Pack up your suitcase, because you’re about to take a journey that will bring you everywhere from Africa to the Arctic- all through the creative mind of one man. This man’s name is Eckart Seeber, and his album entitled Ecklectica is a diverse array of new-age sounds, tribal beats, and powerful African singing. This record presents a combination of traditional ethnic music and contemporary synthesized sounds, often backed by a choir of haunting voices performing chants and acting as its own instrument. All this is completed using electronic rhythms and instruments from a multitude of cultures.
With this album, Seeber -a native of Innsbruck, Austria- has taken an open-minded approach to composing music, using various samples from different parts of the world. “Back to the Savannah" uses clean guitar picking and reed pipes at the beginning, then goes into a hypnotic bongo rhythm which brings the listener back to where this kind of music originated. “Soliloquy of Rage", featuring soulful African voices and drums that create a thunder-like effect, is powerful, angry, and very beautiful. “Arctic Eyes" is a unique track that uses Inuit throat singing and synthesizers to create a chilling atmosphere.
Other tracks worth listening to are “Soweto Blues", an inspirational song with awesome vocals, and “Caliente", which features flamenco guitar playing. Some other instruments you will hear on this album are Chinese gongs, flutes from Brazil, Tibetian bells, and Sangba drums from New Guinea.
Put all this together and you have an original mixture of ethnic and new music that proves to be very “eclectic". Check out this album- it’s a trip you won’t want to miss.
By Betsy MacDonald, CanEHdian.com | Buy this CD at Amazon.com
