RFI: Talvin Singh...

This is not really a Talvin Singh thread so to speak....

The "Asian Underground" comp that Talvin Singh did is pretty good. The "Tabla Beat Science" record he's on is great, hardcore dubby tabla action. The rest of his stuff is pretty bland in my opinion.

Another one to try is Nitin Sawney--his "Beyond Skin" is very coffee-table and Massive Attack-y, but I love it.

That comp is called "Anokha" which was also the name of his club and its worth checking out - at least some of the artists on it have done other stuff.

There are various remix albums of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on Real World which are obviously not the authentic thing but are still great (get them - then go and get some of his straight ahead Qwaalli music which is awesome). Star Rise is the more dancey one, Mustt Mustt is fairly subtle by comparison but is a more consistent listen.

I'd go for Karsh Kale's Realize album and/or the new live Tabla Beat Science album on which Kale plays drums. If you're interested in bhangra I think Naxos has just re-released the Bhangra Beatz album, which is okay but sounds a little bit like disco+rai, if you're not into that.

Kale is unfairly labeled "new age" but Realize (and its new remixed version called Redesign -- both on Six Degrees -- are far from that. His music is smart soulful stuff that also serves as a booty-moving device.