There are days that I really wish I owned a hot tub. Not just because I get a nice relaxing bath, but so I can try to comprehend exactly what is going on in the minds of New Age artists. I realize that this is a large group of artists who have been maligned before (and probably always will), but bands like Ancient Future only reinforce the stereotype of boring New Age music.

Originally formed in the late 1970's, the musicians that make up the band consider themselves forerunners in "world fusion." Now, as I have argued before, sometimes these fusions work very well (the Afro-Celt Sound System come to mind). Others remind one of the silly dabblings in 1970's jazz fusion veins, where the introduction of an "exotic" instrument, such as tablas or ngoni, constituted "interest." Still others are probably well-meaning, but simply create "music," as opposed to "song." Ancient Future lies somewhere between those two areas: well intentioned, but a little too hip for their own good.

Dreamchaser, the earlier of the two discs, lies firmly in the "interest" vein. Wonderful (although not stellar) percussion tracks slam head first into synthesizer-rich jazz fusion, often with comical composition thrown in for good measure. "Andean Dream," is a prime example: a charango and some pipe figures add the "exotic," although the track is more liking TV backing music. Often giving nods to composers like Jean Michael Jarre and Phillip Glass, there is nothing on this disc that rises above mundane, and many tracks fail even that mark.

On Asian Fusion, the band is joined by musical guests from China, Vietnam and Iran, as well as "world-jazz" artists. This disc would fit the "well meaning" vein, although the guest artists are frankly wasted in the cliché compositions and often plain silly arrangements. "Ja Nam," a reggae take on a popular Vietnamese folk song, proves the band's inability to groove. (I worked with a Vietnamese guy who played his country's pop music constantly, and frankly, they played reggae *far* better than Ancient Future.) Alternately tackling and fumbling music "based" on folk songs from Japan to India, this disc is an embarrassment of talent: artists who can obviously play their instruments very well creating a sort of "world pablum."

Claiming to be a "pioneering voice in world music," (hey guys, ever heard of Can?) Ancient Future proves that not all pioneers made it through the first winter in one piece. Give these discs a wide berth; it's music John Tesh would love.