 Nonesuch Explorer Series Thrilling, staggering, jarring, calming. Welcome to Bali by way of Western recording, presenting who knows how authentic a view of what goes on over there. On a purely musical basis, Golden Rain is phenomenal, awesome stuff. Gamelan music alternately frantic and tranquil, with chiming gongs and pitched wooden flutes that fill your head with the busiest traffic jam of all time, then occasional low drums that clear it out entirely. It's unbelievably good and completely unlike anything else. Not exactly background music, though, so if you're in the mood for some kind of Starbucks world music experience, you might as well reach for the Putomayo. This CD grabs hold of you like a raving lunatic, stammering on about extraterrestrials and pawing at your handbag, before suddenly slipping into narcoleptic sleep and curling up into your chest, before waking up again to rave on some more. Isn't that what you want from a CD? I do. Can't recommend this enough. The last track features some vocal acrobatics that sound like Chemical Brothers drums, and elsewhere the gamelan is fiercer than Nine Inch Nails on a good night (keep in mind the disc was recorded in 1966 and is all acoustic). The last bit features people shouting about monkeys, and it goes on a bit long, which tests your patience for people shouting about monkeys. That aside, you could easily replace all your industrial CD's and your Philip Glass with this single disc. Fe-no-me-nol-no!
Review by Susannah Huffs |