TheBloatedFish
31-05-2006, 07:08 AM
To say that Beyond Skin changed my life would be an exaggeration, but when I say this is the best album I have ever heard and probably will hear I feel like I am still understating the pure brilliance of this album.
First of all a little bit of background for those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr Sawhney, which I imagine most of you are. Nitin Sawhney is a British Asian born in Kent. He is a firmly established and critically acclaimed producer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, orchestral composer and cultural pioneer. He has released a total of 7 studio albums. His breakthrough album “Beyond Skin” received him a nomination for mercury music prize, and won him the coveted south bank show award. Nitin Sawhney has also scored over 25 films from his London based spirit dance studios. He has worked with world class artists like Sting, Paul McCartney and Beck.
The album starts of with a news clip saying “Today at 15:45 hours Indian conducted 3 underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran Lake”. As your probably guessing this album has a message behind it and a theme. This album is about India displaying there nuclear capabilities and the mixed emotions surrounding it and damage caused from it. But unlike other albums that have prominent political messages this is done in a very different way. The message is highlighted by the occasional news clip. But the theme is carried though the mood of the music. The music follows the mood of the Indian people when the nuclear tests where first carried out. Reflecting there pride in their country demonstrating there nuclear capabilities. Then as radiation effects are seen in local villages the music darkens its mood. The news clips are used to move the timeline through what is happening after the tests, and through the change of moods.
This album has such a diverse and wide range of styles that I feel you need a song by song description for the album. I don’t feel like I could represent the album with a few words, so here we go.
The album starts of with Broken Skin a song with soulful vocals, hard hitting beats, dynamic strings and smooth synths, with all this the song has pace, aggression but also a calming feel.
The next song that comes in is Letting Go. This song changes the mood from the last it becomes more relaxed but has a chilling feel. Rain drops play in the background as a simple melody is played on the guitar with a Latin feel. The vocals are haunting but beautiful and are similar to Beth Gibbons (Portishead) but with a bit more warmth. The drums are a lot lighter with a lot of it being brushed, but in the background there is the sound of tabla drums panning from left to right decaying as they play.
The rain carries on into the next song for a bit. This song is Homelands. The mood has changed again to a darker one we are hit with very dramatic and dark strings building. Then suddenly you are hit with these rapid Indian vocals. The tabla drums hit in again this time more aggressive. Different vocals start, Indian still but these are slower. Flamenco guitar plays in the background. Then the strings rise and bulge again and the rapid vocals come again. As those vocals die down the guitar becomes more prominent and female vocals sway in the background. This whole song rises and falls as it plays building up tension. Eventually all that is left after the last fall is the guitar and some female vocals.
The next song is The Pilgrim. This song is a classic sounding Trip-hop track. It has a dark and distant feel to it. It has a deep but simple bass line. The drums are programmed and dip in and out. The vocals are almost a rap in the way they are spoken and are similar to the male vocals found on massive attack albums. In the song is an instrument barely anyone will recognise this is a Swalin and there is only one man in the world that can play it .At the end of the song another news clip comes in.
The news clip runs into the next song tides. The Ocean can be heard in the background. Then the melody starts playing on the piano. Cymbals start playing behind the piano. This song is pure bliss. The piano sounds amazing it has an amazing fullness to it light and heavy in all the right moments. The cymbals compliment the piano perfectly. I advise any drummer to listen to this track because this is some of the most amazing drumming skills you will ever hear. It is all cymbals but played so precisely and quickly at points. I advise any sound engineer/producer to listen to this track also because the recording sound of the piano and cymbals are beyond belief. The track is relaxed and pleasant but also gets dramatic at points. The track swells, rises, sweeps and falls like the ocean it represents.
Nadia is the next song. We are brought in with these Indian female vocals that are quite relaxing. Then suddenly you are hit with this strong Drum & Bass line. I know what most of you are thinking it sounds awful doesn’t it, but surprisingly they compliment each other quite nicely. This song picks up the pace and brightens the mood of the album.
The next song is immigrant. The song starts with an Indian male in the distant background singing. Then suddenly this angelic female voice starts singing and is joined by piano and an earthy double bass. Strings play lightly in the background. I would say this is the most commercial sounding song on the album, I don’t mean this as a bad thing the song is beautiful it’s just the only one I could see as a single release. This song is the ballad of the album I suppose.
The next song is serpents. This song changes the mood dramatically. The song is mysterious with an almost malicious feel to it. The song has Indian vocals panning left to right along with drums, which at some points send you into a state of confusion. It is quick paced and has a very strong Indian feel to it. The strangest thing is the Indian sounding instrument playing throughout the song, strange because it is in fact just a flute.
The next song starts with another news clip. This song is Anthem without Nation. This song has a very dark feel to it a feeling of despair creeps over you as you listen to it. The haunting male vocals are almost crying out to you. As the synthesised bass plays deep single notes. The Drums seem to pick up pace as the song goes on, with extra bits of percussion joining the original beat.
The next song is Nostalgia. This starts with an Indian couple discussing there immigration. Dipping strings then enter the song and a female vocal whispers dreams followed by the echo panning left to right in the background. Then the female vocals start singing, these vocals have a soft but cold feel to them and are similar to Bjork’s. The programmed drums kick in with a hard hitting feel. The strings continue to dip in and out throughout the song. This song has a relaxed but cold feel to it
The next song is The Conference. Now when you first hear this song you will probably start laughing, don’t worry I did. Why? You’re probably asking right now. Well it’s because this song starts of with this barrage of strange Indian vocals going “tekideda ting tekida tekida” with some tabla drums following the vocals. Now let me explain what this is. Every part of your hand that you hit the tabla drum with has a different sound e.g. Tek, di, da, and ting. So each sound the vocalist is saying is actually matching the part of the drum and hand that is hitting the tabla drum. If you listen to it properly they are both perfectly in synch. The song now changes from amusing to impressive.
The next song starts with a NBC audio clip. This song is the final song, Beyond Skin. After the clip these apocalyptic drums hit in then more vocals these are Edward K Murrow’s reading J Robert Oppenheimers poem “ Now I’m become death, the destroyer of worlds”. The sounds of explosions are in the background. Then a cymbal hits and calm descends into the song with classical guitar playing. Later the guitar is joined by wailing female vocals which have a feel of pain to them. This song has a feel of despair and pain to it and is very moving in many ways.
So there it is a song by song description. Well done if you have managed to read all of this I congratulate you. As you can probably tell I have a great passion towards this album so to do a short review would be impossible for me and once you listen to the album you will understand why.
Beyond Skin is a brilliant fusion of eastern and western music with an underlying message. The album is a rollercoaster of emotions and styles and will truly leave you breathless. If you only get 1 more album for the rest of your life please let it be this one, you won’t be sorry.
“My identity and my history are defined only by myself – beyond politics, beyond nationality, beyond religion and beyond skin.” – Nitin Sawhney 1999
First of all a little bit of background for those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr Sawhney, which I imagine most of you are. Nitin Sawhney is a British Asian born in Kent. He is a firmly established and critically acclaimed producer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, orchestral composer and cultural pioneer. He has released a total of 7 studio albums. His breakthrough album “Beyond Skin” received him a nomination for mercury music prize, and won him the coveted south bank show award. Nitin Sawhney has also scored over 25 films from his London based spirit dance studios. He has worked with world class artists like Sting, Paul McCartney and Beck.
The album starts of with a news clip saying “Today at 15:45 hours Indian conducted 3 underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran Lake”. As your probably guessing this album has a message behind it and a theme. This album is about India displaying there nuclear capabilities and the mixed emotions surrounding it and damage caused from it. But unlike other albums that have prominent political messages this is done in a very different way. The message is highlighted by the occasional news clip. But the theme is carried though the mood of the music. The music follows the mood of the Indian people when the nuclear tests where first carried out. Reflecting there pride in their country demonstrating there nuclear capabilities. Then as radiation effects are seen in local villages the music darkens its mood. The news clips are used to move the timeline through what is happening after the tests, and through the change of moods.
This album has such a diverse and wide range of styles that I feel you need a song by song description for the album. I don’t feel like I could represent the album with a few words, so here we go.
The album starts of with Broken Skin a song with soulful vocals, hard hitting beats, dynamic strings and smooth synths, with all this the song has pace, aggression but also a calming feel.
The next song that comes in is Letting Go. This song changes the mood from the last it becomes more relaxed but has a chilling feel. Rain drops play in the background as a simple melody is played on the guitar with a Latin feel. The vocals are haunting but beautiful and are similar to Beth Gibbons (Portishead) but with a bit more warmth. The drums are a lot lighter with a lot of it being brushed, but in the background there is the sound of tabla drums panning from left to right decaying as they play.
The rain carries on into the next song for a bit. This song is Homelands. The mood has changed again to a darker one we are hit with very dramatic and dark strings building. Then suddenly you are hit with these rapid Indian vocals. The tabla drums hit in again this time more aggressive. Different vocals start, Indian still but these are slower. Flamenco guitar plays in the background. Then the strings rise and bulge again and the rapid vocals come again. As those vocals die down the guitar becomes more prominent and female vocals sway in the background. This whole song rises and falls as it plays building up tension. Eventually all that is left after the last fall is the guitar and some female vocals.
The next song is The Pilgrim. This song is a classic sounding Trip-hop track. It has a dark and distant feel to it. It has a deep but simple bass line. The drums are programmed and dip in and out. The vocals are almost a rap in the way they are spoken and are similar to the male vocals found on massive attack albums. In the song is an instrument barely anyone will recognise this is a Swalin and there is only one man in the world that can play it .At the end of the song another news clip comes in.
The news clip runs into the next song tides. The Ocean can be heard in the background. Then the melody starts playing on the piano. Cymbals start playing behind the piano. This song is pure bliss. The piano sounds amazing it has an amazing fullness to it light and heavy in all the right moments. The cymbals compliment the piano perfectly. I advise any drummer to listen to this track because this is some of the most amazing drumming skills you will ever hear. It is all cymbals but played so precisely and quickly at points. I advise any sound engineer/producer to listen to this track also because the recording sound of the piano and cymbals are beyond belief. The track is relaxed and pleasant but also gets dramatic at points. The track swells, rises, sweeps and falls like the ocean it represents.
Nadia is the next song. We are brought in with these Indian female vocals that are quite relaxing. Then suddenly you are hit with this strong Drum & Bass line. I know what most of you are thinking it sounds awful doesn’t it, but surprisingly they compliment each other quite nicely. This song picks up the pace and brightens the mood of the album.
The next song is immigrant. The song starts with an Indian male in the distant background singing. Then suddenly this angelic female voice starts singing and is joined by piano and an earthy double bass. Strings play lightly in the background. I would say this is the most commercial sounding song on the album, I don’t mean this as a bad thing the song is beautiful it’s just the only one I could see as a single release. This song is the ballad of the album I suppose.
The next song is serpents. This song changes the mood dramatically. The song is mysterious with an almost malicious feel to it. The song has Indian vocals panning left to right along with drums, which at some points send you into a state of confusion. It is quick paced and has a very strong Indian feel to it. The strangest thing is the Indian sounding instrument playing throughout the song, strange because it is in fact just a flute.
The next song starts with another news clip. This song is Anthem without Nation. This song has a very dark feel to it a feeling of despair creeps over you as you listen to it. The haunting male vocals are almost crying out to you. As the synthesised bass plays deep single notes. The Drums seem to pick up pace as the song goes on, with extra bits of percussion joining the original beat.
The next song is Nostalgia. This starts with an Indian couple discussing there immigration. Dipping strings then enter the song and a female vocal whispers dreams followed by the echo panning left to right in the background. Then the female vocals start singing, these vocals have a soft but cold feel to them and are similar to Bjork’s. The programmed drums kick in with a hard hitting feel. The strings continue to dip in and out throughout the song. This song has a relaxed but cold feel to it
The next song is The Conference. Now when you first hear this song you will probably start laughing, don’t worry I did. Why? You’re probably asking right now. Well it’s because this song starts of with this barrage of strange Indian vocals going “tekideda ting tekida tekida” with some tabla drums following the vocals. Now let me explain what this is. Every part of your hand that you hit the tabla drum with has a different sound e.g. Tek, di, da, and ting. So each sound the vocalist is saying is actually matching the part of the drum and hand that is hitting the tabla drum. If you listen to it properly they are both perfectly in synch. The song now changes from amusing to impressive.
The next song starts with a NBC audio clip. This song is the final song, Beyond Skin. After the clip these apocalyptic drums hit in then more vocals these are Edward K Murrow’s reading J Robert Oppenheimers poem “ Now I’m become death, the destroyer of worlds”. The sounds of explosions are in the background. Then a cymbal hits and calm descends into the song with classical guitar playing. Later the guitar is joined by wailing female vocals which have a feel of pain to them. This song has a feel of despair and pain to it and is very moving in many ways.
So there it is a song by song description. Well done if you have managed to read all of this I congratulate you. As you can probably tell I have a great passion towards this album so to do a short review would be impossible for me and once you listen to the album you will understand why.
Beyond Skin is a brilliant fusion of eastern and western music with an underlying message. The album is a rollercoaster of emotions and styles and will truly leave you breathless. If you only get 1 more album for the rest of your life please let it be this one, you won’t be sorry.
“My identity and my history are defined only by myself – beyond politics, beyond nationality, beyond religion and beyond skin.” – Nitin Sawhney 1999