Salt Rain

Amazon.com
If the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" is one of the classic examples of raga rock (emphasis on rock), fusing the ancient Indian modal pattern of raga with western rock & roll, Susheela Raman's entire output on her remarkable debut Salt Rain can well be called raga blues, (emphasis on raga). Trained to sing classical Indian music from childhood, the Londoner by birth began experimenting with the vocal style of American blues in adolescence, finding in her early 20s a richly exotic multitextured sound. African rhythms, Asian-chordal dissonance, and a deep womanly voice make for an intoxicating listening experience. Add to this a band of players with origins from Romania to Greece, Spain, Kenya, and beyond. Rather than run together as an ineffective mishmash of multicultural styles, Raman and crew offer up a stunning circus of sound like a masala-Gypsy-klezmer band with one foot in the Delta. Familiar as the soaring voice of Joi, Raman is an intensely exciting new voice not in just world music, but in music as a whole. Salt Rain is both bountiful and devastatingly beautiful. --Paige La Grone

Tracks:

Ganapati
Maya
Mamavatu
Woman
Mahima
Trust In Me
Bolo Bolo
Salt Rain
Kamakshi
Nagumomo
O Rama
Song To The Siren

Amazon.com

If the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" is one of the classic examples of raga rock (emphasis on rock), fusing the ancient Indian modal pattern of raga with western rock & roll, Susheela Raman's entire output on her remarkable debut Salt Rain can well be called raga blues, (emphasis on raga). Trained to sing classical Indian music from childhood, the Londoner by birth began experimenting with the vocal style of American blues in adolescence, finding in her early 20s a richly exotic multitextured sound. African rhythms, Asian-chordal dissonance, and a deep womanly voice make for an intoxicating listening experience. Add to this a band of players with origins from Romania to Greece, Spain, Kenya, and beyond. Rather than run together as an ineffective mishmash of multicultural styles, Raman and crew offer up a stunning circus of sound like a masala-Gypsy-klezmer band with one foot in the Delta. Familiar as the soaring voice of Joi, Raman is an intensely exciting new voice not in just world music, but in music as a whole. Salt Rain is both bountiful and devastatingly beautiful. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

Trust in Me.......2007-02-10

Susheela Raman has a strong, smooth, almost hypnotic voice. The material is beautifully arranged and well chosen. Tracks are varied and playful, while remaining unified.

Raman and a diverse collection of musicians mix jazz, blues, ambient, and South Indian classical influences with skill and charisma, from the hilarious and cheeky "Trust in Me" to the traditional meditation on "Ganapati".

Her voice blends well with guest vocalist Ayub Ogada on "O Rama" and she really shines on the title track. There is also a lovely rendition of Tim Buckley's "Song To The Siren". I am looking forward to hearing many more songs from this siren.

Richly Textured.......2007-01-05

This is a beautiful CD and I'm so glad to have taken a chance on it. I very much like the songs in English unlike many other reviewers, but I feel the songs sung in Indian languages are equally spectacular and together they add texture to the CD making it a rich musical journey and keeping all songs distinct from one another.

the wonders of inter-national music..........2004-05-01

i have about 12 albums where if even one track is scratched i immediately buy another of the same. this is without a shadow of a doubt, one of those twelve.
salt rain is very ambient, completely relaxing but most of all has the ability to 100% please you when you're on your own listening to it but also not be too invasive if you need to focus on something else or if you're chilling with your mates or whatever. another great thing about this album is you won't get tired of it, it's utterly timeless, you'll still be playing it in fifty years time.
the components that make this album so beautiful is the vunerable yet clear-cut voice of susheela raman, the sexy and seductive rhythms and beats, the clearly defined yet soft melodies that carry the songs through and the haunting lyrics of the songs written english. as for the ones sung in arabic (i think that's the language that she's singing in), they are also truly beautiful and strangely enough it is easy to grasp the tones reflected off the songs due to all the other components especially her voice.
my only criticism of the album is that it has left me needing more of this kind of music which would not be a problem if i knew where to find it but i don't...

Supreme Ensemble.......2002-10-30

If youre looking for some of the smoothest music you could listen to .This is it.Soulful,beautifully constructed songs backed by superb musicians from all points of the globe all gel together for some rare quality listening.Put this on top of your buy list.Personally I'm just hanging out for for her next release.Oh, and don't worry about not understanding most of the lyrics because it simply doesn't matter.Her voice just carries it off.

Velvet.......2002-10-22

Susheela Raman blends Western blues, Eastern chanting, and a little soul-searching into this uplifting work of art. Salt Rain will soothe you like a long lazy Saturday morning. Expect to be surprised, haunted, enchanted, and addicted!