Track Listing

1. Shri Durga
2. Kese Kese
3. Mere Kabu
4. Maheshvara Yogi
5. Ganga Dev
6. Diving Pastime [Based on Raag Kirvani][Mix] - Mala Ganguly, Sultan Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan
7. Durga Puja

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99654 in Music
• Released on: 1999-04-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.com's Best of 1999
San Francisco's DJ Cheb i Sabbah bends and twists Hindustani ragas into the modern world of sequencing and sampling for an intriguing snapshot of ancient India seen through modern eyes--fascinating for both its incredible musical artistry and beautiful Hindu spiritualism. Plucking the sounds of drone, sitar, tabla, vocal, and other instrumentation from classic Indian recordings, DJ Cheb opens the modern universe of ambient and dance music through the gates of traditional masters, creating one of the most innovative albums of 1999. --Karen K. Hugg

Amazon.com
If there's one hallmark of the global DJ culture, at least outside of the Jamaican tradition, it's youth. European and North American DJ projects all smack of the artists growing into a scene that's resolutely alternative to any singular, pop-tune-oriented mainstream (commercial, even radio, successes notwithstanding). And DJ Cheb i Sabbah might mix tracks like he's got the youthful bug, but in truth he's been spinning tables since the mid-1960s, moving from Paris to the Living Theatre to, ultimately, San Francisco. This collection extends his art form into one of the most extensible musical forms around, Indian-Pakistani ragas and vocal workouts. Cheb i Sabbah makes swirls of found sounds and altered percussion warps amid the drones and cyclic patterns that infuse the seven episodes here. He's expert at contrasting a drop-time rhythm with flighty violin, using the drone to prismatically spread the ear's intake of sound. Then there are the vocals, which Cheb i Sabbah manages to work in almost polyphonically on the bases of contrast and juxtaposition without ever extracting them from their core role. In fact, despite the DJ moniker and approach, this is a collection that the fan of Sufi devotionals, ragas, and even Indian film music will find fascinating. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

"Everything is closer than you think."
Rhythm, earthy and deep.. vocals, soaring in wordless praise.. a musical approach that blends different traditions into a beautifully seamless whole. I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to the various musical traditions of Indian culture, so I'm sure I don't even understand the extent of what DJ Sabbah has done here. I just know that Shri Durga is as accessible as it is faithfully traditional, and as hypnotic as it is organic. As you've probably read by now, it's something of a blend of classical ragas, performed by a cast of Hindu and Muslim musicians, with an element of modern techno.. but very light on the techno. If you want a helping of raga and tala suitable for the club dance floor, try Maha Maya (Cheb's mix-oriented followup to this) or anything by Talvin Singh or Tabla Beat Science. This disc is for relaxing, for sleeping, for meditating or just quietly chilling out.

The element of electronica is not always even noticeable - "Kese Kese"'s slight touch of mixology could just as easily be mistaken for handclaps in the background. "Maheshvara Yogi" is ten minutes of hypnotic meditation, its vocal chants easily gliding through space with all the time in the world to spare, without any techno accompaniment at all. Then, right away, "Ganga Dev" and "Radhe Krishna" provide some of the most propulsive beats on the disc (though still not overriding the primal earthy rhythm that forms the basis of all the music in the first place). The entire offering is a marvelous buffet of reverent chants in the classic tradition, while the techno element is never more than a subtle seasoning. Cheb's mixing contribution isn't limited to the subdued beats either: he samples Muslim prayers, "mantric ambiances" from India, and various public chants and rituals to join with his own compositions.

Looking for an exotic/calming listening experience? You can't go wrong with either of DJ Cheb i Sabbah's 'regular' albums. Between this and Krishna Lila, I can't even pick a favorite. Want to get up and shake something? Then pick Maha Maya to start. They're all full of beauty well worth hearing, and as foreign as this whole style may sound, there's something immediate about it that makes it accessible to anyone with open ears. Everything is closer than you think.

Mother India, Revisited
Take the best traditional devotional music and seamlessly mix hypnotic tracks into it and you have something that is unique and utterly absorbing. This is not a club/dance mix. This is a tribute to the Mother in a very deep and hearfelt way. This guy knows his stuff, choosing vocal music of the highest order, sprinkled with unearthly sounds of various Indian instruments, and, some dashes of trancelike western beats, Cheb I Sabbah has really concocted a magical mix from deep within and is not afraid to let it stand on its own without the use of gimmicks to make it a more commercial and dance oriented sound. The beats are there, but, not the way they are usually heard on the more techno/world beat offerings. This is a cd you really need to sit down and listen to. A real masterpiece that can appeal to the classical listener as well as the club goer. I'm surprised something this good made the Amazon Best List.

A rewarding contemporary interpertation of Indian music.
As a fan of classical Indian music I was a little hesitant about buying this CD. Although it is definitely not traditional, it has all the right sounds and they are tastefully mixed to subtly lift the listener into a higher world. After the OM chanting on the final track fades to silence, much later one still finds himself subconsciously chanting along. I agree with other listeners that "Shri Durga" is a spiritually moving experience, not a Punk/Rap/Rock perversion.

"Shri Durga" is recorded beautifully. Several of its instrumental interludes are heart renderingly exquisite! Fortunately, the richness and subtle tonal inflections inherent in Indian music are not lost in the DJ mix. One almost feels that he is in the living presence of the performers and their instruments - very intimate. If you like Jai Uttal and Krishna Das then go for "Shri Durga"!