Transglobal Underground
Natacha Atlas provides eastern vocals, chants and wails to the raps of the TGU Crew. Famous for their live perfomances - Balinese tribal masks and Natasha's chiffon-draped belly dancing in a hypnotic, dazzling display, fusing together the sound of global music with the dance scene of the 90's. Famous for their excellent '91 hit Temple Head, a 12" and CD single, from their first album Dream of a 100 Nations, which has recently been resurrected, being used in the coke adverts, containing the clasic 'na-na-nah, na-na-nah' chant. Its a Utopian concept, where tribal chants collide with spicy Eastern melodies, mantras soothe the staccato rapping, and speed diven BPM culture is gently woven into a shimmering dancescape. I read recently that the original album was recorded for De-construction (although they did release Temple Head on De-Con), but was shelved by the label for reasons best known to De-Con themselves....*laughs*....I guess they won't want to be reminded of that now! Natacha Atlas departed TGU in 1999 to persue a solo career, although TGU continued to produce her albums. Count Dubulah, who had been with TGU from the very start, left so that he could concentrate on building a full sized Transylvanian castle out of Jaffa Cakes (officially, though, Neil Sparkes and Dubulah went on to form Temple of Sound with Terry Neale). And so the current TGU line-up consists of Coleridge (vocals & percussion), Hamid Mantu (drums & machines), Sheema Mukherjee (sitar & bass), Gurjit Sirha (dhol & dholak), Doreen Thobekile (vocals & squeezebox), TUUP (vocals & percussion) and Tim Whelan (keyboards, guitar & machines). This is Jah Wobble, Loop Guru and Fun-da-mental rolled into one.......this is the global sound of TGU.
Album: Dream of 100 Nations
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Released 1993 on Nation Records. 'Dream of 100 Nations' was an amazing, original debut album, without a dud track in sight. Arabic vocals are mixed over Indian tablas, djembe, darubuka, congas, clarinets and anything else the TGU crew could lay their hands on. Essential.
CD Single: Templehead
[NR020CD]
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Released 1993 on Nation Records. (P) 1991 BMG Records UK Ltd. (C) 1993 Nation Records Ltd. This classic '91 single is a must. A glisssando of keys across dubby baselines and funky acid guitars.......Nah-Nah-Nah.....Nah-Nah-Naah *starts leaping around the web site*.....Watch the Skies....The better mixes here are the Airwaves Mix and the Youth Isis Mix, both sounding similar to the album mix.
CDS: Transglobal Underground - Templehead
[49K 77682]
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Released 1995 on Epic. The Edge Factor Mix is heavy drum and bass. The other mixes don't vary much from the original. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
12": Templehead
[PT 44896]
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Further mixes of Templehead are found on this 12" released on Deconstruction Records. The Zenana Mix is virtually the same as the Dam Dam Diga Diga Mix found on the Nation Records version of this single, whilst the Pacific Mix and Burundi Beat Mix stick closer to the original found on the album 100 Nations. Personal favourite of all the mixes has got to be the Pacific Mix.
CDS: Transglobal Underground - Templehead
[PD 44896]
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Released 1991 on BMG/Deconstruction. The Burundi Beat Mix is the same as the Burundi Mix on other releases. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
12": Templehead
[GLOBE1]
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And yet further mixes of Templehead are found on this 12" released on Deconstruction Records. The Shiva Lingum Mix is a wicked remix, taking the best elements from the Original Mix and combining them with extra tribal drums. The bonus track on this 12" is the track titled Immortality, which i've never seen released on any other format. It's a very unusual track for TGU, in that the lyrics are sung in English and the overall sound is very 'popish'.
12": Shimmer
[NR018T]
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Three extra remixes of Shimmer, plus a bonus of the beefy, great big dirty, lowdown, funky groove of This is the Army of Forgotten Souls. The original album mix of Shimmer remains the better of the mixes.
CD Single: Earth Tribe / Slow Finger
[NR29CD]
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Released 1994 on Nation Records.
Album: International Times
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This, the second album, was a bit of a disappointment, containing only a couple of decent tracks, one of which is Lookee Here which was excellently remixed by Dreadzone. The title track International Times is tucked away in the middle of the album and can only be described as dull. Its up to likes of Protean and Taal Zaman to rescue this second outing of TGU, which basically lacks anything new.
CD Single: Protean / Taal Zaman / Dustbowl
[NR39CD]
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Released 1994 on Nation Records.
CD Single: Lookee Here
[NR43CD]
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Released 1994 on Nation Records.
Album: Interplanetary Meltdown
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This compilation/remix album is also available with a limited addition live disc. Remixes come courtesy of Lionrock, Dreadzone, Sabres of Paradise,
Drum Club, Youth and TGU themselves.
The best material here has already been released as singles, so if you've got the previous singles and albums then don't bother with this. As for the live disc, well, its all old stuff now...nothing new.
Album: Psychic Karaoke
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So, two albums later we have 'Psychic Karaoke', which was released early '96 following the pre-album EP Boss-Tabla. Psychic Karaoke opens
with four strong tracks which are in line with the quality of TGU's earlier material. Chariots will have your feet tapping before you know it, with Natacha's beautiful vocals over a simple drum pattern and strings, ending with a remarkably similar piano bit to that of Temple Head. Quirky vocals in Mouth Wedding and clattery djembies make this a wicked little track. Nawazish Ali Khan lends vocals in Lexicona, forming a duet with Natacha. My only gripe with these tracks is that they are all far too short. From here on its a bit hit and miss, with the better full length mix of Boss Tabla being a definite hit. Ancient Dreams of the Sky, which I admittedly overlooked when I first got the album, is a beautiful ambient track. A slow rap by TUUP accompanied by a drifting flute adds to this eastern delight. Eyeway Souljah is a bit dark and the same goes really for the title track Psycho Karaoke. Natachas lovely vocals again in Daughter of the Desert wraps up the album. Even though i'm moaning a bit about the latter half of the album, its good to see TGU back on form, especially after a storming live performance at WOMAD '95.
Single: Boss Tabla EP
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I was a bit surprised (and disappointed) by this EP, since the album contains a far better mix of the title track, and the other couple of tracks (also found on the latter half of the album) were a bit naff. Seems as if TGU have been influenced by the X-files!
12" Single: The "Chariots" Mixes
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This was only released as a 12" promo on MCA Records in the USA. Prince Quick remixes the original into a reasonable housey version, whilst the Planet Quick Mix is more on a dubby theme. The Vargas Brothers Club Mix is about as cheesy as a remix can get, with hammond organs and jazzy brass adding to Coleridge's raps and Natacha's vocals. Do any of these remixes compare to the original??? I think not! The original remains the superior mix by far, although the Prince Quick Mix is a little more accessible for DJ's in mainstream clubland. Many thanks to Scott Baxter for sending me the 12".
Album: Rejoice Rejoice
[NR1073CD]
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Released 6/98 on Nation Records. Two years on from Psychic Karaoke and TGU are back, although this time without Count Dubulah. The whole album takes on a more world music theme than the previous albums, with contributions from Musafir, a troupe of Rajasthani musicians, The Dhol Foundation, master drummers of West London, Hungarian Gypsy bands Romanyi Rota and Kalman Balogh Group and Bapi Das Baul. However, the end result is still unmistakably TGU, with the usual blend of rap, dub and eastern beats. But is it any good? In my humble opinion, it's probably their best material they've produced in many years. The highlight on this album has got to be the superb 'Delta Disco', followed closely by 'Son of Thingdrum'.
Album: Rejoice Rejoice
[MCAD-11796]
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Released 6/98 on MCA (USA). This has the same tracklisting as the UK release, except the last two tracks are switched. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
Promo CDS: Rejoice Remixes 1
[MCA5P-4230]
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Released 1998 on MCA (USA). A very good selection of mixes, with each one doing justice to the original. The Badmash remix also features on Backpacking On The Graves Of Our Ancestors. I don't believe there was a "Rejoice Remixes 2". Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
Compilation: Backpacking On The Graves Of Our Ancestors
[NR1085CD]
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Released '99 on Nation Records. As the cover art states, this is not so much as a 'Best of...', but more of a celebration of music and the freedom of positive creativity. Well, whatever and which ever, this double CD compilation certainly features many of the highlights of TGU's career from 1991 through to 1998, which has yielded 5 albums and united continents. Disc one features mostly original tracks from the albums, plus a subtle remix of the superb Nile Delta Disco. Disc two features remixes and unreleased tracks, with the bonus here being 'Kintamani', a TGU collaboration with Heliopolis that was only previously released as a 12" on Nation Records.
Album: Yes Boss Food Corner
[ARKCD1002]
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Released 3/01 on Mondo Rhythmica. After a quiet spell of over two years TGU return with a new album, albeit without the company of Nation Records. I'm not quite sure if this marks the end of their relationship with Nation Records or not - there's no mention on the official TGU web site of a reason for releasing this album on Mondo Rhythmica. This album offers all new material, apart from 'Bhimpalasi Warriors' which was released last year on the Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 - Global Grooves compilation. It's a collection of tunes that TGU have been performing live over the last few months, plus a few other studio tracks. The highlight of the album is undoubtedly 'Scorch', which is a funky guitar number that DJ Monkey Pilot has been plugging for the last twelve months or so at Whirl-Y-Gig. Humour is ripe, with the tongue-in-cheek title of 'Drums of Navarone' for the excellent opening track. The rest of the album is a bit of a roller coaster ride, with a few tracks sounding like TGU of yesteryear ('Secrets & Distant Dreams', 'One of Our Dholaks is Missing'), whilst others, such as 'Step Across the Edge', play from an altogether new angle. Here TGU manage to sound the most Western like they have ever dared, with English lyrics sung rather than rapped and baring an uncanny resemblance to Sting. An interesting album from the TGU gang.
Album: Yes Boss Food Corner
[186 810 069 2]
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Released 3/01 on Mondo Rhythmica in the USA. Same album as that released in the UK but slightly different cover art. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
CDS: Spellbound
[158 734-2]
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Released 2000 on Ark21 Records. With only one barely adequate remix that doesn't hold a candle to the original, your best bet is to just buy the full album. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
CD: Transglobal Underground - Impossible Broadcasting
[MUL01]
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Released 2004 on Mule Satellite Records. TGU is back after a three year hiatus with a unique turn blending their new sound with
the old. The entire album is a welcome return and a completely enjoyable listen. Favorites include The Khaleego Stomp, Yellow and Black
Taxi Cab, and the straight vocal Drinking in Gommorah. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
Other Info:
'Bhimpalasi Warrior' which features on 'Yes Boss Food Corner', is also on the new Whirl-Y-Gig double CD compilation, Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 - Global Grooves.
More info on the solo career of Natacha Atlas, who regularly sings with TGU, can be found here.
Nation records have also released a compilation titled ...And Still No Hits featuring a few TGU tracks plus a range of past releases on the Nation Record label.
The Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.1 compilation features the excellent exclusive track Mambo On by TGU (not on any of their albums).
TGU also contribute to a selection of remixes on the The Deseo Remixes compilation.
For further information on Transglobal Underground see the TGU web site or the Nation Records web site, or contact:
Basement
19 All Saints Road
Ladbroke Grove
London
W11 1HE
E-Mail: tgu@blueyonder.co.uk
