Divine Inspiration

Traditional Indian music, a female singer that infuses nice drama and expression into the vocals. There's a swagger to her style that I like -- almost a hip, upbeat feel sometimes, despite the acoustic/traditional surroundings. Deeply reverent on other tracks. Spaces that are sparse but not necessarily meditative; there's a slow swirl of sound around each vocal.

1- A neat shuffling beat after a reverent, declarative opening.
2- Relaxed mid/fast
3- Chipper, fast
4- 17-minute epic. A serious, ceremonial mood with lots of vocal variety. Begins to feel like a chant in spots, especially when Sairam gets into hypnotically repeating syllables, turning up the intensity in the second half. Sparse instrumentation. Percussion appears in the last few minutes.
5- Slowish and rubberband-like, a serious, swaying Indian feel
6- Interesting small chant that opens up into a song, with minimal backing. Fast pace.
7- Slow. Serves as an intro to 8. SEGUES:
8- Steady beat, long vocal lines. High drama, quite nice.
9- Direct, with a quick beat. Later, some curious vocal/tabla matched rhythms in strange, half-spoken tones. Cool!