Recorded at home in 1984, Om Namah Shivaya is an extended mantra delivered by American new age icon
Laraaji. Unlike many of the orange-clad laughter meditation guru's recordings, instruments such as the zither, hammered dulcimer, or kalimba are nowhere to be heard here. Rather, this one is performed entirely on a Casiotone M70 keyboard, with a smattering of hand chimes sprinkled throughout. It's also a showcase for
Laraaji's rich, deeply soulful singing (swathed in a heavenly layer of reverb), as he ecstatically delivers variations on the mantra for the recording's 40-minute duration (with a few pauses). It's lo-fi spiritual synth-pop, and it's astounding. The recording was made as a request for a soundtrack to accompany the birth of a child, and it's hard to think of a more positive way to enter the world.
Laraaji states that he performed the piece "while in a prepared vision trance," and he often slips out of sync with the tinny, ticking Casio rhythm. It barely matters, though, as it seems impossible to contain this sense of enlightenment within precisely measured bars of the musical scale. A different recording of the mantra made a brief appearance on Vision Songs, another 1984 cassette, and was excerpted on 2013's
Celestial Music 1978-2011, an utterly essential retrospective of
Laraaji's entire career. Anyone interested in
Laraaji's pop-informed side will be incredibly pleased to have this in their life. Also, the extended repetition ensures that you'll have the piece stuck in your head for a long, long time after listening. You'll be humming it under your breath while you're shopping for groceries or doing the laundry. It'll follow you throughout your daily tasks, and you won't mind at all because it will provide an everlasting sense of calmness, hope, and motivation. ~ Paul Simpson