Genre: bizarre
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: Music of the Mantric Wave, Vol. II
Company: Unanimous Anonymous
Catalog: UAN
999
Year: 1974
Country/State: New York, NY
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: minor cover wear
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5512
Price: $100.00
I'll be the first to admit that I haven't spent a great deal of time researching Paul Sibley (aka Paul Ramana Das). Sibley was apparently a musical child protégé, studying under keyboardist \Nina Grosavitch Zavadsky. While in his teens he supported the Columbia University Glee Club, and by the late 1950s was director of the Barnard College Glee Club. By the late 1960s he'd performed at Steinway and Carnegie Hall, but in the early 1970s he moved away from music and into marketing and sales. Corporate burn out followed with a return to music and exploration of alternative approaches to life.
You may not have the same reaction, but every time I listen to this oddball set, it brings a smile to my face. Not that this is a fantastic slice of garage rock, or psychedelia - it's neither. In fact most of 1974's "Music of the Mantric Wave, Vol. II" offers up a goofy combination of lounge act, Eastern influences, jazzy interludes, and new age mysticism - not exactly a combination that will make many of you jump for joy and reach for that checkbook.
If you've read through some of my other LP comments/reviews you may have noted that I'm not a big fan of the new age, self-realization catalog. As a result I certainly had some issues with this one. While I had no reason to doubt Paul Sibley's authenticity and commitment to spiritual enlightenment, the collection's always left me with the mental picture of a pair of wealthy New Yorkers with way too much time and money on their hands (admittedly I don't even know if Sibley was from New York).
On the other hand the album had at least five things going for it:
1.) Co- produced by Gary Diamond and Sibley, the set boasted surprisingly sophisticated sound for a private press release. The set also boasted some great sound effects - it's one of those 'listen-to-with-headphones' collections.
2.) Singer/keyboardist Sibley and his significant other Marilena seemed totally committed to their mystical path bringing an admirable degree of enthusiasm to this eclectic set.
3.) Sibley had a decent voice that blended well with spouse Marilena's higher, pseudo-operatic backing.
4.) The set included some occasionally engaging musical interludes with nice backing from the likes of keyboardist Ron Burton, bass player Jim Crozier, sax man John Gerber, and trumpet player Charles McGee.
5.) Some of the positive vibe lyrics sported a dated mid-1970's aura that's quite funny ('I circle around the boundaries of the earth, wearing my long wing feathers as I fly higher, higher, higher ...')
Combine those ingredients and you had an album that was surprisingly fun to listen to. Besides, how could you not be interested in an album that sported a message from the noted Sufi scribe Harzat Inayet Khan: "Motion is the significance of life, and the law of motion is rhythm. Rhythm is life disguised in motion ... rhythm produced an ecstasy which is inexplicable, and incomparable with any other source of intoxication." All they other BS aside, I find that to be one of the best descriptions of the joy of music I've ever come across.
"Music
of the Mantric Wave, Vol II" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Circle Around (Paul Sibley) - 5:55
2.) Listen (Paul Sibley) - 11:15
(side
2)
1.) God of Beauty (Paul Sibley) - 12:25
2.) Bliss (Paul Sibley) - 9:25
Don't ask me about if there's a "Music of the Mantric Wave, Vol. I" 'cause I don't know. There was apparently a Vol, 1 lineup (credited as Daniel F'Ang, John Farmer, Charles Schwartz, Dave Dansky, Dan Behrman, Marcia Davis, and Salik Schwartz), but I don't think they ever recorded anything.
