CD Review: Tarun Nayar's '22 Degrees of Beatitude'

Tarun Nayar

22 Degrees of Beatitude

Chaiwalla's Boombox

Vancouver-based DJ/producer and electronica wizard, Tarun Nayar, is a global pioneer of Indian fusion and dance music. 22 Degrees of Beatitude is an album of lighter dance music and electronica that veers away from heart-pumping, dub-thumping sounds. Tarun's other work as a tabla and electronics guru with the Delhi 2 Dublin group certainly shaped and beautified his current release. The songs are mostly instrumental with little vocal accompaniment, except on "Innocence", "Kezang La", and "Mamaji". Taking the lighter side of dance music, Tarun shines with trippy, trance-inducing compositions without fatigued results. With titles as diverse as "Kezang La", "808s and Sheikh Sarai", and "Mamaji", the album is bound to be an intriguing journey through the aural sounds of the world. In fact, the double-pronunciation of 'beatitude' and 'beat-itude' still means utter bliss or happiness. Tarun Nayar is sure to conjure up loads of happiness wherever his tunes are played and performed. ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Janaka Selekta

Janaka Selekta

Pushing Air

Chaiwalla's Boombox

Sri Lankan-native, Janaka Selekta, has become an important fixture in the world of Asian electronica in the San Francisco area and beyond. Janaka's world travels have shaped his electro-musicality by serving delicious breakbeats with nice additions of Bansuri flute, tabla, and sarangi. Furthermore, haunting male and female vocals add another layer of rich, sound textures. The Asian trip-hop musical concept has been explored by other artists with little in the way of an organic, engaging sound worth remembering. Janaka fills that void for world dub and electronica fans. Whether you call this Asian dub, electronic, world beat, downtempo, or trance, Janaka's music soars effortlessly into the outer reaches of our universe and back again, while pushing the limits on Pushing Air. Definitions aside, Pushing Air is perfect for the club, dorm, office, or party, but it will basically leave you breathless yearning for more 'air'. Don't worry, it's all in good fun. A remix by Karsh Kale is included. ~ Matthew Forss