Jan 16, 2011

Sundaze 1103

Hello, been rather busy this week getting some tv shows in dvd/blue ray quality and in the mkv format which as you might know is 'open source' hence not loved by industry, even less so as it is of superior quality/size ratio . One company has really understood the superior power of open source and that's Google, Sun too dabbles along somewhat to as they became forced to get involved with linux. Meanwhile the general public still believes anything you pay for is better, alas in many cases this is not so, once they wake up many current digital hotshot companies will go the way of the dodo, hence the smart ones are desperately diversivying now credit is still good..We'll see what happens in the decade ahead.
Today's offering are a duo loving it in Mumbai, "Outsourced' anyone? Anyway it brought them together as the Bombay Dub Orchestra, not sure about that dub, i prefer the remix album which probably is more dub but still not overly, oh well it manages to stay within lounge/chill out borders without crossing into muzak which would have been a small disaster as so many talented artists have attributed their skills here.

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Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is central to the Bombay Dub Orchestra project. The people, the colours, the buildings, the smells, the food and life in the heart of the city has been integral to the inspiration behind their work. Both Hughes and Mackay have been traveling to Mumbai since the early 90's and first worked together there in 1998. In the late 1990s, the UK-based team of composer/arranger/pianist Andrew T. Mackay (Roxy Music) and producer Garry Hughes (Art of Noise, Sly & Robbie, and Pink Floyd Orchestral Project) traveled to India to record Bombay's top session players for a project by Spellbound, a duo from India based in London. "I produced and Andrew arranged, Hughes recalls. "It was a fantastic experience 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. In 2005, the duo returned to Bombay to spend their days recording a 28-piece string section (violins, violas and cellos) and their nights recording expert players of classical Indian instruments (bansuri, sarangi, tabla and sitar) and traditional Indian vocalists. Mackay elaborates, "We have a great rapport with the musicians and technicians in Mumbai and have built strong relationships over the last ten years." Mackay adds, "The soloists are amazing and there is a great selection of musicians, some veterans of the industry who have played on the biggest film scores and records in the last thirty years.

On this album the duo worked with a great number of instrumentalists, including a 28-piece Indian orchestra (located in Bombay of course), and numerous solo artists and vocalists throughout India and England. As the album progresses, the soft beats and varied percussion dissolve into increasingly atmospheric and sparse orchestrations. However, that's not to say the whole thing isn't sublimely relaxing. Every song delivers (in different measure) epic arrangements of sweeping strings, Indian vocals and instrumental solo's involving everything from sarangi and sitar to cello, piano and violin.

Bombay Dub Orchestra is the "orchestra chill-out record constructed from these recordings. It honors the essential contemplative nature of its source material—Indian classical music. Offering far greater parts improvised Indian melodies than dub, mixed with a fair amount of Western classical string arrangements, Bombay Dub Orchestra's dub style shares more in common with the likes of Thievery Corporation than either the twisted genius of Mad Professor or strong reggae vibes of Lee Perry, as the dub focus is placed squarely on smooth, deep, dubby bass lines.

Since the release of their self-titled debut, the name Bombay Dub Orchestra has built quite a reputation. From main-stage performances at the UK's Big Chill Festival and Djing across the globe, scoring feature films to remixing such world-renowned artists as Bob Marley, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Bebel Gilberto, their 2009 sophomore album, 3 Cities was well recieved too.



Bombay Dub Orchestra (06 350mb)


01. Compassion 04:45
02. Rare Earth 05:47
03. Mumtaz 04:11
04. The Berber Seville 04:05
05. To The Shore 06:19
06. The Greater Silence 06:23
07. Feel 06:49
08. Dust 04:21
09. Sonata 03:21
10. Unexpected Rain 05:07
11. Beauty And The East 08:43
12. Remembrance 02:17

Bombay Remix (294mb)

13. Rare Earth (Forest Of Thieves Mix) 08:43
14. Feel (Diamond Cake Mix) 05:33
15. Beauty And The East (Marine Drive Traffic Jam) 06:20
16. The Berber Of Seville (Berber Of Suburbia Mix) 06:12
17. Dust (Pigment Of Your Imagination Mix) 07:25
18. Compassion (Continental Drift Mix) 06:56
19. The Berber Of Seville Orchestra (Father Mackay's Celestial Vision) 05:38
20. Remembrance (Fires Remix) 05:39

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2 comments:

Jacquard Causeway said...

A reup of these two albums would be much appreciated Rho.

Thank you.

apf said...

Thank you Rho !