AMG EXPERT REVIEW:

This is a compilation album of dance tracks featuring the didgeridoo (the legendary Australian wind instrument). The "didge"'s guttural sound is mostly used here to flavor synth-based trance music, creating mood pieces with barely heard background vocals and animal sound samples. One could call it "Outback music with a backbeat." Fortunately, the synth beats never overwhelm, although much of this music is better to dance to than to simply listen to. There's some ethnic diversity - a Native American peyote chant is the basis for Lost at Last's "Awowedas," which features a genuine vocal by Jaya Lakshmi, while Hayan's "Kemetic Song" uses an Afro-Caribbean sound to evoke ancient Egypt. But it is worth noting that both "Kemetic Song" and the final track, the seven-minute didgeridoo duet "Entrance" by Si, do not use synthesizers or samples, only native instruments. The powerful double-didge sound of "Entrance" proves that the instrument is more than capable of creating intriguing dance music all by itself - as it has done for centuries in Australia. - Lynne Bronstein