Nights at the Circus
Back in the mid-1990s, when Britain’s culture wars were located in one long tedious to-and-fro over Britpop, something actually far more seditious and extraordinary was bubbling away in the underground. In art-club venues such as the Mint Tea Rooms, the Siren Suite and most recently, KashPoint, Bishi Bhattacharya was remarkable even amongst the remarkables who surrounded her. Then a young art student from a Bengali background, Bishi sang, DJ-ed, composed and spent part of each year in India studying with a sitar master. Fast-forward to the present and a debut album that, despite its nods to Indian classicism and briefer acknowledgements to club beats, is very much its own thing.
Taking its title from Angela Carter’s novel, Nights at the Circus shines with the plush sounds that its literary inspiration imagined. Unsurprisingly, it’s a heady mix. Sitars, ripples of tablas, harps, accordions, a few electronic pulses and strong vocals that can summon up shades of Björk, suggest rarefied atmospheres, but Bishi also has her feet on the ground. ‘Nightbus’ brings a troubadour-like lilt to one of the more prosaic experiences of life after dark; and ‘On My Own Again’, a throbbing anthem to love’s travails, breaks free into a stream of percussion and vocals. Interestingly, Bishi allies herself with the new psychedelia current in contemporary folk music. But there is, conversely, a case for hearing, in her cadences and tunings, a homage to such experimental folk pioneers as John Fahey and Bert Jansch, musicians who turned Western music towards the East.
- Product information
- by Bishi
- Publisher
- Gryphon
- Product number
- GRYCD003 CD
- Star rating
- Product link
- http://www.bishi.co.uk
Join over 10,000 people just like you. Get e-mail updates about new content, issue alerts, contests, and more!
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
