Caravan of Light is a rare kind of compilation that's built on the deeply held vision of its creators, Sahar Farman-farmaian and Joshua Jacobs, and their vision of guiding its final outcome is clearly evident. It goes beyond the study of a particular style of music and delves into the deeper nature of something that is without question, a altogether subjective subject matter. Caravan of Light's inspiration and focus is placed directly on one of the classical elements: Fire. This is a collection of music based on sounds, mostly originating from the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions, that have all been selected to embody the nature, force and emotions of fire.

1. Sussan Deyhim "Fire Within"
2. Joshua Penman "Dub Darvish"
3. Mantric Mambo "Chave Dourada (All That Jazz remix)"
4. Michael Franti & Spearhead "Skin on the Drum (Bassnectar remix)"
5. Maharaja "Maro Jailo (Piki Chappell remix)"
6. Omar Faruk Tekbilek "Take a Flight (Ramasutra remix)"
7. Irina Mikhailova & David Battenfield "Gypsy"
8. Stephen Kent "Yekke (Adham Shaikh & Naasko remix)"
9. Mercan Dede & Azam Ali "Dem"
10. Ani Choying Dolma "Dharmapala (Hilight Tribe remix)"
11. Haale "Before the Skies"
12. Piki Chappell & Sahar Lua "Lua Loop"

Of course with such a difficult and subjective goal who is to say whether they've succeeded or failed? For me, that doesn't really matter. The only reason there is to listen to any music is because it does one thing: it makes you feel something. If you can understand the goal of their vision, you'll feel a defining warmth throughout the twelve songs that make up the CD portion of this compilation and that's what matters.

These songs each present their own sounds and emotions. From Persian and Turkish influenced downtempo and dub, to those inspired by Tibetan monks. Your local shop is likely to file this one under "world" because it does have some really strong near eastern, far eastern, Caribbean, north African, and western European sounds, but with such a heavy presence of synthesized elements it just doesn't belong there. This isn't "electronic" and it's not "world". In some cases it could be called psydub, but it isn't that either. It's got a clear western US influence, centered on rhythms but not specifically the hip-hop influenced kind you'd hear in a club.

It's all the result of a growing number of musicians who work in a collaborative space that freely combines traditional Middle Eastern melodies, rhythms and instruments with the echoed processing and heavy bass lines of dub music, the experimental and unconventional nature of modern electronic music, and share a mindset guiding it all that's more often than not a mixture of many of the world's religion's and spiritual beliefs. It's all very pro-spiritual, but not pro-religious, and that makes a big difference.

You're going to feel this ode to Fire strongest when it comes to the DVD and that's mostly because you have narration and visuals to guide your mind into that space. You can easily listen to the CD without a thought of Fire, but you can't avoid feeling its inviting warmth, so just dim the lights, spark up some incense, and make listening to this compilation a full experience. You'll thank yourself.

Caravan of Light is strongly recommended for anyone who's kept a healthy stock of titles from artists like Vas, Niyaz, Govinda, Bombay Dub Orchestra, Christophe Goze, DJ Drez, Nitin Sawhney, or albums from labels like Six Degrees, Interchill, or Water Music's Tantra Lounge compilation series. Additionally, If you're into the earliest editions of the Buddha Bar compilations, you'll enjoy this one.

Add a Comment