Think of fontain's M.U.S.E. as a union of eastern and western music - with
an emphasis on the latter.
Fontain Riddle contributes the album's lyrics, arrangements, lead vocals,
some bass, some guitar work, and "E-sitar". She has traveled to Singapore,
Malaysia and Europe to research her music, and per her personal influences,
there are numerous elements of Indian music in Mystic Kiss.
The most pleasing aspect of the music is Riddle's pretty, melodic vocals,
sometimes nicely layered, that dominate most songs. And with 13 songs in 52
minutes, this is a fairly linear, song-oriented piece. A synth-pop beat
underlines many songs, but it always leans in the direction of those Indian
rhythms so many of us learned from the early Ravi Shankar records. The sitar
appears on many tracks too, and it's odd to hear the clearly occidental vocals
and lyrics underscored by those eastern themes. It's not progressive at all,
though - think of a sort of new-agey, world-music instrumentation, with pretty
songs layered over the top.
The title song is probably the standout piece here, in which the melody and
the ambience of the vocals have a moody, almost Celtic feel.
Riddle describes her music as "eclectic grooves, world tribe, rocken raga,
sensuous dance beats, vocals in many tongues. sitars, guitars, percussion..."
Sounds like a pretty good description.
Track Listing:
1. sacred geometry
2. spiral dance
3. witch fire
4. ghost
5. tatu
6. le miroir
7. warrior
8. mystic kiss
9. flame
10. fire trance
11. pearl melody
12. sufi poet
13. Saraswati
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