at a glance...

Hometown: Leytonstone, England
First Recordings: late 80's

Personnel:
Talvin Singh -tablas, drums, keys, programming, tapes, percussion, piano, gongs, voices, tabla tarang, noises, and scratches. Singh is also accompanied by a number of vocalists and musicians

Bands In The Family:
Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sun Ra, Jazz Guru, Björk, Future Soundz of India, State of Bengal

It's Talvin Singh's incredibly adept sense of rhythm that makes OK worth your while. Otherwise, gentle melancholy strings wouldn't mesh so well with traditional Indian instruments and faded guitars. Tracks like "Mombasstic" and "Light" would sound like the kind of soft jazz you get at the dentist's office if it weren't for their cool, almost primal beats. Because your head keeps nodding, you have to keep listening.

Composed with both serenity and chaos, Singh creates a full range of emotional sounds, all held together by trance-inducing beats. At times, OK is smooth, exotic, and hypnotic. Melancholy flutes, strings, and sitars overlap and weave through impassioned vocals. At other times, OK hits with full force. The title track starts out with tranquil chanting and maniacally crescendoes into edgy guitars, distortion, and general madness. "Vikram the Vampire" starts out innocently enough, soft and lulling, but builds to crashing percussion over droning vocals. The transitions come at the perfect moments, just to keep you on your toes. This is dance music, after all.

With moments of placidity trading off with lovely, riotous intervals, OK is perfect for mere swaying or hard groovin'. Because Singh's rhythms hold Eastern and Western music together so well, OK establishes its own mature and unique sound, definitely worthy of your ears and stereo.

If you like Talvin Singh, check out:
Cornershop When I Was Born for the 7th Time
Leftfield Leftism
Orbital In Sides

-- Lori Latimer