SHAKTI WITH JOHN McLAUGHLIN— Natural Elements (Columbia)::I'm not quite sure why this spiritually slanted music slips through my cynicism but it does. Maybe it's "cause Shakti don't need banks of amps to get energized or maybe it's "cause the lack of a spotlight lately has allowed McLaughlin's gifts to grow rather than stagnate like they did with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Anyway, this time around, the band moves westward from its Indian improv base, inserting Cr$am riffs here, timbales and Spanish-tinged melodies there, while tying the tunes down to airplayable lengths. And if "Get Down And Sruti" ain't cosmic boogie music at its best, I wanna know what is. M.D.