Sacred Trance Music from Taos Mountain [DSD EP]

Positive Feedback 5 out of 5

Go to your quiet place, turn out the lights, transport to the original recording session with these musicians. The sound quality is that good — immersive, translucent, and transcending. And the musical performances are that subtle, seductive, and enveloping.

Bob Atiyeh at Yarlung Records has been an adventurous supporter of new, emerging artists. His recordings have long been favorites of mine. And he does not disappoint with this new release as he introduces me to a musical language with which I’ve not spent much time before.

I thought my first article about Yarlung Records would be a general introduction and survey highlighting several among their many outstanding releases over the years. But when I heard this recording for the first time today, it stopped me dead in my tracks and I just needed to write about it.

Sacred Trance Music from Taos Mountain invites us into the multicultural world of Habib Chishti, Sufi Master and Singer, who lives in Taos, New Mexico. Habib (birth name, Patrick Arthur Lee) was born into a Jewish and Catholic home. He lived primarily in Taos, New Mexico starting at age 13 and has absorbed the disparate multicultural lineages that make up the unique cultural community that is Taos.

This DSD 256 EP from NativeDSD Music to which I’m listening contains two tracks. Track one includes two cycles of the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu hymn to the monkey-god Hanuman. Track two includes two cycles of a Sufi dhikr, or meditative chant, designed to engender a mystical union with God. In these two tracks, one experiences an aspect of the multicultural embrace that infuses Habib’s life.

The marvelous treat with this DSD 256 EP is 28 minutes of superbly recorded music in pure DSD with no PCM processing. The clarity, resolution, and purity of the sound are stunning. It simply doesn’t get better than this for a sound-quality-worshipping audiophile who values minimalist miking that captures the session simply and without post production edits and futzing. When coupled with music performance quality of this standard, the listening just cannot be bettered.

Highly recommended.

Rushton Paul - Source