- Often this sort of compilation is hugely contrived, with any music that has a vaguely Eastern sound to it inserted and treated as authentic. Happily ‘The Gathering’ is not one of these compilations, and the handsome package includes some well-chosen tracks from the last five decades.
This one can double as a late night or morning after CD, with a laid back approach that soothes yet never encourages the listener to switch off. The first five tracks alone span 43 years; from the opening Monsieur Dodo track ‘Rond’ to Don Ralke’s excellent ‘Ritual Of The Cobra’. Brazilian flavours surface courtesy of Electro Coco and ‘Coco du Monde’, contrasting nicely with BW Swing and the Pluto Project’s suggestive ‘Erophone’. More diversity from recent years ensues, Lenny Ibizarre, the Peace Orchestra and Nicolai Duriges, who’ll have you dreaming of Mississippi.
It’s music that washes over you like a Jacuzzi, with more of the same for CD2. The weirdly evocative ‘L’Hotel Beat’ kicks off from Gare Du Nord, with Soel’s ‘My Singing Soul’ a gently hypnotic response. PMFM secure a great send-up of Henry Mancini’s ‘Peter Gunn’, a sound clash that works a treat, and Funkbrueder contribute a soft, muffled piano over a gently undulating beat, giving their track the brilliant title ‘Martini Flavoured Party Girl’.
There were a lot of names here new to me – always a promising sign in a compilation – and the tracks are subtly blended together meaning they can be played separately if required. Definitely best to hear them all at once though, the outcome a collection to survive repeated plays without as much as a hint of cliché. So puff up the cushions and enjoy!