix that never stops exploring and always stays centered.The album opens gently with the dreamy slide guitar and backward wind chimes of Achillea's "Cape Porcupine." As in many of these tracks, a slow languid groove is gradually built up with layers of instruments and wordless vocals until a sweetly operatic crescendo is reached. TYA's "Why" adds a bit more of a techno vibe, with strong beats and spine-tingling synth phrases and a gorgeous female vocal that soars over it all like the memory of a Celtic princess long forgotten in the Irish trade winds. As the album unfolds, the dreamy "mountain wind blowing slow-motion through your hair as you look down upon the oceans" feel of tracks like Ginkgo Gardens' "One and Twain" mix happily with more world beat, bouncy stuff like Hands Upon Black Earth's "Bhajya Sahita."Buddha Lounge, Vol. 4 manages the never-easy task of constantly evolving while never leaving the couch. Whatever loving, contemplating, or relaxing thing you might be doing with this music, you don't want to be interrupted with the "what the hell is this?" moment that breaks the spell and has you fumbling for the volume knob. Steve and David Gordon clearly understand that. This music is never restless, never seeking, never lost or agitated, yet always moving. It always arrives where it started--in the clear sunshine of the morning of the soul. --Daily OM