I Ching

Tho I never heard Uakti live, I have owned and enjoyed their recordings for several years. Their music is totally unique. Although the sound has a traditional and organic feel to it, and much of their inspiration is drawn from Amazonian mythology, the music is in fact modern, innovative and conceptual. They play on complex, subtle instruments of their own invention and construction, augmented by simpler types of traditional flutes and drums. The effect is at once exotic, dreamlike, and comforting, a soundtrack for life in an imaginary paradise.I notice that Wikipedia refers to Uakti in the past tense: it "was a band." Too bad. I would have liked to hear more.

arrived promptly and was as advertised

i bought i ching back in the 90s on a cassette tape. i listened to it so much, the tape wore out. i'm glad i could still buy it. now i have the cd.

Uakti is a band of Brazilian musicians who have produced a series of very good cds combining a certain ambience (especially, the atmospheres of Amazonia) with New Age instrumental sensibilities to create a very light, and often sweet and warm, result. The arrangements employ any number of specially constructed flutes and percussion instruments. The nearest act I can compare them with is the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, minus the latter's quirkiness. All of their albums are about equally good and in general sound pretty much alike, yet each contains notable melodic hooks that will draw you in even after one hearing.

This is the second Uakti album I've ever heard, Aguas da Amazonia being the first. Their use of the I-Ching patterns provides for a frenzy of 3/4 music in "The Hexagrams" All the songs (except possibly the last two) are in 3/4 time, with an ostinato taken from one of 8 i-ching trigrams. It's a wonderful cd that should appeal to true lovers of music.