Call of the Valley

I liked this. Chill Indian music.

I have very little frame of reference for deciding if this is amazing or completely average. I haven't had many instrumental albums so far, so that alone was nice. It's a style of music that no algorithm would have recommended to me, and that I would not have picked myself, but I really enjoyed it.

Beautiful and atmospheric album from Northern India. I could only find a vinyl ripoff on YouTube - the scratching didn’t worsen the experience.

It’s a bit monotonous in the end and I don’t really get the feeling of the apparent concept, but I rather enjoyed it nonetheless. I was happy to hear the link to neighboring musical traditions - especially obvious on “Bhoop”.

I don't know if I'd ever listen to it again, but it's very soothing.

quite mellow and relaxing

Catching up with my unrated albums. I was sure that I'd listened to this at the time (at least my YouTube history tells me so), but I forgot to review it.

I've since found another version of the album on Spotify. Although the track listing is different, but it is the original recording/artists, (unlike the son's remake).
https://open.spotify.com/album/0fDzIMDhfPA8lgELDXMiuh

I enjoyed the soundscape of life in the valley.

Really solid, like, traditional Indian yoga music. Such a relaxing vibe to it. The Spotify link that the generator used is to an album of the same name by Rahul Sharma (Shivkumar's son apparently). Rahul had released his version of the album in 2012 as a nod to his dad's album from the late 60's. The original version, which is the version referenced in the 1001 book, I found on YouTube, and is astronomically better than Rahul's version, so the original is the one I listened to. The original is also the best selling "world music" record on the international market. Absolutely beautiful album. This one blew me away. It takes ya on a trip, that's for sure!!

Favourite songs: Bhoop, Rag Pahadi, Ahir Bhairav/Nat Bhairav, Bageshwari, Dhun-Mishra Kirwani, Rag Piloo

Least favourite songs: Rag Des

4/5

very indian, not quite my stuff but good musicianship

Mellow Indian music. Very relaxing.

Thank you everyone on the reviews page for this album for directing me to YouTube instead, as the purported release on Spotify is a re-recording by Shivkumar Sharma's son Rahul.

With that established, Call of the Valley is a collaborative album between three prominent Indian musicians: music director and flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia, slide guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra, and santoor player Shivkumar Sharma. All three rose to prominence by introducing their particular instruments into the pantheon of Indian classical music, as exemplified by this album which is an instrumental suite following a day in the life of an Indian shepherd from Kashmir.

The ambiance is impeccable as an introduction to Indian classical music for a Western audience. The big three musicians are excellent in their play, but I should also credit Manikrao Popatkar on the tablas, particularly on passages of "Ahir Bhairav/Nat Bhairav", "Rag Piloo" and "Rag Des" that bring up the intensity and complement the santoor and guitar interplay.

My only complaint is that aside from certain melodic frameworks used to identify different parts of the day following the shepherd's day, there isn't much else distinct between tracks. It's effective in the atmosphere, but the album can't quite go beyond that notion.

I enjoyed Call of the Valley for what it is as an introduction to world music, and in that regard, the album secured its place on this list. Give it a listen.

Tracking down the authentic 1967 recording of Call of the Valley on YouTube, after realizing Spotify serves up a glossy, new-age remake, was a bit of a minor chore, but I always genuinely appreciate when this list breaks away from the Anglo-American rock default to spotlight something completely outside my usual listening habits. Following a day in the life of a Kashmiri shepherd is beautiful, the blend of flute, santoor, and slide guitar over steady tabla beats is incredibly relaxing. While I lack the background to fully appreciate the technical side of the ragas, it was a refreshing, peaceful detour that washed away all my stress. I likely won't dive deep into the genre, but I really enjoyed this atmospheric experience.

I’m glad that I read the reviews for this and figured out it’s not actually the album in streaming. I went to YouTube to listen. It was enjoyable, but I don’t think I’ll revisit.

I don't know if many people will agree with me on this (this album has a review average of less than a 3 so they might) but i am gonna be clear, Call of the Valley sucks. This was just one of those albums where my opinion of it deteriorated over time. At first, i thought this album sounded interesting but then it just kept going and going without much variation or good songs and i my opinion of this album started to get more and more sour. I think if just one of the songs released as a single, then i my original opinion would have stayed but as it stands, This is an album that i can understand it's place on the list but that still doesn't make it a good album in the slightest.
Best Song: Dhun-Mishra Kirwani
Worst Song: Bageshwari

Now this could just be the fact that I don't know much about this type of music or understand it well, but it just sounds a little random quite often and a little bit boring.

Also the version on Spotify is not the correct version, I listened to a version of the original album on YouTube.

kind of a blessing in disguise that Spotify only has the shitty version, because for someone like me who doesn't have a ton of exposure to straight ahead Indian music (despite its relatively outsized influence on music in the anglophone world) it actually helps you appreciate the real thing more when you first accidentally get exposed to the same music only executed much more poorly

Really enjoy it surprisingly

Es ist ein klassisches Album der indischen Musik, das 1968 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album erzählt die Geschichte eines Tages im Leben eines Hirten aus Kaschmir und verwendet dabei verschiedene Ragas, die mit den unterschiedlichen Tageszeiten verbunden sind.
Obwohl die Musik atmosphärisch und traditionell ist, und die innovative Verwendung von Gitarre und Flöte sie auch für westliche Zuhörer zugänglich macht, wirkt es etwas eintönig. Die Kompositionen sind zwar schön, aber es fehlt ihnen an Abwechslung und Dynamik, die man von einem Album dieser Länge erwarten könnte.
Für Liebhaber indischer klassischer Musik mag es dennoch interessant sein, für alle anderen ist es kryptisch und unverständlich.

Call of the Valley
Couldn’t find the correct version on Tidal, so had to listen on YouTube, which is normally annoying, but for this it wasn’t, as it felt like one suite of music, so knowing individual tracks doesn’t really matter. (There is a version on Tidal, which seems to be a remake by his son

I also refrained from looking up anything about it until I’d listened to it. Obviously I knew it would be Indian, but I didn’t know whether it would be classical Indian or something more akin to the fusion of Indian and rock music on that first Ananda Shankar album.

After a minute or two it’s in the former. I know very little about Indian classical music, apart from the odd bit I’ve read about due to George and other 60s musicians who listened to it and were influenced by it. I also know that it has a different scale and also some very specific rules on instruments and improvisation, but when it comes to how that manifests itself and how it actually works I’m pretty clueless.

But I really really enjoyed this as soon as I started listening. I presume from the title it has a pastoral theme, and I definitely got that sense from it. I suppose that may be to do with the flute-like instrument, but I got the same pastoral or nature inspired impression that I get from Vaughan Williams or Sibelius in western classical music.

Now reading about it after, the flute-like instrument is actually a flute! And that plus the guitar throughout is probably why it appeals to my western ears, as it’s not full-on Indian classical but classical music made accessible for international audiences.

That doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of it all however, I just found the whole thing incredibly pleasing and relaxing, and even more so once I read more about it and the themes and inspiration. I loved the intricacies of the melodies and instrumentation and the peaceful and serene atmosphere it evokes. It really is a very beautiful 40 odd minutes of music.While I wouldn’t say I’m about to embark on a lifelong spiritual journey into Indian classical, I am interested to find out about and listen to a bit more.

Kind of hard to judge against the rest of the albums on this list, as it's probably more comparable to classical rather than pop, rock, jazz, soul or hip hop etc. I really really liked it though and as it kind of stands apart from the rest of the albums I’ll give it a 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Playlist submission: The 4th one, Rag Des (although if the albums on streaming we can’t put it on the playlist I guess)

I mean… I dunno what to say, really. It’s probably just a 3, but I enjoyed it.

It’s really strong instrumental music, and it keeps a pretty solid quality throughout the album. Pretty energetic start, bit of a low-key finish. I get the energy of “it’s a farmer’s day” so from sunrise to sunset, yes, this is generally what a soundscape might feel like. It translates well.

It’s just not that captivating to me where I can give it anything more than like, a 3. I zoned out a number of times in this album, and by the end, I just kinda felt like I didn’t need to listen back to it. It’s good music, but it’s not music I’d come back to unless I was really itching for this type of soundscape, or if I wanted to use it for say, ambience or study music. It’s totally competent, and I would recommend people give it a listen… but I’m probably not gonna come back to it, hence the 3. Still good though.

Very chilled and pleasant, although the spotify link is to a different album. YouTube one works though. Not an album I would ever have listened to without this project, but one I certainly enjoyed. I would probably like it even more after a few listens, but the next album is already waiting for me!