The Asian Massive Movement

This is one fascinating set of music I've been indulging in recently. I've got a lot of artists who simply rock at fusing Indian music with Western (American/European) music, in many different ways, from structure to instrumentation.

Talvin Singh was the first guy I heard from this era - a tabla player and underground producer who runs a club in London. His first CD "OK" is full of gems such as Butterfly and Light; great examples of fusion.

What triggered me making this thread is the "Migration" album by Nitin Sawhney, who takes musical integration one step further (oh no, wait, that's his album "Beyond Skin"). But yeah, Migration is like OK - it has tight beats that are formed with different instruments than the standard electronic drum set.

If you want to start somewhere in this genre, here are a few songs. You can get most of them from me if you contact me.

A.R. Rehman - Mumbai Theme Tune
(A.R. Rehman is by no means a fusionist, but he does work with Talvin Singh a lot, and seems to be somewhat of an inspiration to many of the underground artists of the Asian Massive. The Mumbai Theme Tune is a classic. Simple as that.)

Talvin Singh - Anokha Sounds - The Whole Album (it's a compilation)
Talvin Singh - OK - 02 - Butterfly
Talvin Singh - OK - 08 - Light
Tabla Beat Science - Palmistry
Nitin Sawhney - Migration - 04 - River Pulse Rain Mix
Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin - 03 - Homelands

Karsh Kale is another guy - I have yet to give him a real chance, mostly because he uses really piercing vocals. They're good vocals, though. The album I have is "Liberation", which I've heard good things about.

Mmmmhm, yes, I got "Butterfly" just now. I'll check the others out too, thanks. >=0 That is some awesome beat at the beginning of "Butterfly".