Talk:Asian Underground
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The "movement" is very much a music business creation rather than any real collective entity. It can hardly be claimed that the bands and artists on the list make music that is linked by any common style or theme or that they have anything in common other than that they are from Asian backgrounds. Pandit J of Asian Dub Foundation was especially critical of the idea that his band belonged to any sort of "movement", noting with wry amusement the implicit racism in the suggestion that Asian people had operate in "the underground" in order to make music -----
I'd agree to some degree that all lables whitin music or films that try to define genres are to a certain extent made partly for promotional reasons. Yet there are some underlying themes that join certain types of music. Let say breakbeat or reggae have distinct rythmic patterns that define the style of music. Many musicians hate being defined by certain labels (labels they did not create, but are that they are stamped with, by the media).
Now, the label Asian underground was originally coined by Talvin Singh and used to define the "Anokha" culbnights he help create. Alot of now prominent south-asian music producers had their initial start here (Joi, ADF-dj's, State of Bengal).The name was also used on the compilation cd "Anokha - Soundz form the asian underground" (1996). It later became a catchphrase that many asian artists have since had problems accepting (ADF, Joi, State of Bengal). Yet if one disects the asian breakbeat/electronica music, one sees certain patterns in allot of these South-Asian music producers/DJ's. The use of eastern instruments and arrangement style in break music, tabla beat patterns in drum'n'bass. The style is distinctly recognizable.
All this doesn't mean that every south-asian artist born in britain is making Asian Underground. For example: the musicians: Cornershop(Rock), Punjabi MC (bhangra) asian dub foundation (Rock) should in my opinion not be on the list of Asian underground artists.
On a sidenote, The Asian Massive is in some way the US equivalent of Asian Undergound scene ,and is also the label used by six degree records to define music made by a batch of their artists (Karsh Kale, MIDIval Punditz, DJ Cheb I sabbah.
Eklipse 21:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
I look after the page of Gurdeep Samra, the Bhangra producer from the UK. In the last two years, some of his music has featured on world music albums, most notable being Future World Funk and Asian Lounge. His new album will be out soon and is aimed at the Asian Underground market, not the Bhangra market. I would like to add him to the list of artists, does anyone disagree? Please advise. Scoc716 22:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
