Product Details

• Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
• DVD Release Date: October 7, 2003
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000C23GN
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,652 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

TALAMANAM SOUND CLASH:FURTHER ADVENTU - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful sonic & visual delight., March 23, 2005

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash - Further Adventures in Hype (DVD)

A lushly lit riser at center stage holds a man inside a semicircle of tabla (Indian hand drums). Next to him is another man playing a sarangi, which looks like a giant egg slicer bowed like a cello (and believe me, that's not as silly as it sounds). At stage left are a full modern drumkit and a small bank of keyboards, leaving room in front for a fellow with an electric bass. On the other side two men sit at a table behind laptops, mixing and sampling in real time; further over is a DJ's turntable used for the odd vinyl scratch. Occasionally a chanteuse with a spill of big wild hair strolls out to provide some beautiful singing, enchanting even though hardly a word is in English.

That may make it sound like some kind of amateur performance-art group, but in fact this is one of the most extraordinarily talented lineups you could hope to see. Amid the hand drums is Zakir Hussain, arguably the finest living tabla player in the world. Ustad Sultan Khan is a true master of the sarangi; the bassist is world-beat dubster extraordinare Bill Laswell; the hypercussion drumkit is handled by Karsh Kale (who's no slouch on tabla himself). Rounding out the picture are Fabian Asultany, Gigi Shigabaw, DJ Disk and the duo known as Midival Punditz, all highly respected names in the international music community - truly, this is no ordinary meeting of minds. The sum of the parts is the single most variegated, original, fascinating fusion mix I've ever heard: rather than just grafting elements of one style onto another, this group takes all its elements and builds a wholly new kind of techno-jungle-trance-funk stew from the ground up. And in terms of live fire this set might even outpace the Live at Stern Grove album, which I didn't really think was possible.

Visually this double DVD does quiet justice to the musical smorgasbord it presents. Mostly it's simple shots of the band, sporadically interspersed with random video footage from India and Nepal, and that's really all it needs. Why have effects or theatrics to distract from the fascination of seeing such an eclectic group at work? Watching Zakir get so many sounds out of the tabla alone is a revelation. There's a multi-angle option for perhaps half the concert, which I think is handled beautifully - there's a small window in the corner showing what's in the other view, saving you the trouble of randomly flipping and guessing what'll come up. Imaginative animated menus and a couple extra videos and mp3s are icing on the cake.

I could complain that the set only totals about 71 minutes of music, but that's really my only quibble. Anyone else fascinated with erasing genre boundaries (or just in the mood for a little happily spirited culture shock) really shouldn't be without this set. It's extraordinary.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I still enjoyed it., November 27, 2005

By 

Nicholas J. Caminiti (Ijamsville, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash - Further Adventures in Hype (DVD)

There is a HUGE problem with this Live Concert DVD. The sound and video are not in sync on the second disc. I don't know if it's just me, but that kinda ruins the magic of a live set on video, particularly one where the emphasis is so obviously on percussion (plenty of focus on the tabla player's hands.) It makes your eyes, ears, and mind fight the entire time. Thankfully, the first disc doesn't have this problem.

Besides that major qualm and the fact that the content is too short (If it weren't for the multi-angle, one disc would have been quite big enough,) I still enjoyed the music, which incorporates elements of Drum and Bass, Traditional Indian Music, Hip-Hop, Funk, and Trance, an eclectic mix that comes together quite nicely.

Had it been longer and not had the sync problem on the second disc, I would have given it 4 stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost really great, January 6, 2008

By 

E. Hickey (Lawrence, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash - Further Adventures in Hype (DVD)

As mentioned by others, the concert is great. The way it was shot with multiple camera angles is great - especially if you want to keep your eyes on Zakir's hands! The editing and 'special' effects are a bit cheesey, but they don't overwhelm the whole video.
The reason I'm giving such a low rating is that the second disk's audio is not in sync with the video! That's pretty inexcusable for a live, percussion-centric concert. I may have a defective copy, so I'll contact the manufacturer and report back if that is the case.