| RAJNA The Door of Serenity |
French duo Rajna compares their sound to Dead Can Dance. It's not an entirely unfair comparison. Like DCD, their music is not so much "World Music" as "Exotica." It bears as much resemblance to Moroccan or Turkish music as "The King and I" bears to Thai culture. This isn't necessarily a Bad Thing. "The King and I" is a brilliant musical... and while Jeanne and Fabrice might not be Rogers & Hammerstein, they're definitely talented and imaginative musicians with eclectic tastes and a good ear for melody. Listening to Door of Serenity, it's difficult to believe this is a two-person production. This is largely because Fabrice is his very own orchestra -- in addition to synths, he plays the santoor, tabla, bendir, udu, darrabuka, water-drums, damaru, oud, dulcimer, saz, balalailka, tampura, sitar, kora, singing bowls, bells, gongs, cymbals, and a whole bunch of other instruments that even Peter Gabriel has never heard of. Add in Jeanne's multitracked, multilayered vocals and you've got a whole lot of music for the money. The music is consistently tuneful, and occasionally gorgeous. "Belorkai" features a breathtaking vocalise from Jeanne, backed by what sounds like a sitar, while "Djalambo" is underpinned by a low hum that could be a singing bowl or a digideroo. (Trying to guess what is producing those strange, lovely sounds is half the fun of this CD). Fabrice draws his influences from around the globe: the chord progressions which underpin "Door of Serenity" and "Whirling Souls" pay homage to Moorish/Spanish guitar, while "Shalim Dhar" could be the love theme to a Bollywood musical. If I could offer Fabrice and Jeanne any advice, it would be this: trust your audience more. Door of Serenity is a good CD; if it were a bit more challenging, it could be a great one. There is nothing here that will offend an ear accustomed to Western music: on the other hand, there's nothing here which pushes the envelope. There are few of the unusual time signatures or strange tunings which are part and parcel of Middle Eastern or Indian songs, few of the odd yet lovely harmonies found in Bulgarian choral music, and little of the eerie grandeur of Siberian and Tibetan throat-singing. I would love to hear a Rajna CD which consisted of actual World Music... not music intended to "capture the mood" of <insert exotic locale here> but rather music OF said exotic locale. Sure, it might be more challenging ... but it wouldn't necessarily be less successful. The last time I checked, Passion was still selling briskly. Jeanne -- Vocals 1. Djalambo Rajna Website |