Devising a method to capture a moment of exaltatio with sound is no small feat. Aranos attempts to do just that with a minimal and powerful arrangement of six Tibetan singing bowls and wood flute. Whether this recording brought me closer to release from duality is up for debate, but it certainly did not pull me further away.
Standing on its own, Samadhi is a gorgeous slab of ambient music. While this is drone music at its core, the subtleties of the acoustic instruments being played are captured in detail enough that the listener can either drift with the music or focus on minute detail. There is no question here as to whether Aranos as created a gorgeous piece of atmospheric sound or engaging music, he has achieved both simultaneously. As the mist that is this piece continues to roll it definitely gains a charge that seems to be bringing it closer and closer to a moment of unification with all.
The concept surrounding this release is what intrigues me the most. Consider the intense meditative discipline it should and most likely would take to release oneself from the grips of duality, cynicism, materialism, and desire. Indeed, in the liner notes for Samadhi it is written, “Preparation for it involved 35 years of meditation and a lifetime study of sound.” Now imagine achieving this state while also recording and playing six instruments. When I attempt this, I’m left feeling as thought the recording of this music certainly couldn’t have brought me any closer to the Godhead. My feet would be too firmly planted in the material world while creating a piece as intricately flowing as this.
Perhaps this release is only intended to be an aural representation of Samadhi and not a document thereof. Many musicians speak of a state of spiritual communion being reached while practicing their art, but it is another thing all together to use it as a catalyst to attain something of an ultimate religious experience. If Aranos truly intends to purport that Samadhi was reached on the midsummer’s night this was recorded, props.
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