Salt Rain - Susheela Raman (2001)
|
Genre:
World - Indian, European and African
Nitin Sawhney, Badmarsh and Shri
Salt Rain, Song to the Siren, Nagumomo |
 Buy it at Amazon! |
Why did I buy it?
Saw her at BBC Music Live and loved it.
This beautiful debut album is hard to define. Raman was brought up on
classical Indian music, but with a band comprised of Indian, European and
African musicians, she leads us into some more modern twists on the traditional
sounds.
Her songs sound new and fresh, yet mellow and bluesy, with relaxed tunes
like "Nagumomo" interspersed with more plaintive vocals. She has taken
many traditional ethnic songs and cut them back or pepped them up to
make them her own, as well writing the haunting songs "Woman" and "Salt
Rain" about her own family experiences. Every song tells a tale and
stands along as a gorgeous sound, while the lyrics slip between English,
Hindi and Tamil.
The high point of the album for me is the final track, "Song to the Siren".
(She also covers "Trust in me" from the Jungle Book, making it twisted
and alluring.) This Tim Buckley classic has been covered a number of times
but none so movingly as by Raman - she has brought purpose to cover
versions. A beautiful close to a stunning album.
Yes.
This page last updated: 01 September 2022
If you have a comment, please leave it in the guestbook. To contact Flash directly, complete this form. Like this site? Buy me a drink!
This site moved from a fixed width to the current layout in 2009. Some older content such as photo sets may still have a fixed width. However if you notice any pages which are actually broken, please be kind enough to let me know via this form.
© Flash Wilson 1999-2010. I charge a fee for use of my photos.