Reviewed by ‘The Daily OM’  February 10, 2011

Mantra Rocks

Dave Dale & Nadaji

White Swan Records, 2010;
www.whiteswanrecords.com

Dave Dale first met West Coast vocalist, yoga devotee, and harmonium player Nadaji while playing percussion for her devotional music group. The pair clicked and set off in new directions together, with Dale switching to guitar to create fun, free-spirited, yet powerful rock-influenced kirtan music. You can hear it on their big partnership debut, Mantra Rocks.

In the album, Dale uses cycling guitar strums as a form of soothing hypnotic repetition, taking the opening track, "Om Namah Shivaya," into hypnotic rock territory. "Save my soul / Hare Krishna," goes the chorus, which bounces off well-placed finger cymbals, and Nadaji's harmonium breathes in back-of-your-neck-tingling waves. 

The harmonium and guitar have a good rapport throughout the album.

At times one even forgets if the main vocalist is Nadaji or Dale; their voices intermingle quite well in a field of delirious echo. Even the usually staid "Om Guru" gets a rock makeover on this joyous album, with a choogling beat and stutter-stop vocals that bounce inside a funky percussive space alongside flourishes of backward electric guitar. It's an infectious version of the classic kirtan, bound to get even the most sedate up and feeling newly ignited prana shooting through their nervous systems. 



The most affecting tracks bring in a slightly more wistful, ballad-style mood. The beautiful and affecting "Lokah Samastah" shuffles slowly on a jangling beat with long harmonium notes, laid-back percussion, and acoustic guitar; its barefoot ease mixes with wandering sadness like a broken heart or purple rain cloud coming along the sunny horizon. Their voices are beautiful and serious, as if this is an alternative romantic rock song as much as a kirtan. There's a feeling on Mantra Rocks that Dave Dale and Nadaji have tapped into something strong and ephemeral.

As with all the best mantra albums, the everyday sorrows of the world are included in their stew, for true grace encompasses all things. Peace found in the ashram can do no more than give you the courage to face it all with a more open heart, the kind of heart that processes calamity as growth, and a guitar and harmonium can open the doors of the heart like a key of liquid light.