State of Bengal - Tana Tani (Audio CD)

Sorry, we're unable to find this item for sale. Perhaps you'd like to see some similar items?

The Bauls are India's divine fools, roving bands of illiterate, mystic-musicians who own only the clothes on their backs and a battered patchwork quilt. They sing for their supper, often espousing Tantra (a discipline that suggests that sacred epiphany can be achieved through sexuality), and then move on. London-based DJ Sam Zaman (aka State of Bengal) encouraged Paban Das Baul, who is accustomed to interpreting 500-year-old texts, to write his own lyrics for the first time and the singer sounds organic and relaxed amid Zaman's sitar-and-bass-heavy, snare-driven chillout milleu. But this is not so extreme a cultural conundrum as it may at first appear. Paban has long since learned to read and now lives in Paris, where he enjoys making art. But despite the change of address, his voice retains its unadorned, sensual purity; it snakes through Zaman's hissing neon wire-knots like a flaming hair from the head of God. --Christina Roden

Have Your Say 

Sign in or Sign up to comment.

More from Real World