A Universe to Come

A Universe to Come gets off to a refreshingly different start with its club-friendly "Dub Gubbi," its Indian drones shimmering under a groovy mix of organic and electronic percussion. It sets the tone for this album, which doesn't seem otherwise to stretch itself too far outside of standard ethnic fusion mores with its Asian and Native American-style source material chopped, looped and sequenced by programmer Jim Wilson. The feel of the album is laid-back and mystical, but it seems to be as much about the beat as it is about the ideas, which is a good thing -- much of the music in this genre takes itself too seriously. There is one song ("I Am") which does seem to carry just the right amount of poetic power, perhaps because it takes its text from a somewhat unconventional source, The Gnostic Gospels. Overall, A Universe to Come is a soothing, peaceful album that seems to have its best moments when it shakes things up a bit.