Kitaro - Spiritual Garden
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Music CD Cover
Artist: KitaroEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Music Label: Domo Records
Soundtracks:
- Gentle Forest
- The Stone And The Green World
- Sunlight Dancing
- Moon Flower
- Wind And Water
- Moon Shadow
- Love For Elka
- Hydrosphere
- Quasar
- White Night
- Spiritual Garden
Free Music Notes for Spiritual Garden
Free Music Review: KITARO creates a musical world of beauty, grace, and subtlety...Best New Age album of 2006!
Hit: 5 Stars
First off, I must respectfully disagree with just about everything said about this CD in the editorial review by Amazon's John Diliberto. Actually, Mr. Diliberto's statements that the artists name is Kitaro, and the album's title is "Spiritual Garden", are just about the only points on which we seem to agree!...But hey, that's OK! Music listening can be a highly personal experience, and what seems boring to one person can be deeply moving to someone else...As for myself, I've found few recent albums to be as deeply moving as "Spiritual Garden". This CD features some of Kitaro's most introspective, nuanced, and, yes, "spiritual" music to date. Devoted Kitaro-philes will notice some new sounds, textures, and stylistic-touches floating around here, but they are seemlessly intermingled with the more familiar musical elements that we've come to expect. This blending of the old & new gives me the impression that this may well be a "transitional" album, and perhaps a hint of things to come. One thing that is definitely different is that this is not a solo Kitaro album per se, but actually a collaboration between Kitaro and his wife, Keiko Takahashi. While Keiko previously played with Kitaro as part of his backing band on the "Yakushiji" DVD/CD, here she is credited as a co-writer of all the material. In fact, Kitaro and Keiko themselves play almost every note we hear on this album (guitarist Paul Pesko, featured on three tracks, is the only other musician credited.) Also interesting is the fact that this is a conceptual album, with all music said to be inspired by the artistry of dancer Kochi Tamono, a practitioner of the ancient Japanese art of Butoh Dance. (And please don't be frightened off by the dance connection! This is NOT the crude, annoying dance-club music of Western culture - think more of classical, spiritual dance.) I believe that "Spiritual Garden" is a fitting title, because this album (and Kitaro's music in general) somehow captures the wonder & longing of the human spiritual journey. This is the kind of album where I can put on my headphones, turn off the lights, and become completely immersed in it's unique World for an hour (goes nice with a cup of tea, too!) In fact, the songs all segue into one another (much like the early Moody Blues albums), making for a continuous listening expirience. Also, those who (like me) perfer their new age music without vocals will be glad to note that this is a fully-instrumental work, with none of the chanting that has been heard (albiet briefly) on other recent Kitaro works...Just to give a clearer idea of what to expect, here is a rundown of the album's key tracks: "Gentle Forest" is a brief introductory piece that sets the mood for the album, built around a simple, chiming piano melody and a backdrop of synth chords & electronic effects. "The Stone and the Green World" is one of the CD's most beguiling pieces, with an atmosphere that is both mournful and mysterious. (The blending of countermelodies, spacy electronics, and 'distant'-sounding piano is beautifully done, and occassionally brings to mind the work of Patrick O'Hearn.) "Sunlight Dancing", which clocks in at over 10 minutes, is throbbing, uptempo, and energetic for its first half- then slows down and turns a darker shade for the second (the moody electric guitar of Paul Pesko is great on this one!) "Moon Flower" features an aching melody, and uses a cello as it's lead instrument (something I don't remember hearing on a Kitaro album before), a backdrop of melencholic piano and "aquatic" sound effects make this one even more breathtaking. "Wind and Water" is a more acoustically-based pieace, and features a free-flowing Native American flute melody (probably improvised) over a bed of gorgeous overdubbed guitar harmonics from Paul Pesko. "Moon Shadow" is a masterwork of subtlety, featuring a warm progression of synth chords, melody, and minimalist electro-percussion. "Love for Elka" has all the hallmarks of classic Kitaro, with an Asian-infused melody, harp-like synths sounds, and a pretty arrangement. "Quasar" is an almost 'rockin' piece by Kitaro standards, and kicks the intensity level up a few notches with wailing electric guitars, bright synth sounds, and a pulsating electro-beat! The album closes appropriately with the majestic and orchestral title track, "Spiritual Garden". I think it's one of Kitaro's grandest themes to date, with a feel similar to "Nile" from 1999's "Ancient" album...Just as an aside, I think that there is a tendency in our noisy modern World to treat contemplative music such as this (or instrumentals in general) as mere 'background music'. I believe this is a huge mistake! To fully appreciate the artistry of such music, one must listen attentively. Focus your ears on the sound textures, background arrangements, chord changes, countermelodies, production nuances, etc. When you do, you may just be stunned at all that is going on beneath the surface!...All in all, if you are already a fan of Kitaro, then this one definitely belongs in your collection. If you are simply a fan of new age, electronic, or instrumental music in general, then please give this one a try. You may just find that this is the best genre album of 2006 (so far!)
Spiritual Garden Poster
After only two volumes, Kitaro has taken a break from his Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai series, based on his travels to the 88 temples of Shikoku. Those temple journeys must have been tiring, because Spiritual Garden is Kitaro at his laziest and haziest. It's not just the somnambulant melodies, predictable sample-and-hold gurgles, and whooping Korg synthesizer lines that make it uninspired. Kitaro himself seems bored, barely bothered to develop anything beyond rudimentary pentatonic scales, crudely arranged drone pads, and tinkling bells. In the 1970s, Kitaro brought melody to space music and carried that through to ambitious works of orchestral world music on albums like 1990's Kojiki. But to listen to Spiritual Garden is to hear someone for whom time is moving backwards, oblivious to more than the quarter century of space, new age, and ambient music released since his debut. Whether it's the Pink Floyd space guitar at the end of "Sunlight Dancing" or the native flute, acoustic guitar, and burbling brook of "Wind and Water," Kitaro is locked in a parody of new age music, his early inspiration now worn into cliché. Fans of the synthesist should find a lot of familiar territory here, and well they should. The same music is already in their Kitaro collection. --John DilibertoDance & DJ Music CDs
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