An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

Songs featured in this episode:

SonicJoy – Om Namah Shivaya
Aes Dana – Jetlag Corporation
CulturaLove – Sacred Voice
Mercan Dede – Last Chapter / Dream of The Dreams
Morley – First Breath of Creation
Nickodemus – Didibina (J-Boogie Remix)
Cheb I Sabbah – Maheshvara Yogi
Asato_Ma (Remix) – Shivoham
Deva Premal – Wisdom: Om Ah Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhi Dhi Dhi
Rumpistol & John LaMonica – It’s Everywhere

Music as background sound:

Hinkstep – So Beautiful So Strange
Desert Dwellers – Ecstatic Rapture (Open Space mix)

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – November 16th 2013.mp3

An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

Exclusive interviews with kundalini yogi and founder of Radiant Body Yoga – Kia Miller, and meditation instructor Chantal Johnson from the Chopra Centre. Recorded at Wanderlust Whistler Festival, August 2013.

Songs featured in this episode:

DJ Drez – Satya Sutra (feat Masood Ali Khan)
Snatam Kaur – Sat Nam (Remixed by Cheb I Sabbah)
Martyrs of Sound – Beautiful

Music used during interview segments:

Nuage – Sweelo
Cell vs Kali Frogz – Hawaii Transit (Ocean Board Remix)
Omiq Project – Textures
Desert Dwellers – Ecstatic Rapture (Open Spaces Mix)
Desert Dwellers – Spacious Offerings (Peace Mix)
Desert Dwellers – Peaceful Pathways (Samadhi Spaces)

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – October 10th 2013.mp3

An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

Our first episode in a series of interviews and music from the 2013 summer festival season features yogi, singer, and activist, Suzanne Sterling.

We first hear the track Devakyam from her last full-length release, Blue Fire Soul. The song contains the sanskrit chant “devakyam deva rupinyam”. This comes from the Bhagavat Purana of the Vedic literature, in a section which beautifully describes the birth of Krishna, and the equally divine nature of his mother Devaki.

We then move into the interview. Suzanne talks about self-expression and community, and the nature and experience of festivals and festival culture. We hear next a track by Medicine Drum, Funk Chakra, which features the vocals of both Wisdom Jones and Suzanne.

Back to the interview, we hear about the Off the Mat and Into the World project, and how Suzanne is integrating dance into different environments, classes, and experiences. The next track played is Bismillah, sung by Suzanne, and appearing on Masood ali Khan’s Hang with Angels release.

Next Suzanne talks about the experience and strengths of practicing yoga and kirtan together, and the importance of bringing intention into our practice. After a short break with the song Dharma Wheel, also from Masood’s Hang with Angels release, Suzanne talks about re-awakening of the divine feminine and the significance of this.

We take another short music break with the track Govinda (Praising Union) from the release Blue Fire Soul, and then hear some closing words from Suzanne about her current and upcoming projects etc. The show is capped off with one last song from her, Rise in Me (Christopher K Remix), findable on Black Swan’s recent Beats with Devotion sampler.

Other music played during the interview segments includes Adham Shaikh’s Newday (LogM Newdawn Remix), Pitch Black’s Iron Sands mix of Mirror Beach, Desert Dweller’s Solar Lion Remix of Misty Mountain, Shaman’s Dream & Bluetech with Nectar, Nuage with Sweelo, and A Fragile Purpose by State Azure.

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – October 3rd 2013.mp3

An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

The first track of todays show is a simple, soulful piece sung by Peia entitled Abra Seu Coração, or Open Your Heart. It is performed in Portuguese and comes from her recent album, Dance of Devotion. This is followed by a beautiful track from the Desert Dwellers called Wandering Sadhu, findable on their Anahata Yoga Dub release.

Opening the second set of the show is Tomas Reindl with the track Sanctus-Gayatri. A symbiotic blend of the Sanctus prayers in Latin, the Gayatri mantra in Sanskrit, tabla, beatbox, and drum loops. This is coming from his release entitled Omnion, and also appears on the third instalment of the Urban Mantra compilation series. Next up we hear from Adham Shaikh with the track Om (Transfix Mix), from his highly acclaimed album Fusion. Bruce BecVar and Nada Shakti follow, performing the Prajna Paramita mantra from the Buddhist Heart Sutra – “Gate Gate Paragate Parasemgate Bodhi Svaha” – a mantra which echoes the experience of moving beyond material duality. We then hear from Egyptian-born musician and composer Hamza El Din with a track entitled Greetings from his final album, A Wish. We cap off this set with an anonymous field recording from India of a group chanting from the Ramayana, a book which tells the story of King Rama.

Continuing on the same theme, the show ends with a new track from Jaya Lakshmi and Ananda’s recent Kirtronica album. A song entitled Sita Rama, with chants to the divine Rama and his female counterpart Sita devi.

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – August 22nd 2013.mp3

An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

In this episode we begin with a new piece from Mother Medicine. Some info about their work – “Mother Medicine World Music Project is a collaboration of musicians, yoga teachers, performance artists and healers who chant songs to the Divine Feminine, with international earth based dance rhythms, to bring awareness and healing to women’s issues through devotional experiences of sacred sound and movement”. We hear the track Uma, one of many sanskrit names for the Goddess. Next we hear from Bahramji with the chant Dam Damodam from the album Celestial Doorways, a collaborative effort with electronic music producer Swann. Near the end of the peace Bahramji shares some words of wisdom on the nature of fleeting, and lasting, happiness.

We start of the second set of the show with the song Sarab Nirantar, sung by Hari Bhajan Kaur, and coming from the release Servant of the Heart by Sat Hari Singh. This is part of the So Purkh, a text of the Sikh tradtition which was written by Guru Ram Das. It speaks of the timeless, infinite, divine One, and the interconnectedness of us all within the divine play. Next up is an almost instrumental peace (save for a few aum’s =)) by BeautifulWorld from the release Yinstrumentals. The track is called The Unknowable. Mark Medley follows up with an offering to Sri Ganesh containing the sanskrit mantra Om Gam Ganapataye Namah, and Gary Azukx caps off this set with an upbeat’n’housy rendering of the Buddhist Heart Sutra translated into English. The song also contains the Prajnaparamita mantra – “Gate Gate Paragate Parasemgate Bodhi Svaha.”

We close the show with the track Embrace the One, from the release of the same name by Temple Step Project. Healer, teacher, and musician Darpan co-creates the piece with words of hope and transformation.

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – July 4th 2013.mp3