Reviews: Music, books, movies

I think I first encountered Deva Premal in one of my occasional sweeps of eMusic.com for artists whose descriptions look interesting but whose work I’m not already familiar with. I pick a track here and there for sampling their work at leisure, then go back to buy more of their work as I decide I like them. Deva makes a very good first impression.

So when I saw Deva’s latest CD at the bookstore, Dakshina, I bought it for the sheer joy of discovering her most recent work.

I processed the CD tracks as usual to FLAC, copied to my music player, then lay down to relax and listen closely. From the first note I was engaged. But as soon as Track 4 started — Aad Guray — I felt goosebumps, then awe, until I found myself melting into tears. I told Steph, “I think I’ve just heard the most beautiful thing in my life so far.”

(The first 1:10 of Aad Guray, which provides a very good taste of what I mean, is available at Deva and Miten’s site on the Dakshina page.)

The other tracks come very close to that assessment, too.