Liberation

Karsh Kale

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 2003)
• Original Release Date: June 3, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000099T17
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,788 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #4 in	Music > World Music > India & Pakistan > India
  #54 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Electronica

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Liberation is the evolution of a musical journey started centuries ago. Producer/musician/composer Karsh Kale maps out the sonic terrain of Asian-American music for the 21st century. Kale's latest features his band, Realize and special guests Zakir Hussain, Bill Laswell and the Madras Chamber Orchestra.

Critical praise for Karsh Kale's Realize:

"Realize deftly weaves together variant eras and cultures - and that's what revolution is all about." -SF Weekly

"...sonically sumptuous." -Washington Post

"I found in Realize the emotional impact of music that can unite listeners - Eastern, Western, or somewhere in between." -San Francisco Bay Guardian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece For The Ages!, June 29, 2003

By	Clarissa "MoonGoddess" (Ontario, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kay-lay) is an absolute genious! I'm not at all familiar with his contributing works to former group Tabla Beat Science or his debut album "Realize" but his sophmore release "Liberation" is truly stunning. I'm completely enthralled with this man's talents and, from now on, will most likely buy anything I see with his name on it, as it's sure to be good.

"Liberation" is a myriad of sounds for he's drawn to his Indian heritage but influenced by his modern-day upbringings in England and New York, hence resulting in some interesting fusions which prove to be eclectic and mesmerizing. Electronics merge to meet the cinematic strings of Madras Chamber Orchestra, intricate tabla playing (hand drums), lush, atmospheric soundscapes, jungle fevered break beats and haunting, almost mournful vocals by Asian singer Vishal Vaid and Falguni Shah.

Every track is brilliantly composed and aurally breathtaking but "Milan", which means "Meeting Of Two Rivers" and is dedicated to his daughter, is one of the most gorgeous songs I have ever heard before and is augmented with the bansuri (Indian wood flutes) and a guest performance by the most respected tabla player in the world, Zakir Hussain.

Well there's not much else to say because words can't fully express how amazing this album is but please take mine and everyone else's word, it seems, and buy "Liberation" asap. It's one of the best worldbeat albums ever made and I highly recommend it.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just to be perfectly out front . . ., September 8, 2003

By	Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

. . . I bought this album because I mistakenly thought it was a disc by that all-time beach volleyball great, Karch Karaly, the only man to win a two-man beach volleyball tournament in his forties. Just kidding.

I do remember KK from his guest stint on Dave Douglas's Freak In. And I was impressed.

Admittedly, this disc is a little beyond my usual categories, so you, gentle judges, may be forgiven if I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about. In the end, I think I like it. Quite a bit, actually. It seems to be operating in musical territory not completely removed from world jazz, a musical area I do know something about: It maps an alien (though not incompatible) sensibility (neo-Indian classical) onto an emerging musical aesthetic--electronica/trance/global house(?!). I don't know, I may be way off here; that's just what it seems like to me.

It's all rather enjoyable, with some cuts working spectacularly ("Milan," which is, simply, just absolutely gorgeous, "Break of Dawn," which has that mysterioso Indian drone-thing happening all over it, and "Letting Go," another ravishingly beautiful number). The inclusion of the Madras Chamber Orchestra is a touch of genius.

Really, the more I listen to this, the more revelatory it seems. Do check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing... absolutely brilliant., June 12, 2003

By	R. Jaluria "RNJBOND" (San Francisco, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Karsh Kale is the AR Rahman of the Asian Massive movement. No composer out there has the versatility of Karsh Kale. Realize was itself an amazing album, but this album really tops expectations. While most Asian Massive is just really a blend of western-style techno with some Indian instruments, Karsh Kale manages to blend so many different styles of music into one fluid composition. He keeps intact a lot of Indianness and adds even more to it. In this album, it is the addition of the Madras Chamber Orchestra that makes every track particularly amazing. Overall, it is definitely an album for everyone to listen to, as invariably, everyone will find something to like about his compositions.

Picks of the album:
2) Instinct - A very atmospheric and moody piece that makes some lovely background.

4) Milan - My personal favorite. The piece is so beautifully composed that one cannot help but fall in love with individual phrasing.

10) Epic - A very nice closure to a wonderful album.
-Rishi J