Nitin Sawhney: Philtre

 

Official Site review:

”Philtre means ‘healing’ or ‘magic’ potion and that’s how I feel music”.

Inspired by elements of all his recent projects, in particular his return to DJ’ing, Sawhney collated ideas for this album over several months in 2004, and by the timehe locked himself away to record, found the music flowed more easily than ever.

The result is an astonishing collection of songs that take the listener to a journey through global club culture, Indian classical music, Bengali folk, traditional flamenco, blues, old soul and R&B. On Philtre, drum ‘n’ bass beats rub shoulders with sitars, flutes float over classical piano. Hip-hop, scratching, trip-hop, castanets and flamenco guitars sit alongside hypnotic strings and funky basslines. For vocals, Sawhney has sourced his strongest line-up to date, with Philadelphia-based Vikter Duplaix, Bollywood soundtrack star Reena Bhardwaj, Spanish collective Ojos de Brujo, Ninja Tune’s Fink and human beatbox Jason Singh joining regular collaborators Tina Grace, Jayanta Bose, Taio and the soulful Sharon Duncan, as well as striking new discovery Jacob Golden and, on ‘Rag Doll’, even Sawhney’s mum. The production, programming and arrangements are Sawhney’s best yet and subtle links between songs give the album the feel of a film soundtrack or DJ set.

On Philtre, as on his previous albums, the songs have an intimate, emotional feel, but this time, they are driven by infectious grooves capturing the relentless energy of a dance floor. In keeping with the music, lyrically, the album is largely upbeat and optimistic.

‘I didn’t want to be political’, - says Sawhney, who admits to being left-wing and has a political opinion on almost any subject you could mention. “I got so sick of hearing all these justifications for us going to war and being bombarded with misinformation. I was reading about global warming and it felt as though people were becoming almost a virus on our planet. It seemed to me that music is a universal way of getting us through all the daily crap.”

Certainly, the future of music is safe in the hands of Sawhney. From the funky, Meters-inspired Flipside to the fiery fiesta that is Noches En Vela (part2), from the old soul of Throw to The Searcher’s frantic finale and from the sweet, delicate Spark to the lush, multi-tracked Void, Philtre is a sublime reminder of the possibilities of music. Wildly ambitious, yet instantly accessible, pilfering the past and looking to the future, wiyh Philtre, Sawhney has upped the ante all over again.

Try it:

http://rapidshare.com/files/7918129/_2005__Philtre.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/7919043/_2005__Philtre.part2.rar

pass = boppin

Buy it:
www.amazon.co.uk

*remember, delete the files after max24hrs. Support the music industry.

~ by stayminimal on March 7, 2007.