I IS FOR INDIA and U IS FOR UNITED STATES

Lykanthea is the pseudonym that the multi-faceted and multi-talented Lakshmi Ramgopal uses when she makes music: both as a traditionally consumed product, and as part of her sound installations at museums and art spaces. Lakshmi is also a writer and an ancient historian, and an Indian-American woman, so her music adheres to a very precise narrative that includes historical and ethnic connections but becomes a simmering tableau of ethereal beauty by way of the abstract. I love nothing more than when cool electronic music (think Purity Ring) meets rich tradition. I wish I had been in Chicago earlier this summer, where Lykanthea brought Indian vocals imitating bird calls to the ferns of the conservatory. Hoping for more of Ramgopal’s music everywhere.

Folk Music of the USSR compiled by Henry Cowell
Released in 1960 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings