UbiguityRec.
Shawn Lee's Incredible Tabla Band : "Tabla Rock" (US,2012)****
Producer and record collector Shawn Lee always knew how to pick out some interesting projects and was able to work with some great musicians. Having noticed the popularity of the sitar exploitations, mostly of Beatles songs, he regretted nobody ever covered “Apache” from The Shadows in a sitar version, so he preferred to do so. There has been however a bongo go-go version of “Apache” by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band (1972), a track which often got attention and was sampled later on. Shawn Lee decided to rework that album with the help of tabla player Prithpal Rajput aka Cyber of the Asian Dub Foundation, and Style Council keyboard-man Mick Talbot. The rest of the members (the electric guitar, the sitar), are a bit of a mystery, like in the old days when musicians were bound to secrecy due to some other label commitment. So, where the “Apache” version had been the starting point, the idea was to fill a full album in the same vein. Obviously for being also aware of rhythmical inspirations, he also included tracks like “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” from Iron Butterfly, especially also for the inclusion of some rhythm solos(also in the original track). Shawn Lee really got me confused by his results, because this “Tabla Rock” album exactly could have been an overlooked gem from the same period, from around 1972. Personally I think the album sounds less a-go-go and brass-kitsch dominated than the Bongo Band and much more an interesting psych-rock/ragarock flavoured album that could stand well against similar explorative albums from the time.
The result is a great groovy mix with somewhat danceable rhythms and powerful pop/rock contrasts, with a foundation of rock (with here and there good electric solos and some groovy organ), in psychploitation style, with groovy rhythms and (big band) brass arrangements. Although the style is popularizing the sitar rock groove further (in a 60s/early 70s way), there’s more than usual attention to the percussive part, although not in every track, like in the combinations of drums and tabla, occasional use of tin drums even and congas. The totality is very good ! For those who loved already the Lord Sitar and Big Jim Sullivan releases, this is a wonderful addition !
