Lo-fi electronica & the intense rhythms of Indian classic music

Sounds of the Asian Underground transported to NZ for International Arts Festival 2006

A highlight of the Festival's music line-up, Mercury Award-winner and mastermind of the Asian Underground sound of the late 1990s Talvin Singh brings his musical show Tabtek to New Zealand for one night only.

Singh's live music fuses the rhythmic intensity of Indian classical music bhangra (Punjabi dance music from harvest festivals and weddings) with contemporary electronica and drum 'n' bass beats. Against a backdrop of visuals by artist Soichi Matsumoto, Singh plays live tabla (a percussion instrument consisting of two drums), handsonic (an electronic hand percussion pad) and keyboards. Oscar Vizan will be operating a Mac, keyboard and an effects-unit, creating a spectacular high energy audio and visual experience.

Singh occupies a unique position in music and is widely acknowledged for his marriage of Eastern and Western sounds. As Asian music now sits inside the mainstream, it is easy to forget the part his debut CD release - a compilation of his club night Anokha , Soundz of the Asian Underground - played in breaking down cultural barriers throughout the world. By 1995, Singh had created a whole new musical genre, a sub genre of electronica, known as 'The Asian Underground'.

"Music shouldn't have boundaries. That's the way I've always seen music. It's just language that everyone can identify with. That's the most valuable thing in music today. We're living in that time when things have got to unite." Talvin Singh.

This show Tabtek will be a spectacular audio and visual set. It is sponsored by ZM.

Biographical information on Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh grew up in East London after his Indian parents came to Britain from Kenya in the 1960s. He learnt the tabla from age 5 but picked up a range of influences from electro music and breakdancing with other young Asians. At age 16 he travelled to India to continue his tabla training with a master of the art Gurudev Pandit Laxman Singh Ji.

He studied for a year but despite the pedigree of the teaching, on Singh's return to Britain he was rejected by the country's classical Indian promoters in the late 1980s. He also began to feel, for the first time, a conflict of interests in his own heart. "There have been times in my life when I just wanted to play Indian classical music but that's where my identity crisis kicked in. I didn't feel it was really me".
Back in Britain Singh returned to his Indian instrumental background and soon developed his signature style, an innovative fusion of Indian bhangra beats and drum 'n' bass. This was further developed through collaborations with Icelandic singer Bjork, top Jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine, Jamaican singer Bim Sherman and others.
In 1996, he compiled the album Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground. His debut solo album OK followed and went on to win England's prestigious Mercury award in 1999.

Praise for Talvin Singh
"If musicians are people who string lines across geography and history then Talvin Singh certainly sets his sights far and wide. "The world is sound", intones a voice at the start of this LP and that sets the agenda: he's trying to cover the globe with his music There are still more sonic territories to explore, but on this evidence, it seems that Talvin Singh will get there first." NME , Review "HA"

"That hair, those fingers, the whole breath-catchingly up-to-the-minute frisson of it all." NME- Fabric Live