Mantra (Material song)

"Mantra" is a 1993 song and single by Material from the album Hallucination Engine, composed by Bill Laswell and Lakshminarayana Shankar. "Mantra" received favourable reviews in Spin, The Wire and Stereophile.^[1] The album version was remixed by The Orb to a 17-minute track for the single, and also given a 5-minute version.^[2]

"Mantra"
Single by Material
from the album Hallucination Engine
Released	1993
Length	5 min., 17 min. mix
Label	Island
Songwriter(s)	Bill Laswell and Lakshminarayana Shankar.

"Mantra" begins with a "wailing Middle Eastern introduction",^[3] an ambient drone played by Shankar on electric violin,^[4] and is then propelled by tandem tablas of Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu.^[5]

It was issued as a 12" and CD single in 1993 (Axiom / Island, AXMCD1) featuring the 17 minute "Praying Mantra Mix" by The Orb, the album's 8 minute "Doors of Perception Mix", and a 5-minute edit.