Xochimoki-New Music Ancient Sources;Xochimoki, 1984

The projected Mayan Apocalypse of 2012 came and went without much fanfare (at least in this dimension of the Omniverse), but thankfully, early in this new Baktun, Mrs. Amnesiac scored this cassette at local garage sale, dutifully bringing it home to her record junkie hubby. New Music Ancient Sources takes the listener into the aural jungles that dwell within the minds of Xochimoki's Mazatl Galindo and Jim Berenholtz. The duo primarily use pre-Columbian flutes, teponaztli drums, shakers and rattles, along with ritualistic singing and chanting to conjure up paeans to the temples and topographies of ancient Aztlan. This being New Music, they do allow the occasional guitar into the mix; the one song utilizing said stringed instrument is heavy in a Mu sort of way! Judging from the liner notes (presented both in English and Espanol), the sung language is Nahuatl, but it reminds Disaster Amnesiac of Portuguese. The duo make good use of layering techniques to craft celestial Mayan chorus at times, reminiscent to this listener of the best Popul Vuh jams. The drumming and rhythm-heavy sound of most of the tunes on New Music give it a pulsing and moving feel, making it transcend the New Age genre that I suspect most folks would file it into. These recordings would sound right at home at a tiki bar or at Werner Herzog's pad, let alone that of a white robed yogi's. I crave a supergroup made up of Xochimoki and Elizabeth Waldo.