Saagara - 3 (The Shackleton Versions)

A buzzing juxtaposition of dense Indian rhythms and pulsating electronic patterns. An album of deeply transformative compositions that navigate tradition and experimentation as they move towards the universal.

On 3, the music is not as contemplative as it was on the previous two albums. Acidic electronic post-club sounds now counterpoint the traditional instruments, and the instruments themselves are filtered through contemporary processing. This can be clearly heard on the album’s densely rhythmic opening track, “God of Bangalore.” “I think of this music as much more suited to places where people can dance than sit,” says Zimpel, who describes the album as: “interstellar folk.”

Saagara’s 3 is also more studio-based and conceptual. Zimpel devised electronic sequences and then got together in a Warsaw studio with Udupa, who began by adding konnakol(vocal percussion) rhythmic patterns to the sequences. Zimpel’s production grew from there – developing additional electronic textures, manipulating the sound of individual instruments, and deconstructing or reducing the instrument tracks altogether.

The contribution of new technology is significant: Zimpel received a Humanizerplugin from the British electronic producer James Holden, which allows him to combine sequencers with the natural timing of organically played drums. The software reads the natural pulse of the drummers, converts it into midi language, and sends that information to all the linked sequencers. From there, one can select how much of the two realms should be heard. “I was aiming to create an organic entity where there’s not this distinction between electronics, and some acoustic instruments added in, but that it’s just one organism,” says Zimpel.

As a result, the boundary between the acoustic and the electronic, the tradition and the future, is blurred. Sometimes, we may be unable to distinguish the genesis of the individual sounds. “For me, simply doing the same thing a second time is something I can’t get through,” Zimpel remarks. “I get bored quickly, I think that’s pretty much what that stems from.”

3 brings the ancient ritual of Carnatic music, a music that carries the listener from one state to another, into a dance with electronic music and its techniques, beats and synthesis. The whole thing unfolds in a cosmic trance; an inspired and buzzing juxtaposition of dense Indian rhythms with pulsating electronic patterns.