Beyond Skin

Enjoyed working to it but not something I see myself returning to.

10th July 2023 Listened a day late in the office. Pub with Cox and Georgia in the evening. A really unique record with some interesting tracks blending hip hop, psychedelia and traditional Indian music. Not heard anything like it, enjoyable.

Couldn't get through it. Hook central, too.

A very interesting mix of musical styles, building on, and adding to, the sound of the Asian Underground (a compilation well worth seeking out). There are some outstanding tracks (notably "Tides") but there are a couple of tracks that could safely have been omitted, making for a more powerful, compact album. The various news items on different atomic bomb tests, ending with the famous Oppenheimer quote, add to the slight feeling of unease that permeates the album. The thing is, were you to put the record on, listen for a while then leave the room, when you returned you know exactly what you'd be getting and wouldn't really have missed much.

Interesting style, not something I would usually listen to

This is a really diverse, interesting collection of songs. Awash in musical influences, from drum and bass to R&B and hip hop and world music. This is eclecticism done right. Some of the vocal tracks sound pretty dated and the whole album would have benefitted from dropping a couple of songs. But overall a great listen. Fave Songs: Tides, Letting Go, Broken Skin, Nadia, Homelands

Wow I expected metal based on the name and album art but I'm totally down with this so far. Although it's a little boring, the music is still nice. I kinda wish it tried to say a little more but oh well.

Our villa got robbed and then we filed a report in broken Italian to the Carabinieri and then we listened to this album and I think that’s what this album was created for. +1 stars for good timing

All over the place, many songs were a 2, some were a 3.5-4. 2.5 overall

Starts off really good, but kinda goes off the rails in the back half.

I was enjoying this until it got a bit weird. Too much wailing n stuff.

6/10. Concepto interesante peeo irritante en lo sonoro, las udeas tampcoo son una locura y la produccion está mas que on point.

This album has a great thematic concept and the different blend of styles is quite cool - till the album becomes just too long and if feels like you have either some downtempo lounge sound, Indian music or a female singer piano based ballad. It's nice but not something you will listen to that often.

Wel een mooie boodschap vind ik en verklaart de titel: My identity and my history are defined only by myself – beyond politics, beyond nationality, beyond religion, and Beyond Skin. Paar mooie momenten en vet dat het verhaal zich in reverse afspeelt, maar vind het contrast te groot tussen muziekstijlen. Favoriete nr.: Beyond Skin / Tides

Mostly enjoyable (especially The Pilgrim and Nostalgia) but also sometimes annoying, and sometimes made me feel nothing at all

Pretty interesting

Interesting genre of music. The album goes from Middle Eastern world music to pop to jazz to electronic. Pretty good.

It's very listenable to, I was doing a funding bid this afternoon, in a 90s office vibe with a big printer, usb drives and those jelly coloured imacs. I want to say I love it. But I don't.

Know it's a classic, but it receded into the background. Perhaps I didn't listen "actively". There are moments of innovation, then as the labum wears on it failed to hold my attention.

Helt chill, gillade vocals

3.5 Pretty cool (except for one or two tracks I didn't enjoy), chill trip hop with Indian influences (alongside other stuff like flamenco, classical, etc)

danstónslist blönduð indverskum áhrifum. snoturt. kaffihús. mun líklega aldrei hlusta á þetta aftur. 3,5.

Hadn’t heard of this artist before. Not inspired to listen to more.

Mixed feelings about this. I wanted to feel like this was a land mark album but it never pushed the barriers I thought it would.

Can't shake the post apocalyptic feeling this album conveys with samples from Nuclear test news reports and Oppenheimer quotes - it's actually surprisingly interesting throughout - even though for me it's dreaded WORLD music in it's actually stereotypical sense. But it's actually good, interesting, maybe not as memorable as others.

Interesting mix of styles. There's some drum 'n' bass type electronic music but also bits of jazz, classical and Indian music. My favorites were the rhythmic, dance-influenced tracks, especially when they added in Indian vocals. Whoa, “The Conference” is amazing — I’ve never heard vocals like that before haha. Incredible!

I hesitate quite a bit between a 2 (questionable choice) and 3 (reasonable choice) for this. It's certainly not my cup of tea, but ultimately I believe it has a distinct enough sound palette to be a worthwhile entry to the list.

It’s ok

Interesting. I’m not familiar with him, but this guy has quite the resume.

Beyond Skin is the fourth album by English musician Nitin Sawhney. The album's theme focuses on nuclear weapons and an individual's self identity. This downtempo, drum and bass album was well received by critics, but only reached the 44th spot on the UK Albums chart - so it was widely overlooked by the general public. Beyond Skin was an interesting album that had some highs and lows, but I considered it enjoyable. It was a cool concept album.

Pretty good

funky, jazzy, a little aphex twinny?, sounds like old kendrick tide and pilgrim were fire mad good for something from 1999

Such a mess of genres but it did have some good one a in there

3.5

Since Sawhney is a Indian living in England its fitting that he's fused Indian music with English downtempo music (which was big in the 90s due to bands such as Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Bonobo etc). When this came out I had this album on heavy rotation, I really enjoyed the more traditional Indian songs with tablas, ragas and sufi type chanting. Homelands IMO is the best song on the album and instrumental Tides is lovely. I really like the heavy Indian influence on Nadia and the vocal counterplay on The Conference is really fabulous. However, the more commercial English songs featuring the female singer are just God-awful - eg Broken Skin, Letting go and Immigrant and really ruin this album for me. If those songs had been left out I would have given this one more star.

An interesting listen, for sure. Not something I could replay very much, but cool exposure to some of the African and Asian influences woven into the music.

Interesting, eclectic, jazzy, chill, experimental but also a bit pretentious.

Not bad, but not my jam.

A cool listen - unique, interesting and good variety among the songs

This was a unique album that I enjoyed listening to. Lots of variety and very much not something I'd normally listen to but I'm glad I did

Very strange album, but I liked it. Especially the instrumental tracks like "Tides".

Electrónica, soul, experimental... Variado.

india strong... india world superpower 3500... indi awin olympics 4052 delhi... death to pakistan pakistan dogs lower quality of life like dogs hahahahaha😂😂😂😂 I am from Great Britain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, an island nation in Europe. homelands

fairly happy with this, i suspect its a grower. sometimes this list throws an album at you and a single days turn around will only give you an initial opinion, a few more listens could make it a much higher rating. no i know about this album i'll definitely be giving it another couple of chances.

Musically this album melds Indian classical music, trip-hop, drum n' bass and chill out with numerous other styles thrown in at points for good measure. It's seemingly a concept album with a running commentary on both on national identity and nuclear war. It's a brave, expansive album and a lot to absorb on first listen. I'll probably revisit it at some point and I suspect it might get a higher score after a few more listens.

Enjoyable enough

I really liked the concept of this. Electronic music with anything is my jam. However, I didn’t like the female vocalist’s voice at all and this album sounded very dated. I didn’t even need to look at the album info to know it was from the late 90s. Interesting fusion of music, but I was glad when it was over.

Pretty cool. It was a lot different than what I would normally listen to, but that made it novel and refreshing. Definitely want to listen to it again.

Chill dreamy vibes

Interesting sonic landscape. First track k was fabulous, some smooth tracks after too, but by the end I was k8nda getting sick of it. 3/5

weird, spacey and spare, good morning album

Unknown to me before now, this one challenged me both in terms of genres outside my norm and geo-political issues I'm woefully under-educated on. I'm thankful for the exposure, but didn't enjoy it enough musically to add it to a regular rotation.

Weird

This album was all over the place

Quite varied. An interesting mix. I think I like individual songs, but not necessarily the album as a whole

Soft background music

Pretty good

Oddity. Jumps from chilled trip hop to easy listening to rap to Indian centric wailing. All with some kind of Nuclear weapons anxiety theme. It was nominated for the Mercury prize. Bland and annoying ar different times. Not for me. 2.5

I have never heard of Nitin Sawhney before listening to the album Beyond Skin. I was happy to hear some new music outside of what I typically choose on my own. I enjoyed the Asian and World elements of this album, in both the vocals and choices of instruments. I added a few songs to my personal playlist (“Nadia”, “Serpents”, “Tides”). There were tracks that had more R&B and Rap than I care for. I would listen to more music from Sawhney, but I don't think I will be back to listen to this whole album again.

Ultimately quite dull.

p845. 1999. 3 stars. Mood music/background listening, with samples and Asian influences to hook you in. Well done of its kind, but it does outstay its welcome.

Very interesting and eclectic. There is something for everyone because the track list is so versatile.

first listen very forgettable

Nice, interesting and out of my comfort zone, but not something I can see myself listening to again.

Interesting and diverse listening.

Enjoyable, and probably great as a quiet background soundtrack to dinner. But not something I'd listen to again. Didn't dislike but didn't add.

Un album bizarre à écouter mais quand même bien. Un moment c'est très rythmé avec un bon beat et une bonne ambiance et après c'est très bizarre avec des sons pas communs. Ca nous amène aileurs et c'est quand même spécial. Il a sa place sur cette liste. 3.60

trippy

A pretty interesting listen, not quite sure what to make of it yet, but a few tracks made me sit up and take notice. It piqued my interest enough to give it a few more spins.

Zeer 'zen' muziek om over zo'n zwaar thema te gaan. Speciaal maar wel oké

Interesting sound. Not terrible, but I am unlikely to revisit this artist or album.

It was pleasant enough background music. I'm sure the lyrics were pretty deep and meaningful, but I never caught the urgh to stop what I was doing and listen to them. it just came and went

A concept album about nuclear weapons in India. This fuses Indian music and instrumentation with a range of other styles. It makes effective use of spoken word sections - news reports etc. Nitin Sawney has created something unique and interesting. It's not something I'm likely to return to though. 3/5

I found a lot of the vocals to be really irritating initially, although not so jarring on subsequent listens. Would've liked this album a lot more if it was just the beats and grooves, as they were actually quite good.

Enjoyed this quite a bit

Not the worst. It is hard to make opinion about something out of my comfort zone. I give it 3, because it was nice, chillin' stuff.

Unfamiliar with this artist previously. Looks like a lot of soundtrack work, so probably heard their work, just didn't even realize it? Anyways, this album definitely has some 90s cheese factor going on, but grabbed my attention at "Homelands" and "Pilgrim" has a cool vibe. From there, it rides into a pleasant cofffehouse vibe of an album and kinda hangs there, with some cool unique flourishes involved. After digging in a little further, the album definitely has some cool themes running throughout. All in all, an enjoyable listen, but not something that needs to be in any regular rotation for me.

Quite enjoyed what I heard 3*

Actually quite enjoyed it. Very good as background working music. I'm unlikely to ever to remember to listen again though.

Pretty chill down-tempo. I like a few of the songs but beyond that for a lot I'd rather them be instrumental.

Hmmmmmm

found the annoying song from the Apple commercial

crazy 3.5

Нуууууууу, не знаю. Вроде норм, но наверное не моё.

Tsja, wat zullen we hier nu eens van zeggen. Het varieert nogal. Origineel is het sowieso. Sommige nummers niet te doen, sommige hartstikke prima.

240324 15:45 3.5

This one surprised me. Not at all what I thought it would sound like based on the cover art. I was thinking something more industrial? I didn't walk away humming anything, but a nice listen all the same.

A lot of different sounds on this album. Some of them are really solid, others I found incredibly grating. Cool album, but not for me in the long run.

It’s an interesting concept album, but I wasn’t able to appreciate it fully. The bits about nuclear incidents were interesting, but the music wasn’t for me. EDM with mixed in recorded playbacks told a story, just not interested in hearing it again.

Its ok I just didnt connect, I like the point it makes

50/50 helft verrassend oed, helft verrassend minder.

Trippy. How do you even characterize an album like this? Smooth, airy, haunting... usage of percussion loops, acoustic guitars, mellow layered vocals, various environmental sound effects. I definitely don't like everything, e.g. - the spoken word/raps (e.g. "Pilgrim") don't connect with me and I'm probably just not used to that quarter-tone eastern melody style which is used a lot here ("Anthem Without Nation"). This isn't rock music by any stretch - I still don't know what to call it (electro-easter-jazz-rap?) but the best bits sure were/are interesting and for every turn I don't love [sadly most of the vocal parts especially later in the album] it comes back to maybe jazz piano ("Tides") or breakbeats ("Serpent") that I get into. I don't like it enough to call it a keeper but I could listen to (most of) this again. 6/10 3 stars.

Indisk atmosfære musik og hiphop, med lidt avantgarde jazz indover. Meget mærkeligt blanding

This slots into a particular slice of global music that doesn't do a lot for me, though a few of the pieces stood out. Thematically, subtlety obviously wasn't the point, although maybe when the topic is nuclear proliferation, that's fair?

Sometimes chill, sometimes beautiful, sometimes weird as hell. Lots of cool grooves and some world music tones too. Not my normal cup of tea but it was pretty relaxing at times.

Chill electronic/trip-hop vibes.

Weird album. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Don't need it.

Saved to listen later, I'm excited

Ce gars-là avait enchaîné les bizarreries, nous laissant apercevoir les prémices de l'escroquerie qu'allait être ce générateur.

The vocals behind the album are super fucking ethereal. The second to last song was used in an incredibly shitty Apple commercial that played nonstop during March Madness. Kinda cool, but I feel like if I didn’t look up the story behind the album I’d like it less. I’d give it 2.5 stars if I could

Ignoriert man den weltmusiklichen Teil, super Album!

drole d'idee d'avoir foutu que des sons de merde au milieu de l'album, 3/5

Never heard of this. It's on the softer, loungier side of downtempo, with lots of organic instrumentation collaged into a chilled, cerebral hour of electronic music. Personally, I found the slightly harder-edged tracks like "Nadia" and "Serpents" were the best - so I would have preferred the whole thing to be a more muscular trip-hop album really. The incorporation of Indian vocals and instruments works well, and gives the sense of "fourth world" aesthetics. Overall, it's pretty good with a few too many low points. 3.5.

Some of the songs I enjoyed, some made me question my choices in life. I feel like this album was trying to tell a story where I lacked the context.

Bijzonder album. Lijk wel de beginselen van lo-fi en er zit wat pop bij

7. Interesting musically and cool concept, but weird as an album and some of the songs weren't that great

C’est un excellent album et exactement pourquoi je voulais participer à cette découverte. Par contre j’ai eu du mal à comprendre l’enchaînement des chansons. Ça ne se suivait pas toujours bien Je l’évite les tounes avec beaucoup de vocales, sont moyenne Je lévite tous les tounes instrumentales

j aime bien avec un rhum pour homme

Very interesting. had some good songs tho

J'ai vraiment aimé ses sons. Souvent, ce genre d'album qui navigue hors des sentiers battues ne m'accroche pas vraiment, mais ici j'ai bien aimé. Je suis toujours intéressant par les sons/instruments qui me rappelle l'orient. Je réécouterais l'album. Lâche pas mon Nitin! Mon hit: Pilgrim. J'aimais le côté hiphop de la pièce, mais il répétait son refrain un peu trop souvent.

An interesting listen with heavy Indian influences. I loved that it felt more like Nitin was trying to drag emotions out of the listener with all of the samples and that really added a weight to the album. But, as much as I love that, it takes away from the listening experience from song to song, more an emotional state of being than a direct statement. All in all, I liked the moodiness of the album and the dramatic presentation but don't think I'd listen to the whole thing again. Favorite songs: Pilgrim and Serpents

OK, kool

This is not what I expected. I kind of liked it. Some tracks were GORGEOUS. 3.5/5.0

Never heard of this before but I quite enjoyed it

i wanted so bad to like this album and part of me did but the other way left confused

Considering the heavy nature of the lyrics and message of this album I feel a bit bad for calling it background music from a 90s video game. But it sounds like background music from a 90s video game.

Every song seemed to go a minute or two too long. They weren't bad, just long.

Lo encontré interesante pero no bueno

Sawhney's resume is stunning. I liked the music, but wasn't really drawn in.

Highlights: Broken Skin, 2.2

Never heard of him or this album. But what a CV the guy has. I thought this was a reasonable listen, although some of the more 'ethnic' tracks dragged on. The album art is pretty off-putting too. 2½

50 minutes into this album and I've come to realise I didn't really find any part of this album I actually liked listening to. I do like the concept, this weird Hindi-infused Trip Hop Ambient music. Like a lot of 90's albums, they don't really do anything interesting with the concept. Songs are too stretched out and the beats are nice but not really more than that. Wish it was better.

meh

2.3 2x

I didn't dislike this as much as I thought I would from the first couple of tracks (there's definitey a variety of styles here), but for the most part I found this to be self-important, boring, and too long.

What did I just listen too? This is a strange album. Interesting, but I will not l8sten again.

Unremarkable

It is the norm nowadays for streaming services to all have curated playlists to accompany us all on just about every conceivable daily event. I find the Chill, Relax, Focus or Sleep playlists particularly useful last thing at night when I turn the light to drift off to the land of nod. This album could be one of those playlists. For that reason I’m not altogether negative about it other than to say that if I had it on every night its repetitiveness would become very boring when I’m in the process of counting sheep. Or maybe that would be an advantage? Think the playlists do a better job. Goodnight Zzzzzzzz! 2/5 6/6/26

Well, it was definitely different. But also strange and not my thing.

First song was really good, second was good then it started to turn for me. After a few songs in I couldn't do it anymore. When rating albums I used to say "this sucks" but now I respect that although it's not MY favorite, that doesn't mean it can't be anyone's favorite. Now I say "it's nice, but it's not for me" This is nice, but it isn't for me. I'll give it a 2 because I did like a few tracks

I was unaware of this artist. But reading his Wikipedia page showed an enormously talented performer, composer, writer and thinker working across multiple genres and highly successful I'm all of them. The album arrives dripping with significance: a concept album about the Shadow of the Nuclear Bomb. And yet, for all that, it hits the ear sounding like a watered down Massive Attack, without an ounce of their richness and complexity. It promises big, but it's really a bit generic and dull.

No thanks. Almost a 1.

It's the first time I have heard this group. I liked some fusione elements, expecially in "Nadia", but I'd preferred more experimentation and less english vocals. Instead, it goes too farn in the direction of commercial/(trip)pop.

Perhaps equal parts soothing and annoying, but the annoyance wins in this rating.

Buen trabajo algo monotono

I'm fine with foo-fooey music. This tried to be many world genres at once it seems, which results in this beige/gray collage. It was fine to listen to but super forgettable. 2*

Day873 - the late nineties, early two-thousands music really stunk across the whole planet

Pick a genre, any genre. Now pick another one. And another.

It was different. 2.

Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5

Back and forth between boring lo-fi and weird Indian breakcore hip hop kind of stuff. At best it was inoffensive but a lot of tracks were pretty annoying

Zoals bekend bevalt de gemiddelde triphop of breakbeatplaat onze band of sour brothers over het algemeen prima en scoort het gemiddeld erg hoog. Als je dan de eerste deuntjes hoort, dan val je wel gelijk in het warme triphop bad. Maar ga je het vergelijken met andere albums met vergelijkbare muziek in deze lijst, dan is het denk ik wel net wat minder. Het gaat alle kanten op: soms is het meer een 90s R&B-nummer, of soms een dancenummer zonder de dance (heeft er niemand een remix gemaakt van Immigrant? ). De wereldmuziek die er doorheen komt, kan interessant zijn, maar ik ben even een beetje klaar met die gemenebest-klanken als ik eerlijk ben. En dat is het sausje dat het speciaal moet maken, want verder zit er behalve het breakbeatje niet heel veel in. Of het moeten wat pogingen tot beatbox zijn. Kortom: de relaxte vibe in de lijn van het genre is fijn, maar over het geheel zitten er ook wat mindere kanten aan. Uiteindelijk vind ik het ietwat saai zelfs. Dus is dit niet een album dat ik ooit nog een keer op ga zetten ben ik bang en daar hoort een bepaald cijfer bij.

Dull stuff to listen to and if find much of the singing style to be unlistenable. The more asian sounding tracks are quite mysterious sounding.

An electronic album with eastern music influences. Nothing too exciting

The 10% of this I like does not at all make up for the 90% that I can't stand at all. 2 stars or D-.

2.0

I like the idea of this album, but it just doesn't sound all that great.

I connected less with this album the more that I listened to it. As it began the music drew me in. By the time it hit Serpents I was done.

pas fan

foxtel guide ass music as much as i do occasionally love this genre (lofi, d&b) and find it useful for flights and rainy days, my immediate gut reaction was that nothing from it could ever be deserving of any accolades, so might need to examine that but i probably won't to be fair! the only reason i tuned in today is cause i knew i could get through it in a work day (easy listening!)

Track "The conference" is the best track which displays Indian rhythms that will blow most Western influenced ears out of their expectations.

Not sure about this one. Not very exciting and nothing really stood out to me. Also the vague political messaging was pretty cheesy.

This was a weird one. A soul-inspired record by a vocalist who sings different each song with random Indian production mixed in. Overall it does not work out.

I appreciate that this feels earnest. It's a weird entry. It isn't bad but, like, what is it. Maybe I've got 1,001 more albums to listen to so I can understand things more. Or this is this just something that doesn't make sense if you aren't British and writing this list.

This was another of those ones that are clearly more important maybe to the British experience. This was fine, had some interesting bits, but not required listening and for that I'm out. 2.4

Interesting fusion of genres but it was quite bland by a few tracks in. It's a very 90s sound that reminds me of the background music in Sliding Doors.

It’s alright. When it has the elements of more traditional Indian music, it’s a decent listen. Then it shifts back to the most basic western electronica you’ve ever heard. That song about the village (Pilgrim I had to check) or whatever has to be one of the worst songs I’ve heard.

A couple interesting tracks, but I was pretty bored with most of it.

Absolutely bizarre.

'Immigrant' hat den Vibe gekillt. Ansonsten ganz ok anzuhören. Entspannte elektronische Beats.

I liked this more back in the day, still good, but no longer in my wheelhouse.

Is the coverart a reference to The Bends or something? I dont know, music was chill but the message is hard to grasp without hindu knowledge, something about Nuclear Apocalypse that isnt fully conveyed, eh not something I would seek out, but nice to hear once in this list. 2/5

very chill, maybe drags on a little long.

Some good stuff, but overall not my thing.

I really don't understand this one.

This is an interesting mix of western composition and traditional Indian ragas. It's much more than that too, and the instrumental performance suggests incredible talent. Vocals are quite beautiful as well. I also respect the themes being explored here. However, all that being said, I don't really respond to this overall. I just don't ever see myself returning to listen to this. It's not bad, just doesn't have anything within in that really inspires me to dig into it.

indian vibe

The best way to summarize my attitude towards this is album is: it's not you, it's me. Because the album is eclectic, there's a lot of experimenting and it really has something to say. But I just don't like it and that's on me.

Not awful. But not something I will listen to ever again.

It's well put together and provocative. I liked the South Asian/ hindustani sounds a lot, wished it leaned into that even more as the electronica and trip hop inspired vocal elements dated it badly. Mostly interesting, sometimes moving, occasionally cringe. And I hope there's meaning behind the album cover because it's horrendous

Artiste inconnu. Absolument pas de Jazz dans cet album, qui est un vrai générateur d'ennui profond ... Pas désagréable en musique de fond, mais aucun intérêt par ailleurs, sauf peut être l'instrumental "Tides" qui le sauve de la note minimale. =>2/5

no direction, just underwhelming

Interesting album. Not quite for me but very different and I never would have picked this one up on my own.

Pleasant, interesting enough in its (very late 90s) sense of fusion, but there's a lot of stuff in the second half that could have been cut, so the album wore out its welcome, and even with that aside it's all pretty forgettable.

1/12 liked

stupid

this is largely unlistenable, until you get to immigration. I do like this message though

Nadia // 1.5/5

Interesting, some much better than others.

2.5 We went from an album titled The Scream to one featuring a man doing just that on its cover, and yet, neither feature any actual screaming - we must have death metal up next. Anyway, given his British-Indian background, there’s definitely something interesting about the way Nitin blends two cultures of music here, but mostly, I found this to be pretty slow, boring, and overly long. If I were high and surrounded by some sort of colorful mood lighting, I could see this being more of a vibe, however, in the opportunities I had to listen to it here, I can’t say it did much for me. That said, there were a couple tracks that grew on me over the course of my listening. As far as this sort of downtempo sound goes, I think Letting Go hits the moody nail on its head about as well as one could want from the genre, and the more Indian-inspired instrumentation on the track complements much better than expected. However, I think the best instance of Nitin fusing his two cultural identities into one song here is on Nadia. Once again, he takes two very different styles of music that feel as if they shouldn’t play nicely together and combines them to create the most memorable, replayable moment of the album - it also doesn’t hurt that the vocalist on the track (as well as Letting Go) is fantastic. Unfortunately, The Conference does this much less successfully. Holy cow, was that song grating and the worst here by a mile. The rest of this album is pretty unremarkable, though for better or for worse, I found the “Life is like a puzzle not pieced yet” lyric from Pilgrim stuck in my head for a little bit after listening. I guess this is supposed to be a sort of concept album revolving around nuclear weaponry, as evidenced by the cover and Oppenheimer quote on the final track, but I can’t say that came across at any point before that. Granted, I wasn’t paying super close attention to all of the lyrics here, but I at least listened to this thing enough times to say that it’s certainly not a consistent theme. This album is pretty consistent otherwise, but unfortunately, not exactly in an overly enjoyable way for me - pretty mid overall.

mostly nice coding music, but it gets absolutely unbearable the moment a human being starts singing in a human language

Deeply un-enjoyable listen. Not for me. 1.5 rounded up because I’m happy it’s over with.

Started off strong, got boring.

it's definitely not the worst but this also is not it. almost reads like an insult to the every genres I like here sigh

Just not sure what this is and why it’s on the list.

Boring

This sound really died in the 90s. It was a weird mix of non western music and subby bass

Not for me.

This was interesting, I enjoy the blend of chill trip-hop bears and piano with traditional Indian singing and instruments in parts. I couldn't really get into the story much. I liked the piano sound in Tides a lot. Didn't wow me and dragged towards the end

Soundtracked a nice hike through a state park. Worked swell.

sorry too weird not a fan

Was ok

It’s cool and goofy, but not my bag.

Wow so cool you wrote an album about nuclear weapons with heavy use of Indian styles! Too bad you couldn’t make it interesting. Tides is a good peaceful moment, but most of this does not appeal to me.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I can't tell if this is familiar because I ran into it in the late 90s/early 00s, or if it just sounds like a hundred other bands from around that time. It blends a bunch of genres neatly, but it's too straightforward and rhythmically unadventurous to elevate past "music that would have made me pull up Shazam at a Gap, add it to a playlist, and then never listen to it again."

I didn't get all the hate at first, then track 3 started and was completely different followed by another genre change for track 4. Now I get it. This thing is all over the place.

"Beyond Skin" by Nitin Sawhney surprised me right from the start. When I saw genres like electronic, downtempo, and drum 'n' bass listed, I expected something quite different. What I actually heard felt much closer to R&B most of the time. Overall, it is an ok album, but not one that really stood out to me. Some tracks use Arabic scales and musical elements that honestly confused me a bit rather than pulling me in. I also read that the album carries a strong political message, from references to the India-Pakistan nuclear situation in "Broken Skin" to Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita at the end of "Beyond Skin". That is interesting on paper, but for me the focus is on the music, and musically it felt pretty bland. I might give it another listen at some point, but definitely not anytime soon.

Fine, I dont think id ever listen again. Second listen was a struggle I dunno

Not for me

It was meh at best. I am all for trying different styles within the same album but most songs genuinely sucked and eventually I couldn't even put it as a background noise as it distracted me. Though the mix of traditional indian music and modern indie was definitely something cool, just wish there were more flavour to them. 2/5

My ears were tortured for 1 hour by Indian electronic music. Some songs performed by the lady with good voice. Some songs are not too bad. Overall it is not music for me.

Maybe I just don’t get it?

indian

The Hindu influence here is pure wasted potential. Visually and conceptually it’s intriguing, but the music itself is underwhelming. It lacks rhythmic impact and depth; the tracks just blend into the background without leaving any lasting impression or memorable highlights.

Unfortunately this is just not very interesting. Searching through the songs looking for melodies. The only thing that can be said it is atmospheric. Not much else though.

Downtempo electronica with lots of influences from Indian music. Interesting idea and there were some great rhythms but it was overall a bit flat and boring for me.

Not as expected, bit of a slog

Weird elevator music

Preferred it when it was going full weird world music rather than the 90s rnb it started with

Not my jam

Interesting Indian pop/electronic music. Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Nadia

Nah man. Indian r and b politico jams.

I really enjoyed the first two songs. And then i dont know what happened to the rest of this album. It's experimental for sure. But damn this was tough. Immigrant very much gave me Disney movie vibes.

Not a fan

Bit weird, especially the lofi jazz tune with nuclear excerpts

It was (checks notes…) this morning that I wrote a review for Beth Orton's monstrosity of an album that I included - "If the author(s) feel like dolling out a slot on this list to every UK artist that gets a Mercury Prize nomination waved in their direction this is going to be a very trying ordeal." I can add no more to that. I am however doubting the capabilities of the Mercury Prize in their taste of music. 2/5

I like to think I have pretty eclectic taste in music, but this was a little too eclectic for even me. Favorite track: Homelands

This album is really all over the place, and not in a good way. Pretty boring listen. Def didn’t need to hear this before I died. I wanted to give it a bonus point for being thematically interesting but the message gets lost in the mud.

Pretty varied and entertaining. Had no clue what to expect but was good to listen to altough not great

Broken Skin 3 Letting Go 2.7 Homelands 3 The Pilgrim 2.4 Tides 3.3 Nadia 2.3 Immigrant 2.6 Serpents 2.4 Anthem Without Nation 2 Nostalgia 1.8 The Conference 2 Beyond Skin 2.3 Score: 2.483333333

Interesting Indian motifs and piano but didn't connect with me

home cooking again. Thought parts of this were ok, but not deserving of repping 1999.

Hookah tunes

Альбом не пришелся мне по вкусу, но было интересно послушать для разнообразия.

Some songs were pretty good. Some sounded like toilet noises.

Complex blend of genres that ultimately fell flat for me.

Mysig inledning, sen blev det sämre… Men är ändå inte superdåligt, tokig näst sista(?) låt som piggade upp.

So far the sampling on track 3 are the most interesting. Combination of Indian and Latin tones. Nice groove. First two tracks are more mild in tone. Trip hopi but maybe a bit to clean for me. Tides has some very nice piano. Nadia is a strong one that I know previously from an amazing rendition of Jeff Beck. Immigrant is nice but a bit to long. Which I feel like like it's something that's going to affect the scoring of this. 8 is not good, and too long. I'm happy it's over. Not a great one. Some very good highlight on the first half but overall, too long and not inspired enough. Not something that I'm going back to. But the positives are there So it's a flat 2.

”Pilgrim” var en riktigt fet låt. Annars för daterad 90-tals-lounge-drum-n-bass

Passar inte min smaaak.

känns som ett mkt intelligent album

Ett för städat hem är inte ett mysigt hem. Samma med musik. Beyond skin är inte dåligt men för polerat för att ens väcka en förnimmelse av känsla i min sargade själ.

Not my jam

Ambitious effort, creating a concept album about nuclear weapons, but it comes across a little pretentious, and the musicality is lacking any real depth or interest. The exception being the nutty "The Conference", which is the first song on the album that really grabbed my attention. Pity it took until the second last song for that to happen. Overall, an interesting idea, but not executed very well.

Mellow, boring jazzy electronica with some Eastern music sprinkled in. No new ground broken here. Songs regarding nuclear war? The American folk music scene is the 60s covered that. Incorporating Indian musical influences? The Beatles did it better. Another album that's only on the 1001 list because of the editor's bias toward UK acts.

This is a mix of interesting ideas... but it lacked music.

Good album. Pleasant trip hop sounds with Indian fulourishes for your late 90’s dinner party. Need more grist in my mill.

It was an interesting experience. Indian background elevator music with pseudo deep lyrics. Nice try. Excellent choice for 1001 Albums I Must Hear Before I Die. (No) If I get stoned, I’ll definitely play “The Conference” again. —————————————— Liked: — Broken Skin — Letting Go — Nostalgia — The Conference

++: Broken Skin, The Pilgrim, Serpents +: Homelands, Tides, Immigrant, The Conference, Beyond Skin +-: Letting Go, Nadia, Nostalgia -: Anthem Without Nation 5,0/10

Half chill coffee shop soundtrack, half anxiety inducing nightmare. (ntm.)

I feel I should like it... Got some vibes about it. But it's a no from me

Maybe I just don't get it, but I've no idea what the fuck that was. The only reason it gets a 2 was because Nadia was decent

J'aimais bien au début, mais plus ça avancait, plus les lamentations indiennes me tapaient sur les nerfs

They had me in the first half, not gonna lie. It was shaping up to be a decent one listen, 3 rating but the use of words as notes on the very repetitive DJ mixes killed it for me. Both Serpents and The Conference tanked it for me. I am cool with words and lyrics not being in English, and quite enjoy that sometimes, but with the electronic rave music behind it and the pacing it just felt less like music and more like sensory overload. It felt like when you fell asleep watching tv and wake up to an infomercial playing on loop.

At first I was wondering why the reviews were so overwhelmingly negative. It starts off as mostly a boring triphop album that doesn't pick up or go anywhere. And then it just gets annoying.

The good news is that this albums sole fear of complete nuclear annihilation has yet to happen. “Letting Go” had some really good vocal runs, it really stuck me even if it went on for a bit too long. The album takes on a lot of different sounds and genres to get to my favorite “Nadia”. More turn of the century DnB with some atmospheric chords floating around in the background. This project has no sonic cohesion from song to song, yet it’s also well-produced/performed. Some of my favorite subgenres, some wildly forgettable songs too. And for an album that wants to get into the exploration of the atomic bomb, it doesn’t dig that deep into ideas of mortality or consequence. Wanted more from this, but didn’t hate it, 2/5

Haunting melodijos.

Es ist ein klanglich vielseitiges Album mit politischem Anspruch, verliert sich aber oft in seiner Konzeptlastigkeit. Trotz interessanter Ansätze fehlt es an emotionaler Tiefe und musikalischer Klarheit. Ambitioniert, aber nicht ganz überzeugend.

Was thinking, “man, I might like this a lot more if it leaned more instrumental.” Then Tides came & I think that’s one of the best songs I’ve heard yet. & the track following was pretty good too. I don’t like trip-hop & this is like what our third one?? Cmon mannn

Some interesting pieces here. Nothing to write home about.

What a real mess of an album. The styles sometimes really clash with each other. Sometimes they're incredibly beautiful. The one thing that really stuck out to me was that the album really didn't seem to have a sonic direction. There were some really jarring differences from one song to the next that just didn't flow. Maybe a reorganization of the track listing would help, who knows. Despite this being a bit of a train wreck, it's not so much that it's a 1.

Overall not bad, a little all over the place.. A few songs stood out to me much more than others. Tides was fantastic, will listen to that one again. Enjoyed the piano heavy bits.

Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Massive Attack and many others are making the exact same type of music. I guess this one is supposed to be interesting because it has Spanish and Indian influences? And yeah that’s usually pretty dope but I found this album put me in a coma with how boring it was. A classic case of British Bias.

I had never heard of this artist before this recommendation. The album has a calm sound, but the topics it covers are incredibly heavy. A downtempo album covering the anxiety around nuclear testing is ambitious. Letting the lyrics come to the forefront of the songs was a successful choice to allow the words to sit with the listener, but the instrumentals were a bit boring. There is a meditative quality to the album that makes it feel more like poetry than traditional music - but then that begs the questions if there is a relevant difference between poetry and music - so I can appreciate the exploration Sawhney offers. Homelands stands out on this album due to the rhythmic vocals. Everything in that track plays off of each other well, and the percussion was by far my favorite off of the whole album. Pilgrim was a pretty weak track in my eyes - it tries to come off poignant but feels very "lyrical miracle spiritual." It wants to come off vulnerable and thoughtful, but says a lot of nothing. The entire album's goal is to use repetition to create a meditative quality - but using that idea with rap makes the lyricism come off grating and confused. Would I listen to this again? Probably not, as it just didn't engage me. I respect why the album was made to be simplistic, but it also felt like the easiest interpretation one could have gone with. Mixing "traditional" instruments, with orchestral sounding strings and audio samples from news bites is the most straightforward use of juxtaposition one could go with.

A few ok tracks, few bad ones and lot of just eh. Clearly not an album anyone really needs to listen too.

Maybe a track or 2 that held my attention (Tides was one) but even they were middling compositions and a bit cheesy although well meaning (I guess?).

Not unlistenable, but you know...not...seeking it out?

2.3/i was relieved when it finally finished. i get that you want to make a piece of protest art but this just felt so pretentious

Well, OK, again nothing bad but nothing really good

A little too ethereal for my tastes.

The first two songs had me interested, then it totally lost me musically. This is more of a statement than something to be enjoyed.

Nah.

There are some cool songs on here but there are also some songs I hate. 4/10

I swear I've heard this album before (despite its nearly non-existent sales). Couldn't put my finger on it until I went to a local Asian grocery. This is the album that plays over the speakers of shops that sell little pre-packed curry spices in small tourist towns for suburbanites who are too scared to go to an actual Indian grocery. I wouldn't go so far as to call it cultural appropriation, but that the artist is a Brit doesn't help that cause. Anywho. I consider this the highest-end elevator music I think I've ever heard. It is poignant and artistic without being pretentious - take notes prog rockers; it can be done. I get the message - nukes are bad - but he didn't have to beat me over the head with it, and the music is high quality. Not my bag, but if there's room in 1,001 albums for one near-classical elevator music example, I'm happy with this choice. Now if I come across a second elevator music album later . . . Zero influence, zero hits, but I didn't hate it. Great background music for a professional dinner party that I need to be average in every way. 2.5

Fine for what it is, but just not my thing.

An impressive album. I think it places being impressive over being enjoyable, though. It's a very cool concept and execution, but it wore out its welcome for me. I am very glad I've listened to it, but I would be slightly bummed if I had to listen to it again.

not really connecting with me 2/5

Interesting stuff happening here but the album didn't feel cohesive at all

Nitin Sawhney's "Beyond Skin" is an album that starts with promise. It initially catches your attention with its meticulous production, creating a lush atmosphere, and certainly for the first few tracks, the intricate soundscape is engaging and draws you into its world. However, as the album progresses, a sense of monotony begins to set in. The initial intrigue wanes as the lack of dynamic range and variation becomes apparent. The album's consistent slow tempo and mellow mood, while initially soothing, ultimately results in a largely one-paced experience that struggled to maintain my interest over its 12-tracks. The carefully crafted soundscape, which began as a strength, becomes dull. I rate this at two stars. Would I listen to this album again? No. Would I buy this album? No. 1. "Broken Skin" - 3 2. "Letting Go"- 3 3. "Homelands" - 3 4. "The Pilgrim" - 2 5. "Tides"- 3 6. "Nadia" - 2 7. "Immigrant" - 2 8. "Serpents" - 3 9. "Anthem Without Nation" - 2 10. "Nostalgia" - 2 11. "The Conference" - 2 12. "Beyond Skin" - 2 Total - 29 Average - 2.42 86/1001

interesting listen, though not my cup of tea

Another one just not great its been a rough week of 2s, sad!

I just listened to a poor man's Portishead at first, but then it shifted into something else entirely. It wasn't better than the trip-hop that came before. There are influences from Indian music that I appreciate. "Beyond Skin" mostly consists of worn-out electronic beats. It also seems to be the Ground Zero of "Chilled Out Beats to Study To" compilations on YouTube. 2 stars for "Beyond Skin".

Definitely expanding my music horizons. I enjoyed the water sounds in "Tides" and Carnatic melodies throughout the album. Nothing stood out enough to warrant a save for me, a tad too electronic. Bjork coded but not as engaging

This is rather unusual and doesn't fit well into any genre - I had hopes, but in the end it was mostly annoying.

Bollywood meets London, a cultural mix of Asian and European, just wish I knew what 50% of the words were in some songs.

There were a few nice songs but I wasn't too bothered on the overall premise of the album.

Not sure why this is on the list. It is unique but not earth-shattering. Ok listen but will not listen again.

Soul 2 Dal

Didn’t hate it. Not bad. But I don’t feel this is essential. Sounds a bit Sade and the type of thing that people who don’t know much about music think is brilliant. Not brilliant but ok. Inessential.

Hmm, sorry, just drifted off there for a minute... This is a really 'tasteful' and 'sophisticated' album, and I'm not sure I mean that in an entirely positive sense. This is at its interesting when he leans into his Indian heritage (although it does feel a little toned down for Western tastes), but often this just comes across as insipid dinner party music. The passionless vamping in the coda of Immigrant was especially egregious.

Not bad, but boring

Wow. There’s a lot going on. So much variation of styles. Some of it worked for me, but some was just jarring. The more experimental stuff was just too weird. Amongst it was some enjoyable trip-hop and some sweet female vocals.

I was expecting a full-on Bhangra fest. It wouldn't have been a problem if it had, but there was a lot of layers and different styles going on here, more than one listen can take on. It was an interesting theme to structure your album. Unlike the film Threads, I won't be giving this a spin again, so its a hight 2.

I couldn’t hear the voice and it felt creepy idk

houghts: i would have been *all over* an album like this 15-20 years ago when downbeat stuff was all the rage in my music brain. very hit or miss album for me, more misses than hits songs: “letting go”, “tides”, “nadia” rating: 4.8/10

Erhhhh 2/5

Interesting, but I didn't like it that much. 5/10

Oh no. This is below mediocre.

Productions really good Too much goofy Indian shit

Like the trip-hop type stuff here, rest is eh

Not exactly my bag but I appreciate the theme of peace, which I agree with btw!

Not noteworthy at all, but not terrible either

Could not finish listening to this one. I do not think it is an impressive album

Atmospheric, hip-hop, Indian, jazz, techno? It feels a little contrived.

This album tries to be a spiritual journey, a political statement, and a chill-out playlist all at once — and ends up somewhere between a TED Talk and a yoga class with a broken sound system. Some tracks are genuinely intriguing, others feel like elevator music from a global think tank. It’s not without moments of beauty, but I mostly sat there waiting for the point. Ambitious? Absolutely. Enjoyable? Occasionally. Replayable? Not really.

Guy has a career and who am I to criticize.

Quite enjoyed the chilled vibe until the Convention which absolutely did my head in. Will be dropping a star for that as it's intolerable.

Quite enjoyed it for a while. Reminded me of Massive Attack or Jamiroquai. But as the album progressed it got more and more annoying and I started to hate it by the end.

ambitious in concept, but forgettable in execution. I gave it a fair shake, but this one didn’t stick.