Tigers of the Remix Following the success of his Aboriginal-African dance album, 'Feet in the Soil', James Asher was inspired by the sparkle and vibrancy of Rajasthan to create an album celebrating its power and mysterious appeal. In the year spent building this idea, James was able to track down twenty of the finest musicians Indian and Western, who would help craft the uniquely magical impression made by India. The resulting album was 'Tigers of the Raj', but James was keen to see how others could expand this vision through re-interpretation. He invited pioneers in the field of dance music to contribute their own remixes. The seventy minutes of this CD are a testament to the width and breadth of a growing and innovative musical area, fuelled by a rich cultural heritage, and bubbling with creative innovation. A romantic view of Rajasthan's splendour takes on new dimensions when explored with the imagination and expertise of these masters in world fusion. Infectious intricate grooves carry you through the mystique and magnetism of India in her finest guise.

Customer Review - "Swordfish (the juice behind Astralasia) reworks "Liquid Sky" with a lush orchestral opening before bounding into zippy beats; Chilean producer of Yellow Magnetic Star adds layered rhythms and atmospheric tones to "Red Desert," and Solar Quest strips "The Astrologer's Seat" down to a tabla-driven rumination. "Temple Gates" gets three different treatments: Kamel Nitrate gooses it with amplified sitar, cut-up vocals and bassy, bouncy electronics; Pearl V. Summit slows it to a mellow pace, and John Crosse powers it with heavy effects at a locomotive tempo. From heart-slowing chill-out to thrilling trance, Tigers of the Remix proves that ancient sounds can be brought up to date."

Reviews :

James Asher's great world fusion album, Tigers of the Raj, seems like a strange candidate for a remix album, since it already was a heady and infectious groove fest. But, hey, whatever works - and this does work most of the time. Asher invited a stellar crew of UK DJs and remixers to delve into the mysteries of his East Indian fusion recording and see what they could come up with. The results are mixtures of hip hop, drum and bass, dub, and other subgenres of house and dance music. It's all very solid and well-done, and if you're into this kind of thing (and I am, of course), Tigers of the Remix is worthwhile listening. Maybe it's not as adventurous as Talvin Singh or Joi, but don't blame the source material, that's for sure. Some of the remixes just seem to play it a little on the safe side.

Among the remixes I particularly like are Swordfish's take on "Liquid Sky" (a full-out techno blast of adrenaline), the trippy work of The X-Zecutive on "Duskfire" and D.J. Haiko's drum and bass spin on "Nataraj Express." Some of the cuts are less fun than others, so I can't say this is all first class. However, since the original material is so good already, it's not hard to recommend this to fans of club, dance and similar electronica venues. World music fans who have been searching for a "safe" dance/fusion album to try out would be well-served to consider Tigers of the Remix. Nothing here will scare away the novice and the afficionado will find plenty to smile about as well. Thumbs up. Written by Bill Binkelman, a.k.a. the Man who would be King. Reproduced with permission from the Wind & Wire web site.

Groovy, ambient, world fusion dance remixes. Drummer-turned-keyboardist James Asher's masterly percussive project of Indian raga grooves by over 20 musicians and vocalists, including Sandeep Raval, Glen Velez, and Al Gromer Khan. Tigers of the remix delivers diversity in "groovy ambient dance remixes" by noted Anglo-Asian/world-fusion DJs.

Pound your chest on a mountain top. This is the only James Asher, or James Asher remix CD I have ever heard, and it's one of those CD's that the first time you hear it, you demand who the hell it is. What it lacks in the 2nd half of the CD, it makes up in the first half. It puts you ready to dance, imagine, revel in yourself, pound your chest on a mountain top, go mad...which is a good thing. All sorts of beats are mixed, funk, the sound of running water(it's not new age though, new age would give it a horrible name). There are remixes by different DJ's from all over the world, but there is still a unity to the CD, thanks to James Asher's original work. Anon Italy 5/5

Credits : Original recording recorded and produced by James Asher at Starfield Studios - London. Mixed by Grahame Gerrard and James Asher at Starfield Studios and Capture UK. All compositions by James Asher, except Red Desert and Nataraj Express co-compossed by James Asher and Craig Pruess. Original tracks from Tigers of the Raj published by Soundless Sound Musikverlag. Starfield 1999 [SF 1001].

James Asher: Keyboards, Percussion and Soundscape. Sandeep Raval: Tablas, Dholak, Tassa, Djembe. Johnny Kalsi: Dhol. Sumeet Chopra: Tablas, Douffli, Tassa, Keyboards. Kiran Pal Singh: Santoor. Kiran Thakrar: Keyboards. Glen Velez: Frame Drum, Reik, Percussion. Billy Wilmington: Drums, Darabuk, Ankle-Bells. Tom Eldridge: Djembe. Chhaya Vachharajani: Vocals (Tracks 6,7&9). Swati Natekar: Vocals (Track 3). Pandit Vishwa Prakash: Vocals (Track 8). Dinesh K Mahavir: Vocals (Track 4). Mohan Parmar: Manjira. Al Gromer Khan: Sitar (Track 10). Surinder Kamath: Flute. Volker Grün: Guitar. Craig Pruess: Sitar, Swaramandala, Tambura, Keyboards. Surjit Singh: Sarangi. Peter Lockett: Djun-Djuns, Chapa, Kanjira, Cymbals. Miles Bould: Congas, Timbales.