Day 0875 - OK

Talvin Singh “OK” (1998)

For once I didn’t read the blurb in the book ahead of listening to this album.  At first, listening to opening track “Traveller” I thought it sounded like pretty straight-ahead trancey electronica… then the orchestral section kicked in and I was blown away.

Throughout, the music is adorned with tablas, chants, strings and sitars that evoke India, where Singh studied tabla.  Singh is apparently viewed as the godfather of the 'Asian Underground' subgenre of electronica, but being a bit of a Luddite in regards to that genre I was unaware of this.

Singh spent 2 years in India studying the tablas and had worked with artists including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bjork and Madonna.  So even if his own music wasn’t great (it is), his credentials are pretty solid.

Day 0292 - Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) - got it

In some ways it seems odd that this became a platinum-selling hit record.  It was created by the band members trying to shed the psychedelic image that they had become popular for.  They were sat around drummer Nick Mason's kitchen table and making a list of things that worried them (money, time, death, madness) put some songs together and took them on the road as "Eclipse: a Piece For Assorted Lunatics".

In the studio the funky grooves and spacey guitar solos were augmented with avant, wordless female vocals; a musique concrete approach, bubbly synthesizers, and ALL of the studio technology of the time thrown at it.  With all of these non-'pop' elements, in some ways it doesn't seem like it should be the most 'mainstream' album.. but there are enough melodies and catchy grooves for the record-buying public to hang their hats on and so this album helped usher in the next stage of Floyd's sound.

"Dark Side of the Moon" became a musically and visually iconic album.   Just for the record, I haven't done the "Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz" thing, though I am Dark Side-curious.