Black Bombay CD - Import

Part of the early-2000s worldtronica movement, Black Bombay mixes the concepts of trip-hop with Hindi vocals and a bit of Indian percussion here and there. The vocalists used are quite powerful ones, with voices soaring over the instrumental tracks easily. While the worldtronica trend wasn't exactly new at the time of this album's release (taking its first major steps with "Return to Innocence" years ago), the force behind it was growing rapidly. The sounds here are laid-back journeys through the chord changes and song structures of a basic piece of trip-hop, complete with the usual wordless (or foreign) ambient vocals, but there's a more distinct sense of the Indian influence here. It's an interesting sound, going a little beyond the usual dance infusions with a more tranquil setting for the samples to stretch out in. As would be expected, the tabla becomes an important instrument in the mix, lending its stretches and bounces in tone to the diversity of sound needed to keep an album of this sort interesting. The tempo alone excludes the album from fanship from most of those who follow groups such as Tabla Beat Science, but that doesn't invalidate it from being a decent piece of work. Give it a listen as a representative of the future of trip-hop in a more cross-cultural environment. ~ Adam Greenberg

Photographers: Ma Prem Eva; Sanjeev Saith.

Personnel: Roby J. Colella (guitar, synthesizer, programming, sampler); Ricky Mazzamauro (piano, electric piano, programming).

Recording information: Groovaphonic Studio, Rome, Italy.