Bill Laswell and Sacred System - Nagual Site
Back in 1995 (September 29th to be exact) I attended a concert with Jim Rose, the Circus Sideshow one, featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and remembered thinking how cool it would be to add electronically created sound effects, hi-fidelity drum loops and various other goodies to accompany his wonderful voice.
This was actually done, to some extent, that same year when he and Eddie Vedder, who also attended the show, appeared together on a track produced for the film Dead Man Walking.
Now, here I am three years later listening to Bill Laswell do the very thing I was thinking about that night back in Seattle, minus Mr. Khan’s voice, but getting the point across all the same. This isn't by any means what the album is all about, with much more of a "western" feel introduced by the second track, due in part to the straight fours drum track throughout. Again the distinctive singing style is present, but it's complimented by a Cairo lounge style melody line. The dreamy jazz stylings of Derive are countered by the strangely compelling frenetic shuffle of Upbeat, making this the most well rounded and the most recent offering from the ever popular Bill Laswell and Sacred System.
Rating: 814,502 (out of a possible 1,000,000)
