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Tana Tani

State of Bengal Vs Paban Das Baul

Tana Tani' plunges Paban into the dub-heavy melee of the British Asian breakbeat scene, where his ecstatic, smoky vocals soar over juddering beats and squelchy basslines, and his urgent and hypnotic rhythms mutate into frenetic drum 'n' bass breaks.

The collaboration began in Zaman's home studio in Upton Park, east London in December 2002 and continued to grow at Paban's Paris home. During the sessions Zaman began working around Paban's strong, timeless melodies and haunting lyrics, building up each song organically. Often Zaman's syncopated beats were unfamiliar to Paban, and essentially they had to learn each other's music. Both Zaman and Mimlu Sen (Paban's partner and collaborator) made suggestions, and Paban experimented by fitting more familiar rhythmic patterns like the dhrupada of the jhaptal into Zaman's syncopations.

'You can take a Baul to a track,' explains Mimlu Sen, 'but you can't make him synch unless the approach is organic and interior.'

This unique collaboration brings together Paban Das Baul - a leading figure among Bengal's Baul singers - with Sam Zaman, king of the British Asian breakbeat scene. It brings a folk culture that is more than 500 years old into the thrilling digital soundscapes of the 21st century.

  • imageAdd To Basketmore info£10.67Tana Tani - CD
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Tani Tana at realworldrecords.com