After Enigma

TYA

Akwaba

Its hard to give this album a rating that's not too high. It does follow the Enigma prototype, mixing solid beats with atmospheric synth and world sounds. It takes a specific angle, though - nearly every song involves Aboriginal-style vocals. According to the liner notes, Scherl spent time with Australian Aboriginees, and this greatly contributed to the album's concept. All tracks except the last feature Aboriginal-sounding vocals and most of them involve atmospheric synths, both of which contribute to a good sense of continuity throughout the album. This is very well-balanced with a variety of solo instruments and individual vocalists, leading to an album that's very engaging despite its 67-minute length. My favorites are tracks six (Follow the Light) and seven (Soft Touch), which respectively feature excellent piano and accordion and solos. Track eleven (Naked) is equally engaging, but the solo instrument sounds like sampled shakuhachi (the breathy, Japanese flutes used in the first Enigma album, which everyone in this genre seems to feel compelled to throw in somewhere), which is beginning to get a little old. Among the vocalists credited are "The Bulgarian Voices" and Martin Scherl himself. This leads me to believe that the entire album is basically imitation-Aboriginal. While this doesn't diminish the quality of the music itself, it does make me feel slightly mislead. Its quite a nit-picky complaint, and shouldn't prevent you from enjoying this fantastic album. I like it so much I just ordered the first TYA album off Amazon.

Tribal Sutras/h3>

New Age: 1

Electronica: 1

World: 5

I started out with TYA's second album, and I advise you to do the same. This release has a more primal, driven feel, and lacks the more reflective beauty of Akwaba. If rhytm and beat are what you like, you may prefer Tribal Sutras, though. If you want to sample this on Amazon, I recommend track three (Awake to Your Senses) for its groove, and track four (Deep Desire), which foreshadows the sweeping, lush synthesizer parts on Akwaba.