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Product Description
Review
Operating not only out of a shifting location, but shifting identity, the Transglobal Underground have returned like a band of cosmic mutant rebels with Moonshout, not so much a nod to their roots in festivals as a salute to the lunacy within us all, a possibly terminal (for us perhaps more so than the band) effort to summon up the will to act and change things. Because the Transglobal Underground, brilliant as they are musically, are as much about community politics, as the division of the album into distinct sections reveals. And then again, maybe not, as the TGU shifts once more.
The first section concentrates on the dancefloor with 'Dancehall Operator', a mix of Brazilian drum and bass and Indian rhythm, the title track (including the astonishing Hungarian MC Rise), and the return of Natacha Atlas with Iraqi rapper Naufalle on 'Awal' and the insanely catchy Bollywood pop style of 'Emotional Yoyo' with vocalist Krupa. Suitably exorcised, the listener is now ready for the harder styles and message of part two.
The second section moves into a more political realm with the excellent 'Total Rebellion' (a collaboration with Portugal's Blasted Mechanism), the haunting 'Swampland' and the nightmarish 'Cape Thunder'. By this time the procession of brilliant guest stars from around the world has rendered you pretty much putty in TGU's hands, but that turns out to be okay, too, as the next four tracks are beautiful soundscapes, beginning with 'Mehra Jhumka' featuring Indian ghazal singing star Nalini Pattni and ending with the epic 'Spice Garden' featuring legendary Bulgarian vocalist Yanka Rupkina.
The finale is perhaps the most surprising transformation of all but I've run out of room, so you'll just have to get it for yourself to find out! if you can locate it, that is. The Underground are already moving on. --Tim Nelson
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CD Description
Back in the early nineties Tranglobal Underground - an ever changing line-up of DJs, producers and musicians - found beats no one else was dancing to. Stubbornly individual and fiercely independent this innovative and experimental collective was linked by a refusal to be straight jacketed into one style and therefore ignoring any notions of musical barriers. Their first single, "Temple Head", which featured tablas & Polynesian vocals became an unlikely club anthem and a soundtrack to a CocaCola ad! The album ‘Dream of 100 Nations’ reached the top 50, topped the indie charts and got ecstatic reviews. By the mid-nineties the growth of ambient and trance styles had created a hunger for new ideas and Transglobal Underground had plenty. Fast forward to 2007 and Transglobal Underground return with their 7th album, the follow-up to 2004’s ‘Impossible Broadcasting’. Released on their own label Mule Satellite Recordings, the 14-track album features founding members Tim Whelan (keyboards/ guitar) and Hamilton ‘Hamid Man Tu’ Lee (drums/ programming), plus the current core members of the collective, Godfrey ‘Tuup’ Duncan (lead vocals/ congas), Sheema Mukherjee (sitar/ bass), Gurjit Sihra (dhol/ kaos pad) and Ravinder Neiyyar (dhol/ tables). "They drag the world music scene into a seething global disco." - NME Tracks: Dancehall Operator / Moonshout / Emotional Yoyo / Awal / Total Rebellion / Swampland / Cape Thunder / Mera Jhumka / Border Control / Elena / Spice Garden / Quit Mumblin' / It’s A Sitar / Mag Ak Ndaw (Elders And Youth).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I almost didn't buy this - thank god I decided to go for it on the back of a review I had read and having liked a lot of their earlier stuff. For me this is their most consistant work to date. Very few tracks wouldn't be stand out on their previous offerings - and a number would easily pass muster on their Greatest Hits.
They yet again manage to merge music from around the world in something that is simply uplifting and life affirming. Feels one moment african, the next arabic, the next eastern european, sometimes flashes of america and all the time that unique British dance feel.
Vocalist Tuup is on great form as are guest vocailists Karkov, Shugmonkey, Krupa and Black Sifichi (and no I'm not making these names up).
Outstanding tracks - well they are all great. A wonderful fusion of world music- a trip around the world - liberate your ears and your mind will follow.
They yet again manage to merge music from around the world in something that is simply uplifting and life affirming. Feels one moment african, the next arabic, the next eastern european, sometimes flashes of america and all the time that unique British dance feel.
Vocalist Tuup is on great form as are guest vocailists Karkov, Shugmonkey, Krupa and Black Sifichi (and no I'm not making these names up).
Outstanding tracks - well they are all great. A wonderful fusion of world music- a trip around the world - liberate your ears and your mind will follow.
Format:Audio CD
Yes - it is that good - even better than ADF's Punkara! Not even a 'slightly below excellent' track on it and by far their best work to date. I love this album.
'The varied mix of influences' and 'variety of languages' (and therefore nationalities represented) are put together in a sublime and almost imperceptible way that demonstrates how far TGU have come in developing their music. Indeed, whilst it definitely sounds like TGU it is also different to all before which shows it is an album of our time.
As the album progresses, the differing 'elements next to one another' challenge the senses in a way that makes you think about the content so amplifying feelings this album generates in your soul.
Buy it.(And i really should get down to doing more reviews given the number of albums I buy!)
'The varied mix of influences' and 'variety of languages' (and therefore nationalities represented) are put together in a sublime and almost imperceptible way that demonstrates how far TGU have come in developing their music. Indeed, whilst it definitely sounds like TGU it is also different to all before which shows it is an album of our time.
As the album progresses, the differing 'elements next to one another' challenge the senses in a way that makes you think about the content so amplifying feelings this album generates in your soul.
Buy it.(And i really should get down to doing more reviews given the number of albums I buy!)
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In their own words Transglobal Underground said that "the price of innovation is often a trail of s h i t e left in your wake". Such an insightful comment begs you to question the value we place upon innovation in music and in turn challenges you to appreciate and respect the musical boundary pushers. But I am not so sure if any boundaries are being pushed with Moonshout.
This is another varied mix of influences ranging from very slow Indian influenced ambient instrumental to very dated drum & bass styled production with a variety of languages in vocals, spoken word and emceeing in effect.
Unfortunately, like an abandoned POW with an ecstasy hangover, it feels as if TGU have been stuck in a musical timewarp unable to break past their early trippy ravey sound. At their best on this LP, they convey a form of infectious happy exuberance, but at their worst - which is for the most of this release - they replay their previous approach of awkwardly placing completely incongruous elements next to one another so feeling and pace are lost in the mix.
Crimes against music here include: a continual and heavy abuse in effect of Talvin Singh's (circa 1997) dated asian D&B sound, c r a p emcees with embarrassingly half baked wordplay, a complete rip off of the Dennis Hopper spoken word on Gorillaz' `Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head', and a tendency to jam on in a rambling ravey fashion with no particular feeling or direction against soulless repetitive beat loops.
Redemption comes in the form of the off the wall and genuinely fun `It's A Sitar', and the spot on `Emotional Yoyo'. Which work nicely throughout. Other tracks have some nice elements pulling through but none as strongly as on the standouts.
Considering all this, would I say that this LP was innovative in a way that justifies the sound? In truth, it's too derivative of their previous material to qualify for that, and although their experimental approach is admirable, it is obvious that it is not working here.
This is another varied mix of influences ranging from very slow Indian influenced ambient instrumental to very dated drum & bass styled production with a variety of languages in vocals, spoken word and emceeing in effect.
Unfortunately, like an abandoned POW with an ecstasy hangover, it feels as if TGU have been stuck in a musical timewarp unable to break past their early trippy ravey sound. At their best on this LP, they convey a form of infectious happy exuberance, but at their worst - which is for the most of this release - they replay their previous approach of awkwardly placing completely incongruous elements next to one another so feeling and pace are lost in the mix.
Crimes against music here include: a continual and heavy abuse in effect of Talvin Singh's (circa 1997) dated asian D&B sound, c r a p emcees with embarrassingly half baked wordplay, a complete rip off of the Dennis Hopper spoken word on Gorillaz' `Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head', and a tendency to jam on in a rambling ravey fashion with no particular feeling or direction against soulless repetitive beat loops.
Redemption comes in the form of the off the wall and genuinely fun `It's A Sitar', and the spot on `Emotional Yoyo'. Which work nicely throughout. Other tracks have some nice elements pulling through but none as strongly as on the standouts.
Considering all this, would I say that this LP was innovative in a way that justifies the sound? In truth, it's too derivative of their previous material to qualify for that, and although their experimental approach is admirable, it is obvious that it is not working here.
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