Walking On
Loathe as anyone should be to reinforce vapid cultural clichés, nothing other thanshagadelictruly describes this collaboration between pop sitar player Ananda Shankar (nephew ofRavi) and Sam Zaman, the musician and producer known as State of Bengal.Walking Onis 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 toAshwin 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