Walking On [IMPORT]

Ananda Shankar, State Of Bengal

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B00002DEMX
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #242,307 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Loathe as anyone should be to reinforce vapid cultural clichés, nothing other than shagadelic truly describes this collaboration between pop sitar player Ananda Shankar (nephew of Ravi) and Sam Zaman, the musician and producer known as State of Bengal. Walking On is a sonic journey back to a time when the sitar's sound automatically signified "psychedelic," a time when composer John Barry's sassy film themes were the ne plus ultra of bachelor-pad sophistication. Shankar (who died shortly after completing the album) plays surf sitar, rock sitar, EZ-listening sitar, and German soundtrack sitar (fans of high-speed jazz-rock sitar, however, are directed to Ashwin Batish). Although Shankar's playing sometimes sounds at odds with Zaman's techno beats, the two make a convincing case for "the '90s is the '60s upside down" argument. --Richard Gehr

Product Description
Ananda Shankar: illustrious cult figure in the secret history of pop, 60s Indo-funk pioneer, sitarist who jammed with Hendrix. In 1999, he was sought out by London DJ State of Bengal, whose mixing Indian classical music with breakbeats, hip-hop and tabla rhythms perfectly complemented Ananda's distinctive sound - for this gloriously zany, beat-laden collaboration, Shankar's final studio recording. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It glides and grooves, swoops and soars! What is it though?, February 9, 2002

By A Customer

If you are looking for only traditional sitar music then just keep on clicking to the Grampa Shankar section because you won't be happy with this CD I bet. Likewise, if you are looking only for old-school 60s psychedelia/70s rock keep on truckin to those respective sections. And if pure 90s technobeats are your only destination then thump on by this one because this CD will only disappoint or confuse you.

BUT if you are looking for something that could somehow combine ALL of those categories then check this CD out! These musicians actually made it work somehow.

- The song "Betelnutters" is, what, Aphex Twin in the Bombay version of Motown?
- "Alma Ata" is, er, Bangladeshi surf-prog-rock with the Beatles playing rhythm?
- "Jungle Symphony" is, hm, Jethro Tull as a whirling mondo-gypsy on too much curry?
- "Tori" makes me want to gallop a horse or do the frug or something. Both?

Anyways, I thought it might get muddy or lose its energy with time but the CD has plenty of great musicianship and compositional complexity to hold up to repeat listenings. And the grooves just don't let go either. I've been having a ball with this cd. Your Mileage May Vary.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars for fusion fans only, September 20, 2000

By A Customer

i hate to be the only nay-sayer in the bunch but i feel i must warn anyone who, like me, is looking for some fun, groovy tabla-funk. this release, like all Realworld releases i've heard, means well but comes across as way too slick and formulaic in the end. if you like the Afro-Celt Soundsystem type of overproduced fusion, this is every bit as good. if you prefer your world music less obvious and more original...keep looking.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, March 14, 2000

By	Uncle Mojo Righteous (Atlantis, Georgia) - See all my reviews

I purchased this album in search of a beat-heavy Indian-influenced new sound. It came across relatively slow on the first track but picked up as the CD progressed. If you are looking to hear solid and heavy drum-and-bass style rave music then look elsewhere, you wont find it here. If you are looking for the fusion of Hendrix style rock, 70's car-chase disco-funk, and the trip-hop trance of State of Bengal then this is the album for you. The 6th and 10th tracks are two of the best, but of course, you can't preview the audio of those tracks here (figures eh?). This CD is a juicy morsel that you could take to any musical feast and be proud to serve. But hey, don't just take my word for it.