Talvin Singh

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Talvin Singh (Matharoo) (born in 1970 in Leytonstone, London, England) is a British DJ and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of classical Indian music and drum n bass. Talvin Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica sub genre called Asian Underground.

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[edit] Early Life and Career

Singh grew up in Leytonstone and began playing the tabla, breakdancing and listening to punk rock as a child. At the age of 15, Singh went to India where he studied tabla under Pandit Lashman Singh, but he returned to the UK after just one year. In spite of this classical training, Singh's tabla playing was not accepted by British promoters of classical Indian music, as he incorporated too strongly his western influences. By the late 1980s, Singh had decided to turn towards the fusion of sounds, and soon he began working as a musician with such artists as Madonna,the Indigo Girls, David Sylvian, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Sun Ra, Björk, Massive Attack and the Future Sound of London.

In late 1995, Singh founded the Anokha club night with promoter Sweety Kapoor at East London's Blue Note, where drum'n'bass DJs and South Asian punk bands went head to head with the amped-up sounds of his tabla and percussion. Guest spots by LTJ Bukem and others made Anokha a Monday-night hotspot in London, and Singh signed to Island for an Anokha compilation including several of his own productions. He worked as a remixer until releasing his solo debut, OK, in 1999. The album won him the Mercury Music Prize for 1999.

[edit] Style and Influences

Singh's music is unique in its combination of electronic dance music styles, particularly ambient and jungle, with the tradition of Indian classical music. In describing his music, as well as his approach to composing and producing, Singh has said, "It's not fusion music....it's not crossover, because I don't separate music. If you don't separate it then you don't need to fuse it or cross it over. You just treat it as one element. Whatever it is, fundamentally it's still a group of 12 notes." [1] Playing a fully amplified rig that the press has labeled 'Tablatronics,' Singh honours the aesthetic and cultural aspects of the Indian classical music tradition while embracing modern technology. Strongly influenced by the Internet and other developments in information technology, Singh has suggested that "music and IT are now connected." [2] Stylistically, his music has been compared to early Weather Report and some of Can's "ethno-forgery" music of the 1970's,[3], but Singh has voiced an affinity for the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen: "We wouldn't have had electronic music if it weren't for Stockhausen. And he studied Indian music, he studied African music, he studied western composition. That's how he made his music. And we learn from that. It is a chain." [4] Because he has successfully melded Indian classical and folk elements into Anglo-American dance music, Singh is considered a figurehead for a new generation of "Asians" (as they are referred to in the United Kingdom) creating music whose traditional timbres are reinterpreted with contemporary attitudes.[5]

[edit] Controversy

Had copied one of the master piece sound created by A R Rahman for the Indian movie called "Bombay" into an English movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27WENTgi30&feature=related.

The track used in "Lord of War" in the clip cited above, "Mumbai Theme Tune" appears on the Talvin Singh-compiled "Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground," where it is correctly attributed to A.R. Rahman. The soundtrack listing at IMDB also correctly attributes the music to A.R. Rahman, titled "Bombay Theme Tune" (Mumbai is Bombay) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/soundtrack

[edit] Recorded Work

[edit] Solo Albums

[edit] Collaborations & original contributions

  • Madonna, "Cyber Raga", Music (2000)
  • Voxygen, a commission by [English National Opera]
  • Talvin Singh & Sangat - Songs for the inner world (2004) Live French Import.
  • Talvin Singh & Rakesh Chaurasi - Vira (2002) Navras.
  • Tabla Beat Science - Tala Matrix (2002) Palm Pictures.
  • Remixsingh OK (2001)Island / Japan Import.
  • Master Musicians of Jajouka (2000)
  • Randall & Hopkirk - Original soundtrack (2000) Island.
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Star rise (1997) Realworld.
  • Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground (1997) Island.
  • Calcutta Cyber Cafe: Drum + Space (1995) Omni Records.

8 Talvin Singh feat Amar-Jaan

[edit] Compilation

  • Back to Mine (2001) DJ-Series
  • Abracatabla (1994) Sampling CD

[edit] Remixes

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dan Glaister, "Singh-along-a-mix," The Guardian Oct 23 1998: T.019, ProQuest Platinum, Online (Nov 28 2007).
  2. ^ "A rhythm apart," The Statesman Feb 27 2006: p.1, ProQuest Platinum, Online (Nov 28 2007).
  3. ^ Richard Cook, "Singh song," New Statesman Mar 19 2001: p. 45, ProQuest Platinum, Online (Nov 28 2007).
  4. ^ Peter Aspden, "Interview: Talvin Singh," Financial Times Nov 22 2004: p. 13, ProQuest Platinum, Online (Nov 28 2007).
  5. ^ Mark Jenkins, "India's Growing Export; Of This We Singh: An Influx of Eastern Influences is Spicing Up Rock," The Washington Post Jan 17 1999: G.04, ProQuest Platinum, Online (Nov 28 2007).

[edit] External links

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