Ananda Shake are Lior Edri and Osher Swissa from Kiriat Gat, home for another act with the same style- Vibe Tribe. The style is old school, or an attempt to combine the old school Goa sound with modern ideas and full on energies.
The CD starts with Old School, which is indeed the most old school track on the album. It opens with the characteristic sound of Ananda Shake, fast melodies and arpeggios, kick and bass games and leads that sound like they've been pulled right out of 1996. Wrong Answer comes next with the same formula. Let the Music gives an uplifting touch to the music, almost like a collaboration of one Goa artist with another nitzhonot artist. It is done with style, full sound and energetic beats. Wonderland is the fourth track here and it keeps with the uplifting line, although it is not as cheesy as before. Each group must make a mandatory guitar track, it seems, and Caution is Shake's take at it. The focus is on emotional guitar melodies and not on power chord lines which is good to hear once in a while. Banana Banji is another Goaish track with an extra touch of psychedelia. Track 7, Break Dance, is where the emotion comes in. Dreamy melodic lines and a bit of singing makes this track very special. Make Me Shake does exactly that, this track is powerful and fast, constantly changing and breaking. Getting near the end, Total Madness is a jazzy track. Even though I don't hear any madness in it to be honest, it's not bad at all. Emotion in Motion is the last track on this album and undoubtedly one of the best. Just like the name indicates, this is about emotion, feeling and of course motion.
This is preety good for a debut. Ananda Shake are one of the few groups today attempting to combine Goa style in modern music. At times it may sound cheesy but overall they made it right, even though it could have been more psychedelic. The music itself is very good, enjoyable and danceable. The production can be better- there are many points throughout the album where it just sounds chaotic and messy, although some people would find it to be a good thing since clean and sterile sound can be quite boring. I'm really looking forward to listen to future productions from them since they obviously know how to do their music and I'm interested in hearing their evolution. |
