(my) why you want to be "Breathing Under Water"

I logged on to my Myspace page after a few eons, and noticed a message from someone I'd befriended a while back :

I just bought the new album, Breathing Under Water, on iTunes and got done listening to it. Holy wow!

I first got a taste of the album when I heard Kale and Shankar perform at the Stern Grove Festival last month, and I was just mesmerized. What struck me as fascinating was how I saw Kale go from playing the drums, to playing the tabla, to playing the guitar, to juggling fireballs while hopping on one foot. I can't think of a more talented, multifaceted, classical-music musician/producer. Here are some pictures I'd taken with my blackjack at the show :

   

Now needless to say, I've been a fan of Ravi Shankar's (like every other person on the face of the planet), and I don't expect anything less than spectacular from Anoushka on the sitar (because, you know, Anoushka is Ravi Shankar's daughter).

Vishal Vaid does the vocals on a few tracks, I believe. I think he's the son my mom's always wanted (my mom's a singer). 

The acoustics in this album are so varied. Just when you think you're getting to the point where you're getting od'd on Hindustani-classical, the tempo switches, and you get a little Norah Jones  ("Easy" (feat Norah Jones)). Each of the albums are just the right length. The longest track is PD7, which is around 7 minutes 20 seconds long, and I'll be honest, I'm a little torn about PD7 - the tempo changes on you around 80 times in the 7 and a half minutes. But the next one (Easy) is just perfect - 3 and a half minutes. But, wait, there's more. I was pleasantly surprised about 20 minutes in to listening to the album when I heard Sting on "Sea Dreamer". Sting has lent his voice and acoustics with the guitar on this track.

I was reading some of the other reviews online, and this one on phillyBurbs.com particularly stood out, mostly because of this one blurb  :

"... It was recorded in Mumbai, Tel Aviv, New York, New Delhi and California. But the London natives - Kale was raised in New York, Shankar in San Diego - have spent their lives rooted in that sort of global aesthetic. ..."

Yeah. Talk about your hybridized international music. I've gone through listening to this album thrice now already and I can't get enough. Seriously, go buy this album, now.

now playing in my head : "A Perfect Rain", Anoushka Shankar & Karsh Kale

"ai"

Technorati Tags: karsh kale, anoushka shankar, breathing under water, norah jones, sting, ravi shankar, vishal vaid, sea dreamer, phillyburbs, a perfect rain, stern grove, stern grove festival

Comments

• Anonymous
  September 20, 2007
  Alright, you convinced me. I just ordered it off Amazon because I'm old-fashioned like that :)