Customer Reviews

Shiva Station

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a thoughtful and consistently interesting release by Jai Uttal. There's plenty of precedent, both good and bad, for western musicians appropriating Eastern music, but the fact that Uttal lived in India, toured with Indian musicians and studied with Ali Akhbar Khan lends a note of credibility to the proceedings. And if Uttal made a living on previous albums by appropriating contemporary Indian "Raga Rock", he's all but evolved past that practice here. Songs such as "Malkouns (Night On The Ganges)" and especially "Bhajore", with its hair-raising trombone solo, are simply smoking, funky, and exciting exercises in East/West fusion the likes of which isn't often seen this side of Bombay (or the other side, for that matter). The songs are surprisingly rooted in classical Indian music, especially Mantra-like invocations like "Shiva Station (Nama Shivaya)" but are given a contemporary feel by Uttal's synths, ambient guru Bill Laswell's dub touches and lush mixes, and the oftentimes exciting orchestration and backing by the pure funk of The Pagan Love Orchestra. "Sita Ram" is a great example of this balance, keying on Uttal's heartfelt repeated titular mantra with deep dub beats, basslines and airtight horn arrangements. Uttal himself, posessing a fine voice, occasionally missteps a bit with the more new-agey, slower stuff like "Calling You", but even his mostly unadorned "Corner" is a fine, moody solo piece indeed. Recommended highly to fans of Bill Laswell, Peter Gabriel and other world-music experimenters, or those that enjoy more dense, thoughtful, genre-straddling music.

Jai Uttal's Shiva Station is one of the best albums I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. It combines traditional chanting with modern, upbeat sounds. It is inspiring. The composition is a great mix of today and yesterday, western and eastern, yet there is no compromise on the traditional selections. Two thumbs up!

 

 

Track 2 Shiva Station is reggae influenced. The guitar is tuned to sound like a sitar. Uttal's voice absolutely booms out at you. He sounds like the devotee in love with the guru and his / her teachings, wanting to take all on board, immersing himself in the fountain of divine truth. Jai Uttal does more to promote the concept of Indian religious music through this band than a lot of musicians who are involved in the east-west fusion game. I spent several months in an ashram in Herrakhan India about ten years ago doing exactly what Uttal does (not anywhere as well I may add). Hearing Jai Uttal singing these songs of praise and devotion always brings back good memories for me. repetition of the mantra brings on its own trance like state and as such JU sounds like he is in a semi permanent state of bliss and ecstasy, surrounded by his group of female backup singers. I can't help thinking that he has a beautiful voice. In fact it comes as a pleasant shock to suddenly hear him sing in English with the tune Calling You from Bhagdad Cafe. In fact on this recording he also sings in Bengali, Hindi and Sanskrit. Malkoun is an instrumental piece with all out support from the brass section, scorching guitar solos and killer bass playing. I assume from Mr Bill Laswell who mixed this release. Mine is a promo copy with not too much data but it sounds like him. Just as it sounds like it's all going to get bigger than Ben Hur, the harmonium brings it all to earth.

Rama Rhagawa-flute intro,electric guitar toned down into the background, JU sings introspectively, a muted trumpet weaving in and out of all this before the orchestra kicks in. For me a moment of sheer magic and poetry. Great to hear the Hammond organ. Not enough people use it in their music. I think suddenly about McLaughlin's time with Mahavishnu. They were intense and sonically challenging at the best of times, but what a group. The Pagan Love Orchestra reminds me of them somehow. I guess because both made a serious attempt at fusing east with west. Uttal is not as full frontal though. Here is a man at peace but still forceful in his delivery. Who is the trumpet player here? Whoever they are, they are hot.

Listening to this brings back so many memories for me. crossing the border into India from Nepal, sitting on a bus, taking the perfect picture of a three year old girl who had the eyes of an old soul, palm trees, the smell of coconuts and mangoes,sandalwood incense, Indian women laughing at the big guy sitting behind them. The radio is playing Bollywood music. God it's funny. Voices saying lambhu lambhu. Months alter after hearing it too many times I finally asked someone what it means. Tall person. I laughed. What a mad place India is.So diverse and spiritual,beautiful and frightening at the same time if you are not ready for it. Jai Uttal's music is like this. The overall feeling is that they are having fun doing this and so it should be. Absolutely a great album if you are at all interested in the fusion of east and west.

I bought this CD in '98, and it remains one of my favorites. My three year old son and I jam to it night and day.

The first five tracks are particularly incredible. The album is funky enough for freeway driving on a sunny day, and mellow enough for just relaxing at home.

Jai Uttal's music is very predictable. You always know you'll get something good. But no one track I've ever heard has been exactly the same as one I've heard before.

He shows his spirituality and musicianship consistently. But nothing really gets in the way of the listening experience. It's not that easy to make something simple and easy to listen to out of something that, compared with most modern music, is quite complicated.

There are three kinds of people who listen to Jai Uttal:
1: Those who are into his kind of spirituality.
2: Those who are into the music.
3: Those who are all the above.
4: Those who just want musical wallpaper.

It doesn't really matter whether you're a 1, 2 or 3. With Jai Uttal, it's easy: just dig it. If you're a 4, fine ... but be prepared to turn into at least a 2.

Some of his albums fall more easily into spirituality than the others - for example, "Music for yoga and other joys" - but Shiva Station is indisputably best for listeners in zone three.

I've listened to a handful of his albums, and got the desire to buy them too.

I disagree with the suggestion that he's taken Indian music and corrupted it into Reggae. That could only come from listening to a small part of only one track. What he's done is carved one more step in his path.

The hand of co-producer and guru Bill Laswell is evident more on some tracks than others, but that's the way he does it. And although Jai plays most of the instruments himself, there are more than a handful of others involved. The music is quite loosely hung together; at times it's almost improvisational. There are obvious Indian elements. Some of the lyrics will go over the heads of purely English speakers, but the whole image of the music isn't diminished by that. It includes elements of more than one genre, dipping into singer-songwriter (Corner is Sting-ish), modern Afro-pop (Jaya Jagadambe), Reggae (Shiva Station), and an almost bluegrass tinge (e.g. Bhajore). You'll no doubt spot more, and several in one track.

All together, the end result is an album that can reach mainstream musophiles more than any of his other releases, but it doesn't trade quality for appeal.

So if you haven't heard him before, and want to try out his music, this is probably the best first album you could choose. An utterly Uttal album.

I groove to this CD with my two year old son. He enjoys the title track and "Calling You". I enjoy them all.

This man has an absolutely lovely voice. Masculine, youthful, and well-trained, it is beautifully suited to the inflections of Indian vocals. (We're talking about India here, not Native America.)

A lot of traditional Indian instruments are mixed with western ones to create a CD of music that feels modern, but with some strong traditional far eastern accents.

I enjoyed the catchy, almost danceable songs. (I hesitate to use the word "danceable" because it makes you think of night-clubs, and that's not what I mean. I mean danceable in terms of catchy and spirited). Anyway, I enjoyed those, but to me, the highlight of the album was "Corner" - a ballad sung in English that was so powerful and showed off this artist's voice so well, that I tend to hit "repeat" every time it's over so that I can hear it again. That one really moved me.

So I personally would buy this album for "Corner" alone. But if you're someone who likes to branch out musically, and keep an ecclectic collection, I think you'll enjoy the whole album. It's an energetic album with western musical sensibilities plus a strong flare of India.

This Cd is Jai's best..I heard him at this little club in Berkeley called Ashkenaz..and he was in a trance..Fantastic music to mellow out..I listen to it during my commute..and it totally drains out the tension of the work day.. I wish Jai puts out some new music..his recent CDs mostly have the same songs..the Talveen Singh remix of this CD is a disaster..doc

Jai Uttal transports me every time
and the journeys are always
pleasant. I highy recommend this
music to everyone because it is
benefical so listen and be restored.

I bought this CD for Yoga practice because I am a fan of Jai's music. I was pleasantly surprised by the jazz sounds on this disc. I enjoy listening to Yoga music as well as jazz and when I listen to this CD, I get the best of both worlds. My two favorites on this disc are Guru Brahma and Shiva Station. Just a pleasure to listen to!