Search - Tabla Beat Science: Talamanam Sound Clash - Further Adventures in Hype on DVD

A wonderful sonic & visual delight.

spiral_mind | Pennsylvania | 03/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A lushly lit riser at center stage holds a man inside a semicircle of tabla (Indian hand drums). Next to him is another man playing a sarangi, which looks like a giant egg slicer bowed like a cello (and believe me, that's not as silly as it sounds). At stage left are a full modern drumkit and a small bank of keyboards, leaving room in front for a fellow with an electric bass. On the other side two men sit at a table behind laptops, mixing and sampling in real time; further over is a DJ's turntable used for the odd vinyl scratch. Occasionally a chanteuse with a spill of big wild hair strolls out to provide some beautiful singing, enchanting even though hardly a word is in English.

That may make it sound like some kind of amateur performance-art group, but in fact this is one of the most extraordinarily talented lineups you could hope to see. Amid the hand drums is Zakir Hussain, arguably the finest living tabla player in the world. Ustad Sultan Khan is a true master of the sarangi; the bassist is world-beat dubster extraordinare Bill Laswell; the hypercussion drumkit is handled by Karsh Kale (who's no slouch on tabla himself). Rounding out the picture are Fabian Asultany, Gigi Shigabaw, DJ Disk and the duo known as Midival Punditz, all highly respected names in the international music community - truly, this is no ordinary meeting of minds. The sum of the parts is the single most variegated, original, fascinating fusion mix I've ever heard: rather than just grafting elements of one style onto another, this group takes all its elements and builds a wholly new kind of techno-jungle-trance-funk stew from the ground up. And in terms of live fire this set might even outpace the Live at Stern Grove album, which I didn't really think was possible.

Visually this double DVD does quiet justice to the musical smorgasbord it presents. Mostly it's simple shots of the band, sporadically interspersed with random video footage from India and Nepal, and that's really all it needs. Why have effects or theatrics to distract from the fascination of seeing such an eclectic group at work? Watching Zakir get so many sounds out of the tabla alone is a revelation. There's a multi-angle option for perhaps half the concert, which I think is handled beautifully - there's a small window in the corner showing what's in the other view, saving you the trouble of randomly flipping and guessing what'll come up. Imaginative animated menus and a couple extra videos and mp3s are icing on the cake.

I could complain that the set only totals about 71 minutes of music, but that's really my only quibble. Anyone else fascinated with erasing genre boundaries (or just in the mood for a little happily spirited culture shock) really shouldn't be without this set. It's extraordinary."

It is a super DVD with a lot of features

khiladi100 | Sunnyvale, CA United States | 12/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent concert. A delight for anyone interested in music in general. It crosses borders in genre and is played by master musicians. It sounds just fantastic in DTS 5.1 and also in Dolby Digital. It has multiangle view also. I would say you will get your money's worth."

I still enjoyed it.

Nicholas J. Caminiti | Ijamsville, Maryland | 11/27/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There is a HUGE problem with this Live Concert DVD. The sound and video are not in sync on the second disc. I don't know if it's just me, but that kinda ruins the magic of a live set on video, particularly one where the emphasis is so obviously on percussion (plenty of focus on the tabla player's hands.) It makes your eyes, ears, and mind fight the entire time. Thankfully, the first disc doesn't have this problem.

Besides that major qualm and the fact that the content is too short (If it weren't for the multi-angle, one disc would have been quite big enough,) I still enjoyed the music, which incorporates elements of Drum and Bass, Traditional Indian Music, Hip-Hop, Funk, and Trance, an eclectic mix that comes together quite nicely.

Had it been longer and not had the sync problem on the second disc, I would have given it 4 stars."

Worth Buying

khiladi100 | 11/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was at this show at the Fillmore last year and it was a great show, though not as good as their first show at Stern Grove the previous summer. I hope they also release a dvd of that show, until then, get the audio cd. The dvd, is beautifully done, but it also shows that the musicians were a little uncomfortable because it was so damn hot at that show. I remember I was near the stage, and people were crammed like sardines. These guys should be seen at an outdoor venue. Good dvd, overall, though, and the multiangle feature is done wonderfully."