The Stone Turntable
Transglobal Underground release new album: The Stone Turntable
Transglobal Underground release new album: The Stone Turntable
Last September on a rainy Wednesday in the deserted streets of Wapping, surrounded by emptied warehouses, abandoned shopping centres and unused shiny office blocks left over from the last boom, the London based collective Transglobal Underground returned to their roots. Starting out with a few rough ideas, some loops and some live grooves, they entered the studio and started work on, “The Stone Turntable.”
Transglobal Underground’s last two albums, “Impossible Broadcasting” and the more recent, award winning “Moonshout” were notable for the collective’s fluid Iine-up and numerous collaborations across Europe, Asia and Africa. After the European journey of last years side project ‘A Gathering of Strangers,’ “The Stone Turntable” finds them back in London and the main feature of the album is the band that has come to be recognized as one of the UK’s best live acts. However this isn’t a live album, but the music started as a series of rough ideas and experiments that were then crafted into a set that starts where “Moonshout” left off. With a mixture of raw, funky grooves such as the ’70s clavinet driven “Don’t Let Me Skip a Beat,” the fanfare for the tribes of West London and Bombay, “Tribe Organiser” and “The Stone Turntable” a song that started as a four bar loop but expanded into a whole choir and a brass section, the band once more set out on a sonic journey. A rejuvenated TGU rediscovered their melodic side on songs such as “Deolali Junglee” an affectionate Bollywood tribute and ‘Sing for the Love of Your Life.’
Sheema Mukherjee’s sitar once again takes the instrumental starring role, but there is more of an emphasis on Mantu’s drums and Tuup’s congas, plus a greater use of brass and reeds than on any previous TGU outing. And of course there are a few special guests….ex Asian Dub Foundation bassist Dr Das adding his unmistakable groove on several tracks. UK rappers Shimmerbaby and Dizraeli adding their distinctive vocal styles to; “Tribe Organiser” and “Sing for the Love of Your Life” respectively. Afro jazz artist Kevin Haynes appears on ‘Gunsinger and long time Natacha Atlas and Banco de Gaia associate Larry Whelan features on horns and Indian reeds.