Some ambient albums take a while to grow on you, and reveal their delicacy after several careful listens. This was not the case with Fusion, the newest release by Adham Shaikh . Within moments of opening the package & sliding it into my decks, the soundscape soothed me and completely grabbed my attention. It was as if I had just escaped the streets of a third-world urban hellhole in heat wave, right into an air-conditioned luxury suite. I found the same feeling of instant bliss and relaxation. The album title, Fusion, very much lives up to the actual musical content. A lot of recent ambient crossover hits have been masala melting-pots with world music themes like Shpongle's �'Tales of the Inexpressible or cross-genre electronic explorations, like Abakus' That Much Closer to the Sun. I think this one continues the tradition, with top style. The disc contains a mysterious aura �" a sweet essential nectar �' properly mixed, shaken, stirred, strained, and bottled with perfection under the guidance of Mr. Shaikh. Fusion is a delicate, yet daring audio experiment that could have easily gone sour or funny tasting. But by musical expertise and a golden touch, it stands strong as a hybrid blend of heady flavors, with no preservatives or GMO varieties. Talk about variety, instruments and layers! We hear sounds that were never meant to go together, but somehow came out smooth & delicious. The musical content is almost as multi-faceted and exotic as Shulmanâs In Search of a Meaningful Moment, but in a much more organic way. It doesnt smell like plastic vapors, and no soldering irons or robot-droids were used in the production process. Far more terrestrial than alien, the album seems to mix well with earthly delights like lush trees, summer evenings with neon sunsets, or incense and soft carpets. The sound and production quality is sufficiently modern, and the vibe has come a long way from traditional, beatless ambient. Its actually quite rhythmic, percussive even provocative in moments. The real joy of this album is the sublime, actual fusion - where a whole panorama of modern ambient sub-genres sounds are effortlessly woven.
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