Buy Signs at ARC CD's at great discount music store prices. If
you can not get enough of our incredible selection click the
Previous or Next buttons provided below to see more. Thank you for shopping at
ARC CD's, your discount music store!
I decided to check out this album after reading about the intriguing new sounds coming from London's Asian Underground. Here Badmarsh & Shri combine standard techno and DJ techniques with the sounds of their Indian heritage and other types of world music. This leads to some great new sounds, especially in this album's first two tracks, "Signs" and "Swarm." Also, in "Get Up" they have finally found a fresh new way to use James Brown's "get up/get on up" couplet that has been rehashed by a billion rappers. But this album tends to run out of steam after those first three great tracks, as it moves into experimental doodling. Granted, some of the sounds are interesting, such as the sitar in "Appa," the heavy tabla drums in "Tribal," or the mellow mood created by the sparse acoustic guitar and flute in "Soaring Beyond." Unfortunately, the album that can't quite hold up throughout the running time, and many of the remaining tracks are just basic techno that do little to rise above the derivative. A little more focus and clarity of purpose on this album would surely help.
Another addition to the "asian underground" genre, Badmarsh & Shri deliver a convincing and interesting achievement. "Signs" mixes techno, trip-hop, funk, big beat, ambient, electro, world music, pop and other influences to present an ecclectic and diverse album. The first song is one of the best of the bunch, similar to some Massive Attack`s efforts (always a good reference), and the rest of the tracks are mostly worth a listen as well. Even though it has a couple of filler moments, "Signs" is quite a decent album, sadly overlooked and way above average.Enjoyable enough.
This is a must for your Asian Underground collection. With so much similar styled music in the electronica genre, the asian underground is a fresh creative break from the mainstream dance. Badmarsh & Shri are masters of the drum and bass with melody that is genius.
I love it when I put a CD in and I just can't help but smile. This CD is technically and musically awesome. I didn't give it 5 stars because some of the songs are a little slow but overall this is a great purchase.
Don't believe the negative hype of all these other reviews. I mean, these people are calling Badmarsh and Shri techno and electronica. That should tell you something right there. I personally find this a very genreless cd, it flows well from end to end, has high quality production, its funky, different and most importantly, its listenable time and time again. Don't try and compare it to Talvin or Tabla Beat Science because it isn't them. What it is, is a great excursion thru a crossbreed of musical styles. Perfectly executed and very precise. Throw it in the car and go for a nice ride out in the country.
This album did not keep my interest for more than a couple scant minutes. I checked it out as ... recommendation and boy was I disappointed. Initially, the aural landscapes were interesting from song to song, though they would start and remain the same for the net 5 1/2 minutes until the song ended. The music simply never WENT anywhere, unlike similar fare ... which keeps you mesmerized with its constant undulation. With little variation and lame rapping about psuedo-trance-endental nonsense, this played like a bad club album. Boring and derivative......
Multicultural Grooves from the Asian Underground, March 4, 2002
Some Signs of Brilliance, June 10, 2004
An Asian Underground Classic, October 18, 2003
Derivative, February 16, 2002
