Customer Reviews

Tana Tani

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(1)
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Once, back when us Northwesterners were fortunate (very fortunate) enough to host the WOMAD-USA Festival, I had a debate with a colleague about whether Real World Records had its own distinct audience. Real World's audience was and is, I would argue, neither post-Hippie travelers in love with grooves nor internationalist scholars dedicated to 'tradition,' although perhaps some of both. The label has always put its money on a balance between immaculate production and inspired performance. In the words of Real World's own Web site, "the Real World label has become renowned for bringing together musicians who share an empathy with music in general, rather than a shared cultural background....We find that great music is enjoyable to listen to irrespective of the nationality of artists creating it. Indeed, many of the most exciting sounds that you will discover on our label are the result of collaborations between musicians from many different countries." In other words, Real World is about music making, not labels--including "World Music"--musicians and audience, not...authenticity. Thus, I think Real World's audience is one that respects this perspective on music, an audience that is at once knowledgeable about context but cosmopolitan enough to look beyond context.

Tana Tani seems like a perfect case example for this definition of Real World's ethics/aesthetics, as well as how it can succeed. Many listeners will know that the Bauls are itinerant nonconformists from Bengal and Bangladesh who make their living playing and dancing to ecstatic, idiosyncratic devotional music. Some will also know that Paban Das Baul left India to live in Paris, where he became literate in multiple languages. Many will also know that Sam Zaman, under the moniker State of Bengal, was one of the founders of the "Asian Underground" scene, mxing up Indian sounds and breakbeats. Yet Tana Tani uses each of these artistic precedents merely as background. Paban Das Baul plays instruments like the dotara (a lute) and the ektara (a drone), but what is up front is his emotional vocals and--if you check the liner notes--sincere lyrics. State of Bengal is still a great beatmaker, but there is diversity in his sound. BPM's range from a slow 86 through a regular 120 to a fast, Junglist 190, while the timbres are given an extra depth by live bass and drums. There is even a relatively a capella track in which State of Bengal is scarcely sonically present. The result is a CD that is equally good as a collection of tracks and as an album, just as friendly to the dancefloor as to the living room.

A collaboration between these two artists is a natural choice for Real World. Both are rooted in a place and a tradition, but both are inherently modernists. The resulting mixture is full of cultural markers, whether they're London breakbeats or Indian tones, but stands on its own as good music. Tana Tani and Real World exemplify how grounding in context does not limit creativity.

To my fellow ethnomusicologists, go ahead and pounce on me. To long-time aficianados of Peter Gabriel's record company, here's a CD worth picking up. And to the rest, welcome to the Real World.

This CD should appeal to Bengali speakers especially, as I think the modernization of Bengali-language music has been overwhelmed by the flood of Punjabi beats and hip-hoppified Punjabi folk songs coming from the UK. I personally don't mind the Punjabi dominance, as I understand a lot of Punjabi, but I think there is a huge reservoir of music in other languages that is being overlooked. As this CD shows, there is certainly something very distinctive and beautiful in the Bengali folk tradition; I hope Zaman will continue to explore it. (As a side note, I should point out that the CD liner to Tana Tani has translations of the songs -- my only request is that in future they also include the literal transcriptions in Bangla.)

I bought this CD after I heard just one song at a friend's house. It isn't bad at all, but I was expecting a little more 'depth' and 'world influence' and a little less tin can background. If I had a chance, I probably would not buy it again.

This rich fusion of beats and indigenous music will gently spin
your mind while soothing your soul. Sounds a bit like Funky
Porcini, but not as abrupt. Passionate, not as intense as
qawwali music, great purcussion offset by some nice guitar runs. It never gets monotonous. Plug this one into your pimped
ride, boyyyzzz! It will SOAR!

man i cant stop listening to this cd all the way through. each and every song is filled to the brim with eastern dub jazz fusion. paban is with out a dought 1 of the best eastern and bengali singers this world has ever sceen. this far surpasses anything that state has previouslly done and even with walking on being the incredible album that it is, it is no where near the realm that this album shapes into. this is more consistant and has a full album feel. no techno remixes or songs that dont fit the fill. the tempo is verry mild, not typical fast techo-ish asian massive underground stuff. if you are looking to fuel your need for more paban he has an album with sam milles and is electronic but may not fuel the same fire that this album has set ablaze, but still cool and original. full review from state of bengal web site
Welcome to the place where words fail and music speaks.
Tana Tani' plunges Paban into the dub-heavy melee of the British Asian breakbeat scene, where his ecstatic, smoky vocals soar over juddering beats and squelchy basslines, and his urgent and hypnotic rhythms mutate into frenetic drum 'n' bass breaks.
The collaboration began in Zaman's home studio in Upton Park, east London in December 2002 and continued to grow at Paban's Paris home. During the sessions Zaman began working around Paban's strong, timeless melodies and haunting lyrics, building up each song organically. Often Zaman's syncopated beats were unfamiliar to Paban, and essentially they had to learn each other's music. Both Zaman and Mimlu Sen (Paban's partner and collaborator) made suggestions, and Paban experimented by fitting more familiar rhythmic patterns like the dhrupada of the jhaptal into Zaman's syncopations.
'You can take a Baul to a track,' explains Mimlu Sen, 'but you can't make him synch unless the approach is organic and interior.'
Reviewer: Evening Standard UK
This is described as a folk culture over 500 years old meeting this digital soundscapes of the 21st century. The versus of the title suggests some sort of contest, but if the British Asian music scene has proved anything, it is that the subcontinent's rich and ancient cultures are ripe and durable enought for fusing. State of Bengal (aka Sam Zaman) is a leading DJ and producer in the Asian club scene, and Paban Das Baul is a singer from Bengal's mystical sect of wandering minstrels, the Bauls. While the album's shape and character comes from Zaman, it's felicitous details come from Paban's incantatory vocals and the traditional Baul instruments used on many of the tracks. The title track translates as "pushing and pulling", which could be a metaphor for the whole project. A fine release from the label that pioneered the historic Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan fusions a decade ago.
Reviewer: Songlines Magazine 'Top Of The World' UK

Asian Fusion Disc of the Year So Far
The result of this cultural meshing of streetwise dance production and ancient folk culture is remarkably cohesive, which bears testimony to Zaman's sympathetic production and Paban Das Baul's willingness to embrace Westernised dance sounds.....The album features Asian Dub Foundation's Aniruddha Das on bass, and renowned jazz drummer Marque Gilmour, who replicates drum'n'bass skittering hi-hats and kick-drum patterns to startling effect. The result is extremely funky... and deeply soulful, with Paban's soul-searching voice sounding marvellous throughout. The Asian-fusion disc of the year so far.Rating (out of 5):
Reviewer: Mojo UK
State of Bengal Vs Paban Das Baul
Sometimes getting spiritual while melting your brain appeals. When London's State of Bengal last passed this way, there was a short but memorable collaboration with Ananda Shankar, the psychedelia-minded sitarist. This time, they've teamed up with a leading light of Bengal's Bauls, a musical gypsy caste of minstrels, ascetics and devotees of tantric sex, to go to places others have ventured (Temple of Sound and Rizwan-Muazzam, Massive Attack's remix of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) and update them for 2004.
Reviewer: ethnotechno.com internet
State of Bengal Vs Paban Das Baul - Tana Tani
Tana Tani - meaning "push and pull", a metaphor for many things, as we shall see - is a brilliant serenade to what's quickly becoming known as Asian Chill... The very opener is destined for fame, certain to be picked up by more chill-out comps than Thievery Corporation and Groove Armada combined: "Moner Manush," the very definition of lie-back-relax-and-immerse-submerge-yourself-into-your-self-and-the-Self-we'll-take-care-of-everything. From there, it only gets better. "Kali," the black goddess, sees beautiful light as Zaman and Baul once again push/pull meaning into metaphor. The following tribute, "Radha Krishna," is a midtempo mindswirl, and by the time they reach the title track, you've been fully stretched, sedated and surrendering. Even when Zaman programs d-'n-b, as in "Tana Tani," "Ram Rahim" and "Al Keuto Sap," he allows spaciousness to exist. Much like the Baul practice of Aarope Sadhana - the yoga of breathing - Zaman lets his beats out for fresh air. He even steps aside, on occasion, and lets tradition be kept: the heartwrenching "Padma Nodi" and "Kon Ek Pakhi," a minimalist dream. The album's opus, in this journalist's ear, may very well be "Medina," with sounds mimicking the Australian digeridoo and Brazilian berimbau, laid atop an absolutely unbeatable (slightly) broken beat. Paban's voice continues its sensual voyage from headspace to heartspace, and you give in. There is no choice, really. Tana Tani is seductive, reels you in with delicate claws and rips away fragments of your being. When you recover, you realize it was excess dissolved, and you emerge with clarity, focused, inspired and content.
Real World Records