Freedom Chants From the Roof of the World

Recorded in America during the Chinese crackdown on Tibet, two of these three extended tracks feature 21 monks from the 500-year-old Gyüto Tantric Order, chanting for freedom and world peace. Beautifully recorded, it features the monks, each singing two and three note polyphonics from the throat, accompanied by occasional percussion and ceremonial horns in trance-inducing meditations to the Buddhist deities Yamantaka and Mahakala. Cosmic harmony and tolerance are well served by these uplifting incantations which constitute some of the best recordings of this uniquely Tibetan sacred music. A bonus to this spiritual and transcendental endeavor is a track by Mickey Hart, Phillip Glass, and Kitaro, live in front of an audience (and the monks) in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. --Derek Rath