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Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 08/12/2003
This disc features an audio beginner's guide to the philosophies of Hinduism, narrated by author, lecturer, and generational icon
Alan Watts.
Om: Sound of Hinduism (1967) was appropriately enough issued in 1967, during which time
Watts was being heard on the progressive community radio station
KPFA-FM in Berkeley, CA. His weekly Sunday morning broadcasts offered many Bay Area listeners an alternative to the traditional and decidedly more formal church service. On a scholarly level,
Watts was concurrently serving as Dean of the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. The long-player consists of three segments, including two narrations separated by an instrumental. The opening
"Om" is a 12-minute mini-lecture from
Watts that provided a decidedly Western approach to many of the basic concepts and precepts of Hinduism. His words are underscored by
world musician
Vincent Delgado (tempura/dumbek/tabla/talking drum), who provides an Eastern-influenced backdrop. The following cut is the ten-minute
"Tambouras for Meditation." This extended work highlights the multitude of moods within
Delgado's playing and, as the title suggests, is presented as a sonic guide to meditation. The hypnotic drone as well as the even tempo and pace provide a languid and somewhat ethereal experience for the consumer in addition to its meditative usefulness. The final piece provides a quarter hour of
"Readings from Hindu Scriptures," which are again accompanied by the tamboura and tabla. While the modern consumer may consider
Om: Sound of Hinduism as a trite
psychedelic relic, much of the information and logic espoused has increased in popularity throughout Western cultures in the ensuing decades. In 2003, the
Collectors' Choice Music label reissued the title onto CD.
~Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
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