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SHABAZ

(ARK 21/MONDO MELODIA)

Amid the Indian and Arabic club grooves flooding the world-music market of late comes this lively and varied 13-track set from the Pakistani group Shabaz. It ranges from standard Indian party-pop ditties like "Dil Ruba" ("Sweet Heart") to dark constructions like "Bhoal" ("Don’t Forget My Love"), in which dreamy guitar chords chime while a restless bass ostinato pulses and a liquid female voice soars above. The bread and butter of the Shabaz æsthetic are fast drum ’n’ bass grooves that wind feverishly through an ever-changing sound palette rich with organic sounds like tabla drums, droning strings, and sarangi, a deep-toned violin-like instrument. Singers Sukhawat Ali Khan and Riffat (Queenie) Salamat reveal their mystical qawwali talents in effortless, pitch-perfect vocalizing and the sort of catchy melodic refrains that made Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s pure qawwali so beguiling. "Lagian" ("Joyful Bhangra Dance") succeeds with playful, funky swing, but elsewhere a sense of interplay between dark and light appeals on a more ambiguous level. On the racing "Rihaee" ("Freedom"), the action pauses, and a man speaks the words "Release her," to chilling effect. Far more than obvious atmospherics, this is world dance pop with ideas and musicality to spare.

BY BANNING EYRE

Issue Date: November 22 - 29, 2001

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