Ha

Talvin Singh's skill or the wonder of his music is his ability to move in between worlds. He seems just as comfortable with Hindi pop or devotional/classical Indian forms as London's jungle or downtempo styles a la Kruder and Dorfmeister. All of the new tracks contained within Ha are vocal numbers and part of the appeal must be the lure/mystery of the exotic--unless you are an expert it is impossible to tell if you are listening to Bombay pop, traditional desert song or Holy Hinduisms. The Western studio work is scrupulous and detailed: ambient textures, new tricks/techniques and his trademark drum'n'tabla version of drum'n'bass. And while you might expect hip meditation music (and he does do this at times) Talvin's rhythms and b-lines are often cranked-up, urban and propulsive. There's also a wry humour in excitable MCs dedicating tracks to the 'Bhangra boogie girls'. Not vastly different from his Mercury Prize winning 1999 debut OK this new LP suggests Singh is going deeper into his aesthetic--or getting better at what he does best. - Tony Marcus

Label: Unknown
Studio: Island
Released: 2001-03-26
Format: Audio CD