Cosmic Joy

Sangeet’s last album Fragile Noize, on Transient, was so bad that psyreviews didn’t even review it. And given that this was 2006, the same year as Total Anarchy and The Next Generation (our lowest-ever scoring review at -1,000,000 out of ten), not reviewing something because it’s bad is reallysaying something.

It

would be great to say that Sangeet’s latest offering is his best, and while

this might be true Cosmic Joy is still exquisitely lacklustre.

As

has often been the case with his output, Sangeet produces music that appears to

be completely unaware of its musical and cultural context. Hence, we get

exceedingly formulaic, single-cell tracks with daft names such as Acid Base

Cluster, Biophysical Structure and Distorted Dreams.

Bereft

of irony, we are subjected to prehistoric breakdowns, clumsy filters, 2001-era

scifi samples, and changes that you can see coming from a mile away.

Sangeet’s

production is above adequate, as one might expect from somebody involved in

music for the best part of a quarter-century. Its Achilles heal is twofold; the

above mentioned absence of crisp originality, and an almost complete lack of

soul.

There

are some promising moments. The acid swirl of Peaceful Warrior and the elastic

midline of Escobar make you sit up and take notice; unfortunately through

prepetition, their impact dwindles as you realise you’re listening to something

on loop.

The

music is pushed, almost crammed, into a melody-driven cacophony. He seems to be

pursuing some sort of spiritual enlightenment, yet doing so on an express train

and with little regard for the journey itself.

This

is perhaps best evidenced on the regulation ambient closing track, 1000 Light

Years Away. I remember the days when a producer would showcase that last track

slot as an opportunity to say, “hey look, I can write music for the mind as

well as for the dancefloor.” Sangeet can’t – it’s a hackneyed, clichéd piece of

cod-spiritual bubblegum that’s downright offensive.

One

has to ask the question – does Sangeet really consider this to be his best work?

Is he performing, and has he recorded, at his absolute best? I’m not sure which

side of the fence I occupy on this. Either Sangeet isn’t putting his heart and

soul into his music, or we’re looking at a situation where the absolute best he

can do falls far short of what people were doing five years ago. I’m not sure

which is worse.