Shri Camel

Description

In C and Rainbow in Curved Air have garnered a lot of attention, but in its somewhat subtle way, Shri Camel from the 1980s, the last of the three brilliant albums that Terry Riley recorded for CBS, is just as revolutionary as its sacred predecessors. Not content to rest on his laurels as a minimalist master, Riley studied with Hindustani classical singer Pandit Pran Nath in the 70s; by blending this Eastern influence with his own experiences of just intonation (where tuning is dictated by equal mathematical intervals rather than the "tempered" tuning familiar to Western music), Riley created an album whose shimmering textures (played by a specially modified Yamaha organ) seem to change with his own breath or thought, like the reflection of water rippling over rock. And while Shri Camel is much more demanding and ultimately rewarding than any "New Age" recording, it truly feels as though its constantly evolving, ecstatic, and hypnotic rhythmic and harmonic patterns massage the brain's neural circuits, leaving us refreshed, relaxed, and yes, perhaps even a little smarter than before we listened. First LP reissue and long-awaited!