Search - Luc Martinez :: Atlantis Nath

Unique music from a master musician

khris777 | Texas USA | 08/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Be prepared: this recording may cause your eyes to roll back in your head and your tounge to press against the roof of your mouth, inducing deep spiritual introspection and/or journeying. Atlantis Nath is like no other Terry Riley I have heard. The style is much more varied than usual and Terry sings! (Maybe he has before on other releases, but i dont have every one of his recordings.) Now that i hear him sing I am even more convined that he belongs to some triple soul incarnation with Daevid Allen and Robert Wyatt; at times his voice and even lyrics recall each of these other artists to me in a very visceral ("Perceived in or as if in the viscera; profound") manner (compare Daevid's 'Seven Drones' release to Cruxifiction Voices on Atlantis Nath for some musical, i.e. instrumental, similarities).



Atlantis is what i think i could call, at least a lot of it, difficult: it may seem inscrutible, maybe a touch 'dry' to some at first, but rewards repeated listening with musical understanding. On the other hand there is plenty of fun stuff going on a lot of the time as well. I don't want to spoil to much of the adventure of discovery for you by describing the style of or reviewing particular tracks.



This release is superb for fans of Terry and generally for adventurous fans of great music, especially the spiritually minded. Furthermore, i beleive that Atlantis Nath constitutes a musical Book Of The Dead, not in the general sense of a guide to be read to guide the dying to the light, but in the 'esoteric' sense of guiding the living towards and through rebirth while incarnate. The word Surrender comes to mind a lot as well. I'll let you figure out why I say this and if you agree.



Of course, all of this is my opinion and maybe i dont know what im talking about! I would sure love it if Terry Riley himself would post and give us some insight. I guess music like this speaks for itself pretty well though.



Also, this has got to be one of the most beautiful CD covers i have or will ever own. I love the way the cover depicts Atlantis and the way it's done is quite the clue to some of the nature of this music. The art is stupendous.



Funny enough, the cover is the source of my only two complaints: 1) because the plastic backing with the teeth that holds the CD into the case is permanently affixed to the cardboard, i cannot replace that part which in my case came with one of the 'cd holder' teeth broken. Luckily, it still holds the cd in just fine so i got over it in a day or two ; ) 2) the liner notes are in FRENCH!! ugh. Maybe someone (Terry?) would be so kind as to post an English translation on this site, or let us know if it is on Terry's website?



Thanks for all the incredible music Mr. Riley!"