Raksha Mancham - Ghazels mp3 download

BlackHaze

Their first release was more a political statement than an entertaining listening experience. No reason why not, and while we reviewers banged on about the meanings behind the songs, I think we were somewhat surprised by the hardness of the music - MUSLIMGAUZE, HYBRYDS, O YUKI CONJUGATE - all those who used ethnic music forms as a backdrop to their music tended to create moody, dreamy percussive soundscapes. But not RAKSHA MANCHAM. Their music seemed much harder, less explored, with only their good intentions keeping them from poor reviews. And so I figured this album would be much the same, and guiltily kept it a (political) prisoner in The Pile.So imagine my pleasant surprise and deep guilt to discover, sometime later, what a thoroughly entertaining and widely explored series of songs made up this album. Once more emphasis is placed on the percussion, but there's a much more shrewd compositional approach here. Yes, there's an Ethnic trad feel to many of the tracks, but they combine these with a lot of Western source sounds to create some wonderful, moody pieces which combine some curious sounds to achieve an end result much greater than the sum of their parts. The live-wire edginess of "Abd Er Rahman" could almost be a collaboration between BRYN JONES, JAPAN and PIGFACE if you can possibly twist your imagination around to consider such a hybrid. The dulcimer on "Ouled-Naïl" would sound good in the background of a SCORN track circa "Leave It Out" but here creates a beautiful between-worlds metallic-toned backing for a distinctive mood piece. Sometimes dirty, sometimes pristine, often twisting compositions in gnarly shapes and Surreal dimensions, this collection proves that the best political platform is one people want to listen to. And I thoroughly and whole-heartedly recommend this. Other comparisons? Maybe LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND, a harsher, more in your face DEAD CAN DANCE, even the SYLVIAN / CZUKAY projects with a more structured percussive approach, and there's a certain distant kinship with early TEST DEPT, although nothing here sounds much like their music.RAKSHA MANCHAM have become a dangerous and fascinating group. Seek them out.Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.