Bombay Dub Orchestra [ENHANCED]

Bombay Dub Orchestra

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 28, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000E1NX8Q
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,610 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > India & Pakistan > India

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Bombay Dub Orchestra delivers on the promise of its name. Here, London studio insiders Andrew T. MacKay and Garry Hughes have devised a dream-like new project where Lee Scratch Perry seemingly spent his time in India doing Bollywood film soundtracks instead of psychedelic Jamaican dub jams. With a world of experience between the two primaries (Bjork, ABC, Sly & Robbie, Vast), the duo's skillful integration of these seemingly divergent sources is seamless. A full orchestra, live soloist, and a rich production aesthetic are tastefully complemented by sexy trip-hop programming that recalls Zero 7 and other top-flight groups. The two-disc set includes a 12-song disc and an eight-song set of remixes on a second disc. The remixes are longer with slightly different assemblages of pieces, but aren't much weirder, just different. Highlights among the often pun-filled titles include the cinematic "Dust" and "The Berber Of Seville" as well as the atmospheric "Rare Earth: The Forest Of Thieves Mix." ­-- Tad Hendrickson

Product Description

The Bombay Dub Orchestra is the brainchild of two English musicians, Andrew Mackay and Garry Hughes, who wanted to do something that hadn't been tried before: to make the ultimate chill-out album, using a real orchestra. It all began when Mackay and Hughes went to Bombay some seven years ago to record some of that city's top session players for a project by the LA group Spellbound. "I produced and Andy arranged," Hughes recalls. "It was a fantastic experinece recording these guys, and on the plane coming home we thought how great it would be to make an orchestral chill-out record with these players." Over a period of nearly a year, Mackay and Highes worked out the intricate, almost cinematic arrangements with digital samples. They ended up with a pretty fair approximation of what their Bombay Dub Orchestra would sound like. But there was no chance that the two producers would be satisfied with that. "I love samples and use them a lot" Highes says, "but some things you have to do with real players." In March 2005, Mackay and Hughes finally traveled to Bombay, India and began what must rank as one of the most unique orchestral recording sessions ever. "During that week, we recorded a 28 piece string section on 10 different tracks. We generally overdubbed the orchestra several times to achieve the multi-layored arrangements that we were aiming for." In addition to the orchestra, the pair also recorded the cream of Bombay's Indian classical musicians - including leading players of the sitar, tabla, bansuri and some memorable vocal performances. This specially priced double CD also includes a second disc of "dub remixes" which takes the music into even more exotic sonic territories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb music beautifully played, March 21, 2006

By	Neil Wilkes (London, England) - See all my reviews

My first thoughts on listening to this album were "It's a combination of Zero 7 and Enigma with an eastern flavour", but it's more than that - much more, in fact.
Right from the opener, "Compassion", the album grabs the attention and just won't let go.
the hypnotic drums & bass lines are complemented perfectly by the 28 piece indian string section - and it is so well recorded it takes the breath away. The musicianship is of such a standard that these orchestral players would be at home in any orchestra in the world, and the fusion between traditional Indian instruments and Western Electronica has to be heard to fully grasp just how well it all hangs together.

It's an impossible task picking out personal favourites, as this depends entirely on what your mood is at the time, and with each playing you hear things that were missed the time before. This is not due to the mix being cluttered though - far from it. And it's definitely not because it is too busy, because what you get here is basicallly that rare beast in these times - A well crafted record that demands to be played again and again and again.
There are no real high points - it's all of the same high standard and this too is a welcome rarity when the average album contains 4 or 5 singles and filler. Not one dud on offer here. They are all of an equal standard & quality.

Whilst we are talking about the quality, another surprise is the complete lack of overcompression in the endless quest for "hotter" discs - and this really made my day. I don't know about the person reading this review but I for one am bored with every record striving to blow your speakers where the buss compressors and brickwall limiters are cranked into overdrive mode making the ballads almost as loud as the up tempo numbers. Again, on this record this kind of sonic mayhem is very noticeable by it's absence.
I've been listening to this for a while now, and still cannot find anything bad to say about it. Perhaps the only thing I can think of that could improve what you get is a surround mix in High Resolution 5.1, as the quality of the recording here is so good it would really lend itself to this type of format.
But that is it.

To summarize - 5 stars without a doubt.
You owe it to yourself to buy this record, and discover that not all modern releases are overcompressed garbage.
This is simply sublime.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars beauty and the east, March 16, 2006

By	Hans Stoeve "Hans" (Sydney) - See all my reviews

More orchestra than dub, the tracks on this double release would not be out of place on a Buddha Bar compilation. Lightweight and easy listening, there is a 'trippy' feel to the sound at times. It has that summer feel- everything's OK-life is good mood about it. It's all very pleasant in feel and carefully crafted. Indian sounds merge with ambient sounds merge with orchestral arrangements. The pieces amble along, tinkering piano lines, washes of synthesisers, strings, sitars, bansuri flutes, Indian voices, occasional dub treatments. Don't expect a King Tubby treatment though.

There have been others who have gone down these musical roads. I think of Nitin Sawhney and 1 Giant Leap though the roads they travel are more political and have more of an edge to them. Also Bill Laswell's Lost In The Translation ambient excursions spring to mind when I listen to this disc, especially some of the remixes on disc two.

Bombay Dub Orchestra are two English musicians, Garry Hughes and Andrew T. Mackay. Garry Hughes has had time playing with Bjork and Sly & Robbie, whereas Andrew T. Mackay has scored works for people such as Annie Leibovitz, LA Rockers VAST and ABC (the 80's group, not the TV network) Garry Hughes has also played keyboards and produced for groups like Pink Floyd and Art of Noise according to notes found on the net.

Six Degrees have been releasing interesting titles for some time now, cutting edge electronica merging with Indian rhythms.The danger with this release is that some people will write it off as good dinner party music, which would be a shame. It has a lot to offer depending on your state of mind at time of listening. This album will appeal to a lot of listeners. I like it immensely though I still want some sort of an 'edge' to my music when I am listening. Still it is one of the better release of the year so far. What would really be good now is for another remix album of this material to come out but from other artists on Six Degrees. Maybe this is already in the pipeline.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, June 16, 2006

By	Invisiblebluej - See all my reviews

Very instrumental CD, but listen to all the great sounds that combine to make each song awesome and unique. I personally favor the 1st CD, the 2nd CD is basically some songs from the 1st CD remixed, which made it longer and caused me to lose attention to the fine details of the song. This is a great collection for relaxing ambiance in the background with an eastern twist and not just pure classical feel.