Label: Dakini Records
Released: 2005

01. Clarity (Soft Prana Mix)
02. Laundry Girl (Washed Out Remix)
03. Dourah
04. Shalale
05. Obsession
06. Clarity (Melting Snow Mix)
07. Skin As Soft As Starlight

Giovanni Fazio is a founder of Dakini Records - one of the best chillout labels with oriental vision in the world. Gio is also a musician, since the 90s he is producing calm compositions of interesting electronic-tribal stylistic. His life's main project is Makyo, and "Swara Mandala" is his newest CD so far. This album was released in 2005 in a very nice digipack.

Track #01: Great start of the album: swinging downtempo with a pleasant female voice and acid background. Kick on 4/4 and soothing atmosphere. Sum up, we have a kind of progressive trance from "Clarity (Soft Prana Mix)". Track #02: Expansioned - though not insistently - percussion and electronic bass, assist of females and males voices, "spilling" pad and guitar as the main motive - the arrangement of this all is excellent. Track #03: Synthetic bass, the leader of this composition, is creating a dark atmosphere. We have vocals of course, though maybe it would be better to describe them as calls. Synthesized, they create a background-melody here. Characteristics instruments are a flute and a kind of guitar unknown for me, but they role is quite episodic in this track of "expectation". Track #04: Unimaginable - this must be heard because arrangement is a work of genius. Percussion is extemely nice "not coordinated", and is mutating - that's incredible! The guitar is phenomenal. Atmosphere of "Shalale" is like from the Muslim night. Track #05: Morning and cheerful melody open "Obsession". After the tracks not so about happiness, this time we have something definitely sunny. This time also we have a change of a pressure: from the traditional oriental sound to the electronic sphere of music. Hi-hats are determining the dynamism of this composition and they create this track's tempo to seem more faster than in usual chillout music. And also we have a woman in the background. Track #06: The second version of "Clarity" is the ambient. And "westward". What I mean? I mean that for the first time on this CD instrument like a piano is activated and also the bass have a totally different form of its line. Content is beautiful: aquatic, living, natural. Imagine that the sun is shining high on the horizon and you are in the middle of forest, surrounding by infinitely lush greenery of the flora, you stand on the lake shore and you're smiling... Pure happiness that could never be ending... This track is completely different in comparision to the first track. Track #07: The last composition is the ambient continuation. "Skin As Soft As Starlight" is a very minimal one. Atmosphere is deep and calm like in a dream. In fact, we have about 90% melodies of the summer clouds and Asian vocal by a (beautiful no doubt) woman. From the technical point of view this track reminds of Ishq music, and this is a huge plus.

I am very impressed. "Swara Mandala" is a magnificent album that don't have objective bad points. My subjective is that some of these tracks could be shorter. But we have perfect sound quality, superb arrangment, and exceptionally important thing: the best order of the tracks on the CD (the beginning is brisk, the ending is static). "Swara Mandala" is one of the best oriental albums I've ever heard in my life. Every composition is a special one, different from any other. Makyo is mixing modern electronica and eastern music's project in excellent way. He putted his heart and soul into this album and this is easy to feel.