Posts Tagged ‘Guy Sweens’

We have posted our top ten album list of 2009. Now it is time to see which song you, our dear listeners, have rated highest in this past year. You have rated songs by either clicking the thumbs  “up/down” in the Live365 player or simply by NOT logging off while a song is playing. 

2009’s top song is taken from an album also released in this year – it is the opening track to Guy Sween’s The Legend of Ganesha album – Worship – where Medwyn Goodall also is a guest artist!

Worship has been on our top list for many months, and was first now in December moved down to second place on the New Age Stars chart – only beaten by Jan Hammer’s classic Crockett’s Theme. Not a bad way to lose the top spot!

Worship is a long track, over 7 minutes long, but almost no listeners have ever turned off the radio stream while this song is playing. It has a very nice Indian atmosphere, with a catchy rhythm and great melody. Medwyn’s guitar sounds simply awesome!

So this radio host says yes, yes, yes!  This is just what we want to give you, our dear listener.

On behalf of  all the New Age Stars listeners; thank you, Guy Sweens, for a simply wonderful track!!!

The album is released on MG Music. You can sample the song here.

Keep listening to New Age Stars – and remember to vote!

The album OM by Medwyn Goodall and Terry Oldfield (and several other artists) became a new age music classic almost overnight when it was released by MG Music in 2007. Now OM II is out. It is in every respect a worthy follow-up, and it is taking the OM project even further – creating an atmosphere that is perfect for relaxation and meditation. It is a proof that the OM mantra is growing in power when repeated.

The big difference between OM and OM II is that this time around it is not Terry Oldfield that plays the flute, but Aroshanti (Nick Truch). Terry’s flute is in my opinion impossible to replace, but Aroshanti is doing a terrific job – like he also has on previous albums like True Reiki II – Reiki Healing and Clearzone Sound Essence.

The other big difference is that OM II has much less melodic structure. There is a lot more improvisation, both in the flute and guitar parts (played by Medwyn Goodall), which is really taking the OM project to new heights. It is the new age music equivalent of a jam session, giving the melody a softer, less constructed feel. For meditation use this is very positive.

The second installment in the OM series is a joint venture between several artists. Medwyn Goodall and Aroshanti are accompanied by other MG Music artists such as Guy Sweens, Runestone, Threefold, Paul Sills, Oshwari, Andrew Kinsella and Simon Lovelock. Yes, it is truly a selection of some of the finest artists around and a statement of MG Music’s quality artist catalogue. They all add their fingerprint to the production.

The tracks on the album are all long, between 5 and 7 minutes, which makes it great for meditation. And I must mention that there is a very good continuity between the tracks, so you might end up thinking about OM II as one track. The rich synth pads are the soundscape’s foundation, while the guitar and flute come and go, sometimes sharing the microphone.

This is the new age music equivalent of a jam session, giving the melody a softer, less constructed feel.

The first few tracks take you into a dream world, as blue as the cover photo and as magical as the OM symbol. My favorite song on the album is Starfield, where Medwyn’s guitar, a distant piano and Aroshanti’s flute intertwine beautifully. And like any quality meditation album it also contains a wake up track, the last one, produced by Guy Sweens. After the slow 11th track it is quite a shower of sound. Here there are some obvious Enigma references with samples and a powerful rhythm too, not very different from his acclaimed India series. A different but effective ending; this song takes you back to mother earth in just about six minutes.

OM II is just as good as the first one. It is simply a great package; inspired artists working together to create the ultimate OM experience.

What more can we, the fans, ask for? That they include a flying carpet?

Sample the album on MG Music.

The Legend of Ganesha marks the conclusion of Guy Sweens’s highly popular India trilogy. Yet again Sweens take the listener on a dream journey under the baking Indian sun, with exotic instruments and chilled beats as the main ingredients. As usual Sweens uses lots of voice samples, creating a mix that is both ethnic and international. Old fans will find that this is a successful end of the series, but it will for sure give Sweens lot of new fans as well.    

On The Legend of Ganesha Sweens is accompanied by two other new age stars, Medwyn Goodall and  Stefan Petersilge (better known as Sangit Om). Goodall participates with guitar (and other instruments) on track 1, 4 and 6, while Sangit Om’s flute is heard on track 3. But it is definitely Sweens that is in the driving seat, and the sound that made the previous two India albums so great is still here, powerful and fresh.

 The Legend of Ganesha is the story of the Hindu God with the elephant head. The mythological  aspects is also seen in the titles, like Embodiment of Good Luck, Worship and Remover of Obstacles. It is important to stress that if you are looking for an authentic Indian album, this is not the one for you. This is international new age, created for a mainly western audience. But as far as international new age goes, this is as good as it gets. Indeed, Sweens music may be closer to the idea of India than most real Indian albums. That is new age music in a nutshell.

The album starts with a laid back tune, Worship, which features Medwyn Goodall’s wonderful guitar (if you like it you must make sure to check out his recent Origins album). Fans of the series will feel at home: Sweens’ focus on sound design is nothing but masterful. As usual, I might add. Track two, Embodiment of Good Luck, contains all the spicy ingredients of the previous albums: the sharp sound of the sitar, the heavy synth pads and the slow rhythm.

My favorite track on the album is Skanda. From the moment you put it on, the sitar melody hits you. The fast repetitions is wonderful, and the way Goodall adds new elements with his guitar make it into a truly magnificent piece. The synth sitar later in the song is also great.

The Legend of Ganesha is the end of the India series, but hopefully not the end of Guy Sweens’ career. It is relaxing and beautiful at the same time. If he should decide to make another installment in the Indian series in the future, we would not mention to anyone that he originally said that it would only be a trilogy. After all, Ganesha had four arms!  

The Legend of Ganesha is published by MG Music. You can sample it here.