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Apparently in the lively yoga scene of Southern California, the Temple
Bhajan Band is a hot ticket. It's not hard to imagine why, listening to
this spirited album. Like Afro-American gospel music, this Indo-American
counterpart is passionate and soulful - and it rocks. Compared to the
ascetic chanting of Krishna Das (America's superstar of Hindu devotional
music), Mantra Yoga is party music. Central to the band's appeal is lead singer Sura. With the voice of a
Gritty East Indian crooner, you would never know he's a white American
guy who used to play folk music. At times, as on "Vasudeva Para Veda,"
Sura hits an ecstatic stride that brings to mind the late, great Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan. In contrast, female lead singer Mahalaxmi dasi bears an
unmistakably Western accent and a voice as virgin pure as Sura's is old
spice. While the songs and instrumentation on Mantra Yoga are steeped in India, the occasional Western touch - like the Claptonesque guitar licks on "Hare Krishna" - blends right in. In this very pleasing set of devotional songs, the Temple Bhajan Band succeeds in being spiritual without being monotonous and tuneful without being saccharine.
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