A Six Degrees Collection: Asian Travels
This compilation draws together musicians who incorporate traditional Indian music into modern styles. The emphasis is heavy on the U.K.-basedAsian Undergroundscene, which is oriented towards electronic dance music, and many of the familiar names are here, often remixing one another--Fun-Da-Mental,Transglobal Underground, Kingsuk Biswas (a.k.a. Bedouin Ascent),Talvin Singh,Banco de Gaia, andDJ Cheb i Sabbah. Most of the music from that camp is excellent and a nice introduction to their style. By contrast, Fila Brazillia and Bob Holroyd wobble the line between ambient and dull. One real eye-opener is State of Bengal's remix of the track "Delerium" by Toronto-based Ken Ramm'sEuphoria.  Euphoria's approach is studio-crafted music in the contemporary electronic style, but acoustic slide guitar is the primary sonic material. The other contributors from outside the U.K. dance scene are more of a mixed bag. Qawwali masterNusrat Fateh Ali Khanappears in a piece from a collaboration withMichael Brook, but his forays into modern sounds always conveyed a lot less of the ecstatic qualities of music than his more traditional records. Shankar's trademark Indian jazz fusion closes the CD and should appeal to fans of his style.--Bob Bannister