ANOUSHKA SHANKAR — Rise (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The daughter of Ravi Shankar moves far from the tradition on her fourth solo album, using her considerable sitar skills (understandably, she'll never be her father's equal, but who ever will?) as just part of her arsenal on an album that strives hard to blend the past and cutting edge. It succeeds in part, as on "Solea," where Indian and flamenco meet, the two opposite ends of the gypsy road, and discover they have much in common, or on "Red Sun 4," where the Indian tradition of vocal percussion called konnokol seems as modern as anything to emerge from drum programming. At other times, the album seems to float too weightlessly on a cloud of miasma. "Sinister Grains" is a case in point: it's pretty, and certainly well executed. But when it's over, it's hard to remember, as ephemeral as a pleasant summer breeze. "Voice of the Moon" fares somewhat better, more grounded in its Indian-ness, with an arching melody. But even that's countered by the album's opener, "Prayer in Passing," which seems too much like an alaap without a theme, a prelude that leads to nothing, form without substance. Shankar uses plenty of programming on this, adding voices (including her own), palmas, piano, guitar, and other unusual textures, which certainly bring variety to what she does. And with "Ancient Lore," the epic (11-minute) closer, she actually pulls it all together (thankfully without the didgeridoo that's there on one earlier cut), the judicious use of reverb giving a certain ambience, and a reminder that she's a sitar player whose roots lie on both East and West and she improvises. Rise isn't perfect, by any means, but it's the first step on a new path. Chris Nickson
Tracklist :
1.    Prayer In Passing    6:21
2.    Red Sun    4:50
3.    Mahadeva    5:41
4.    Naked    4:17
5.    Solea    7:26
6.    Beloved    7:05
7.    Sinister Grains    6:11
8.    Voice Of The Moon    8:55
9.    Ancient Love    11:07
10.    Beloved (Thievery Corporation Remix) 4:29
Remix – Thievery Corporation
11.    Naked (Karsh Kale 'Mirrors' Remix) 6:16
Remix – Karsh Kale
Credits :
Bansuri – Pedro Eustache (tracks: 1)
Bass – Kevin Cooper (tracks: 2, 6, 7)
Drums – Jesse Charnow (tracks: 2, 3, 6)
Keyboards – Anoushka Shankar, Pulak Sarcar (tracks: 1, 5, 8, 9)
Piano – Pedro Ricardo Miño (tracks: 1, 5, 9)
Tabla – Bikram Ghosh (tracks: 3, 6, 8), Tanmoy Bose (tracks: 1)
Vocals – Bikram Ghosh (tracks: 1), Rajesh Mishra (tracks: 3), Ritesh Mishra (tracks: 3)
Sitar, Arranged, Written-By – Anoushka Shankar

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR — Traces of You (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar's second offering for Deutsche Grammophon, she stays closer to home musically than she did on 2011's widely celebrated Traveller. That said, she carries what she learned from studying flamenco with producer Javier Limon and integrates it fully into these proceedings. Producer Nitin Sawhney, a fine recording artist in his own right, is an integral part of Traces of You. He wrote one of these 13 cuts, co-authored five more, and arranged and played on several others. This is easily the most intimate and emotional offering in Shankar's catalog. Though the album was planned earlier and its basic ideas outlined by Shankar and Sawhney, the music is indelibly informed by a life-changing event, the death of her father, Ravi Shankar. Opener and first single "The Sun Won’t Set" is one of three tracks to feature the voice of half-sister Norah Jones, whose haunting, bluesy vocal is adorned only by Shankar's sitar, a classical guitar, and Ghatam (a percussion instrument). The title track evokes the loss and spirit of her father in an uplifting way. A sprightly, syncopated rhythm track undergirds Jones' drifting vocal as Shankar's sitar alternately drones and accents alongside a tabla, glockenspiel, and guitar. It is one of the set's standout tracks. "Indian Summer" is a piano and sitar duet where flamenco and Indian classical music sit side by side. Three tracks -- "Lasya," "In Jyotyi's Name," and "Chasing Shadows" -- are squarely inside the Indian classical tradition, while several others, including "River Pulse," "Monsoon," and "Metamorphosis," use it in a context framed by electronic rhythms and loops without breaking the overriding lineage thread. Closer "Unsaid" features Jones' melody, vocal, and piano accompanying Shankar's lyrics and sitar. A poignant pop ballad, Sawhney adds just enough of Ian Burdge's cello to deepen its emotional impact. Throughout Traces of You, Shankar allows her vulnerability as a human being -- even in the instrumentals -- to freely converse with her authority as a musician and composer. Sawhney is an empathic producer balancing the sides, allowing her wide-ranging and integrative musical ideas to take root and flower even as they express tenderness, sadness, grace, and gratitude.
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Tracklist :
1    The Sun Won't Set 3:35
Ghatam – Pirashanna Thevarajah
Guitar – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Vocals – Norah Jones
2    Flight    3:38
Cello – Ian Burdge
Programmed By, Arranged By [Strings] – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Steel Drums [Hang] – Manu Delago
3    Indian Summer    4:54
Piano, Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
4    Maya    5:05
Cello – Ian Burdge
Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Steel Drums [Hang] – Manu Delago
5    Lasya    4:39
Mridangam, Jew's Harp [Moorsing], Vocals – Pirashanna Thevarajah
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Steel Drums [Hang] – Manu Delago
Tambura [Tanpura] – Kenji Ota
Udu – Bernhard Schimpelsberger
6    Fathers    2:30
Piano – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
7    Metamorphosis    4:47
Bass Guitar, Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Shenai – Sanjeev Shankar
Sitar, Vocals – Anoushka Shankar
Tabla – Tanmoy Bose
Tambura [Tanpura] – Kenji Ota
Vocals – Anil Narasimha, Sandhya Chandrachood
8    In Jyoti's Name    3:33
Mridangam, Ghatam – Pirashanna Thevarajah
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Tambura [Tanpura] – Kenji Ota
9    Monsoon    3:40
Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Tambura [Tanpura] – Kenji Ota
10    Traces Of You 3:45
Glockenspiel – Manu Delago
Guitar, Bass Guitar, Percussion, Ukulele, Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Tabla – Tanmoy Bose
Vocals – Norah Jones
11    River Pulse    3:04
Cello – Ian Burdge
Ghatam, Shaker, Percussion, Jew's Harp [Moorsing] – Pirashanna Thevarajah
Guitar, Programmed By – Nitin Sawhney
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Tabla – Aref Durvesh
12    Chasing Shadows    8:17
Bansuri – Ravichandra Kulur
Mridangam, Ghatam, Kanjira – Pirashanna Thevarajah
Shenai – Sanjeev Shankar
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Tabla – Tanmoy Bose
Tambura [Tanpura] – Kenji Ota
13    Unsaid 4:28
Arranged By [Strings] – Nitin Sawhney
Cello – Ian Burdge
Sitar – Anoushka Shankar
Vocals, Piano – Norah Jones