Tala Matrix

1	Secret Channel / Bill Laswell 7:34
2	Magnetic 7:43
3	Audiomaze 7:49
4	Don't Worry / Talvin Singh 6:13
5	Palmistry / Karsh Kale 4:39
6	Devotional / Bill Laswell 8:11
7	Big Brother / Trilok Gurtu 4:56
8	Triangular Objects / Talvin Singh 7:58
9	Biotech / Bill Laswell 6:42
10	Alla / Zakir Hussain 11:52

Barnes & Noble

This fantasy session gathers ambient guru Bill Laswell and tablatronics mastermind Talvin Singh together with jazz percussion alchemist Trilok Gurtu, vocalist and sarangi master Ustad Sultan Khan, and Northern India's premier contemporary tabla player Zakir Hussain for a wildly mathematic fête of beats 'n electronica. While Laswell, Singh, and Gurtu are long-associated with such cross-pollination, the rest of the classically trained cast are not exactly strangers to it; Hussain got his cyber groove on for Laswell's Hear No Evil and Hallucination Engine projects, while Khan has jammed with Ornette Coleman and appears on DJ Cheb i Sabbah's Maha Maya set. Here, mesmerizing bass lines, drone tones, and smooth swells of techno melody dress Hussain's rhythmic virtuosity in an array of enchanting and sometimes chilling dreamscapes. "Devotional" maximizes the East-West convergence with dulcet bowing and chanting by Khan and ragamuffin programming, while "Big Brother" rides a quietly funky backbeat. The thoroughly extraterrestrial "Triangular Objects" verges into drum 'n' bass territory, passing the percussion through a cornucopia of effects filters. Strap on the psychic seat-belt for this four-dimensional exploration of the beat. Abraham Velez

All Music Guide

With their debut CD Tala Matrix, the project known as Tabla Beat Science has essentially taken the rich and time-honored tradition of the tabla (a pair of North Indian hand drums) and fused it with contemporary electronica studio wizardry. Tala Matrix is dedicated to the memory of the late, great, and innovative tabla virtuoso Ustad Alla Rakha (1919-2000). The Tabla Beat Science project is comprised of one of Ustad Alla Rakha's sons, the tabla superman Zakir Hussain. Additional members include the venerated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan; Indian and jazz percussion innovator Trilok Gurtu; New York drummer Karsh Kale; bass, drum, and tabla visionary Talvin Singh; and music programmer Brad Somatik. Producer/bassist Bill Laswell, who "conceived and constructed" the CD, acts as the catalyst for the outfit, adding the bottom end with his dub basslines and the overall aesthetic with his studio prowess. More of a consortium than a full-blown collaboration, not one of the songs on Tabla Matrix features all members of the group. Zakir Hussain's many tracks are among the best on the album, though Trilok Gurtu's funky Big Brother and Talvin Singh's Don't Worry.Com are both extremely compelling. The often zombie-ridden doldrums of electronica should benefit immensely from this experimental union with tabla. An excellent CD that deserves to be heard many times by many people, Tala Matrix manages to be innovative without loosing sight of tradition. John Vallier

Entertainment Weekly

Here, he focuses on Indian percussion, freely blending intricate Hindustani-inspired tabla playing, Indo-electro goods from Talvin Singh, and old-fashioned drum-kit playing into savory, energetic ambient music. Josef Woodard