I’ve put his picture here, and it is a game that carries his name but Deepak Chopra’s Leela carries a soundtrack without his music on. Instead eight wonderful artists converge for two discs of beautiful relaxation music.
Brent Arnold opens Disc 1 which is entitled “Play Mixes” with “Origin” which is a warm river of bending string arrangements across the lightest of percussion. It’s so hypnotic and soothing, like taking a velvet bubble-bath. “Life” by Garth Stevenson sounds like something Sigur Ros would compose without the vocals. A slow mellow blend of electric guitar plucks and swirling keyboards eventually come into a brief ascension with bass and light drums of a ticking clock. It’s minimal nature is laboured upon because there are a lot of layers going on, it’s just you won’t detect them all straight away.
“Power” from Karim So is more grizzly with its offbeat tuned percussion and sharper electric gubbins. It’s the least soothing track so far but one of the most immediate because the riffs are more apparent. “Love” from East Forest is a sublime track that combines piano, electric piano and a simple backdrop beat to make a flowing chill out track. It’s the rolling piano that makes it as the two different types interact with each other.
phowa continues the flow with the ethereal “Harmony” which is just bleeding bells and twisted masses of metal slowly pulsating over and over. It works well as a mood piece. “Intuition” by Daniel Perlin is a wannabe techno track in waiting but take away the stomping beat and replace it with a tabla and you’re almost all the way there! Good fun. Disc 1 ends with Keith Fullerton Whittman’s “Unity” which is a shimmering electrosphere of meditation and sorenity. It sounds like something that would be in a film like Koyannisqatsi – or like an electrical version of an early morning Raj. Simple, beautiful, warming.
Disc 2 presents the “Reflect Mixes”. These are more traditional Raj -esque numbers and blend perfectly from one to the other. Some have more electronic elements in them, others are warmer, some of more cyclic. All of them are long in length and all are able to slip you into a state of hypnosis at a drop of a hat. The most traditional is phowa’s “Vishuddha” which is a real Raj in waiting. The sole additional composer here is a wonderful singing bowl trac “Sahaswara” from Phillippe Pascal Garnier which ends the album like a rising dawn.
I fell in love with this double album on first listen. Disc 2 is a very traditional and has a great flow to it. Disc 1 showcases the game’s music itself and really intrigues me with its rhythmic pulsating low fi moves. A unique delight in-game music. For those looking to relax, this should be top of your list.