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Prof. Trance & The Energizers: Shaman's breath
[Island] (1996)
This remarkable CD is a soundtrack for trance dancing–but it’s
not rave, it’s not techno, it’s not ambient or industrial or hip
hop, or anything remotely partaking of the mind-numbing conformity
of modern urban dance music. Instead, it’s made up of beats inspired
by traditional cultures that still maintain a connection to the
spirits via shamanism and trance dancing, mixed with cutting-edge
club music: that is, it’s modern tribal techno-pagan shamanic
music, and it rocks! If you can sit still during this album, you’re
either completely physically repressed, deeply into resistance,
or dead.
Prof. Trance & The Energisers are an international “tribe” of
creative folk who “experience the Great Mother Earth as the original
deity and the intelligence within nature.” Their purpose is to
bring good energy into people’s lives through neo-shamanic cross-cultural
spiritual practices. Trance dancing is an ancient shamanic practice
used for healing through techniques of ecstasy. As the Energisers
write, “Anyone can Trance Dance because there are no steps, no
external expectations. Spirit knows the steps and once awakened,
Spirit takes over.”
The concept, text, and lyrics for Shaman’s Breathwere all created
by Frank Natale, aka Prof. Trance, the leader of the Energisers.
Each of the CD’s nine tracks conveys a piece of the Energizers’
cosmology. The CD kicks off with “Spirit Catcher” and progesses
to the core tracks, “Breath Connects Us All” and “Dancing Your
Animal,” concluding with the beautiful “Soul Hunters Return.”
Using this music is meant to be a spiritual practice distilled
from many shamanic traditions–spiritual technology stripped of
cultural baggage (a paradox, because what makes the music so successful
is its grounding in, with occasional samples of, particular music
cultures). I’ve interacted with a lot of modern tribal techno-pagans
over the years (Madison is full of ‘em), but very few as are committed,
as focused, as grounded, and as effective as the Energsiers appear
to be.
The CD’s liner notes are specific about how to use the music to
enact your own trance-dance ritual. (I tried it out, following
the directions: it works.) If you’re into techno-rave, or a hardcore
modern urban soul who sneers at anything remotely spiritual, then
steer clear of Shaman’s Breath.If, on the other hand, you’re serious
about The Real Stuff (not just more “New Age” ear-candy crap and
quick-fix pablum), then this CD is a must-have. Give into the
flow–as the words to “Xingu” say, “Move that body, heal it....”
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