Suns Of Arqa

Suns Of Arqa

"Suns of Arqa attempt, through music, to bring to light the spiritual teachings from the great mystical traditions of the world..."...so it says in the covers of their albums. Led by the mighty Wadada, Suns of Arqa are a continuously changing sound, adopting stray musicians that happens to cross their path. The result is an interesting sound, with instruments like sitars, bagpipes, diderido's, violins, pakhawaj and tablas adding to the more conventional bass and keyboards.

Album: Shabda

[ARKA2109CD]
Shabda

Track Listing:

  1. Tomorrow Never Knows (3.42)
  2. There Is No Danger Here (7.33)
  3. Bhairavi Alap (2.03)
  4. Through The Gate We Go (11.04)
  5. Bhairavi Live (3.42)
  6. Pure Reality (12.03)
  7. The Great Invocation (5.11)
  8. Basant Alap (4.33)
  9. Basant Dhrupad (7.00)
  10. Beyond The Beyond (5.20)
  11. The Great Unique (3.43)
  12. Waterloo (3.25)
  13. Fire Of Life (6.40)
  14. Heat The Call (3.29)

Released 1995 on Arqa Sound. Performed live, this album is 100% sample free.

Album: Total Eclipse of the Suns

Total Eclipse of the Suns

Track Listing:

  1. Durga Dub remixed by Zombie - from Kokoromochi
  2. Jaggernaut remixed by Youth and Greg Hunter - from Whirling Dub
  3. Gavati remixed by Bleep & Booster - from Alap-Joe-Jhala
  4. Govinda's Dream remixed by United Spirits of Rhythm - from Land of a 1000 Churches
  5. Beyond the Beyond remixed by Yam Yam - from Shabda
  6. Inca Man mixed by Zombie - previously unreleased
  7. Tabla School mixed by Zombie - previously unreleased
  8. Acid Tabla remixed by Adrian Sherwood - from Arqaology
  9. Sully's Reel remixed by Swordfish - from the single with Astralasia

Remixes 1979 - 1995. This is a collection of tracks that have been remixed by other artists. Whilst there are a few tracks here well worth a listening to, the choice of mix of Govinda's Dream and Sul-E-Stomp surprised me, to say the least.

Album: Jaggernaut - Whirling Dub

[ARKA2103CD]
Jaggernaut

Track Listing:

  1. Jagnath Bhairavi (16.32)
  2. Jagannath Bhupali (18.20)
  3. Juggernaut Misra Pahvadi (13.16)
  4. Jaggernnath (28.38)

Released 1988 on Arqa Sound. With only four tracks this is a little short for an album, although all of the tracks are very long. The best of the bunch at nearly 30 minutes long is track 4, which has additional production from Astralasia's Swordfish; glorious ambience. The other tracks are a little samey, with the sitars getting a little too much at times. Still, a great mini album, which is perfect for putting on at the end of a long night out - check out the Erasmus Meets the Earthling single which features remixes of this track courtesy of Youth and Greg Hunter.

Single: Govinda's Dream

[ARKA601CD]
Govinda's Dream

Track Listing:

  1. Astralasia Mix (10.28)
  2. Phil Kirby Radio Edit Monkey Mix (3.37)
  3. Guy Called Gerald Carnatic Mix (8.07)
  4. Guy Called Gerald Kirk's Garage Mix (4.48)
  5. Graham Massey 808 Mix (3.39)
  6. Guy Called Gerald Jabit Mix (4.12)

Released on Arqa Sound. Check out this excellent CD single of 'Govinda's Dream', especially for the storming remix by Astralasia. The Phil Kirby mix is quite fun as well - a short tribal affair although its a shame it's not longer. The other mixes by Guy Called Gerald (found on the 12" along with United Spirit of Rhythm) and others aren't quite to my taste, but if you're keen on jungle and breakbeat then it may be worth checking out. There is also a very rare white label 12" around of the Astralasia remixes, which is even better.

Single: Erasmus Meets the Earthling

[ARKA602CD]
Erasmus Meets the Earthling

Track Listing:

  1. Erasmus Meets The Earthling remixed by Phil Kirby (5.01)
  2. Whirling Dub remixed by Youth and Greg Hunter (3.43)
  3. Whirling Full remixed by Youth and Greg Hunter (9.16)
  4. Whirling Forest remixed by Youth and Greg Hunter (7.18)
  5. What Does it Profit? remixed by Phil Kirby (3.35)

The 'Erasmus meets..' single (CD and 12") contains a couple of lovely whirling remixes of Whirling Dub from the Jaggernaut album - really ambient and perfect for those end of session/lazy Sunday afternoons. The voice of Professor Stanly Unwin also features on the title track which is a very bizarre drum 'n bass number.

For further information on Suns of Arqa see their web site, or contact:

Snail-Mail: Arka Sound, 26 Marlborough Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 1EH

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