OK

OK is OK, until it isn’t. For me, that was about 5 songs. Once again, my rule of thumb for the list hasn’t been disproven: If you haven’t heard anyone talking about an album on this list in 25 years, you don’t need to hear it before you die.

Loads going on here, most of which I didn’t like. The album is tedious and gets progressively worse from start to finish. I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I certainly didn’t enjoy my listen and wouldn’t go back.

If Yanni and Kenny G had a baby, that baby would grow up to make music like this, have sex with Linda Evans and be a surprisingly decent golfer.

oh, you put South Asian instruments on top of your boring-ass techno. cool, i guess.

OK, Talvin. Talvin, OK. I legitimately don't understand what the hell I just listened to. But it wasn't enjoyable, I know that. Nope. Not at all. Sorry, Talvin. That's a no for me, dawg.

"The world is sound" Great eastern tonalities and rhythm that mix in with hard driving beats. Pulls in a lot of eastern music (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, etc) Great beats.

The concept is fantastic! But if I was to record puppies sleeping and put it on an album, that might also sound like a great idea. I just couldn't get through it. Most likely not listen to it ever again.

OK is ambitious in scope and execution, simultaneously futuristic yet ancient in sound. A wonderfully layered fusion of styles and influences gives it a sense of timelessness. Equally at home on the dancefloor as it is on your headphones, this is a beautiful album.

BL: never heard of this artist before but the cover reminds me of the Roni Size brown paper bag album so I’ll be interested to hear if it’s in a similar vein AL: funnily enough, my 90s ambient DnB assumption was correct, and wow. This album blew me away. I wasn’t too sure about the opener, but by track 3 this album had me in a chokehold. The fusion of ambient DnB & Sourh Asian instrumentals and vocals was mesmerising, the drone of DnB was meant to go with the resonant frequencies of the sitar. Definitely some Bhangra influence in there too. Highly recommend this. It reminds me of another comment I saw under a different album (can’t remember which one though), with albums like this on the generator, you have to wonder why the people who wrote those chose so many 80s new wave and post punk albums. FT: “Eclipse”, “O.K.”, “Light”, “Vikram the Vampire” 5/5

Really tried but couldn't get into this one.

This. Is. Madness.

I really enjoyed the drops and the multicultural influence. "OK" was the best track rightfully so, but there were a few other stand outs as well that covered a variety of energies

Craptastic. 1.7/10

this fucks

Loved it, my new everyday listen

OK! Loved it. Cool fusion of eastern sounds with electro beats. Can't believe it's from 1998.

Love this! It’s a must listen to, chilled out, sits there and makes you feel good type

Electronica,indian classical,exotica

5/5 - Really cool

This is a superb album. I loved it in the early 2000s and while I prefer Ha!, this is a really great album too.

This is a very refreshing album this morning, Travelor is very busy yet free at at the same time. Its lush sound really just hit right today.

At first sounded like post rock and then some indian (?) vocals came along as well. Interesting mix

Far better than native British electronic DJs from this list. I've enjoyed the softer tracks. The Indian spice adds very much to the whole composition. Something new for me.

This was good, drifted into irrelevance at times but overall enjoyable

No. 211/1001 Traveller 3/5 Butterfly 4/5 Sutrix 2/5 Mombasstic 2/5 Decca 2/5 Eclipse 2/5 OK 2/5 Light 4/5 Disser 3/5 Soni 2/5 Vikram the Vampire 2/5 Average: 2,55 Very interesting mesh of genres I never heard before. On most of the tracks I didn't work for me. Really enjoyed Butterfly and Light though.

Ambient, Drum & Bass and Classical Indian music meld to create a vision of a future that never came. Yes, the spoken word sections can come off as pretentious and some of the synths are cheesy, but it just adds to the charm. A forgotten artifact of Britain in the Y2K era.

😫

My previous commentary got wiped out some how, but honestly, it was about as important as this album really is/was. That is to say, not so much. To sum it up, OK is hardly worth the time and is likely taking up a spot on this list that should be going to a far more deserving album. I'll give it 2 stars because there is some interesting live instrumentation on this album, but it's not enough to save the otherwise boring electronica album..

A little bit too experimental for my taste. Some of the songs were a nice mix of modern and traditional but they quickly get too drawn out and weird. Felt like being in a washing machine of music.

Hey, this rips ass. Between this and Call of the Valley, I guess I’m just learning that I like Indian/Indian inspired music. Eclipse in particular goes hard.

Wow, brilliant. Loved this.

Unique style and combination of instruments give a relaxing ambient sound that I thoroughly enjoyed. An hour of soft groovy beats.

Ахахаха, это слишком хорошо, чтобы оказаться 100ым альбомом! Ладно, теперь серьёзно: индийская музыка не от мира сего. У них свои гармонии, которые могут казаться неправильными (непривычными) на первый взгляд. Это интересно услышать и оценить, но на постоянку возможно будет тяжело. Опять же, говоря об индийской музыке, возможно присутствует навязанный Болливудом и мемами стереотип о том, как это должно звучать. Это не относится к этому альбому. Где-то это техно, где-то симфоническая музыка, где-то акустика. Всё и вся собрано здесь, но основывается на вот этой восточной музыкальной гармонии (тут пусть лучше Егор в подкасте расскажет, как у них интервалы устроены). Но сука))) c "The True Story Of Extasy" я конечно улетел, это просто ор. Ещё и вот этим индийским голосом из видосов по программированию... Альбом крутой по задумке, лёгкий по восприятию (настолько лёгкий, что когда после заиграл Apex Twin, я был уверен, что пластинка не закончилась). Я не готов поставить 5 за музыкальность, ибо вопросики остались, но готов поставить 5 за вклад в развитие индийской музыкальной культуры.

Как только я начал слушать альбом, то я понял: он или гениальный или говно. Здесь все же первый вариант. Очень необычные сочетания медитативной индийской музыки и хауса/IEM/техно. В результате одновременно получается, что тебя вгоняют в транс и заставляют танцевать/рейвить. Поэтому очень необычно и круто звучит и по сей день. Сэмплы чувак взял, конечно, мое почтение. А теперь субъективный обзор: я только встал и сел за стол работать. Хочется очень спать, работать даже особо не хочется и тут я думаю: хм, а может включить альбомчик послушать с утра, взбодриться. И когда я его включил, то я думал что я сейчас умру от душноты (реально, первую половину первой песни можно смело пропустить, имхо). Но слава богу дальше все норм было. Честно говоря, реально думал что сейчас еще хуже станет)))

Альбом создаёт вокруг тебя какое-то новое пространство, которое заполняется всеми звуками мира, как будто. Однозначно не на постоянное присутствие в плейлисте, но иногда вернуться и переслушал вполне кайф

I really enjoyed this album! It was unexpected and had elements from so many different genres that I enjoy.

Electronica,indian classical,exotica.

9/10 super creative and definitely stands out from mainstream electronic/DnB with its Indian/Asian influence

это что-то совсем не из этого мира невероятная энергетика, безумное смешение жанров, один заглавный трек альбома Traveller чего стоит незабываемая работа возможно, лучшая из этого списка

Epic

This is a classic Indian fusion album

August 25, 2024 HL: “Traveller”, “Butterfly”, “Sutrix”, title track, “Light” Had low expectations going into this (the late 90s picks of this list are hit-or-miss imo), but it blew me away. Somehow equally fitting for a rave & a spa. I was worried when the grandeur of “Traveller” gave way to the dirty synths in “Sutrix”, but by the end I believed it was all part of the same artistic vision. For comparison, I didn’t always feel that way with Red Snapper and Nitin Sawhney from this list, era, and country (the UK, surprise surprise). An uneasy 5 stars from me

i have very little to go on here in terms of reference points but it turns out this guy is the missing link between late Siouxsie, early Bjork, and 2000s Madonna...true world music in the sense that it brings any and everything together in a blissful sonic landscape 10/10

Loved this combination of old and new.

ggood

I was there too, the places Marco mentioned. We said नमस्ते to each other while floating into space

Very interesing sound!

The mix of drum n bass and India classical works so well together. What utter genius. This is a great relaxing listen if a bit on the long side (some drag near the end)

Electronica,indian classical,exotica.

Surprisingly good.

Love it. Right up my electro weird avenue.

innovative

My goodness what an interesting journey. Loved that.

I'm happy I decided to start this journey of reviewing an album every day for 1001 days. Even if it feels tedious sometimes, knowing that every day I must listen to an album, even when the album isn't a good fit for my mood that day, or I just do not have the mental energy to gather an opinion or write anything, it all pays off when it recommends something amazing and very much up my alley that I wouldn't have found otherwise. This is one such album. It has more of that Indian and generally Asian flavour that I fell in love with when I was introduced to Nitin Sawhney's "Beyond Skin" earlier in the list. This is a crazy, trippy, dramatic journey that blends orchestra, Indian classical music, electronica, drum and bass, IDM, dub, and so many other genres. It's chaotic but never loses its direction. And yet, it's all pretty chill but never boring. Just a pure journey of sound with influences from across the globe. Favourite: Butterfly

Electronica,indian classical,exotica.

Lit

Yeah… de va hårt..!

Never would’ve imagined that this was a thing

Indian electronic fusion

I was pretty excited to give this a listen after skimming over the description. It didn't quite live up to what I was hoping for though. I do appreciate the innovation, but the execution was kind of dull.

I appreciated this for being distinctive and interesting, and I enjoyed listening to most of it.

This was manically exotic and I definitely am glad to have listened to it. More frenetic a lot of the time than I might want, but still cool.

Música electrónica ambiental. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

This album was a new artist and new music for me. I liked the album, in part because it was a chance to listen to something different than I would normally listen to. Based on a first listen, the album as a whole may not get replayed, but there were tracks that I wouldn't mind hearing again. This album got enough for 3.5 stars (round up to 4)

3,5/5

🎶☁✨

Imagine blending classical Indian music with electronica and ambient, finishing with a garnish of western classical and jazz, until you have a musical Arrack- the generic term for a variety of distilled spirits found throughout India and Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines, that are often unrelated, and can be made from different ingredients. And the effect of listening to Talvin Singh’s 'OK' is about as heady as I can imagine a tumbler of Arrack over ice would be. The opening track, clocking in at over eleven minutes (but passed too quickly), introduce the listener into Singh’s ambient world before then segueing into an electronica infused uptempo hybrid, only to then quiet down into a tempo-less traditional Indian drone set with two very talented flute players- Ryuichi Sakamoto and Rakesh Charurasia- when, out of the blue, a gloriously melancholic western orchestral score! And that was just the first song. Please don’t get the impression, though, that it was bombastic, or too busy. To the contrary, it was quite relaxing, infused with subtle meaning, and very often beautiful. Musically intriguing, with lots to explore. And while they weren’t featured often, Suchitra Pilai’s vocals soared when they were, aiming straight for the sun on ‘Eclipse,’ for example, and further propelled by the wonderful keyboard manufactured beats of Guy Sigsworth. Hats off to all on this wonderfully creative collaboration. It's been reported that Indian music can be off-putting to certain individuals, possibly due to the spiritual nature of what the artists are co-creating. Divine light is not immediately pleasurable when you’re accustomed to the dark. That, and not everyone necessarily recognizes their own dis-ease in the first place. If that’s where you’re at, do yourself a favor, and don’t bail on this too quickly. Give it time to root first before expecting flowers. Much like the free jazz of Ornette Coleman, don’t expect to walk away from 'OK' whistling an easily accessible tune. This is more like tattoo music, a gradual integration, intended for permanency. And if you are already hip to the sounds of this part of the globe, and open to, or at least curious about what the modern electronica lads are putting down, then you’ll immediately enjoy this LP, and it’s euphoric after effects. I sure did.

Calkiem egzotyczny piczek, chociaz troche wyspiarski, bo wydany w uk, debiutancki album pana talvina singha, czyli producenta/dja/bembenkowicza urodzonego w uk, ale z korzeniami w indiach, co dosc mocno slychac na tym materiale, stad wlasnie jego egzotycznosc, bo chociaz jest to elektronika pelna geba, to jednak uzywa elementow muzyki klasycznej, w tym wypadku glownie brzmien rodem z indii, jakies sitarki, drumersowanie tez typowo indyjskie, nie wspominajac o przewijajacych sie wokalach brzmiacych jak ludowe rekordingi, co dziwne pojawiaja sie rowniez w niektorych trakach hinskie wokalowania jakis pan, z tego co wyczytalem to czesc byla nagrywana na okinawie, wiec pewnie to jest efekt tych prac, co najbardziej slychac na tytulowym traku OK, ale plyta jest nawet bardziej niz OK, bo naprawde dobrze sie tego sluchalo od poczatku do konca, slychac ze tworzone bylo to z mysla o kompletnym krazku, struktura przechodzenia miedzy trakami, tempem w poszczegolnych czesciach plyty, wiec jesli zazwyczaj nie jestem przekonany do elektroniki, w wydaniu junglowo breakbeatowym, to w tak orginalnie podanym wydaniu, bo polaczyc drumowe brejkowanie z klasyczna muzyka rodem z filharmonii i tradycyjnymi spiewami folkowymi, to naprawde ciekawie polaczenie, wiec na plejke wrzuce tytulowy kawalek, butterflaja i soni, a cala plyta laduje na polce plyt w sam raz na czilowy odsluch polaczony z innymi aktywnosciami, bo wokale hinsko hinduskie nie rozpraszaja, a dobrze wpasowuja sie do lamanych beatow

Interesante mezcla de sonidos. Algunas me gustaron.

Interesting sound, I enjoyed it.

Indische Drum & Bass, prima!

Indian triphop-fusion, slightly overambitious at times but overall a welcome surprise.

Zen meditation music like from a massage parlor

Very interesting album. Debut album from the pioneer of "Asian Underground". I liked it quite a bit.

Traveller: Io spero fortissimo che non mi deluda dopo perché sto pezzo m'ha già conquistato di brutto. Sutrix: Molto figo, il pezzo finale fatto con la voce è bellissimo. Eclipse: M'ha fomentato OK: Pure questa m'è piaciuta. In mezzo pensavo fosse finita e mi dispiaceva. C'è un pezzo che sembrava in giapponese. Soni: Figa pure questa ammazza, bella la produzione, mi ricorda un botto Kenji Kawai, quello delle colonne sonore di Ghost In The Shell. Forse questa e Traveller sono le mie preferite. Mi è piaciuto molto il testo della conclusione. In Conclusione: Sono davvero stupito, non me aspettavo un album così. Probabilmente Andrea essendo più esperto del genere magari sarà meno colpito, però ho trovato davvero interessante questo misto di musica etnica indiana e elettronica mezza drum and bass. Non è niente di necessariamente nuovo ma l'esecuzione qui mi è arrivata molto sapiente e raffinata, non una cosa fatta tanto per, probabilmente perché immagino che Talvin Singh sia indiano e quindi è musica che gli appartiene. Comunque nonostante l'ora di disco m'è volato e vari pezzi me li riascolterei volentieri. Poi per essere il 98 comunque, tralasciando certi suoni che mi sono arrivati come un po' démodé, comunque la produzione regge bene. Se mi avessero detto che era tipo di 10 anni dopo c'avrei creduto. Bella sorpresa!

Oddly mesmerizing

Hadn't heard this before. Completely brilliant.

Love the mix of styles

Fun and interesting album

Not sure why the mixed reception for this one. It's so good! Definitely a much different take on electronic music which I will always welcome as I feel it's a genre that gets bogged down by too much of the same sounding records. Give it a listen.

Would be great for a yoga session. I felt zen afterwards.

Intriguing mix of influences.

Maybe it's a biased opinion because I like this type of "environmental" music

Pretty OK, haha. No seriously an amazing album. With kinda trippy vibes and some good melodies I really liked it.

That was interesting! Really loved the instrumentation and Indian influence. Less fond of the painfully 90's electronica.

Yes, love a bit of electronica with world music blended in. This pairs nicely with Nitin Sawhney's "Beyond Skin" which is also on the list. Fave track - "Butterfly" perhaps. I also enjoy the jabbering of the title track!

I thought this would suck. I did not

Pretty cool. Bit much by the end though.

he's a twat but the music is top notch

-"Sutrix" do be getting groovy -The second half of "Decca" becomes really good but then it just stops after like 45 seconds and it makes me sad -"OK" kind of sounds like some anime nonsense but it gets more intense than a lot of other songs on the album so I'll let it slide -"Light" got the thumping bass and the flute-like instrument wailing -Lots of cool bits but also some slow bits but also overall solid

Beautiful music! Helps me to understand and appreciate electronic music. Sometimes resembles of turbo folk

Nice album, love the crossover

Would I listen to this album again, yes absolutely, it's dedication to his Indian heritage is there to be seen no matter what the genre. It's a grower of an album with something new in every listen.

8/10. In general I quite liked this, cool fusion of different sounds.

Música electrónica ambiental. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Feisty and interesting and cool, much like the artist himself. And one's reminded of the double-edged sword that is ambition in popular music; in this case, it's a plus, drivingg toward compelling contrasts and nearly-titillating textures (see "Mombasstic"). There are moments of great beauty (e.g., "Light" and, to a lesser extent "Soni") and powerful atmospherics (multiple moments in "Traveler" and the hip and groovy "Butterfly"). But an excess of overly ambitious, globally-inspired noodling and overdetermined vibing – not terribly surprising given the time and place and dramatis personae, plus the well and truly maligned [and often justifiably so] genre] – leaves the record just short of being a full-on classic. It's the merging of modes that makes this cool but one thinks it's music that sounds best in a first-class seat on a very long international flight. TS would no doubt take the point, but disagree. The maximalism generally works but defeats timelessness, as there's simply too much that can date it or anchor it to the time/place of its creation (see "Decca" and "Eclpse"). That's especially true of the spoken-word bits. These moods remain relevant only as long as the Zeitgeist of their creation remains readable and in 21st century time signatures and cultural flux, that's not very long. Plus high-tech instrumentation only remains so for a season or two, given relentless progress, advancement, innovation, etc., etc. But no doubt a fun and interesting listen from a big (and undoubtedly global) mind and one's inspired to listen to more.

It's pretty cool I'll be honest. Feels very 90's this almost nostalgic view of the future, while being very clearly from the past. I dig it. Electronic Bass and drum mixed with Indian folk maybe? It's fucking cool either way.

ravie de faire sa connaissance

Slumdog millionaire got nothing on this timeless sound. Transition is the word that keeps coming to mind. Things are changing but the future is unclear.

4.25