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 0073 - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers "Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton" (1966)

As I've said before, I can be 50/50 on blues as a genre, I mean I like some tracks but there often just isn't enough variety for my tastes... this album is good though, it mostly stays squarely in the blues camp but still manages to feature some crazed jazz drumming, some hints of 60s rock and of course the whole thing is lifted by Clapton's sublime playing.

Day 0070 - Aftermath

The Rolling Stones "Aftermath" (1966)

The first RS album where they wrote all of the songs themselves... and it benefits from this, with a nice variety of strong songs.

Brian Jones (who was apparently a bit bored by this point) stretches out beyond his guitar duties to add some sitar, marimba and a variety of other instruments.
Several tracks were omitted for the US edition of the album; but they got 'Paint it Black' instead, which is pretty sweet compensation!