[coll]: Rough Guide to Indian Lounge
Reviewed by Sadie O., 9/26/07
Extremely chill and trancey “lounge” with more or less “Indian” (I use the quotes because it’s sometimes a bit subjective… Does it sound.. you know… Indian-y?) elements. There’s quite a range – some cuts (e.g., 9) are entirely “Indian” sounding, some (12) not at all.
No FCCs. I liked 1 and 6 best, although the Apache Indian cut is nice.
1. ***bit of sitar intro, then slightly uptempo rather funky take on tabla beat. Trancey Indian instruments, and female chanting (the same phrase used in the next cut, interestingly.) Some great hand percussion – great play-off of trance and dance.
2. **slow orchestral and mass chanting intro, slow Reggae skank and dancehall vocals, interesting mix of Rasta and Hindi religious notions. Very sweet. FWIW, it’s got a great video…
3. trancey strings intro, flutes.. finally, some typically very high Indian female vocals, no lyrics. Extremely chill and cinema/orchestral – very little “Indian” elements. I’ve heard better stuff of theirs…
4. *male Indian vocals, piano & violin. After almost a minute, there’s a jazzy/funky but mellow groove. The vocals are quite lovely, but again there doesn’t seem much “Indian” about the music. The music does get quite dramatic before the end.
5. *chill chords and wind sounds, pretty Indian female vocals. Very mellow, a bit of Reggae beat. Bally Sagoo pretty much started the Bhangra club scene in the UK.
6. ***drone ‘n’ sitar, extremely chill… whoosh at 1:10 along, then a midtempo beat and didgeridoo. Chills out and comes back in again – lots of changes. Some pretty female vocals in the background, too. Fades with chanting.
7. **Piano and violin, pretty female singing. Ultra mellow. Downtempo relaxed beat with some orchestral backing.
8. **very “Indian” sounds from a slide guitar. A bit of tabla, but little else. As usual, ultra mellow – very pretty.
9. **male vocals and harmonium/tabla backing. Relaxed and trancey, very much classical Indian. Some impressive vocal gymnastics.
10. Chill with electronics and horns, female vocals in English. The only element that sounds “Indian” is a bit of tabla.
11. **slow loping beat and back-masked sitar. Repetitive, but some fairly interesting sounds. Now you can tell your kids you know what a back-masked sitar sounds like.
12. Piano and female vocals in English. You’d never know there was anything “Indian” here. I don’t like this, but hey, that’s just me…