Donald Walters
This disc of instrumental tracks by Nevada City-area resident J. Donald Walters—aka “Swami Kriyananda,” former disciple of the late Paramahansa Yogananda and founder of the Ananda community —contains an interesting three-step directive for the listener. Paraphrasing for brevity, you’re supposed to totally concentrate on the music, feel it “vibrating in every cell of your being,” then meditate on it once the disc finishes playing. This may work with Impulse!-era John Coltrane albums, but not with these treacly (to the point of being creepy) compositions, which either a) serve as seduction music for aging weirdos who fancy getting horizontal with ethereal hippie chicks, or b) mask Agency subliminals, the kind that direct listeners to pack a handgun, go to Washington and await further instructions from televised episodes of Scooby-Doo.