Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin

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Category: Music CD
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Music reviews of Beyond Skin

Music Review: Overall good, but some weak songs here!
Rating: 4 Stars

There are wonderful tracks (Nadia, Letting Go, The Pilgrim) in this album, as well as tracks that are very irritating (Tides, Immigrant). Depending on what kind of music you are expecting, you may actually like this album, or you may hate it. I was pleased with most of the songs. I have to skip several songs when I listen to the album, though.

This album contains very diverse musical styles such as rhythm'n'blues,hip-hop, new age, South Asian music, a little bit of electronica, trip-hop, and even some flamenco. And Nitin experiments with a lot of very different musical styles, in several songs he fails, while in some tracks fusion works out really well. One of the down sides of the album is that it lacks a cohesive sound that carries the theme of the album. (Just like Talvin Singh's "OK")

The first track Broken Skin is a mellow, jazzy r'n'b song with a little bit of electronica flavor. I hated it at first listening, but later it grew on me. Not my favorite, though.

Second track Letting Go is the same vein as the first track. But this time the singing style is different, reminding me of the singers of trip-hop bands like Morcheeba and Lamb. Vocals by Tina Grace are really cool, and trip-hoppy sound of the song makes it stand out among others.

Third track Homelands is interesting. This is a fusion of ambient sounds,qawwali and ,weirdly enough, flamenco. If you take out flamenco guitar partitions and irritating male vocal that reminds me of Gypsy Kings, this would be a perfect song to chill out.

Fourth track The Pilgrim is another song that stands out in this album. We hear some rapping this time.It is similar to "Displacing the Priest" in the EP with the same name. Nice song, cool rapping.

Fifth track is really irritating, I have to skip it. Nitin plays piano in this song, over some ocean sound samples. Very soft, not something you would expect from someone who is considered a part of this Asian Underground movement. At times, it makes me feel like I am listening to Richard Clayderman. (Yes, it is that bad! )

Sixth track Nadia is the best in the album, an outstanding fusion of Indian vocals and drum'n'bass beats.Sounds a little bit like Jaan by Talvin Singh and Amar.(Remember the Philips commercial?) Vocals by Swati Natekar are amazing.

Immigrant is also not good. A lot of r'n'b singing here.Starts out really well with Jayante Bose's vocals, but turns into a mellow piano-led r'n'b song.

Serpents is one of the outstanding songs in the album. A lot of scat singing along with wonderful flute and percussion playing.

Anthem without Nation is amazing chill-out song. Indian vocal on ambient sounds. Sounds very sad.

Nostalgia is another trip-hoppy song in the album.But I don't like it. Very forgettable.

The Conference is another song with a lot of scat singing, this time not as pleasing as in Serpents. It just gets on my nerves. I usually skip it.

The last song is a wonderful end to the album. Nice Indian vocals by Swati Natekar over another great ambient tune.

Beyond musical content, this album has a very intellectual side to it. The underlying concept is history and identity, with nuclear weapon race between India and Pakistan in focus. (Makes me think that Nitin Sawhney was a great fan of Pink floyd and Roger Waters, since the entire album reminds me of Roger Waters' "Amused to Death". Conceptually, not musically) Nitin, calling himself a pacifist, has a very humanistic look at the issue. This fact displays itself through a lot of samples used throughout the album (Indian prome minister announcing the testing of nuclear bombs, the creator of the first atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, quoting Vishnu saying "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" as he breaks down in tears, Nitin's father, talking about their arrival in Britain etc.)

In short, a good album. Not your typical Asian Underground album, though. If you are looking for beat-heavy Asian music, you are better off with Talvin Singh, Badmarsh + Shri.

Description of Beyond Skin

Dance & DJ CDs

• Music > Styles
• World Music
• Pop