[SickMouthy]

You can't get more "spiritual" than Shahbaaz by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

 

[FalconP]

I have only one album by Hedingarna (Kaksi!), which I agree is great stuff. Other wonderful bands that play Scandinavian folk music include Vasen (Swedish, and has a poppish bent) and Frifot (Swedish; their sound is open, desolate, and has a medieval-music like quality). Annbjørg Lien, from Norway, is probably the best-known player of the hardanger fiddle nowadays, thanks to her very approachable music with easy melodies. Mari Boine is an awesome singer who draws from her Norwegian Sumi tradition, but is equally at home in a jazz setting.

For cross cultural fusion project. I love the CD May Morning by Karen Tweed (Irish accordion) and Finnish pianist Timo Alakotila. Very tranquil and picturesque tone poems that evokes the wild North

 

[SRM]

Just to list few bands that are worth mentioning on these genres:

Áine Minogue, pretty celtic stuff, mysterious..

I dont know if this count under here, but still great and dark stuff: Arcana

And if you plan on looking into avantgarde side of things: Chien-Yin Chen is worth a look

bands I cant specify why I recomend them here (their great and their mystical / dark)

Deep Forest (Oriental feel to things, I think they're from france, but I'm not sure)

Gåte (RockFolk band that makes music which makes me feel strange, I love it)

Elysian Fields (I have no idea why i think it fits here, but for me, it does. Besides the voice of Jennifer Charles is amazing, makes me cry everytime)

Mari Boine (Sings in Saame and makes mystical music, not always dark, but always mystic)

Sri Hari (Indian style mystical, but NOT dark, electric stuff)

And of course Tenhi (but I just "think" you might know them already)

And I second Yungchen Lhamo, AMAZING stuff..

I hope this post is at all usefull.. Its hard to recomend stuff when you dont exactly know the genre or style he/she is after

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SRM Just to list few bands that are worth mentioning on these genres: Áine Minogue, pretty celtic stuff, mysterious.. I dont know if this count under here, but still great and dark stuff: Arcana And if you plan on looking into avantgarde side of things: Chien-Yin Chen is worth a look bands I cant specify why I recomend them here (their great and their mystical / dark) Deep Forest (Oriental feel to things, I think they're from france, but I'm not sure) Gåte (RockFolk band that makes music which makes me feel strange, I love it) Elysian Fields (I have no idea why i think it fits here, but for me, it does. Besides the voice of Jennifer Charles is amazing, makes me cry everytime) Mari Boine (Sings in Saame and makes mystical music, not always dark, but always mystic) Sri Hari (Indian style mystical, but NOT dark, electric stuff) And of course Tenhi (but I just "think" you might know them already) And I second Yungchen Lhamo, AMAZING stuff.. I hope this post is at all usefull.. Its hard to recomend stuff when you dont exactly know the genre or style he/she is after

Thanks for the recommendations. Yes I am not really sure what I am after exactly but any Folk, Ethnic or Traditional music with great atmosphere, and with either a dark, mystical or spiritual sense ... There's also something I'm not quite able to put my finger on as well, for instance Mongolian Throat singing, metaphorically themed about the vast steppes and plains has none of what I am talking about except it has a polar opposite atmosphere to what you might get from really jumpy African or South American traditional music.

I would be even game enough to throw out some random words and have people recommend music within this area that they think fits the word.

Cold. Wind. Snow. Desolation. Forest. Plains. Mountain. Temple. Moonlight. Lakes.

Does that make more sense ?

Arcana are excellent, I have Le Serpent Rouge and am familiar with older material.
Notice Tenhi - Väre in my signature ?

(have all 3 albums, they are superb)
Gåte I know of but havent been able to find a CD yet
Deep Forest I have known about for years, same with similar artists Enigma, Delerium etc, good but prefer more traditional non-electronic stuff

 

[SRM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Cold. Wind. Snow. Desolation. Forest. Plains. Mountain. Temple. Moonlight. Lakes. Does that make more sense ?

That does actualy! Seek the Yungchen Lhamo out, I have the record: Tibet, Tibet, which all those things and an amazing record. I think some albums from Finnish band Värttinä would fit the bill also.

 

[FalconP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Cold. Wind. Snow. Desolation. Forest. Plains. Mountain. Temple. Moonlight. Lakes. Does that make more sense ?

That's Frifot, and also the music of their vocalist Lena Willemark. Also make sure you have the album Songs of the Cold Seas by Hector Zazou.

To put yourself in a temple, sonically, try Refuge by Gabrielle Roth and the Mirrors, featuring the Russian baritone Boris Grebenshikov as your Lama.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Nikhil Banerjee Ravi Shankar

These are classical music performers... most certainly not what you're looking for.

I don't know what you're looking for really. There's a huge amount of mystical or lithurgical music from most places around the world obviously... but I don't think that most of this stuff (like the qawwali recommendation by SickMouthy) would fit the bill. It seems that your best bet would be japanese, chinese or scandinavian stuff... none of which I know a great deal about.

 

[SRM]

Oh and check out Karjalan Sissit, that's definetly not folk, but mystic, ambient, orchestral, dark, yes.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SRM I think some albums from Finnish band Värttinä would fit the bill also.

Vartinna does great song called "Annuka Suaren Neito" to open the Songs From the Cold Seas album that FalconP mentioned. Lots of arctic feel on that CD. Nice stuff. More talk in the past around here.

Blush Music by Woven Hand is the one I'd recommend. Or the new one called Mosaic. Has the full cycle of good stuff. Cold. Wind. Snow. Desolation. Forest. Plains. Mountain. Temple. Moonlight. Lakes. Love. Loss. Redemption. Yeah, sometimes all you need is music

 

[binkgle]

another recommendation for varttina. my two fav. albums of theirs are ilmatar and vihma

 

[accwai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Cold. Wind. Snow. Desolation. Forest. Plains. Mountain. Temple. Moonlight. Lakes.

The Japanese Shakuhachi is often associated with Zen. You might want to try something like Ichi on Buttsu.

And while the Australian Didgeridoo might not be dark and spiritual, a good performance is otherworldly and mysterious. David Hudson's Woolunda is awesome.

Andy

 

[technobarbie]

I came across this today.

 

[xantus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by accwai /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are also a number of western groups that have taken the Tibetan/Mongolian harmonic chanting technique and developed them much further. David Hykes is the pioneer in this. My favorite album from him is Hearing Solar Winds. Another group is Spectral Voices and their first album Sky is my favorite. It was recorded inside an empty water tower which has since been dismentled. Andy

thank you so much for mentioning Sky.
I recently got this and it was truly an otherworldly experience.

 

[FalconP]

Gamelan music evokes a temple-like atmosphere like no other, especially when it is fused with music of Armenia and India. David Parsons's Ngaio Gamelan is one such album. Parson has been to many field trips making recordings from different cultures, and Ngaio Gamelan brings together the elements of different ethnic cultures to a beautiful unity. In another album of his, Maitreya: The Future Buddha, Parsons constructs ambient drones with the chants of Tibetan Buddist monks and the rhythms of vintage synths. If you're accustomed to darkwave music, this one may be for you.

 

[Enverxis]

quite accustomed to darkwave; thus shall check it out!