Absorb yourself in the mysticism of Aco Takenaka's ancient chants that span across different cultures

Aco Takenaka hails from Tokyo, Japan, and she has moved her attention towards a direction that many of us have forgotten to even take a look at. Pioneering the sounds of various cultures, absorbing herself deep within the inner landscapes that have carved such ancient sounds, she continues making more music as the years unfold. She swims over the currents of music like a delicate fish that is careful and aware of her surroundings. It comes as no surprise to us how revered her music is all over the world. Having created 3 studio albums and having explored the sounds of her motherland Japan, the mysterious and glorious Native America, Africa, Oruba and the spiritual capitals of the world, Tibet and India.

Her quest for the sounds she creates and puts together in her albums requires one to leave themselves open for as many calls for creativity as possible. Aco shows no signs of diminishing inquisitiveness and continues her work with pride.

Aco Takenaka

Her new chant album is titled, "Ancient Seeds". It happens to be her third studio recorded album and is by far her most experimental work yet. What one quickly picks up as a listener is the varying pace of the album. Generally, when we think about chants and ancient spiritual sounding tracks, we think of consistency -- take the example of those hour long YouTube videos that promise peace of mind by playing single noted instrumental sounds like that of a Tanpura. But this inner bias is quickly broken by Aco by inculcating her chants with modern techniques of making music. Although they may not have been sung to speak to spirits or gods like in the cultures the sound is borrowed from, it piques a listener's ears in a way that incites questions about our purpose as a race.

It is genuinely of great importance that we support Aco Takenaka in her musical journey because she's doing a service to humanity as a whole.

Musically speaking, the piece is driven by some of the best musicians you can call upon. Aco's collaborators include the producer Joss Jaffe and the japanese percussionist Tamao Fuji. Both of them add a lot of nuances to this project. They shake the Earth when it is needed, they give Aco's voice a license to fully flourish in many instances, wavering and sprawling with great intensity and also showing a great maturity in subduing the same when the music calls for it.

The runtime sits perfectly at 54 minutes and there isn't really any other music out there you can compare it to. It's truly something that paves the way for itself and creates a narrow path on its own. But its beauty lies in the fact that it alludes to so many cultures and in such a profound manner at that. Ancient music is just like language. So many languages are fading away forever because they are embedded in cultures. So many cultures are dying each day as we speak and music and language take their tolls with it too. It is genuinely of great importance that we support Aco Takenaka in her musical journey because she's doing a service to humanity as a whole.

Test this melody for yourself here -

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