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Album Review
by SashaS
28-8-2003
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More on: Anjali
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Album Review
- 1-9-2003 |
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| Anjali: 'The World' according to Lady A |
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Anjali: 'The World Of Lady A'
(wiiija)
Anjali: so world-weirdly striking
Surprise and relish are equally dosed on Anjali’s (proper*) second album, ‘The World Of Lady A’, a junction of samples, live players, Indian heritage and traditional songwriting. The result is an intriguingly radiant disc opening with ‘Misty Canyon’, the electro-funky cosmically-sized song that moves, shakes and engages all your being. ‘Asian Provocateur’ is even more of a melting-pot: imagine James Bond orchestra, James Brown’s brass section and Kraftwerk all on the same stage jamming a tune.
References are there but far from a mere and devalued ‘homage’; it is a combination of different elements to create an astonishingly different whole. ‘Rainy Day’ is a 1960s French chanson fed through a Garbage mixer with a breathy vocal that sends shivers down one’s spine the way Patricia Kaas knows how, only too well. ‘Turn It On’ is a pseudo-Sly Stone-sque funk with a touch of ‘blaxploitation’ soundtrack atmospherics, an instrumental that allows senses to roam the vastness of imagination.
Rock driven ‘Seven x Eight’ adds to this wide-ranging coloratura, ‘A Humble Girl’ sounds like Francois Hardy for the XXI sičcle… Indian culture reigns on trio of tracks: ‘Kandivalli Gulley’, ‘Rani Of Jhansi’ and the closing ‘Stinging Sitars x 9’. The last one sounds as if The Shadows were blasting it on sitars! Imagine a mix of Indian-version of Natasha Atlas, Alison Goldfrapp (minus the overt erotic content), Diana Krall rolled into one and you may approximate Anjali.
Anjali Bhatia is of Indian decent, born in Chiswick, whose forefather was the King of Rajastan. Originally shaping noises with a Riot Grrl outfit the Voodoo Queens, her solo debut LP, ‘Anjali’ (2K), only hinted at this brave new sonic world and the track that bridges the transformation, ‘Hymn To The Sun’ (a B-side to ‘Nebula’ single) is included here. It is a prime slice of sampledelica, dancey and just out-there.
She’s otherwise had a chequered past and one episode got her banned from The Cramps’ aftershow party: “I was a go-go dancer for them when they played the Town & Country Club [now the Forum, London] and I spontaneously started throwing The Cramps’ tour rider into the crowd. After making innocent comments to Lux [Interior, guitarist/vocalist] about his tight Lycra leggings, he started going round saying I was a weird girl who tried to crush his balls. Who’d have thought I was weirder than The Cramps?!”
Anjali is a strong-willed individual who makes idiosyncratic music of cinematic scope (Bollywood-meets-Michelle Legrand?), brimming with artistic freedom, a mission into sound full of widescreen imagery, a jolly jaunt to a refreshingly different place.
8/10
* Her first three EPs were compiled on ‘Sheer Witchery’ disc in 1999.
SashaS
1-9-2003
Anjali’s album ‘The World Of Lady A’ is released 01 September 2003 on wiiija
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