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Review of Gaura Vani’s new album

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Sita Pati Das: Thursday May 14th sees the worldwide release of Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits’ [website] new album “Ten Million Moons“.

I’ve been listening to my pre-release copy for a couple of weeks now,
and thought I’d take some time to write a brief review.

First of all my congratulations to Gaura and the crew for this release.
I have to admit that in some inconceivable fashion I was simultaneously
and spectacularly under- and over-whelmed by their first
release, Nectar of Devotion. If I had to select a single
characterization for that album it would be “inconsistent”.

Nectar of Devotion had some stunningly outstanding tracks - the
deeply emotional Je Anilo Prema Dhana and Vaisnava
Thakura come to mind. It also had some “say what?” moments, like
Gurudev, and the seemingly tacked-on Maha-mantra (Live
Recording).

I kept my mixed opinion of Nectar of Devotion to myself until
after I heard Ten Million Moons, at which time I shared it with
Param Satya, my wife. She came back with: “that was an album? I
thought it was a random bunch of songs you’d thrown together in a play
list!“, which pretty much sums it up.

With Ten Million Moons Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits are
beginning to hit their stride. I’m not afraid to share my mixed opinion
of the first album now and to say that this new album is light-years
ahead of it, a shining testament to the hard work and dedication of the
group.

The new album still generates moments of disorientation - am I listening
to the same group or is it a mixed playlist? However, the production
values are consistent, and there are no “say what?” moments on this
album - each song could stand on its own. It’s the wide variation in
style and instrumentation (especially lead vocals) that causes the album
to diversify beyond the standard range of an album from a “single
artist”. But in those moments the album is almost like a party at
Gaura’s place with everyone taking turns to lead kirtan with him
encouraging them from the side. There’s the same blend of traditional
Vaisnava bhajan, reflecting the cultural and spiritual tradition that
Gaura and the guys are coming from; and more of the group’s developing
“voice”, a take that reflects the contemporary American urban environment.

It’s this developing voice that is most interesting to me. On Nectar
of Devotion it felt a little forced, almost like an arbitrary
attempt to do something, anything, different from the traditional bhajan
formula. On this album they are starting to integrate other musical
traditions and elements and develop a unique take on Gaudiya Vaisnava
bhajan. That’s exciting.

The production values are high - clearly a lot of hard work has gone
into crafting this offering. The album was engineered in part by Ben
Leinbach [website], multi-instrumentalist, music
producer, and a familiar name in the US kirtan/yoga scene. It has a lot
of bottom end for my taste - perhaps an attempt to make it sound heavy
and full. I would have rolled off some of the bottom end during
mastering myself. I A/B tested it on my studio monitors with the new
Guns N’Roses album Chinese Democracy and Moons
definitely has a lot more bass. Playing it through the dining
room stereo system (Altec Lansing speakers with sub-woofers) it needed
some EQ to be listenable, and it definitely wasn’t background music for
dinner, filling the entire sonic spectrum.

It’s a big sound, with a lot of instrumentation, and one that demands
and rewards careful listening. There are virtuoso performances galore
with guest appearances by a number of names in the kirtan scene,
including soul singer C.C. White, Visvambhara, who contributes some
Indian vocal percussion, and some sarod playing that sounds like it
could be Jai Uttal. The star-studded lineup is a testament to Gaura
Vani’s personal expansiveness.

I played a couple of nights with Dave Stringer and his percussionist
Patrick Richie here in Australia earlier this year. After the first
night Patrick gave me the Gauravani.com Kirtan t-shirt that Gaura Vani
gave him when they played together at the Chant for Change concert in
DC. It’s a big shirt - too big to fit me, but it hangs in my studio
where I look at it each day. Gaura’s obviously a big guy, and he has a
big heart, one that is evident in the community that he has created
around this album.

Gaura Vani’s heart comes through in his vocal performances on this album
too. The stand-out tracks for me on Nectar of Devotion were
ones where he just laid it bare, and there are tracks on Ten Million
Moons where he again pours his soul onto vinyl. When I first heard
him sing the refrain: “Hare nama eva kevalam” on the second
track of the album, Moods of Kirtan (Siksastakam), the hairs on my body
stood on end and I knew that they had nailed it with this release.

The voice of Acyuta Gopi, the other principle vocalist in the group, has
changed from the first time I heard it - it has a fuller body and more
confidence. In a sense it embodies the character of the group that is
really starting to gel with this album - it’s steeped in the cultural
and musical tradition of India, and at the same time fully American. The
naming of the tracks on the album, with an English name followed by the
Sanskrit source, reflects this simultaneity.

The most exciting thing for me about this album is the progressive
discovery and development of a unique voice in contemporary kirtan, one
solidly connected with the tradition of the past, and at the same time
retransmitting that tradition in the light (and sound) of today.

For me, coming from the same spiritual tradition, the lyrical content is
familiar and beloved, while the arrangements are fresh and unique -
different not simply to be different, but different because they come
from a unique group of people discovering their unique collective voice.

I am eagerly awaiting the next installment, and I urge you all to get a
copy of Ten Million Moons.

Track Listing: