Talvin Singh &/then State of Bengal in Toronto

It's been an interesting weekend in Toronto. Correction. It's been an epic weekend in Toronto. While there is more to this epic than I can tell you, what I will tell you is that if you are reading this article right now, Toronto was where you should have been this weekend - out of the blue Talvin Singh passed through the neighborhood to play some tunes, and we saw a surprise appearance of State of Bengal at the same covert party the night before his (SOB: Sam Zaman) main stage performance with Rose of "LAL" fame!

Friday August 11th, 10:59pm, Revival Lounge.

DJ medicine man is getting the growing crowd in the mood for something big... The anticipation is building - every 5 minutes around the room you hear "when is he coming?", "where is Talvin?", "Is he really gonna be here?" I won't go into how I found out that Talvin Singh was coming to town to play a DJ set tonight. All I know is that after years of obscurity, under the looming question, "where is Talvin Singh", the man resurfaced. This night was low key to say the least. How anyone found out about the party is still a mystery to me. This is all part of the trademark. Upon meeting Talvin for the first time, this is quickly confirmed. He was approachable and decent, and admittedly didn't make a point of advertising his DJ set. The result was an interesting audience from a variety of backgrounds. The one common thread; their mutual appreciation for 10 years of music that has reintroduced the world to itself. Black, White, Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Green, and Purple, they were all there.

He entered and began spinning rather discretely, and began a set that was nothing like anyone expected. A seamless progression from epic hip hop beats, to subtle breaks, to house, to drum n bass, to big beat, to (standard) Asian Electronica and bizarre rhythms that still need to be named, Talvin's set was a story. With very minimal doses of Indian alaaps, and almost complete absence of Tabla sounds, this set was proof that Talvin has moved on from the shadow of the "Asian Underground" genre he helped define, to something new and evolving.

Toronto night club crowds usually dance to standard house or hip hop grooves. When anything outside of the typical monotony of the Top 40 is heard, even the best audience is typically reduced to a crowd of awkwardly uncoordinated junior high kids at a school dance, thrashing their bodies about like fish out of water with no semblance of rhythm... Not this crowd. It's funny, before starting his set, Talvin actually asked me "What kind of a crowd is this? Is this a hip hop crowd?" My response: "this crowd wants whatever you give them. They're here to hear what you think". I didn't know how right I was. With much of the crowd facing Talvin in anticipation of his next move, they ate up everything he threw at them, and danced like mad throughout the night. Then the twist...

Another bastion of the 'Asian Underground' movement from the UK, State of Bengal, happens to emerge from the crowd and reach in to greet Talvin. A quick handshake, a hug and some words, and then back to business with the epic "Flight IC 408". All in a day's work. Once the night ended, a small but devoted crowd gathered around Talvin to say whatever it is that one says to an artist that has architected a movement. Seeing two Chinese guys dancing all night, and then yelling out "Talvin, you're a genius" at 3:00am was, well, memorable. While I was talking to Talvin at the end of the night, one guy still struggling to catch his breath ran up and said, "I just ditched my buddy's bachelor party, took a $50 cab ride across town, to catch the last 5 minutes of your set...." Epic, indeed. Did I mention this guy was white? Does it matter? Not if the two aforementioned Chinese guys can help it. Point is, for one night, Talvin dropped in, did his thing, and proved that in a city as saturated with the monotony of manufactured main stream music, people still crave something fresh. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.

Saturday August 11th, 9:31pm, Harbour Front Centre, Main Stage.

A typical summer night in Toronto, in a not so typical weekend. Sam Zamaan, aka State of Bengal is on stage with Rosina of "LAL", a drummer I've never seen but won't soon forget, and a masterful guitarist. On the heels of the new album, "Skip-ij", for 90 minutes, Sam, Rose and the band bitch-slapped the audience with one epic beat after another. Something about the huge electronic beats, Rosina's trademark vocals, Sam's bass lines and huge drum improvs made no sense, while making too much sense. Somehow, they made something otherwise so electronic sound so organic and alive. The musicianship and showmanship were impressive, but the new direction of the sound was just plain brilliant.

Rose's vocals somehow work with anything anyone throws at her, Sam's bass lines and grand electronic beats were relentless, the still anonymous drummer battled the hard electronic beats to the end, and the guitarist kept it all glued.

For 1/3 of the set, the audience was on their feet, gyrating, shuffling, waddling, whatever it is you do to music that beats you into submission over and over. For the other 2/3 of the show, the audience was probably safest for sitting down with the sonic onslaught they received. Point is, Sam reminded everyone there that he is still very much alive and kicking [! - ed].

In Toronto's local 'scene', big things are about to happen. Between the Indian Electronica Festival, Dishoom!, the return of Ekta on the horizon and a handful of other DJ's & Producer about to unleash their beats through these live outlets, Toronto is going to be a very different beast. Seeing two of the UK scene's architects in one weekend, was, well, you know...

This was an interesting weekend. Correction... This was an epic weekend!