[coolvij]

Hmm...this'll be my first significant post on head-fi in a while. That said.....


I recently purchased the album "Realize" by Karsh Kale. He is an American of indian descent - sort of like an American Talvin Singh.

If you have no idea what I'm talkin about - go to amazon.com, and bring up the album "OK" by Talvin Singh......buy it, read reviews, whatever....it's a good starting point that'll have some nice info about the whole Asian Underground.

For those of you too lazy to actually go and research on the Asian Underground

essentially, it is the vague title given to the dance club movement in which "Asian" musicians of britain (south asian) fused tabla, sarangi, and other classical indian instruments with dance beats.

Talvin singh's album, OK, has been a favorite of mine for a while, but it never really made me feel that i was listening to something truly beautiful with the exception of a few tracks. I mean, the instruments being used (sitar, tabla, and sarangi, for example) are, in traditional Carnatic classical, truly beautiful.....melodic, almost-trance inducing, and never brash. Talvin's music used these instruments, and gave his music a sorta indian feel. However - he didn't retain the unbridled beauty of the melody and its explorations found in classical raagas.

Enter Realize.

In Realize, Karsh Kale's debut album, I didn't find a tablist who is half as technically superb as Talvin Singh, and nothing at all compared to Zakir Hussain. However - what I did find is a talented musician.

Karsh seems to keep the raagas, or a trace of them, alive, in his melody driven experimental music.

Very refined, and at times, breath-takingly beautiful.

If you've got a taste for Indian music but like a nice beat to keep everything flowing, check out this album. Realize is a solid collection of songs, and I, for one, was impressed by it.

In fact, I haven't been this impressed by an album since I got Lateralus by Tool.....and that was the most impressive thing since Ascension.....which was almost as impressive as A Love Supreme....


k, I'll shut up now.

 

[coolvij]

AHEM!

 

[dhwilkin]

Dude, you should get that cold looked at.

I'll give a listen once I get back to my apartment this weekend.

 

[coolvij]

ah well.....I guess I am alone in my asian underground love....meh......

 

[vrao81]

massive 1.5 year bump!
Anyone else interested in Asian Underground?
I picked up Karsh Kale's new album 'Liberation' pretty nice stuff.

 

[FalconP]

Quote:

Originally posted by Coolvj Karsh seems to keep the raagas, or a trace of them, alive, in his melody driven experimental music. Very refined, and at times, breath-takingly beautiful.

Man, you have drawn my interes: I've always been looking on something that is less beat-driven and have more to do with melody and scales.
Quote:

Originally posted by Coolvj Talvin singh's album, OK, has been a favorite of mine for a while, but it never really made me feel that i was listening to something truly beautiful with the exception of a few tracks. I mean, the instruments being used (sitar, tabla, and sarangi, for example) are, in traditional Carnatic classical, truly beautiful.....melodic, almost-trance inducing, and never brash

I've only listened to a few tracks of OK on the radio, but I have the follow-up CD Ha!. Singh is indeed a proficient tabla player, but his idea of Indian-electro fusion is often hit-or-miss. I love his tongue-in-cheek sense of humor though.

 

[blip]

I may have to pick up a couple of albums mentioned in this thread... I've heard Singh's work on a Robert Miles album and I was impressed... The whole musical concept sounds pretty interesting indeed.