Prem Joshua is a Westerner, who spent many years in India studying sitar with masters, before returning to the West.

The last time I checked, Prem Joshua was the number one bestselling World Music artist in India, and the favorite artist on MTV India. The daily newspaper "The Times of India" anointed him the new "Guru of Fusion."

I first became aware of Prem Joshua (and band) in 2001 when they played a small venue in our area in support of Dance of Shakti. (The exquisite and entrancing Hina Sarojini provided indian fusion dances to some songs, but that's a whole other story.) They rocked the place and I became an instant fan.

I caught them again a year later when they came through supporting their new release Water Down the Ganges (with Manish Vyas), and sat in, transfixed, during a classical Indian dance lesson that Hina gave for the women in attendance at the concert who demanded it.

Prem and Hina haven't been back to our area since then, but I have followed the respective arcs of their careers through iTunes, Facebook and their websites.

It is expected, and appreciated by many of us, that Prem Joshua's music veered more towards electronic influences with Ahir and some of the fine remixes that have been done such as Dakini Lounge.

The return to more acoustic based arrangements on Yatri and Taranga have reassured those who feared losing that style to the chilled downtempo and dance oriented grooves.

I couldn't pick a single release to recommend here as I love them all, though, I play different albums at different times depending on my mood.

Give a listen to any of the fine albums by Prem Joshua and friends. If you're a world fusion and yoga music fan, you'll find a lot to like.

Listen to Taranga in iTunes or click to go to our Listening Lounge.

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Kuan Yin is one of the most well-known Buddhist figures.  She is revered throughout Asia as one who answers prayers swiftly and eases the suffering of the world.  Often called the Goddess of Compassion, she is actually a bodhisattva, an 'awake being.'

Songs of Kuan Yin is overflowing with the power of the Divine Feminine. This album features songs by some of my favorite women artists, Deva Premal, Choying Drolma and Donna DeLory, among others.

The tracks are a sumptuous mix of  Western and world fusion influences, exclusively from women artists. (with the occasional assist from the men listed below) The overall presentation is contemplative, reflective, and the result is often heart opening.

Among my favorite tracks are, Song to Kuan Yin, by Donna DeLory & David Gregoli, Chenrezi by Choying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts, and Kuan Yin's Mantra by Lisa Thiel. As usual I gravitate to the tracks with distinct exotic world fusion arrangements, but there should be something here for every kind of musical taste in contemporary devotional music.

 

Listen in iTunes or look for this album's in the Listening Lounge.

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Chanting Mantras is a search term being used many thousands of times per month by those seeking vocal chanting in one form or another.

It appears to me, based on some search engine research, that people using the term download chanting mantras are seeking many different kinds of vocal chanting music, not just mantras as the term might apply.

A few examples are: Sanskrit chants, Tibetan Chants, Indian Mantras, Buddhist Chants, chants in English, and too many more to list here.

Some of the music previously reviewed in this Yoga Music Blog includes vocal chants in one form or another, and I am currently producing some of my own Yoga Music with vocal chants in Sanskrit and also some chants without meaning, other than the expressiveness of the vocals.

Once I finish up with some my own music, a few tracks will be available to download chanting mantras here on the site.

Photo of a Cistern In Morrocco by Catherine Larrick ©2010 [Click here to enlarge]

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Dust from a Trip is the 2007 release by Seahorse Transform. (Seahorse Transform is 34 year old Simon Jagd from Copenhagen, Denmark.)

Simon has been writing music since his teens, specializing in percussion based music. He is inspired by the Asian instruments he discovered on his many journeys to India.

Seahorse Transform isn't widely known. I discovered this music while listening to am ambient-chillout feed from Indochill Internet radio in India.

My favorite Yoga Music of the nine tracks is Djaja Dub. It has a strong, but restrained, groove that keeps chugging along carried by a perfect blend of percussion, electronica, and indian strings, such as sitar.

Ninth Gate is another favorite on this release, but at times the groove inspires one to get up and move, which can interrupt your floor work.

Check out the entire release, but let me know what you think of Djaja Dub for Yoga music.

Preview the Album on iTunes

Djaja Dub Track Only

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One of the hottest groups doing kirtan/yoga music right now is Mayapuris.

Their first release, Mridanga, hit iTunes on June 21st, and has quickly risen to #10.

With a mix of energetic uptempo and silky smooth downtempo grooves, blending the mridanga drum, vocals, flutes and more, this is a very satisfying collection of tracks.

Guest artists such as Jai Uttal, Guari Vani, As Kindred Spirits, and Benji Wertheimer (with some very tasty ezraj) add to the allure.

From their website:

Where do we come from? We come from a place where every word is a song, every step is a dance. We come from a paradise where the sound of kirtan can be heard from every direction at any hour. We come from the spiritual sky, each and every one of us, and we are just trying to get back.

Through kirtan.

As usual, I'll keep this review short and let you decide with a quick listen... just click on the link below.

Listen on iTunes

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The album Selwa is a collection of beautiful, haunting chants that evoke an ambient peacefulness and inner calm. The instrumental arrangements are appropriately sparse, creating a perfect vehicle for the expressive voice of Choying Drolma.

It continues to remain in my mix of favorite yoga music because of the timeless quality of the arrangements, and also because it's clear to me that this is more than just notes and melodies.

This music creates a serene atmosphere for yoga or reflection, and is also perfectly suitable for just listening in front of a good sound system.

Choying Drolma, was born in Kathmandu to Tibetan exiles who fled the Cultural Revolution in 1959. She was accepted as a nun in a Tibetan Monasterey at an early age where she was instructed in monastic rituals and meditation, which included chants. (Tibetans do not regard this as folk music, but rather perceive the depth of meaning in these chants as capable of enhancing understanding and transforming ordinary experience.)

In 1994 guitarist Steve Tibbetts visited her remote monastery where he recorded the music, brought it home and later added the guitars and other instruments that resulted in their first collaboration called Cho.

Marc Anderson provided the percussion.

Listen on iTunes

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Mooji is a direct disciple of the renowned advaita master, Papaji. In 1987, a chance meeting with a Christian mystic was to be a life-changing encounter for Mooji.

Within a short period, he experienced a radical shift in consciousness so profound that outwardly, he seemed, to many who knew him, to be an entirely different person. As his spiritual consciousness awakened, a deep inner transformation began which unfolded in the form of many miraculous experiences and mystical insights.

He felt a strong wind of change blowing through his life which brought with it a deep urge to surrender completely to divine will. Shortly after, he quit his job, left his home and began a life of quiet simplicity and surrender to the will of God as it manifested spontaneously within him. A great peace entered his being, and has remained ever since.

I've found helpful guidance from a number of nondual teachers. Chris Celine (local to Ashland) helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life; Adyashanti; Candice O'Denver's message of 'resting as awareness' for short moments repeated many times is brilliant; and there have been others. Mooji is the one I keep coming back to, and the one who's audio talks I have on my ipod shuffle to listen to during morning yoga.

Mooji's talks are down to earth, simple language dialogs that cut through the descriptions and points of view that my mind throws up about how things should be vs. how they appear to be. In the nondual perspective there is nothing to accomplish, nowhere to get to, and nothing to become. Mooji is a very helpful reminder of that for me.

There are dozens of audio passages available to listen to or download, as well as other good stuff at mooji.org.

Streaming MP3 Satsang Dialog - 7 min.

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Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp should burn up, there will still be hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out,
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!

They derive from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

by Jelaluddin Rumi

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If you have a Mac and you are musically adventurous, you owe it to yourself to try out Radio Gaga, from Gaga Factory. ($29.99 with a free trial)

This is one very slick application, the interface is amazing. Some of the features are listed below

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On the track, Misty Mountain from the album DownTemple Dub: Waves by Desert Dwellers, they push the boundaries of Yoga music into a new realm of musical fusion they call “Yoga Dub”.

This track is a prime example of their electronic devotional music blending rhythmic ambience with traditional instruments such as subahar, tabla, udu, erhu, cello and voice. To give a listen to this and other tracks from the album on iTunes, simply click the button below.

Listen on iTunes

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