With a name like
The Ultimate Most Relaxing New Age Music in the Universe
,
Kin Kou
's double-disc 24-track compilation of some of
new age
music's most serene moments should come with a warning sticker that says "do not play while operating a vehicle." While puffy-shirted legends like
David Arkenstone
Kitaro
, and
Andreas Vollenweider
lead the pack on this instrumental tour de force of non-power, it's the subtle work of lesser-known artists of the genre -- like
Toshiyuki Watanabe
, whose delicate
"Falling Snow"
is both sweet and sad -- that gives this soundtrack to heavily sanitized waiting rooms everywhere the power of its conviction. ~ James Christopher Monger