In four-and-a-half years of running this site, I think we’ve
\ncome close to reviewing every genre of music, except for strict
\nclassical (which will be changing soon) and opera. But nothing
\nprepared me a few months ago for a disc which arrived in the mail
\nfrom instrumentalist Gerald Jay Markoe.<\/p>\n
It was inevitable, I guess. We’ve reviewed traditional music
\nfrom Nepal, filk music, Celtic music – we’re even getting world
\nmusic from countries I’ve never even heard of. (Memo to Duke: That
\nreminds me, I’ve got to put together a package for you.) But
\nZen Meditations<\/i> flipped me out. Imagine – a disc that not
\nonly featured music to help you in trying to achieve oneness with
\nthe cosmos, but it even came with instructions for basic
\nmeditation. (In all fairness, I did practice meditation for a while
\nin college – it was a course called Basic Microeconomics. I went
\ninto such a trance that the janitor had to peel me off the ceiling
\nwith his broom. Man, even Jolt Cola couldn’t get me interested in
\nthat<\/i> snooze-a-thon… and I
\nstill<\/i> don’t know how I got an “A”.)<\/p>\n
It’s bad enough that I know I’m alienating the metalheads who
\ncame in to read the Emperor review today just by featuring this
\ndisc. But I’m going to alienate everyone by this admission: I
\nactually
\nlike<\/i> this disc – to a point, that is. Okay, stop laughing,
\nand let me explain.<\/p>\n
I am not into this whole-earth contemplate-your-navel cosmic
\nbullshit scene – never have been, never will be. Cripes, I can’t
\neven
\nsee<\/i> my navel. (I practiced existentialism for a while – that
\nis, until I decided the whole philosophy was absurd.) So, hopefully
\nMr. Markoe will forgive me if I don’t exactly take on this disc in
\nthe manner originally prescribed. (Not that I didn’t appreciate the
\ncrystal he sent with the disc, though.) Fact is, putting a disc in
\nfront of the average person and saying something about Zen
\nmeditation will make them run from the room faster than the
\naudience during a melee at
\nThe Source<\/i> Hip-Hop Awards.<\/p>\n
So, let’s instead take this disc on as a collection of world
\nmusic-based new-age tracks. That’s right… I said “new age”. Not
\nall of it is like Yanni. Turn down the lights, and clear your mind
\nof the preconceptions you may take into this disc. Now, take a deep
\nbreath, press “play,” and close your eyes…<\/p>\n
Ommmmm…ygod, I’m actually
\nliking<\/i> this disc, you might say to yourself. In all truth,
\nMarkoe takes the lessons he’s learned having practiced Zen
\nmeditation for 40 years and creates a soundtrack that allows the
\nmind to relax. Admittedly, you have to have some liking for music
\nwith a distinct Tibetian or Asian flavor, but if you accept the
\nmusic as it is,
\nZen Meditations<\/i> proves to be a disc which is quite
\nenjoyable.<\/p>\n
Normally, when I say a disc could put me to sleep, I mean it as
\nan insult. But in the case of
\nZen Meditations<\/i>, I could honestly see myself playing this
\ndisc in the background after having an absolutely rotten day at the
\noffice (which I seem to have more and more of as I get older), and
\nallowing myself to pass into slumber with this as my soundtrack.
\nJust sitting in front of my computer listening to this disc the
\nfirst time, I actually felt better – tensions running out of my
\nbody, mind slowing down from a day of solving problems… or at
\nleast not making them worse. Markoe has, in fact, perpetuated the
\nconcept of the
\nEnvironments<\/i> records from some 25 years ago (especially with
\nthe nature sounds scattered on this disc) and created a relaxation
\npiece that, for an hour, takes you away from the nonsense of the
\nday-to-day world and allows you to just be with yourself and your
\ninnermost thoughts.<\/p>\n
And, in a sense, isn’t that one of the whole purposes of Zen
\nmeditation?<\/p>\n
So why do I only like
\nZen Meditations<\/i> to a point? By the time you get to the final
\ntracks on the disc, like “Enlightenment” and “Naturalness,” it does
\nfeel like the concept is beginning to wear a little thin.
\n(Admittedly, even these tracks have their moments.) Still, not a
\nmajor point.<\/p>\n
So, there you have it: a review of
\nZen Meditations<\/i> pretty much free from the cheap-shots one
\nmight have expected me to take. This disc probably isn’t for
\neveryone – but it probably should be. This is a surprisingly
\nwonderful selection – and proof positive that some of the best CDs
\naren’t found in the weekly Best Buy circular. Pick this disc up,
\ntake a chance on Markoe and his music. I mean, what do you have to
\nlose, besides your life’s stresses for an hour?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6637],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-37160","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-gerald-jay-markoe","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37160"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37160"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}