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I Transglobal Underground sono un gruppo multirazziale della Gran Bretagna
che in pratica diede il nome al movimento della
"trance transglobale".
I Transglobal Underground stanno a questo genere come i
Dead Can Dance stanno al rock gotico/medievale: la loro
e` un'arte di tempo (musicale) e di timbro.
I manifesti del genere furono
il singolo d'esordio, Templehead (1991), e l'album
Dream Of 100 Nations (Nation, 1993).
Rimescolando elementi di world-music, ambientale, dub, hip hop e techno, e
riciclando idee della musica new age, l'ensemble metteva
in pista le sonorita` etniche al ritmo dell'house.
Il melisma esotico di Natacha Atlas (nata a Bruxelles da una famiglia di origini
arabe ed ebraiche)
aggiungeva al melange quel tocco sensuale che non guasta.
I musicisti (Alex Kasiek alle tastiere, Hamid Mantu alle percussioni,
Nick "Count Dubulah" Page al basso) l'accompagnavano con tono distaccato e
avevano il pregio di non prendersi (ancora) troppo sul serio,
ma anche il difetto di non
padroneggiare nessuno dei mille artifizi che utilizzavano,
come maestri del puzzle che, incapaci di riconoscere le forme che devono
ricomporre, non riescano a far altro che scombinare in continuazione i
pezzi del mosaico.
Slowfinger il classico.
Il meno visibile dei cinque,
Mantu, era invece autore di gran parte del materiale.
International Times (Nation, 1994 - Epic, 1995)
conserva quello spirito disinvolto e scanzonato.
Nel calderone finiscono piu` o meno gli stessi ingredienti. Al catalogo
delle novelty "transglobali" il gruppo consegna soprattutto il rap "arabo"
di Lookee Here, che
funge da modello di riferimento per meta` dei 16 brani. Non c'e` molto di piu`, per la verita`: giusto il riff
da palude e il tribalismo sfrenato di Jatayu, la possente percussivita` di Dustbowl. Per
movimentare brani che sono alquanto ripetitivi e monotoni il gruppo deve ricorrere ad attrazioni locali,
come l'ouverture orchestrale e il violino tzigano di Taal Zaman, il campionamento ipnotico di
Tromba Marina, il coro festoso da cerimonia collettiva di Temple Head.
Se gran parte di questi brani sono soltanto pasticci infantili
nel campo del ballabile occidentale a sfondo etnico, i
Transglobal Underground sono pur sempre fra coloro
che stanno scrivendo la
colonna sonora per il villaggio globale di cui predicano gli sociologhi.
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Transglobal Underground are a multiracial band from Britain that, basically,
christened the movement of "transglobal trance".
Transglobal Underground are to transglobal trance what
Dead Can Dance are to gothic/medieval rock: theirs is
an art of tempo and timbre, and ultimately of atmosphere.
Natacha Atlas' exotic melisma, Nick "Count Dubulah" Page's creative sampling, Alex Kasiek's surreal keyboards and Hamid Mantu's forest of percussions on Dream Of 100 Nations (1993) and International Times (1994) fused dance, ambient and ethnic styles. It was not a sterile exercise of Arabic-African-Indian fusion, but a stab at reinventing rhythm itself: their "world beat" was solidly rooted in ethnic traditions from around the world, but was no longer any of them. As they replaced samples with real instruments, they also achieved a warmer (and more authentically "ethnic") sound on Psychic Karaoke (1996).
If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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Natacha Atlas started her solo career in 1995.
By largely replacing samples with human musicians,
Psychic Karaoke (MCA, 1996) boasts a crisper ethnic sound.
The Arabic-African-Indian stew is warmer and smoother than ever.
In Chariots,
while the rhythm evokes caravans of the desert and her male counterpart raps
like a Jamaican toaster surrounded by a choir of children, Atlas croons
ancient wails that mix Jewish, Arab and Spanish traditions.
The problem is that there is nothing new in tracks like
Ancient Dreams Of The Sky, that merely stir
ethnic instruments, electronic beats and Atlas' chants, no matter
how calibrated is the fusion of elements.
The combo does a good job of reinventing reggae (Lexicona),
dub (Eyeway Souljah),
and drum'n'bass (Bullet Train) with elegance and nonchalance.
Bullet Train is wrapped in
kosmische electronics, Atlas' chanting, Velvet Underground-ish drones.
The album is certainly not about innovation, but rather evolution and
refinement of a successful idea.
However, Mouth Wedding is a propulsive piece that relies on
Jewish harp, driving Indian rhythm, heavy-metal guitar and sampled voices,
and marks a slight departure from their usual mix.
Boss Tabla is equally disorienting, thanks to an industrial harshness,
macabre church bells, spaghetti-western guitar and a recurring music-box theme,
all overlaid to a frantic gallop.
Psycho Karaoke lays down a super-busy afro-caribbean soundscape and then
carves it with spy-thriller themes for xylophone and symphonic orchestra.
The album comes to a close with the alien/robotic trance/dance of
International Times that seems to roam alien wastelands.
the album in a claustrophobic atmosphere
Ultimately, Transglobal Underground is about reinventing rhythm itself.
Their "world beat" is solidly rooted in ethnic traditions from around the world,
but is no longer any of them.
Dispensing with Count Dubulah (who joined rivals
Loop Guru) and downplaying Atlas' Middle-eastern
vocals,
Rejoice Rejoice (MCA, 1998) ends up sounding like trivial
producer-driven "ethno-techno".
Except for the closing Sky Giant and
Shining Iron Face, the tracks are the least inventive
of their career.
Thousand Year Heat, Rude Buddah, Ali Mullah and
A Nice Little Fish Business And Making Money
are entertaining but ultimately an insult to what Transglobal Underground
used to stand for.
Natacha Atlas's solo albums were easily better than the
contemporary Transglobal Underground albums,
Trans-Global Underground's Nick Page formed Dub Colossus with
Ethiopian and English musicians. Their
In A Town Called Addis (2008) fused
Afro-pop, jazz, blues and reggae.
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