Sheila Chandra - Quiet!

There used to be a wonderful program on WZBC in Boston on Sat. mornings from 6am till noon or so called Music To Sleep Late To, and this album was regularly featured. Music you can just drift in and out of with ease, and ever so dreamy. I prefer Sheila's vocals with a bit of accompaniment, and this album sees her using wild amounts of layering and overdubbing on the vocals accompanied by simple, hypnotic, gem-like melodies on sitar & piano, with layers of swarmandel and tamboura shimmering amidst a haze of reverb trails. No pop songs, and no drums: what rhythm there is comes from chanted, exhaled vocal patterns and such. Everything is breathy and floating and suspended in time, and the vocal layering is quite something in headphones!Incense-like music that wafts inside your head and sends you far, far away. This is still Sheila's best recording bar none, IMO, and better yet, this version comes with side A from "Nada Brahma" tacked on as bonus tracks, which is in a similar style to "Quiet" and just as good. If there is one essential Indipop Sheila Chandra album, this is clearly it. Sounds as original today as when it was made, and remains the best (only?) ambient Indian vocal album ever.